I hope you enjoy the new episode in our Napoleonic Wars series. This one is a little longer as I wanted time to try and convey the sheer drama and suffering involved in this infamous and tragic episode of military history. Help us to make more videos by joining us on Patreon for early access and other perks, or shopping for EHTV branded merchandise! Leipzig and the 1813 German campaign next up, in the meantime I hope you all have excellent holiday seasons.
_The biggest understatement in history_ I think I have a better one. And of course, it is coming from a British. So, it is 1942 and the Italo-Germans are duking it out with the Commonwealth forces in the desert. At Gazala, Rommel launched a pinning attack with the Italian infantry, while his mobile forces went in an all in flank. And when I say all in, I mean it. He threw his entire mechanised force - five divisions, thousands of vehicles, and virtually every Axis tank in the order of battle, comprising a solid block of armor nearly 15 miles on a side - against the British rear after a large flanking manouver. The Commonwealth forces woke up to an amazing scene: an enormous cloud of dust, the sign of a huge sandstorm. By now, they’d all seen strange weather patterns and storms blow up out of nowhere. This one, however, suddenly clarified into something worse: tanks, tanks, and more tanks, vehicles of every description, sailing out of the dust. Brigade after brigade fell with little fighting, completely caught by surprise. However, past the initial shock, Auchinlek's command stood firm to endure the onslaught, and Rommel's forces became hard pressed and had to make a fighting withdrawal _through_ the British lines. The onslaught left the British forces in tatters, and Tobruk now wide exposed. Until so far in the rear, the 2nd South African division garrisonning Tobruk suddendly found themselves on the front lines. Attacking at dawn, by nood there over 100 German tanks pouring into the perimeter of the fortress: the 2nd South African Division was begin cut to pieces, swarmed on all sides by Italo-German infantry and tanks. It was at this time that Mj. General Klopper radioed the understatement of the century: "Situation not in hand".
@@VRichardsn I think he actually was holding "situation" in his hand quite literally, but then "situation" fell to the floor and he radioed "situation not in hand". Because otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. As to what exactly "situation" is, i cannot say for sure. Maybe it was a picture of his lover called "situation".
Hitler said the same thing in December 1941 while his armies fled before the gates of Moscow. He had studied Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, but because mechanized warfare was now possible he reasoned that it would be a quick campaign and the Russians would retreat as they had in Napoleon's time. This was proved to be correct, but Moscow was not taken and Hitler deeply underestimated Stalin's intent to fight the war to victory or death.
one is of alexander ney. its in manchester museum, England - its my fave, i knew the painting before the story - its a epic picture. the red in his eyes is crazy - oh its the thumbnail picture
Sorry its not the thumbnail, i dont think unless the thumbnail is a clip of it, but its the one that pops up - google "Marshal Ney Supporting the Rear Guard During the Retreat from Moscow"
I can't get over how intense your portrayal of the Battle of the Berezina is. The music and the narration make it clear like no other documentary I've seen how desperate the situation was. It's epic and I come back to it constantly.
The music is without any competition this, the 1812 overture. ua-cam.com/video/ZrsYD46W1U0/v-deo.html Or why not this for an other retreat. ua-cam.com/video/WGiz_qbViE0/v-deo.html
I have watched all your videos... But I nevver left a comment.. In this video I couldn't resist.... You truly deserve that name for your channel... This video was breathtaking!!!
Only idiots say that. History our roots. I take note of Napoleon mistakes and what he achieved. We are millions to love what he tried in Europe : unify European nations and stop the dark ages of the unfair medieval system. One day I hope we will have a such great leader to unify the European people
The army that fought at Waterloo was only a shadow of its former self. It's quite likely that it's the retreat from Moscow that destroyed napoleon. My grandfather died only a few years ago aged 99. He remembered seeing at home, when he was a child, his own great-grandfather's napoleonic rifle propped up against the wall of the family home. His great-grandfather was one of the 5% who survived the retreat and got home. But he got frostbite and lost his toes apparently. He was one of the engineers that built the bridges, and one who destroyed the bridges to prevent the Russians crossing on them, dooming many of his own people who hadn't got over in time. What a horrifying situation they found themselves in
Yes did Napoleon ego get too big, because his previous succes in Europe. He thought he could just march to Russia and Moscow and make Alexander first sign peace treaty, but Alexander first never did that, when instead the Moscow people retreated further to east where its even harder to get them. It was mistake from Napoleon to go in late time of the year to Russia, when rather should have gone in spring to Russia, so you can return before November comes around, but I dont know what was the point to even go to Russia, when its so far away from France, so if Napoleon was able to conquer Russia. He would still not be able to hold on it, when its so cold and ao far away from France, when maybe Napoleon ego hit him, that he thought he could just take Russia like that, when its been so easy to take other nations in Europe. What I think Napoleon instead should have done is to hold on the territories in Europe he has gained by defending them with his troops, if for example Russia or Britain decide to attack them, because there is no point to go too far away from your home country, because suprises like that can happen and you cant hold on to that territory. Holding on to the territories he had gained would make them french, when some point its not good to go even more east, when its just too far away from your home country and Napoleon had gone too far, so made his big mistake, that lowered his army morale a lot, when his army was so annoyed by the cold weather, that they propably had not the fighting spirit left in them, when -30 celcius weather destroys your fighting spirit, so it was hugh blow to the french man power and this is why other nations sensed weakness in french military now and thats how french military started to crumble with lack of man power from now on, so the big 600K man power, that Napoleon had should have been rather be used to defend from all sides the territories he had conquered in Europe, than be sent to freeze to death in Russia or survive with low fighting spirit left on themselves, so this is why you should not get ego in your head as military general and think its too easy to conquer these areas, when at some point there is no point to go further, when even, if your were able to conquer thoese territories. You would not be able to hold them, so it would be wortheles to conquer thoese territories and the French cant hold Russian territories, because their not built to survive in Russian winter.
Everything is good, but you didn't completely describe Kutuzov's behaviour when Napoleon entered Moscow. What he did was called "the Tarutino maneuver". He sent two cossack squads down the Yaroslavl road, so Napoleon's scouts would see the trails and think the whole Russian army retreated deeply. Whilehimself Kutuzov with army made a hook southeast and stood under the village Tarutino and there was waiting the whole time that Napoleon tried to negotiate with Alexander. Then when Napoleon went off to Kaluga, it was complete surprise for him to see Russian army at Maloyaroslavets, when he was thrown off the main passage and was forced to follow the abandoned Old-Smolensk road. So that was a kind of old commander's wisdom.
Молодец, похоже они пользовались только западными источниками. Часто цитируют французов, описывают их действия и положения изнутри. А русских совсем не цитируют и их действия описывают только в столкновениях с французами. Но всё равно, их работа очень объективна и подробна. Это лучшая документалка о войне с Наполеоном, гораздо лучше всех отечественных поделок и поверхностных халтур.
@@cityslacker6221 Kutuzov was put into command only a few days before Borodino. Before him Barclay de Tolly was commander-in-chief. He also acted decently not allowing Napoleon to squash three parted russian armies and rejoining them into one.
@@pavell712 That's interesting. I don't know how far Tarutino is from Moscow, but didn't Napoleon send any scouting parties regularly to see what Kutuzov was up to? Why was he completely caught off guard?
@@ilyotahuri4827 Napoleon wanted a ridiculous peace that he was unable to enforce. Alexander did not consider Russia beaten and rightly so. He would not accept any peace that considered Napoleon to be the winner. If someone wants peace in an undecided war he makes concessions. Napoleon was not willing to do so. You can't be naive enough to call that "wanting peace" Napoleon proved on multiple occasions that he was willing to sacrifice everyone and everything for his ambition. Far and foremost he wanted to sacrifice Germans and Poles but if necessary also waves and waves of french soldiers. It is pretty clear to everyone who the real melomaniac was ;)
@@FluppiLP If Napoleon really wanted war, he would have pursued the Russians right after the battle of Austerlitz in 1805 or after the battle of Friedland in 1807 when Russians were crashed and Napoleon was right at the border and could have pushed into Russia with better results. That is when Alexander said tilist treaty is just a break for the next war. Alexander threw Russia into wars that personally benefitted him, not Russia because he could not get over the shame after losing Austerlitz. Alexander wanted to be the great Napoleon and envied him. Most wars were declared on Napoleon, thereby they made him great for losing to Napoleon after they declared wars on him as British puppets. It should be called Monarchic wars, not Napoleonic.
Napoleon's retreat needs to be made into a horror film. The narration alone gives one chills; a measure of thanks that we live not in such a brutal time and place.
@@johnd3124 What does that have to do with anything?? All I said was you don't ned to go back in time to see war crimes and death.... It's literally happening everyday in Ukraine.
A realistic movie about all this hell would be impressive at the same time than horrific. Aah little pot-bellied corsican, you better had been a hippie than a soldier.
"I've made a grave mistake, but I'll have the means to repair it." You just lost a half a million soldiers for nothing. You can't repair that. No one can repair that.
@@razlevi8238 Populations were a tad larger at the time. Napoleon was commanding the largest army of his time, a century later it was thirty or so divisions. France was fielding over a hundred after losing two thirds of their army in the Great War.
I had to sleep outside in rain and wind and cold weather but it only got to 27 degrees at the lowest. Taking into account how horrible that felt with decent enough gear - I can't imagine below zero without proper clothing for the weather. Jesus christ those men suffered.
@@dude9318 that's not true. Perhaps they where though and fit. But Napoleon forced young men in to his army. In my country, Holland, thousand of men where forced to go to Rusland. It was a though time for occupied country's and many died. Napoleon wasn't a hero, but instat a dictator and a massmurderer.
