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Retreat

As the Tsar remained unresponsive and Napoleon took advantage of the unusually fine and warm weather lasting into October, he lingered in Moscow beyond his welcome. After five weeks, the French Army finally left the city on 19 October, a rainy day. Despite still numbering 108,000 strong, Napoleon's forces suffered a significant blow with the near-destruction of Murat's cavalry in the Battle of Tarutino. Lacking clear direction or adequate supplies, the army began its retreat from the region, facing the prospect of even worse disasters ahead. Napoleon traveled along the Old Kaluga road, heading south in search of untouched, prosperous territories. His goal was to avoid the destruction caused on the previous eastward march, opting instead for alternative routes, particularly the westward path through Medyn. Evading Kutuzov became Napoleon's main priority, but he encountered an obstacle in his progress.

The Battle of Maloyaroslavets, a testament to Kutuzov's strategic acumen, forced the French Army to retrace its steps along the Old Smolensk road, reversing their previous eastward advance. Kutuzov's tactical brilliance extended further as he employed partisan tactics, repeatedly striking at vulnerable points to prevent any potential southern retreat. As the French retreat devolved into chaos, bands of Cossacks (under Matvei Platov, Vasily Orlov-Denisov and Denis Davydov) along with agile Russian cavalry, launched relentless assaults on isolated French units foraging for supplies. Maintaining a fully supplied army became an insurmountable challenge due to the vast stretches of uninterrupted forests. The absence of grazing fields and fodder took a heavy toll on the surviving horses, resulting in the demise of nearly all of them due to either starvation or their use as sustenance by starving soldiers. Depleted of their mounts, the French cavalry faced dissolution, compelling generals and troopers alike to proceed on foot. The scarcity of horses also forced the abandonment of numerous cannons, limbers and caissons, a loss that significantly weakened Napoleon's forces in subsequent campaigns. A wagon or a piece of artillery could not be transported across even the smallest ravine without the loss of 12 to 15 horses. Starvation and disease ravaged the troops, exacerbating their already dire circumstances. Defeats at Vyazma, Polotsk and Krasny further diminished the strength of the Grande Armée. In a letter to Emperor Francis I of Austria, his father-in-law, Napoleon would later lament these setbacks:

The story of the Krasnoye affair, where I was said to have retired at a gallop, is a flat fabrication. The so-called Viceroy affair is false. It's true that from November 7th to the 16th, with the thermometer falling to 18 and even 22 degrees, 30,000 of my cavalry and artillery horses died; I abandoned several thousand ambulance wagons and baggage cars for lack of horses. The roads were covered in ice. In this terrible cold storm, the bivouac became unbearable for my people; many moved away in the evening in search of houses and shelter; I had no cavalry left to protect them. The Cossacks picked up several thousand.

Russian forces also seized control of the French supply depots at Polotsk, Vitebsk and Minsk, dealing a severe blow to Napoleon's already faltering campaign. However, the convergence of forces led by Victor, Oudinot and Dombrowski at the Bobr bolstered the numerical strength of the Grande Armée back up to approximately 49,000 French combatants alongside some 40,000 stragglers. Despite this reinforcement, as all French corps advanced towards Borisov, they encountered another critical obstacle: the strategic bridge needed to cross the Berezina River had been destroyed by the Russian army. The ensuing Battle of Berezina, marked the campaign's final significant engagement, and proved to be a disastrous culmination for the French. Compounding their plight, the onset of thaw caused the ice to melt, necessitating the construction of two bridges. From a military standpoint, the subsequent escape could be deemed a strategic victory for the French, albeit amidst substantial losses. However, it also represented a missed opportunity for the Russians, who laid blame on Pavel Chichagov for his failure to fully capitalize on the situation.

On 3 December Napoleon published the 29th Bulletin in which he informed the outside world for the first time of the catastrophic state of his army. He abandoned the army on 5 December and returned home on a sled, leaving the sick Murat in command. In the following weeks, the Grande Armée shrank further, and on 14 December 1812, it left Russian territory.