Napoleon versus nature

Armies today have a good understanding of nature and have learned to prepare accordingly, but in the past there would often be times when someone thought their bravery, faith or some other factor would lead them to success. Some of these commanders are responsible for the deaths of countless people who died because they underestimated their environment, or simply didn’t care that it was killing their troops. There is one mistake that stands out amongst the others and apart from the death count, the interesting thing is that it was done by a man considered to be one of the greatest commanders that ever lived.

Napoleon Bonaparte 

How underestimating nature cost over half a million lives

Napoleon is recognized as being one of the best military commanders of all time, winning many battles and out smarting his enemies at every turn, but he also made one of the biggest mistakes in military history. During the war between Britain and France, Napoleon tried to invade Russia to stop them from trading with the British Empire in a move that was officially called the “Second Polish war” and started with Napoleon kicking the Russian forces out of Poland, but he soon moved on to invade the Russian homeland, and that’s when things went wrong.

Russia is a huge country and at the time Napoleon had the biggest single army that Europe had ever assembled, numbering 685,000 strong. No single country could resist such an army and due to Russia’s size, it takes a long time to mobilize their armies, forcing them to give ground to the French invaders. On 24 June 1812 Napoleon quickly marched his army through western Russia meeting little resistance up until the battle of Smolensk that saw around 20,000 casualties, mostly from the Russian side.

Napoleon thought he would now be able to force the Russian emperor to make a deal, but no such offer came and to make things worse, the Russian army was now employing scorched earth tactics as they retreated. This is the point where Napoleon should have turned back but instead decided to try and catch up with the Russian army, quickly marching his men through many miles of burnt crop fields and destroyed buildings.

Russia can get surprisingly hot during the summer months and forcing someone to march all day every day through the heat takes its toll, on top of that there were now no more local supplies because the Russian army had either taken or destroyed them, leaving the massive French army to rely entirely on its on supply chain which by no standard was capable enough of supplying so many people at such a great distance. Quickly marching his men through the countryside for over a month took its toll on the troops, and tens of thousands deserting or died from typhoid.

It wasn’t until the battle of Borodino on 7 September that the French caught up with the Russian army and engaged in the bloodiest battle of the war, with over 70,000 dead. After this battle Napoleon found the area once again ablaze and void of supplies, but now he was only one week’s march from the city of Moscow and taking it would almost certainly force the Russians to strike a deal.

The French army entered the city only to find it on fire and all supplies had been removed and the wells contaminated with dead bodies. Napoleon stayed in the city for a month waiting for a deal he was so sure would come, but Emperor Alexander I had no intention of making any offers since he was well aware of the state of the French troops.

The French supply chain was not only greatly over-stretched, but was also suffering constant ambushes from Russian Guerilla fighters and on October 19, Napoleon was forced to abandon the city. In one last ditch attempt to force the Russians to surrender he marched his army to meet a nearby Russian force and the two sides engaged in what came to be known as the Battle of Maloyaroslavets.

Neither side really won and the Russian army retreated deeper into the country while the French were forced to retreat back to the Polish border. By now the harsh winter conditions had set in and the French were not only starving and being constantly attacked, but now they had to deal with the threat of freezing to death.

The vast majority of the horses had been killed and eaten by this point which led to the French having to abandon their wagons and carry everything by foot. With no more food coming and non-available in the local area, the French army began to freeze and starve at a rapid rate, loosing thousands of men every day during the last month of the campaign.

On 14 December 1812, the last of the French forces left Russian territory and crossed the border back into Poland. Out of the 685,000 troops Napoleon took with him on the campaign, only 27,000 survived and made it back into French territory. No one knows the exact numbers but an estimated 380,000 troops died from either hypothermia, typhoid, starvation or physical injuries, and around 100,000 troops were cut off and captured, most of which were later executed.

The loss of such a big army with nothing to show for it was the turning point in Napoleon’s rule, with Prussia and Austria quickly switching sides after his defeat. He also lost a huge amount of political influence in his own country and the loss of his army was the beginning of his downfall, but he wasn’t the only commander in history to underestimate nature and pay the price. Time and time again commanders have marched their armies through terrain they don’t understand at the cost of many lives, another great example of which would be during the crusades when entire armies died in the desert before they even got close to fighting their enemy. Preparing properly before going into unknown terrain can and most likely will save your life, so take a lesson from one of the greatest commanders in history and take knowledge and supplies on your next journey into the wild instead of ambition and arrogance.