1972taco interesting well in some cases some soldiers joined because they wanted to but nobody exactly knew what war is my point is its unimaginable to know what they went thru and some survived they are strong in my eyes but on the subject of napoleon I don't know know much of him but his plan was to unite all of europe but he made a mistake by invading so many countries
Napoleon found it very convenient to lay the blame on "General Winter" - it was one of the things that allowed him to return to France having lost practically his entire army in a humiliating defeat and retreat but rather than being deposed in a coup, he created a whole new army in short order. Such was his charisma (and skill at propaganda) that the French population were still willing to follow him, and to have their sons conscripted despite the fact that it was the Emperor who had, in effect, just killed several hundred thousand of them. Moreover, it is likely that Napoleon's ego would not allow him to accept it was his own poor decisions that lead to disaster - he was very naive in his trust of the Tzar, and delayed evacuating Moscow for many unecessary weeks. It is a common fate of dictators - they start to believe their own myths of invincibility. Hitler was the same. The initial string of victories by the Wehrmacht convinced him that he was unbeatable.
Napoleon was a master of manipulation & propaganda. To this day people lay blame for his downfall on his personnel, when he himself committed many follies. He was the common denominator among all of the catastrophies that lead to his ultimate defeat.
Not totally true: he did admit he made a grave mistake. An understatement if ever there was one. Probably only lost at waterloo because of marshall Ney, and untrained and untried new soldiers. Still took a continent to bring him down.
The problem with Napoleon, in my opinion, was that as he got older, he became more cautious and tired, not unlike the energetic general just years earlier in Italy who had able to mastermind victories. As well as this, you'll notice that in all of his later battles, he suffers massive casualties due to his huge frontal attacks on the enemy line. Napoleon's genius was that he was a risk taker - he essentially did what other generals did not have the balls to do, but by becoming more cautious, he had devolved into the same state as his enemies. Don't get me wrong, he was an incredible commander and charismatic, much more better than most generals. However, his age caused cautiousness, and his reckless behaviour was no more, which could cause great victories.
@@MarvinT0606 Exactly! Napoleon proved this again and again as this informative video on his campaigns in Italy repeatedly shows ua-cam.com/video/oHg5SJYRHA0/v-deo.html
@Floron Burn all your cities? They burned only Moscow and it was a personal decision of Kutuzov, who, like in a chess game, beat the naive fool Napoleon))
Your greatest video so far! There is nothing better than a 27 minute long Napoleonic video from you after a long day... I appreciate the work you do and i can say without hesitation, you are the best channel covering this period out there. I would like to see napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Italy with the Marengo campaign after you finish the Leipzig and the 1813-14 war. Again, keep it up you are the best!
@@EpichistoryTv Yeah, well; when you say ,,at the end of the series" i meant it would be nice to completely cover the Napoleonic wars as the early stage of the wars played a major role placing the foundation of napoleon being one of the greates generals and strategists because those were planned and executed in his best performance. They definitely do deserve attention! Thanks.
Yeah really. That was crazy. Chest deep in freezing water? Few lived? That is sacrifice. They gave their lives saving the army. What’s crazy is that in those conditions, cold weak hungry and tired, they were able to still get it done in extreme conditions. Between them and Ney, real heroes
@@mjvjohnson The Swiss regiments covered the retreat under Ney, from 6'000 Swiss only 300 survived, they were the only ones still able to fight used to te cold temepratures also having an iron discipline they were famous for.
My grandparents have a farm in Lithuania near forest were French was retreating during winter and many of them froze to death, people used to find swords, coins, metal buttons, belt buckles and so on.
Amazing story. I think it is amazing too think this was over 200 years ago and the distances covered. It reminds me of Alexander the Great in 350BC going from Macedonia to Persia and Hindu Kush mountains in India. Only a fool attacks the Russians LOL. they always pull back pull back huge country then hit hard when supply lines are too long. Pretty amazing stuff. But very sad too and must have been horrible the deaths the millions dying. Phil UK.
And now there are hardly any people left in Lithuania to make those discoveries.. How is that (fake) “freedom” and alliance with the west working out for you..? 😏
@@splifstar85 Don't talk shit. Most of developed countries are in population decline. Also economy of Lithuania rose tenth fold since 90' EU and NATO were the best thing that ever happened to this country.
@@wach9191 mate we live an age when it’s easy for anyone to learn about anything, as such FACT that population of Lithuania has declined by about 3 fold since 1990 🙈🙈 (I mean I understand that you are non to smart and think just blabbing a blatant lie is some sort of an argument, but imagine someone with half a brain cell, which is half more than you have, googles “population of Lithuania” - they will learn right away that you are talking 💩)
For the past 7 months, I have been a slow, in-depth reading of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I am nearing the end of this 1,300 page tome and have followed this series along the way. Thank you for providing such an in-depth presentation of this moment in history. It has been an invaluable resource for me during my reading, and has really revealed the brilliance of Tolstoy's masterpiece. Much gratitude.
best comment. With one exception, this was the worst retreat against each other. This war extended slavery in Russia. While Prussia, having been defeated by Napoleon, began the liberation of the peasants. лучший комментарий. За одним исключением - это было худшее отступление друг против друга. Эта война продлила рабство в России. В то время как Пруссия, потерпев поражение от Наполеона, начала освобождение крестьян.
@@user-wl9cn5kw1e I wish you could travel back in time and ask the Russian peasants, who got murdered and plundered in thousands upon thousands by the French army, what they thought of Napoleon's progressive ideas and his desire to bring "freedom" to Russian people. French army came to Russia to plunder and murder, just as did the germans in WW2, despite showering sieged Russian cities with leaflets from planes claiming they come in peace to free the Russian people from the communist slavery.
At first I doubted that my 27 minutes would be worth the time. And yet here I sit, absolutely dazed by the pure quality and, admittedly, the craftsmanship of this video. Heroic acts and a masterful way to convey them is what history is all about. I salute you from the Syberian depths where I am now. Всех с наступающим!
Победили Французов, сжигая все на своём пути и оставив в пылабщей Москве 20 000 своих же раненных солдат. А да, это величие, как и приписывать заслугу ранней зимы, которая мало того, что наступила внезапно в ноябре, так ещё и термометр показывал ниже 25 градусов! И где тут героизм?
One of the returning soldiers was my great great grandfather. His uniform and his diary of the wars brutality is kept in a museum. All this gives me goosebumps.
Yet you people still want to put your military bases on our borders and start a new war.. Go to that museum and read the diaries of your grandfather.. Today the French weapons are shelling Donetsk and killing civilians! We are still the same people as our grandfathers and will fight just as hard! Are you..? Will you be able to endure what your great grandfather did and return alive as he did..? Why are you here on our doorstep?!?
@@splifstar85 Russians have degenerated too, and so do not fight as hard as in the early 1800s; however, the French have degenerated more. But these days military technology is more important than before and more likely to decide who wins, unless it's nukes, in which case everyone takes a historically-unprecedented loss.
@@johnwilliamson9657 yeah.. Russian army sucks these days... All of nato fighting in Ukraine and at this point has depleted their arsenals.. Tens of thousands of nato soldiers are compost in Ukrainian fields.. But yeah.. your propaganda tells you that you are winning 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙈
Hello from the actual Borisov! It is a small industrial town. Most of the population here is arrogant about its own history and doesnt care much about the heritage. I remember when I was a teen we used to go to the Berezina river near the Studienka village where the infamous Berezina-crossing took place. We went there in summers to swim and take a tan. It was a breathtaking moment when I entered the river's waters for the first time, looked back and realized that behind me are the fields where 200 years ago legendary events took place. Where thousands fought bravely and died. Hell, The Emperor himself walked this ground. *And it all is just within your arms reach* Damn, history is interesting.
My ancestor, Christian Knoderer was a Captain under Napolean. He left Paris with nearly 400 men under his command and during the struggle of retreat return from Moscow with 3 of his men including himself.
Ney, such a badass. After all those great deeds for France the monarchy still executed him! When he was put on trial for treason, his lawyer tried to defend him by saying that Ney could not be judged by a French court, because the hometown of Ney was annexed by Prussia and hence he was now Prussian, but the Marshal interrupted him and proclaimed that he was French and would remain French. On the day of execution, as he stood against the firing squad he said these words: "Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her ... Soldiers, fire!"
Lol you know most of these stuff are just myths who fellow countrymen or fans made up or become popular because it seem such a badass move. It's OK if you want to believe it but it is most probably just a myth.
Why are you guys so concerned that this is a myth? What's so unbelievable in that a man called "bravest of the brave" would tell a firing squad to shoot at his order?
@@Reichsritter his father is Pierre Ney and his mother was french too (part of France is with germanic names...its history). Born in the kingdom of France in a territory where peoples spoke french...definitely 100% french.
This is premium quality stuff,and we are getting it for free...Damn,thank you mate,continue your hard work,i will definitely click on that world of tanks link,and happy holidays too!
Imagine the sense of doom they must’ve had. Wading through below freezing temperatures and waist high snow drifts knowing the Russians are coming to kill you
@@NerickovaNoha When did I say I support Russia? Why are you being subtely racist, just call me a Syrian, Europoid. Cossacks were NOT the best Russian soldiers btw, they were irregulars and cavalry, but very effective however didnt have aligned allegiances. Adding on, Cossack is a general term, they can be Kazakh, Ruthenian, Russian, Ukrainian, etc. Ukrainian troops were not among the best btw. Also whats your source on 1300 thousand KIA? Ukrainian MOD? Lmfao. Go use a actual source like mediazona which actually references public media and russian families referencing their dead. It says 36k KIA, so around 100k+ wounded. Realistic numbers.
