French invasion of Russia
Napoleon evacuates Moscow and begins the withdrawal
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The departing army dragged a baggage train that one military historian estimates at as many as 40,000 wagons.
19 October 1812: moving at five in the morning
Napoleon's main army evacuated Moscow and the surrounding area on 19 October 1812, ending the principal phase of the French occupation. His orders set the army in motion at 5 a.m. toward Murat's position by the Desna road, and he established his next headquarters at Troitsk, southwest of the city.
He had written three days earlier that ruined, depopulated Moscow had no military value and could not support his wounded — he had already sent 2,000 to 3,000 sick and wounded toward Smolensk.
South first, and not everybody at once
The initial movement went toward Kaluga and the comparatively unexhausted country south of Moscow, rather than straight back down the devastated Smolensk road. George Nafziger estimates the departing force at about 95,000 men and some 500 cannon, with as many as 40,000 wagons.
Mortier stayed behind with a rearguard and explosives prepared in the Kremlin. The last French regiments did not leave Moscow until early on 23 October.
Back onto the stripped road
The fighting at Maloyaroslavets on 24 October closed off the economical southern advance.
Maloyaroslavets was not a simple battlefield defeat. French forces held the ruins, but the strategic result induced Napoleon to abandon the southern route and return toward Smolensk over the already devastated invasion road.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes, 1 issue open
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What the sources leave uncertain
- October 19 is Gregorian, corresponding to October 7 in Russia’s Julian calendar.
- “Begins his retreat” is conventional shorthand. Napoleon still framed the movement as an operational redeployment toward Kaluga and winter quarters, while Mortier’s rearguard remained in Moscow for several more days.
- Estimates of the departing army and wagon train vary substantially; the figures retained here are explicitly attributed to historian George Nafziger.