Napoleon’s Frozen Hell: 685,000 Enter Russia, 40,000 Return | 1812 Disaster
In June 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte led 685,000 men—the largest army ever assembled in European history—across the Niemen River into Russia. Six months later, fewer than 40,000 returned alive. This is the story of the greatest military catastrophe before the World Wars, and why it wasn’t just winter that destroyed the Grand Army.
Most people think “General Winter” defeated Napoleon. The truth is far more complex—and far more devastating. The Grande Armée was already dying in the summer heat, months before the first snow fell. Disease, starvation, and Russian scorched-earth strategy were tearing the army apart before winter ever arrived. This documentary reveals what really happened during the 1812 Russian campaign, from the crossing of the Niemen to the frozen hell of the retreat from Moscow.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
• “1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow” by Adam Zamoyski
• “The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon’s Greatest Army” by Stephan Talty
• “Borodino 1812: Napoleon’s Great Gamble” by Philip Haythornthwaite
• “With Napoleon in Russia” by Armand de Caulaincourt
• Primary sources from French military archives and Russian imperial records
Credit to : Dark History Class