I am Russian myself, but every time someone, in the context of a war with Russia, starts talking about winter, I want to tell the author - “Russians are the same europian people, Russians no have immunity from hypothermia, Russians also die from hypothermia.”
thats a flaw statement, even though Russians do die from hypothermia. they can manage the winter a lot better than countries who arent used to it and have less casualties due to it. Its not a surprising thing that a country can manage a climate much better than other countries that dont experience it as much. for example British couldnt handle the "heatwave" in 2022 while other countries who are used to it were making fun of them
No need to tell them, no wonder they will lose again if they attack Russia, too much arrogant Look at Vietnam they defeated american and their allies badly, but speak well of some of american unit who distinguished themselves
@Niko Gambino Russians would have been better off themselves if their entire system had been dismantled by Napolean rather than continue with the Tsars. Russia may have modernized a lot faster. It would have been divided into different regions perhaps though.
Keegan Moonshine “Russia would probably be divided into different regions perhaps though” And how is that better? It was the division of the Russian princedoms that forced the Russian people to bow down and pay tribute to the Mongols. And you think the implementation of the French Revolution (which would inspire so many nationalist revolts within ethnic groups in empires like Austria and Russia) would benefit the Russian people? What good are free peasants if their state is weak?
"Now is the moment my campaign begins." (c) Tsar Alexander I. A scary thing to hear from your opponent, especially when you've fought half-way through the entire conflict. I felt a little cold at the phrase... And by the way, Russia also fought on another front with Persia (Russo-Persian War 1804-1813). Amazing.
Imagine being a Russian criminal imprisoned for your crimes and then suddenly your own guards spring you and your buddies from prison and are told "The French are coming, set the whole place on fire. Go nuts!"
like Napoleon, you misinterpret the Russian culture. the sense of duty and patriotism of those prisoners led them to follow orders burn the city and die in the process all for the Fatherland.
This was a breathtaking episode, and I've been waiting for it all day. The plain narration at the beginning with no music really fits the somber tone of the video, and, as always, listening to the narrator is a blast. Loved watching the bravery of marshals like Ney, one of the MVP's of the Russian Campaign, and Oudinot, who'd be wounded 34 times in his life--the most out of all the marshals. I don't think Napoleon should've left his men behind no matter what happened in Paris. The Grand Armée was his lifeblood. Without them, he'd be like a cannon with no powder. But then again, there are a lot more which I think he shouldn't have done. And lastly, no matter which side one takes in this conflict, one cannot help but wonder at the tenacity shown by the brave men of the Grand Armée itself. After seeing what they went through, it's a miracle any of them managed to return alive at all. And, while many people label the Russians cowards for their strategy of scorched earth and constant retreats, we can all agree that it was the correct choice against the overwhelming numbers of the French in the beginning. Giving battle would''ve been madness. When the time came, they showed plenty of courage. This one leaves me with a melancholy feeling. When men are reduced to near-beasts by cold and hunger, they rightly no longer have the luxury to think about either Emperor or ideals. Anyway, I feel like I may have rambled on too long: Hats off to you once more, Epic History TV. Can't wait for the next episode!
Ferat: Grand Armee yes an army of Rapists plunderers looters and Murderers Why this adulation of a man who caused 3 to 6 million deaths, condoned looting, Murder,Rape is beyond me.
Interesting note: Napoleon's chief doctor, Larrey, stayed in the straggler camp until the last minute, treating the wounded. When the Cossacks came he finally agreed to leave. He was held in such estime by everyone that only 1 grenadier escorted him across in the middle of the chaos, and everybody stood aside to let him through.
I've only begun watching this entire series last week and this one episode has had me in awe and moved me more than any TV show has ever done....utterly incredible...I nearly teared up at Marshal Ney's utter badassery....I'm still learning my history the Napoleonic wars and his russian campaign was something I didn't know much about but this series has filled my head with inspiration and perspective....10/10
He did a fatal mistake on Waterloo, good soldier does not make good general. But I guess he was probably a good commander, it was fate that he ruined all the battle by acting prematurely.
@Hona Hona he broke the encirclement, or rather he was able to void the russians and reunite with the main army. I ain't saying hes inflatable, but he earns his command quite well. Given Napoleons tendency to value skill more than social standing. Plus I'm willing to bet Nays really did stay until the last man crossed.
@@Hashishtani everytime i hear about him i either hear about his great defensive battles or failures at the battle of the nations/waterloo Maybe he was just a better defender then an attacker
Yuki Terumi: No when he gave his word to King Louis that he would bring back Napoleon in chains But went over to his Army That is NOT a true man that is a traitor
There is an arms museum in the city of Tula (actually, it's a church in the Tula kremlin converted to a museum),... you can see the Grande Armee weapons and standards taken from the battlefields and displayed. I was overwhelmed.
Great Narration and the music in the background is terrific. Suspenseful . History repeated itself when in WWII Germany tried to t Conquer Russia but again determined Russian army fought hard and when horrible weather of cold and snow came, the German army suffered huge losses and failed to take Russia like it had done to many countries
@Lans Quenet The average french won't tell you details about this campain or even the year it occured. They have no idea of what are Minsk or Smolensk, but la Berezina yes. You talk about tactical success from a military point of view, people generally don't. The french army crossed the Berezina like an Arch of Defeat. As heroic as it was, still a catastrophy. Ps: I work near la Place de l'Etoile, I ride down L'avenue de Wagram on my way home ;-)
@Lans Quenet the fact that Napoleon excaped does not mean that Berezina is success. Frenches lost more than 20K troops that day, including relatively fresh 4000 from 4th Corp under Eugene..
The survivors of this retreat probably all suffered severe PTSD, including Napoleon himself. None suffered worse than Ney, after his incredible acts of valor as the rearguard. The experience wrecked his ability to exercise judgment, which some hypothesize to be a major factor in his poor performance at Quatre Bras and Waterloo.
On the field of Quatre Bras itself, he did good... He just didn't follow with an ordered pursuit. Basically, the Retreat left him with his bravery and cunning intact, but it ruined every bit of subtlety he once possessed. That made him an asset tactically, but a burden strategically.
Ney sending cavalry by themselves against a Square formation is the biggest NOOB move ever. Go play Napoleon Total War online and find out why. It amazes me that somebody online would every do such a thing. Ney of all people did this, pure insanity. I do believe that your theory is correct, there is no way a SANE person does that.
@@chibiromano5631 The French were in a valley from which they could not see the massed squares on the other side of the hill. I read that Ney saw some British troops move back over the hill and thought the British were in retreat so his natural inclination was to charge with all the cavalry. When they got over the hill they were confronted with the infantry squares and were already committed to the charge. When Napoleon, who was ill and later returned to the battle, learned that Ney had wasted the cavalry he was furious. Had the cavalry not been lost, it could have checked the later arrival of the Prussians.
probably to get them drunk enough to help with the sub zero conditions the knew they were going to die to save the army why not be wasted when you go down
Theres a good book called "diary of a napoleonic footsoldier" that follows the events of the retreat. Real crazy how it became every man for himself. Theres the account where if you fell your body would be stripped before you were dead.
Main reason why there weren’t any violence to civils was because French civils were actually fine with the coalition invading Paris, and didn’t resist at all. Also during the invasion of Russia, French troops were exhausted, hungry and angry. That’s why they sometimes pillaged Russian villages.
@@kayvan671 you are wrong. Napoleon is just the first element that allowed the unification of Germany by weakening the HRE and the Habsburg. The Grande Armée was an incredible adventure with Multi National soldiers and the Napoleon reforms were crucial. Just read Hegel. It ended badly because of the reactionary forces in Europe and British gold.
One of the engineers who constructed the pontoon bridge at Studienka is my ancestor. He and several young men from his home village died in this battle or somewhere else during the retreat. I cannot imagine the horrors they must have faced, no one even wanted to be there since they were all drafted. This video gives me an insight in how horrible it must have been for them. Thank you for your work
@@guusd8898 ok very interesting what was the nationality of your ancestor ? i said in my comment that french soldier that have done 1812 russia retreat wrote their memories in books i read in this days
@@jean3525 I was able to understand that, i can read a little bit but an entire book in french would be too much. My ancestors are Dutch, they were conscripted for the grande armee and served in the 77e cohort and 51e line regiment
@@guusd8898 it seems that the engineers of the bidge were all dutch have you got more information about ... i know that the general eblé come from lorraine but wikipedia told about 400 dutch engineers man only 8 survives i heard
Kutuzov, tsar Alexanders commander, is one of my heroes. So is Aleksandr Suvorov, skilled commander in Alexanders fathers, Paul I:s army that drove the forces of revolutionary France out of northern Italy after his legendary march over the Alps. Best wishes fro Sven in Sweden. ( By the way our Swedish king happenes to descend from, ammong others, one of Paul I:s daughters. 🙂)
I read the Memoirs of Sgt Bourgogne many years ago. It was an incredible account of the retreat and you did that account justice with your best video yet. The naration was fantastic and you should be rightly proud of this series. Well done Epic History.
I’m watching as snowmaggedon is concluding in the south central US. At my house I got about 8 inches of snow with temps as low as -9 F. I went outside to shovel my driveway and during those 5 minutes I was completely miserable. Couldn’t imagine retreating across Russia with no winter clothing in far lower temperatures. It’s amazing that even a few made it back alive.
