Napoleon's Grande Armee crossed the Niemen into Russia
On this day · 24 June 1812
On June 24, 1812, Napoleon led roughly half a million men across one river and into the campaign that would unmake his empire.
Before dawn on June 24, 1812, the first columns of Napoleon’s Grande Armee crossed the Niemen River near Kovno (modern Kaunas, Lithuania) on bridges thrown up overnight. It was the largest army Europe had yet assembled—around 500,000 men at the border, with more to follow—and Napoleon watched the crossing from a rise above the water.
The goal was to force Tsar Alexander I back into line behind France’s blockade of British trade. Instead, the Russians refused a decisive battle, retreating eastward and burning the country behind them. The Grande Armee reached a half-deserted Moscow in September, then began a catastrophic winter retreat.
Of the vast host that crossed the Niemen in June, fewer than 100,000 would stagger back out.
Disease, starvation, and cold did far more damage than Russian guns. The campaign shattered the myth of Napoleon’s invincibility and emboldened the coalition that would defeat him within two years.
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