Grande Armée Crosses the Niemen
June 24, 1812
Six hundred thousand men - French, Polish, Italian, German - waded into Russia on a summer morning. By December, fewer than a hundred thousand would stagger back over the same river. Napoleon had met a country that traded space for time and winter for victory. The empire's long unraveling had begun.
Related events
1812North AmericaWar
United States Declares War
June 18, 1812Industrial Age
1812EuropeWar
Battle of Borodino
September 7, 1812Industrial Age
1812EuropeDisaster
Moscow Burns
September 14, 1812Industrial Age
1812North AmericaWar
Detroit Surrenders
August 16, 1812Industrial Age
1813EuropeWar
Battle of the Nations at Leipzig
October 16, 1813Industrial Age
1813EuropeWar
Vitoria Ends French Spain
June 21, 1813Industrial Age