Spent a winter in North Dakota, I can't think of anything more depressing than retreating through that. I guess it'd be par with retreating across the Sahara
And now your liberal and Neo cons elites decided to build your nato bases and bio labs on our doorstep.. What do you think will happen if you get mandatorily conscripted to fight us on our doorstep (and yes, about 70% of modern Ukrane is historic Russian territory.. that’s why the vast majority of Ukrane speaks Russian and the rest speak a dialect which is a Russian Polish mix)..? Why are you here?? Should we come to Mexico (considering they want freedom from you, judging by the rhetoric of the democratically elected leader of Mexico with the vast support of the population) and also return to Cuba..? Didn’t you annex Texas and south California from Mexico (whilst Northern California, cities such as San Francisco, was Russian territory along with Alaska.. which were sold to you but we never got the payment) and should we help them to get it back..? Is that what you really want???
A Latvian friend of mine,his family took in one of Napoleon soilders.A deserter,or whatever his circumstances,and that person married into that family and became part of as well as a Latvian.For any soilders, returning back to France ment a certain death as a deserter.
Everytime I would get that from a girl, I would think Napoleon went through much worse. But hes luckier to have lived in days that made more sense than today
Just the narration, picture displays and quality of the video really made me feel I was right there, a soldier of the Grandé Armeé. A saulte to their hardships and to the channel for making it a part of our history.
Thank you for the history lesson and thank you to the narrator for explaining it. Here in New York City listening and learning Russia and France has a beautiful long history, but war is very very ugly.
This is an incredible video and if anyone is interested on reading about the Russian campaign in horrifying detail, then I highly recommend Paul Britten Austin's three book series on the subject. 1. 1812 The March on Moscow 2. 1812 Napoleon in Moscow 3.1812 The Great Retreat Very good reading!
Napoleons army defeated the russian army when hitlers 3 armies groups entered the soviet union the whole army led by coward stalin fled east out of conflict only to invade nazi germany backed by the usa with odds of 80 to 1
@@Buildbeautiful Napoleon lost 80% of their Army in Russia and soviet flag raised in Reichstag in 1945 at the end ( in just one battle of Stalingrad germans lost 500.000 mans ). So don't write stupid thinks and stop crying about the russian winter as an excuse.
@@Buildbeautiful are u implying stalin and the soviets chickened out? u do know the Red Army was destroyed and reconstituted several times in 1941 and 1942 campaign season? no one fled east, they were pushed east early in the eastern campaign. 80 to 1 myth. germans never faced those odds in the east. the extreme was 10 to 1 during the last days of ww2 when Germany has practically exhausted herself. At the start of Barbarossa the germans even outnumbered the Soviets along the frontiers.
@B A In Budapest operation Germans had 2.5 to 1 superiority, because they wanted to protect Vienna no matter what, and Soviet troops were foxused on Kenigsberg and Warsaw. The result- they failed to break the front, lost their defensive Attila line and ran into the city. It was their last attempt of offensive in the east that ended in disaster despite numerical superiority, because at 1944 Soviets got so much battle experience, they were literally unstoppable. They even had lesser casualties in offensive, which wa unheard of.
The most epic thing at all is, that Alexander really beat Napoleon‘s strategy. Those russian army‘s didn’t appear out of mud. They were placed along the road of retreat to slow down and weaken the grand army. Alexander must have calculated, that Napoleon will have to retreat. Most likely on a road, on which he didn’t came to gain new resources (means to steal them from the civilians). It is often portrayed, that Napoleon was defeated by the russian winter. That is not the truth. The winter had been a strategic element of Alexander‘s plan. He defeated Napoleon and made Waterloo possible.
@@vonSchwarzberg It definitely was, and much maligned for his strategy, amongst his own officers he was. But Alexander knew nothing and contributed less.
This entire Napoleonic Wars series was a masterpiece. Creme de la creme. Your content puts to shame history channels. Your videos revealed to me this amazing era in our history and urged me to research and learn more about it. A time when men were brave, courageous and honour was a feat. I'm honoured to be a member of your patreon. Keep up the good work, sir.
Epure Stefan It’s better to have brave men working together than brave men dying against each other. Peace in Europe has been costly, but we should defend it at all costs, even at the risk of losing that “fighting spirit”, that simply came from geopolitical instability.
Outstanding video!! I enjoyed learning from it so much i watched it 3 times!! You guys are doing a great job - The paintings, the audio, the lyrics....everything.
"The most infamous retreat in history" Absolutely top notch video in every way and interesting to learn details about the retreat I wasn't familiar with prior.
Washington's retreat from encirclement in New York during the Revolution is every bit as nail-biting as this one, but less damning and destructive overall. Washington and his army eventually recovered; Napoleon's never did.
Marshal Ney was such a bad ass. Cant wait for the 1813 campaign and 6 days campaign. Understandable after their performances in Russua that Napoleon picked Oudinot and Ney to invade Germany in 1813 but man what would have happened if he had sent Davout instead.
@@lsatep Napoleon, an early version of the next madman in line to invade Russia. "Kick in the door and the whole rotten building will come crashing down!" Yeah, right! Who will be the next one to burn his plans of world domination in the snow and ice?
lsatep didn’t Napoleon sell Louisiana to the United States because he wanted nothing to do with colonialism after his failure in Egypt. And also cause he needed money. And because he thought it was better that the US got it rather than Britain or Spain.
let me tell you from the position of a historian living in Moscow near the places where many decisive events took place. I live in a house that is located near the street along which Napoleon entered Moscow. We have many monuments dedicated to 1812 - Kutuzov, Bagration, a hut in Fili and the Museum of the Battle of Borodino, as well as Victory Park - it was built in honor of the victory of 1945 in 1995, but it was from that place (before the park there was an elevated area) Napoleon stopped after Borodino to look at Moscow. I am a historian and wrote about the events of 1812, studied the memoirs of residents and French officers who left memoirs. Interesting facts that are not found anywhere, but I learned them from the memoirs of different sides: 1) when the French units were about to enter Moscow, the Russians retreated after Borodino through Moscow, then a truce was reached between the generals of both armies for about 1 day, so that the Russians would take their wounded and drunken soldiers, who were a danger to everyone. 2) The fire, according to the recollections of French officers, started with mysterious arsonists and Napoleon miraculously escaped from the Kremlin, going to the Moskva River through a secret tunnel, and in the area of Arbat he was met by a grenadier who evacuated him to a safe place, since then everything was on fire. 3) During the retreat, Napoleon planted Kutuzov, as we say, a pig: he opened all the valuable vaults and spread the word, so immediately after the departure of the French army, Moscow was flooded with peasants and residents of Moscow, who had not far left the city in order to appropriate more. This maneuver, according to the recollections of many, cost about 2 weeks of delay for the Russian army. 4) And according to the memoirs of a French officer, he was one of the last to leave Moscow and saw how special units laid gunpowder at the Kremlin towers, and when he drove about 30-40 kilometers and stopped for the night in the house and went to bed, he was thrown out of the sofa and the shock wave from the explosion in Moscow knocked out the window. The same officer described the field near Borodino a couple of months after the battle as littered with corpses and horses running back and forth that had lost their riders. 5) There were many Poles in the Great Army, who were considered one of the most adapted and combat-ready units in the conditions of the Russian winter. According to the recollections of Muscovites, who were not aware that Moscow would be given up without a fight, in the morning on the day of Napoleon's entry, cavalry with a small cannon swept to the Kremlin. There was a small fight near the Kremlin with local residents who organized a rebuff, but they were quickly pushed back and then fired from a cannon at the Kremlin. As it turned out, it was the Polish cavalry. 6) After the battle of Borodino, there was a meeting in Fili (now there is a museum-hut on that place), at which they decided to leave the city in order to save the army. The retreat was unexpected for many, but Kutuzov was able to disorientate Napoleon and lead the army to the South, to Tarutino, while for 9 whole days the French thought that the army had gone to Ryazan. This is very important, because when retreating from Moscow, Napoleon really wanted to spend the winter in Ukraine, where it is warmer and more food, so there was a bloody battle for Maloyaroslavets and the city changed hands 10 times. The Russians were driven out of the city, but they dug in right behind it, and Napoleon did not dare to further storm the positions and turned onto the devastated Smolensk road, along which he reached Moscow and which the Cossacks attacked from all sides. Thus, the retreat from Russia along the imposed road, in cold, hunger and constant attacks on foragers and the army, led to its almost complete defeat. By the way, I read that in the place of my house, children found many artifacts of that era, right in the yard, in the 1960s-1980s. Sorry for so many letters, i hope it was interesting :)
Alright, these three episodes about Napoleon's campaign in Russia have truly made up an astonishing work. As history student from Russia, I thank you sincerely for being objective and careful with Russian history. Your research is of the highest level, and so is the narration. A particularly nice decision by you was to listen to other Russian fellows who noted wrong stresses and from that point consult the pronunciation of all locations, geographical names and surnames. A friendly advice: always stick to this rule, simply judging Russian stresses by yourself will 90% get you wrong. Btw there are still heated debates in Russia as regards the impact of low temperatures on Napoleon's army. Some historians claim that unlike the lack of supplies along the Old Smolensk Road and guerrillas/cossacks raids, the temperatures had no severe implications up until Smolensk, as they were quite mild. However, what could have been mild for the Russian troops was devastating for Napoleon's European soldiers, who rarely faced such low temperatures and especially harsh winds at home. Also, Kutuzov was reluctant to strike a lethal blow on Napoleon not only because of numerous conscripts. He believed that his mission was to just drive Napoleon out of Russia with as low casualties as possible. The rest, he assumed, was in the hands of Russia's European allies (after they switched sides) and Britain in particular, eager to finish Napoleon off. However, his viewpoint was challenged by Alexander I, illuminated by his military and political ambitions, who led Russia into another 1,5 years of Napoleonic wars.
