Napoleon/Putin

 This week, I spent two hours reading over what was commonly called the 'France-Russia War', or the Russia Campaign, or the 2nd Polish War, or the 2nd Polish Campaign, or the Patriotic War of 1812, and the War of 1812,  Yeah, historians really get into this Napoleon episode.    

Oddly, it fits into the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war scenario.

So, to briefly introduce you to the war.

Historians say the war started on 24 June 2012.  For the most part, they are not accounting for the 'walk/march' from the border of France to the Nemen River (Vilnius, Lithuania).   If you eyeball the river....getting from France to that point, it'll take you a minimum of 36 days (figuring you have a willing nature to march 40 km each day).  So the march probably started closer to mid-May.

The number of troops involved for Napoleon?  Historians will argue over this.  The general number is 620k to 690k (assembled from sixteen empires/states).

From the period of 1807 to 1812....there were various political strategies at play by various European countries, and Russia seemed connected to each strategy.  At one point....Napoleon hinted that he would marry the sister of Tsar Alexander I.  This 'deal' (the arranged marriage) fell through, and Napoleon ended marrying the daughter of the Austrian Emperor instead.  You can speculate a lot on this....but the Russian marriage might have dramatically changed history in a major way.

So a few months after that.....things are set to 'liberate' the poor Russians from the evil Tsar Alexander I, which the war officially is noted on the 24th of June.

This march from the Nemen River area to Moscow?  About 900 km....figure about 22 days.  

A fair number of people talk about this summer march, and that by late July....having arrived on the edge of Moscow...most all of Napoleon Army were worn out.  If you count in 40 km's of march per day.....summer heat....limited rest....no thrills except wine or beer, it's not the thing that guys really get hyped up about.

Then as they arrive on the edge of Moscow....with all this chatter of liberating the city and expecting people to welcome you, with parades and kisses.....the Napoleon Army discovers that vast majority of the city have left (arguments differ, but most say a minimum of 80-percent of population left).  In some odd way, it does resemble the Ukraine war, where Russians felt they would be welcomed and it'd be a short campaign.

Then the city fire started....burning for days.  Most historians will say that three-quarters of the city lay in ashes by the end, with the Napoleon Army standing there in amazement of the landscape.  There was not much to ransack, and no one to honor them with a parade.  

What you can from the brief period of the Moscow fire.....the supplies that Napoleon brought along was of a limited nature.  He really needed the war to conclude quickly in Moscow.  In his mind....just showing up was enough for the Russians to give up and sign the peace treaty.  He figured wrong.

The battle at Borodino (7 September 1812)?  It's not what you'd call a win or lose situation.  Napoleon ended up (out of 130k of his troops engaging) with around 30,000 lost.  From this point on....there was no advantage for the French.

At some point around 19 October, the retreat started up.  You can blame forty-odd things but it came down to three basic problems.  First, Napoleon did not have the logistics to support more than 45 days of 'war' at the front.  Second, the BS factor of Moscow folks feeling liberated....maxed-out at a '9' (on one to ten).  Third, the march situation (the summer spent getting there) had left Napoleon with a tired and run-down Army.  

So the retreat started up.  The war officially ended by mid-December and if you look over total numbers killed 'in action'....France lost around half of it's start-up numbers....with two-thirds of those alive at that point.....dying on the retreat back across the 2,500 kms.  

Curiously, a number of historians point to one key factor about Napoleon....that he was not in the physical/mental condition of the previous decade.  He had various tumors to be dealt with, and by 1821....would die of stomach cancer.  

If you compare Napoleon and Putin....there's a lot of little factors at work.