On June 24, 1812, Napoleon's Grand Army crossed the Neman River and began an invasion of Russia.
The conqueror of Europe did not expect that after 6 months of fierce fighting his army would be completely defeated.
The formal reason for the aggression was actually Russia's refusal to accept the continental European economic blockade of England, in which it was supposed to participate according to the Treaty of Tilsit. Napoleon included the best forces in this campaign. The core of his army was regular French troops. These were combat units that had won victories at Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and Auerstedt - soldiers from the old guard led by the best military commanders of France - Marshals Nehem, Murat, Davout and others. But in the ranks of Napoleon's army there were also quite a few soldiers from the 16 European countries he had previously conquered. In terms of numbers, the Russian army was one and a half times smaller. In addition, its main units were scattered over considerable distances.
Napoleon wanted to defeat the Russian armies separately, but they retreated deep into the country, striving to unite. This did not mean that there were no battles at the initial stage of the war. For example, the Cossacks of Ataman Platov and the hussars of General Kulnev attacked the enemy many times and inflicted significant losses on him. In early August, the two armies under the command of Bagration and Barclay de Tolly managed to unite.
Soon the famous commander Golenishchev-Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. The French emperor later admitted that of the 50 battles he had fought, "the battle of Moscow was the one in which the most valor was displayed and the least success was achieved. In it the French proved themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians deserved the right to be invincible." On September 19, Napoleon's exhausted troops entered Moscow, where he unsuccessfully awaited Russia's surrender for a month.