@Rob Roy not necessarily, the Ottomans were conquering greece and nations north of it, and had constant wars against Russia, who became their main rival during that period
@@wafs1393 Ottomon empire was ripe for annexation from 1750 onwards.The other nations of europe were hesitant to allow russia gain a foothold on mediternean sea(especially uk).
Too many could find out what means to have their fingers totally frozen in your country's mountains. And that without having a swarm of angry cossacks slaughtering around. War, all wars, are utterly stupid. God designed us for the love, not for the hate.
Kutusov wrote to Chichagov before the Beresina crossing saying: "You have to do with a man as clever as he is cunning. Napoleon will make a demonstration that he is going to cross at one point, to draw your attention to it, while most likely doing it on the other side. Prudence and vigilance!" When he received this he assumed that Studianka was too swampy to be practical and so the French preperations there were the feint and that Beresino was the real crossing point.
I believe Chichagov was just too much cautios and afraid to fight Napoleon itself even in such a condition.. no one wanted to be destroyed at the end of campagne and to become the biggest looser.
@@impaugjuldivmax Doubtfull, defending against a crossing of a very battered and completely weakened army with only bridges being used shouldn't be too "dangerous". And the prestige for not letting Napoleon escape would definitely be worth the risk.
@@MDP1702 Chichagov would lose 20k soldiers at minimun, or even more.. Napoleon as well but no one wanted this. Especially when Kutuzov itself was not too agressive when he had an opportunity to cut off Napoleon.
@@impaugjuldivmax I think you are overestimating Chichagov's possible losses. This wouldn't be just a battle. The french troops would be devasted while trying to cross. Now if you refer to when the French had already established a stable beachhead on his side of the river, then you might be right.
@@MDP1702 Nepoleon still had the Guard and a few fresh regiments from the North that haven't been involved in the campagne. Of course for him this was the most terrible position to start a battle, but I bet this would have been a deadly battle for both of them. But Chichagov was not the type of a leader to accept this. He was an admiral, acutally. Still, I think it was Kutuzov's decision to stay away from a close fight.
These videos are so great and perfectly researched. They should be shown in school or in TV. They are much better than most of the documentaries out there. Keep on the good work.
68 years later. . . Tchaikovsky: "I need a historic theme for this giant piece of music I'm writing. . . " I always knew this was the inspiration for the 1812 Overture, and seeing it depicted here and in the Borodino video is pretty neat and fascinating. How he managed to condense a massive historic event into a 15-minute piece of music. . .
This video is just depressing to watch. The untold human suffering is just unimaginable. How Napoleon ever escaped this human and military catastrophe escapes me. The fact that he wasn’t completely down and out after these events must be a testament to Napoleon’s greatness (whatever mistakes he may have made) and why his name is forever enshrined in European and world history. Fantastic video as always!
The dude went into exile and then escaped to lead France again. Whatever you may think of him, he was a man who needed dozens of battles to be defeated for good.
He was maybe the greatest military leader the world has ever seen. He just tried to do too much - pretty much fought every single nation in Europe at some point. Most badass moment is when he just walked up to soldiers sent to capture him when he returned from Elba, and just went "if you want to shoot me here I am".
Read 'Stalingrad' by Antony Beevor. Hitler repeated the exact same mistakes as Napoleon over 100 years prior. The suffering to the ground soldiers is absolutely unimaginable.
Joey Nelson not even close, I wouldn't even consider him a great general. He was never in the front, he shamed all generals and yet considered poisoning himself. Hannibal, Caesar, even Grant are better war generals.
Ah shit. As a frenchman, this will be a long, hard, grueling video for me. Funny thing, I was in Québec for me studies, and heavy snow started falling on the anniversary of the start of the retreat.
@@karimlasdoug937 No other army in the world could have escaped those conditions. I think La Grande Armèe had it worse than the Germans all those years later!!
@@karimlasdoug937 Well I'm a history student (military history more specifically, contemporary and a bit of modern times) and given that I don't really want to be a teacher I figured I would try to take courses on international relations (diplomacy, military interventions, culture of countries, that sort of things), and a university in the city of Québec City was kind enough to have a deal with my uni in France, so right now I'm an exchange student. For now it's 10/10, will take another semester.
@@papazoulou9326 That's great! I already spoke with some Quebecers and they are very nice people. By any chance, do you know if some Quebecers around you are looking for interns? My school allowed me to do an internship abroad for 2020.
@@karimlasdoug937 Hmmm, well I currently do not (except for the usual student jobs like cashier and so on). I do know sometimes the unies give a part-time job to students too. However, I also know that quebec business are looking for people and that it's pretty easy (compared to France) to get a job given the opportunities. For example the current government wanted to make a law that got things quite a bit more difficult for foreign workers/migrants to get a job/become a citizen of Quebec and that said government was said to back off this project after everyone got pissed off at them. Best tip I can give would be to get a LinkedIn account, go to forums in France that explain what you need to do (there was one in Paris which was a great way to get into contacts and learn more about job opportunities). Québec is a great choice for an internship, the administration is very efficient (at least I never had any issues) and quebecers are quite open-minded when it comes to recruiting foreigners.
One of Napoleons best qualities in my opinion is his ability to be honest with himself after something like the 1812 campaign. Just look at his quote at the end of this video, or for example when others tried to blame Berthier for the route that the army took back form Moscow, Napoleon stopped them by saying" No it was my fault, I was commander in chief and I made the final decision".
@@alfonso87ful why would he? he’s the emperor, the leader all he had to do is fix his mistake.. and…… he almost did until his marshals kept losing in 1813 campaign
At the end of the day Napoleon would have thought exile in warm cloudy ST HELENA was a paradise compared to freezing to death anywhere in RUSSIA. The Brits gave him a nice retirement 'home' .
to get reliable facts, you need to read or listen to E. Ponasenkov. He wrote an excellent book based on documents: The first scientific history of the war of 1812.
HBO is currently preparing one that is produced by Steven Spielberg, leveraging Stanley Kubrick's monster researches on the Napoleonic Wars... Can't wait.
@@joegage1255 Meh. It will be western biased and we will not see most of 1812's Russian campaign. You can bet it will have about 10-20 minutes of it mostly being mentioned by dialogue. We need a real series, if only History was behind it i would be more hopeful.
![True Size of Napoleon's Army - The Infantry [c. 1808] 3D DOCUMENTARY](/img/n.gif)
I hope you enjoy the new episode in our Napoleonic Wars series. This one is a little longer as I wanted time to try and convey the sheer drama and suffering involved in this infamous and tragic episode of military history. Help us to make more videos by joining us on Patreon for early access and other perks, or shopping for EHTV branded merchandise! Leipzig and the 1813 German campaign next up, in the meantime I hope you all have excellent holiday seasons.
So sexy thank you some much!
Can you share a music where sings at the beginning?
Love visuals and Narration😍
What about battle of Dresden?
It will be covered as part of the German campaign but Leipzig will be the featured battle.
Can we take a minute to realise that the narrators voice makes this 10 times more epic
Ben Jackson it's incredible. Absolutely
Most "narator" voice of all times.
That voice is one of the huge reasons I've played this video so much. Lolol
Yes indeed. The voice of the narrator is awesome
Peter Pen Agreed!
“This is beginning to be very serious”
The biggest understatement in history.
Not Me Not Me YEP!
Hahaha! So true. Took him that long to start taking things seriously. Uhm.
_The biggest understatement in history_
I think I have a better one. And of course, it is coming from a British.
So, it is 1942 and the Italo-Germans are duking it out with the Commonwealth forces in the desert. At Gazala, Rommel launched a pinning attack with the Italian infantry, while his mobile forces went in an all in flank. And when I say all in, I mean it. He threw his entire mechanised force - five divisions, thousands of vehicles, and virtually every Axis tank in the order of battle, comprising a solid block of armor nearly 15 miles on a side - against the British rear after a large flanking manouver. The Commonwealth forces woke up to an amazing scene: an enormous cloud of dust, the sign of a huge sandstorm. By now, they’d all seen strange weather patterns and storms blow up out of nowhere. This one, however, suddenly clarified into something worse: tanks, tanks, and more tanks, vehicles of every description, sailing out of the dust. Brigade after brigade fell with little fighting, completely caught by surprise. However, past the initial shock, Auchinlek's command stood firm to endure the onslaught, and Rommel's forces became hard pressed and had to make a fighting withdrawal _through_ the British lines. The onslaught left the British forces in tatters, and Tobruk now wide exposed. Until so far in the rear, the 2nd South African division garrisonning Tobruk suddendly found themselves on the front lines. Attacking at dawn, by nood there over 100 German tanks pouring into the perimeter of the fortress: the 2nd South African Division was begin cut to pieces, swarmed on all sides by Italo-German infantry and tanks. It was at this time that Mj. General Klopper radioed the understatement of the century: "Situation not in hand".
@@VRichardsn I think he actually was holding "situation" in his hand quite literally, but then "situation" fell to the floor and he radioed "situation not in hand". Because otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. As to what exactly "situation" is, i cannot say for sure. Maybe it was a picture of his lover called "situation".
Hitler said the same thing in December 1941 while his armies fled before the gates of Moscow. He had studied Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, but because mechanized warfare was now possible he reasoned that it would be a quick campaign and the Russians would retreat as they had in Napoleon's time. This was proved to be correct, but Moscow was not taken and Hitler deeply underestimated Stalin's intent to fight the war to victory or death.
The paintings are glorious.
Alot of them are in the great patriotic war museum in red Square Moscow!! I saw them 😃
one is of alexander ney. its in manchester museum, England - its my fave, i knew the painting before the story - its a epic picture. the red in his eyes is crazy - oh its the thumbnail picture
Sorry its not the thumbnail, i dont think unless the thumbnail is a clip of it, but its the one that pops up - google "Marshal Ney Supporting the Rear Guard During the Retreat from Moscow"
@@chad4858 you have been in lockdown for months havent you?
Could anyone give me the name of the Young Guard Sacrifice in Krasny? Near 14:23 . I've been looking for it for a long time ...
I can't get over how intense your portrayal of the Battle of the Berezina is. The music and the narration make it clear like no other documentary I've seen how desperate the situation was. It's epic and I come back to it constantly.
The music is without any competition this, the 1812 overture.
ua-cam.com/video/ZrsYD46W1U0/v-deo.html
Or why not this for an other retreat.
ua-cam.com/video/WGiz_qbViE0/v-deo.html
Me too. I watch this video often, and never get bored
it was making me feel some fear while i was watching it
the same feeling i got when hearing about nutty putty but less anxiety
Same with holding open the road at Krasny
I have watched all your videos... But I nevver left a comment.. In this video I couldn't resist.... You truly deserve that name for your channel... This video was breathtaking!!!
Thank you!
Indeed
I agree ! Same with me, I never wrote a comment but have been watching your videos and the quality is outstanding! 🔥
@@EpichistoryTv He says: "No problem cause you are very very well in history" :P
I'm waiting in the movie with Danny Davito as him
And people say history is boring
Grenades and Bunnies people say a lot of stupid shit.
Only idiots say that. History our roots. I take note of Napoleon mistakes and what he achieved. We are millions to love what he tried in Europe : unify European nations and stop the dark ages of the unfair medieval system.
One day I hope we will have a such great leader to unify the European people
Khaye Ayubann agreed my college Holocaust history class was very boring because the professor was pretty monotone in his lectures.
@@freewal beviti meno cazzate va
@@beniaminosani2719
borsa di merda
Napoleon: "Peace lies in Moscow".
Moscow: Yes, eternal peace.
Dark but true argument.
Wut
This made me laugh.
Quotes that didn't age well..
rest in peace, amen
The army that fought at Waterloo was only a shadow of its former self. It's quite likely that it's the retreat from Moscow that destroyed napoleon. My grandfather died only a few years ago aged 99. He remembered seeing at home, when he was a child, his own great-grandfather's napoleonic rifle propped up against the wall of the family home. His great-grandfather was one of the 5% who survived the retreat and got home. But he got frostbite and lost his toes apparently. He was one of the engineers that built the bridges, and one who destroyed the bridges to prevent the Russians crossing on them, dooming many of his own people who hadn't got over in time. What a horrifying situation they found themselves in
Yes did Napoleon ego get too big, because his previous succes in Europe. He thought he could just march to Russia and Moscow and make Alexander first sign peace treaty, but Alexander first never did that, when instead the Moscow people retreated further to east where its even harder to get them. It was mistake from Napoleon to go in late time of the year to Russia, when rather should have gone in spring to Russia, so you can return before November comes around, but I dont know what was the point to even go to Russia, when its so far away from France, so if Napoleon was able to conquer Russia. He would still not be able to hold on it, when its so cold and ao far away from France, when maybe Napoleon ego hit him, that he thought he could just take Russia like that, when its been so easy to take other nations in Europe. What I think Napoleon instead should have done is to hold on the territories in Europe he has gained by defending them with his troops, if for example Russia or Britain decide to attack them, because there is no point to go too far away from your home country, because suprises like that can happen and you cant hold on to that territory. Holding on to the territories he had gained would make them french, when some point its not good to go even more east, when its just too far away from your home country and Napoleon had gone too far, so made his big mistake, that lowered his army morale a lot, when his army was so annoyed by the cold weather, that they propably had not the fighting spirit left in them, when -30 celcius weather destroys your fighting spirit, so it was hugh blow to the french man power and this is why other nations sensed weakness in french military now and thats how french military started to crumble with lack of man power from now on, so the big 600K man power, that Napoleon had should have been rather be used to defend from all sides the territories he had conquered in Europe, than be sent to freeze to death in Russia or survive with low fighting spirit left on themselves, so this is why you should not get ego in your head as military general and think its too easy to conquer these areas, when at some point there is no point to go further, when even, if your were able to conquer thoese territories. You would not be able to hold them, so it would be wortheles to conquer thoese territories and the French cant hold Russian territories, because their not built to survive in Russian winter.
Very cool!
ну бывает... бывает... , приходи теперь ты в гости )
@@jout738 👏👏👍🏼
The spanish was a even bigger mistake since unlike Russia, it was a useless and pointless invasion.
Everything is good, but you didn't completely describe Kutuzov's behaviour when Napoleon entered Moscow. What he did was called "the Tarutino maneuver". He sent two cossack squads down the Yaroslavl road, so Napoleon's scouts would see the trails and think the whole Russian army retreated deeply. Whilehimself Kutuzov with army made a hook southeast and stood under the village Tarutino and there was waiting the whole time that Napoleon tried to negotiate with Alexander. Then when Napoleon went off to Kaluga, it was complete surprise for him to see Russian army at Maloyaroslavets, when he was thrown off the main passage and was forced to follow the abandoned Old-Smolensk road. So that was a kind of old commander's wisdom.
Молодец, похоже они пользовались только западными источниками. Часто цитируют французов, описывают их действия и положения изнутри. А русских совсем не цитируют и их действия описывают только в столкновениях с французами. Но всё равно, их работа очень объективна и подробна. Это лучшая документалка о войне с Наполеоном, гораздо лучше всех отечественных поделок и поверхностных халтур.
Да, согласен. Все отлично проработано.
Cutting off the Southern route was the most important aspect of all of Kutuzov's decisions since the day Napolean crossed the Nieman.
@@cityslacker6221 Kutuzov was put into command only a few days before Borodino. Before him Barclay de Tolly was commander-in-chief. He also acted decently not allowing Napoleon to squash three parted russian armies and rejoining them into one.
@@pavell712 That's interesting. I don't know how far Tarutino is from Moscow, but didn't Napoleon send any scouting parties regularly to see what Kutuzov was up to? Why was he completely caught off guard?
Napoleon: "We captured Moscow, surrender now!"
Alexander: "Or what?"
Napoleon: "I don't know I never thought I'd get this far"
Arcuate
@aji har Megalomaniac! Let thousands to their deaths for his petty ambition.
@@charismatic1516 Napoleon wanted peace but alexander did not. So who is the real meglomaniac?!
@@ilyotahuri4827 Napoleon wanted a ridiculous peace that he was unable to enforce. Alexander did not consider Russia beaten and rightly so. He would not accept any peace that considered Napoleon to be the winner.
If someone wants peace in an undecided war he makes concessions. Napoleon was not willing to do so. You can't be naive enough to call that "wanting peace"
Napoleon proved on multiple occasions that he was willing to sacrifice everyone and everything for his ambition. Far and foremost he wanted to sacrifice Germans and Poles but if necessary also waves and waves of french soldiers. It is pretty clear to everyone who the real melomaniac was ;)
@@FluppiLP If Napoleon really wanted war, he would have pursued the Russians right after the battle of Austerlitz in 1805 or after the battle of Friedland in 1807 when Russians were crashed and Napoleon was right at the border and could have pushed into Russia with better results. That is when Alexander said tilist treaty is just a break for the next war. Alexander threw Russia into wars that personally benefitted him, not Russia because he could not get over the shame after losing Austerlitz. Alexander wanted to be the great Napoleon and envied him. Most wars were declared on Napoleon, thereby they made him great for losing to Napoleon after they declared wars on him as British puppets. It should be called Monarchic wars, not Napoleonic.
Napoleon's retreat needs to be made into a horror film. The narration alone gives one chills; a measure of thanks that we live not in such a brutal time and place.
You would think so but women and children and men are dying and being trortured every day in Ukraine and Yemen
there is books memories of french soldiers who retreat and escaped. you are rigth it was like horror film
we live in very comfortable times, no world wars.. information at the tip of your fingers
@@johnd3124 What does that have to do with anything?? All I said was you don't ned to go back in time to see war crimes and death.... It's literally happening everyday in Ukraine.
A realistic movie about all this hell would be impressive at the same time than horrific. Aah little pot-bellied corsican, you better had been a hippie than a soldier.
"I've made a grave mistake, but I'll have the means to repair it."
You just lost a half a million soldiers for nothing. You can't repair that. No one can repair that.
say that to stalin in the battle of kiev 1941.
@@razlevi8238 Populations were a tad larger at the time. Napoleon was commanding the largest army of his time, a century later it was thirty or so divisions. France was fielding over a hundred after losing two thirds of their army in the Great War.
@@Lorgar64 Please remind us newbies how many men there are per division. 30 divisions is meaningless to most of us.
@@RogueReplicant It was a little fluid, but a division numbered 10,000 - 20,000 men. 30 divisions could easily be half a million men.
This shows accurately how he considered all this as a game.
Its Cold Outside...but after watching this video I’m not going to complain again.
18:40 Poland always tried to kill us and always helped our enemies without WW2 times
I had to sleep outside in rain and wind and cold weather but it only got to 27 degrees at the lowest. Taking into account how horrible that felt with decent enough gear - I can't imagine below zero without proper clothing for the weather. Jesus christ those men suffered.
Daniel Godoy ha true but remember those soldiers were tough and had spirit
@@dude9318 that's not true. Perhaps they where though and fit. But Napoleon forced young men in to his army. In my country, Holland, thousand of men where forced to go to Rusland. It was a though time for occupied country's and many died. Napoleon wasn't a hero, but instat a dictator and a massmurderer.
1972taco interesting well in some cases some soldiers joined because they wanted to but nobody exactly knew what war is my point is its unimaginable to know what they went thru and some survived they are strong in my eyes but on the subject of napoleon I don't know know much of him but his plan was to unite all of europe but he made a mistake by invading so many countries
"Now is the moment MY CAMPAIGN begins."
A scary thing to hear from your opponent, especially when you've fought half-way through the entire conflict.
*especially after you already spent half of your army.
Observer29830 Indeed.
Napoleon entering Moscow: So, it is finally over
Russians: It has just begun
this is why Russians will never lose against the West
@Biden’s_Bro 58 america have no friends this is the money and nothing
“And now it begins”
“Nu...... nuwitends”
@Biden’s_Bro 58 there were no ''comrades'' in early 19th century
@@levangeorgi6974 didn't Russia lose against Napoleon in the war of the 4th coalition.
Napoleon found it very convenient to lay the blame on "General Winter" - it was one of the things that allowed him to return to France having lost practically his entire army in a humiliating defeat and retreat but rather than being deposed in a coup, he created a whole new army in short order. Such was his charisma (and skill at propaganda) that the French population were still willing to follow him, and to have their sons conscripted despite the fact that it was the Emperor who had, in effect, just killed several hundred thousand of them. Moreover, it is likely that Napoleon's ego would not allow him to accept it was his own poor decisions that lead to disaster - he was very naive in his trust of the Tzar, and delayed evacuating Moscow for many unecessary weeks. It is a common fate of dictators - they start to believe their own myths of invincibility. Hitler was the same. The initial string of victories by the Wehrmacht convinced him that he was unbeatable.
It’s amazing how Russia managed to cope with dictators who subjugated half the world. Truly a great story.
Napoleon was a master of manipulation & propaganda. To this day people lay blame for his downfall on his personnel, when he himself committed many follies. He was the common denominator among all of the catastrophies that lead to his ultimate defeat.
Not totally true: he did admit he made a grave mistake. An understatement if ever there was one. Probably only lost at waterloo because of marshall Ney, and untrained and untried new soldiers.
Still took a continent to bring him down.
He did say that a mystake but he had the the means to repair it, and he almost manage it to repair
The problem with Napoleon, in my opinion, was that as he got older, he became more cautious and tired, not unlike the energetic general just years earlier in Italy who had able to mastermind victories. As well as this, you'll notice that in all of his later battles, he suffers massive casualties due to his huge frontal attacks on the enemy line. Napoleon's genius was that he was a risk taker - he essentially did what other generals did not have the balls to do, but by becoming more cautious, he had devolved into the same state as his enemies.
Don't get me wrong, he was an incredible commander and charismatic, much more better than most generals. However, his age caused cautiousness, and his reckless behaviour was no more, which could cause great victories.
This was awesome the line from Tsar Alexander after Napoleon started the retreat “now my campaign begins” sent chills through me.
"chills" LOL
*"If you want to catch a mouse, leave the trap open"* -Frederick the Great
@@MarvinT0606 Exactly! Napoleon proved this again and again as this informative video on his campaigns in Italy repeatedly shows
ua-cam.com/video/oHg5SJYRHA0/v-deo.html
Император Всероссийский
@Floron Burn all your cities? They burned only Moscow and it was a personal decision of Kutuzov, who, like in a chess game, beat the naive fool Napoleon))
The engineers building that bridge in the freezing water with most dying is incredible.
Horrible way to go
They had no choice! If they did not build the bridge they knew they'd die anyway!
Stupid men
@@phillawrence5148 stupid men
They wanted "to become" nobility and kings!!! Hahaha
Your greatest video so far! There is nothing better than a 27 minute long Napoleonic video from you after a long day... I appreciate the work you do and i can say without hesitation, you are the best channel covering this period out there. I would like to see napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Italy with the Marengo campaign after you finish the Leipzig and the 1813-14 war. Again, keep it up you are the best!
PRO HUNTER marengo would be great
Thank you! There'll be a vote on Patreon at the end of the series to see what's next - more Napoleon will likely be one of the options.
@@EpichistoryTv
Yeah, well; when you say ,,at the end of the series" i meant it would be nice to completely cover the Napoleonic wars as the early stage of the wars played a major role placing the foundation of napoleon being one of the greates generals and strategists because those were planned and executed in his best performance. They definitely do deserve attention! Thanks.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
@@EpichistoryTv a 30 years war series would be epic
I'm a history geek, so I really enjoyed this documentary. Thanks for making this long enough to tell the entire story as it deserves to be told.
The engineers are the real MVP
Yeah really. That was crazy. Chest deep in freezing water? Few lived?
That is sacrifice. They gave their lives saving the army. What’s crazy is that in those conditions, cold weak hungry and tired, they were able to still get it done in extreme conditions. Between them and Ney, real heroes
As usual 🤷♂️ where the world be without engineers ☝️🧐
@@mjvjohnson The Swiss regiments covered the retreat under Ney, from 6'000 Swiss only 300 survived, they were the only ones still able to fight used to te cold temepratures also having an iron discipline they were famous for.
Just like the US Army Engineers during the Battle of the Buldge.
Nah. Marshal Ney was.
"This is beginning to be very serious" - Napoleon
very serious
General Kutuzov- "Beginning?"
Yea when that popped up I died from laughing
british stiff upper lip
"nervous sweating"
My grandparents have a farm in Lithuania near forest were French was retreating during winter and many of them froze to death, people used to find swords, coins, metal buttons, belt buckles and so on.
Amazing story. I think it is amazing too think this was over 200 years ago and the distances covered. It reminds me of Alexander the Great in 350BC going from Macedonia to Persia and Hindu Kush mountains in India. Only a fool attacks the Russians LOL. they always pull back pull back huge country then hit hard when supply lines are too long. Pretty amazing stuff. But very sad too and must have been horrible the deaths the millions dying. Phil UK.
And now there are hardly any people left in Lithuania to make those discoveries..
How is that (fake) “freedom” and alliance with the west working out for you..? 😏
@@splifstar85 Don't talk shit. Most of developed countries are in population decline. Also economy of Lithuania rose tenth fold since 90' EU and NATO were the best thing that ever happened to this country.
@@wach9191 mate we live an age when it’s easy for anyone to learn about anything, as such FACT that population of Lithuania has declined by about 3 fold since 1990 🙈🙈
(I mean I understand that you are non to smart and think just blabbing a blatant lie is some sort of an argument, but imagine someone with half a brain cell, which is half more than you have, googles “population of Lithuania” - they will learn right away that you are talking 💩)
@@wach9191 After Ukraine it is your turn
For the past 7 months, I have been a slow, in-depth reading of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I am nearing the end of this 1,300 page tome and have followed this series along the way. Thank you for providing such an in-depth presentation of this moment in history. It has been an invaluable resource for me during my reading, and has really revealed the brilliance of Tolstoy's masterpiece. Much gratitude.
Best book ever, it`s not even close.
So both France and Russia fought a brilliant fighting retreat againts each other in a single campaign. How epic was that
Hona Hona Nice. I'm browsing comments and I saw you calling other people "fools " and "idiots" . You must be so proud of yourself
best comment.
With one exception, this was the worst retreat against each other.
This war extended slavery in Russia.
While Prussia, having been defeated by Napoleon, began the liberation of the peasants.
лучший комментарий.
За одним исключением - это было худшее отступление друг против друга.
Эта война продлила рабство в России.
В то время как Пруссия, потерпев поражение от Наполеона, начала освобождение крестьян.
@@user-wl9cn5kw1e I wish you could travel back in time and ask the Russian peasants, who got murdered and plundered in thousands upon thousands by the French army, what they thought of Napoleon's progressive ideas and his desire to bring "freedom" to Russian people. French army came to Russia to plunder and murder, just as did the germans in WW2, despite showering sieged Russian cities with leaflets from planes claiming they come in peace to free the Russian people from the communist slavery.
@@lexejoris4756 Communist slavery and Holodomor. Never forget Holodomor as one of the key successes of Communism.
@@Endremael Exactly, the two nonexisted Goebbels's creations.
At first I doubted that my 27 minutes would be worth the time. And yet here I sit, absolutely dazed by the pure quality and, admittedly, the craftsmanship of this video. Heroic acts and a masterful way to convey them is what history is all about. I salute you from the Syberian depths where I am now. Всех с наступающим!
Every video of Epic History and Kings&Generals are worth your time
Победили Французов, сжигая все на своём пути и оставив в пылабщей Москве 20 000 своих же раненных солдат. А да, это величие, как и приписывать заслугу ранней зимы, которая мало того, что наступила внезапно в ноябре, так ещё и термометр показывал ниже 25 градусов! И где тут героизм?
Are you really in Siberia? Is it work or did you behave bad and this is a punishment? Just joking.
@@fernandofernandez8067 we were born here and live happily
One of the returning soldiers was my great great grandfather. His uniform and his diary of the wars brutality is kept in a museum. All this gives me goosebumps.
Yet you people still want to put your military bases on our borders and start a new war..
Go to that museum and read the diaries of your grandfather..
Today the French weapons are shelling Donetsk and killing civilians!
We are still the same people as our grandfathers and will fight just as hard!
Are you..?
Will you be able to endure what your great grandfather did and return alive as he did..?
Why are you here on our doorstep?!?
@@splifstar85 History repeats itself over and over again.
@@splifstar85 Russians have degenerated too, and so do not fight as hard as in the early 1800s; however, the French have degenerated more. But these days military technology is more important than before and more likely to decide who wins, unless it's nukes, in which case everyone takes a historically-unprecedented loss.
@@johnwilliamson9657 Yeah no, love for the Motherland outweights everything else.
@@johnwilliamson9657 yeah.. Russian army sucks these days...
All of nato fighting in Ukraine and at this point has depleted their arsenals..
Tens of thousands of nato soldiers are compost in Ukrainian fields..
But yeah.. your propaganda tells you that you are winning 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙈
The amount of human suffering and the severity of it, pertaining to this conflict, is horrifying to think about.
You forgot that was caused by the madness of one single midget!!! They were rewarded accordingly!!!
Con la destruction del ejercito de napoleon, el mundo se libro' de mucha mierda!!!
Dont worry about past, worry about future still russians killing babies and cooking
Hello from the actual Borisov! It is a small industrial town. Most of the population here is arrogant about its own history and doesnt care much about the heritage. I remember when I was a teen we used to go to the Berezina river near the Studienka village where the infamous Berezina-crossing took place. We went there in summers to swim and take a tan. It was a breathtaking moment when I entered the river's waters for the first time, looked back and realized that behind me are the fields where 200 years ago legendary events took place. Where thousands fought bravely and died. Hell, The Emperor himself walked this ground. *And it all is just within your arms reach*
Damn, history is interesting.
Nice applause :) if anyone would like to hear about the great history polish saber in napoleonic era ... szablotłuk polski
@@szablotukpolski5201 This story is short. The poles served the French, but out of habit they sucked everyone away.
@@Quintus_Sertorius Especially the Russian army sucked in 1812 when the Polish cavalry was the first to enter Moscow :))
needless slaughter
It is!
My ancestor, Christian Knoderer was a Captain under Napolean. He left Paris with nearly 400 men under his command and during the struggle of retreat return from Moscow with 3 of his men including himself.
Balls
That just shows how brutal the war in Russia was. Literal Bloodbath during the retreat..
from Switzerland?
She’s a hero
Thats pretty cool
I added Turkish subtitles accept it plz.Worked pretty hard on it.
Thank You!
very useful these days
Legendary
You are awesome
How you add subtitles to video
What we need right now is a movie series about this retreat
Atleast 2 seasons long.
Ney, such a badass. After all those great deeds for France the monarchy still executed him!
When he was put on trial for treason, his lawyer tried to defend him by saying that Ney could not be judged by a French court, because the hometown of Ney was annexed by Prussia and hence he was now Prussian, but the Marshal interrupted him and proclaimed that he was French and would remain French. On the day of execution, as he stood against the firing squad he said these words:
"Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her ... Soldiers, fire!"
Lol you know most of these stuff are just myths who fellow countrymen or fans made up or become popular because it seem such a badass move. It's OK if you want to believe it but it is most probably just a myth.
Why are you guys so concerned that this is a myth? What's so unbelievable in that a man called "bravest of the brave" would tell a firing squad to shoot at his order?
@@Reichsritter certainely not...born in city of Sarrelouis Lorraine in France in 1769.
@@Reichsritter his father is Pierre Ney and his mother was french too (part of France is with germanic names...its history).
Born in the kingdom of France in a territory where peoples spoke french...definitely 100% french.
@@hasnan7 who cares. Plenty of heroic deeds are not recorded. He was clearly a brave man and it's ok to have such majestic lore.
This is premium quality stuff,and we are getting it for free...Damn,thank you mate,continue your hard work,i will definitely click on that world of tanks link,and happy holidays too!
halosas 9 Agreed!
"The corridor was closing"
Chills went through my spine
Same tactics applied today by Russian offensive with the use of "Cauldron" tactic in Ukraine.
Imagine the sense of doom they must’ve had. Wading through below freezing temperatures and waist high snow drifts knowing the Russians are coming to kill you
@@Type_I_9only difference from 1812 is Russia can't move
@@F.R.E.D.D2986bakhmut and avdeevka:
@@NerickovaNoha When did I say I support Russia?
Why are you being subtely racist, just call me a Syrian, Europoid.
Cossacks were NOT the best Russian soldiers btw, they were irregulars and cavalry, but very effective however didnt have aligned allegiances.
Adding on, Cossack is a general term, they can be Kazakh, Ruthenian, Russian, Ukrainian, etc.
Ukrainian troops were not among the best btw.
Also whats your source on 1300 thousand KIA? Ukrainian MOD? Lmfao.
Go use a actual source like mediazona which actually references public media and russian families referencing their dead.
It says 36k KIA, so around 100k+ wounded.
Realistic numbers.
I am Russian myself, but every time someone, in the context of a war with Russia, starts talking about winter, I want to tell the author - “Russians are the same europian people, Russians no have immunity from hypothermia, Russians also die from hypothermia.”
thats a flaw statement, even though Russians do die from hypothermia. they can manage the winter a lot better than countries who arent used to it and have less casualties due to it. Its not a surprising thing that a country can manage a climate much better than other countries that dont experience it as much. for example British couldnt handle the "heatwave" in 2022 while other countries who are used to it were making fun of them
No need to tell them, no wonder they will lose again if they attack Russia, too much arrogant
Look at Vietnam they defeated american and their allies badly, but speak well of some of american unit who distinguished themselves
But if you know what boots to wear, etc, you are better off.
@@ernestogastelum9123russians he’d no chose to adapt to the cold just to survive because most of the population are dirt poor and drunk.
Мой дед прошел Великую Отечественную с 41 по 45 год без единого ранения. Единственное он подвергался сильному обморожению ног.
"Now is the moment my campaign begins..." Emperor Alexander of Russia.
Fck that gave me chills
It also gave Napoleon chills (put on sunglasses) if you know what I mean. ;>)
Merde😂
@Niko Gambino Russians would have been better off themselves if their entire system had been dismantled by Napolean rather than continue with the Tsars. Russia may have modernized a lot faster. It would have been divided into different regions perhaps though.
When you know that Alexandre died of cold, yeah it's give chills xDD
Keegan Moonshine “Russia would probably be divided into different regions perhaps though”
And how is that better? It was the division of the Russian princedoms that forced the Russian people to bow down and pay tribute to the Mongols. And you think the implementation of the French Revolution (which would inspire so many nationalist revolts within ethnic groups in empires like Austria and Russia) would benefit the Russian people? What good are free peasants if their state is weak?
Halo 1812.
New objective:
*Survive*
"Now is the moment my campaign begins."
(c) Tsar Alexander I.
A scary thing to hear from your opponent, especially when you've fought half-way through the entire conflict. I felt a little cold at the phrase... And by the way, Russia also fought on another front with Persia (Russo-Persian War 1804-1813). Amazing.
Lolololol 😅
Ahhhhhhoooahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Napoleon: "Peace lies in Moscow"
Kutuzov: "Sorry Napoleon but Peace is in another castle"
That would have been a badass response.
But it might have convinced Napoleon to leave right away rather than stay in Moscow for a month.
Probably located in St. Petersburg
Peace lied in Paris....
Mount and Blade dialogue
Those 90k that actually made it home must’ve been the hardest men on the planet
yep how they survive -37 temperate
And some of the most broken
Imagine being a Russian criminal imprisoned for your crimes and then suddenly your own guards spring you and your buddies from prison and are told "The French are coming, set the whole place on fire. Go nuts!"
but try to survive during completing this task
like Napoleon, you misinterpret the Russian culture. the sense of duty and patriotism of those prisoners led them to follow orders burn the city and die in the process all for the Fatherland.
@@Jmzz542 lol 'duty and patriotism of a prisoner'
@@impaugjuldivmax again, no idea how a Russian thinks. Prisoner or otherwise
@@Jmzz542 every gangster in every country hates the government and police
This was a breathtaking episode, and I've been waiting for it all day. The plain narration at the beginning with no music really fits the somber tone of the video, and, as always, listening to the narrator is a blast. Loved watching the bravery of marshals like Ney, one of the MVP's of the Russian Campaign, and Oudinot, who'd be wounded 34 times in his life--the most out of all the marshals.
I don't think Napoleon should've left his men behind no matter what happened in Paris. The Grand Armée was his lifeblood. Without them, he'd be like a cannon with no powder. But then again, there are a lot more which I think he shouldn't have done.
And lastly, no matter which side one takes in this conflict, one cannot help but wonder at the tenacity shown by the brave men of the Grand Armée itself. After seeing what they went through, it's a miracle any of them managed to return alive at all. And, while many people label the Russians cowards for their strategy of scorched earth and constant retreats, we can all agree that it was the correct choice against the overwhelming numbers of the French in the beginning. Giving battle would''ve been madness. When the time came, they showed plenty of courage.
This one leaves me with a melancholy feeling. When men are reduced to near-beasts by cold and hunger, they rightly no longer have the luxury to think about either Emperor or ideals. Anyway, I feel like I may have rambled on too long: Hats off to you once more, Epic History TV. Can't wait for the next episode!
Yes it's true, but he do not "left" his men, at that stage they were relatively safe already,
Wow, the time passed so fast. A great episode.
Ferat: Grand Armee yes an army of Rapists plunderers looters and Murderers
Why this adulation of a man who caused 3 to 6 million deaths, condoned looting, Murder,Rape is beyond me.
Interesting note: Napoleon's chief doctor, Larrey, stayed in the straggler camp until the last minute, treating the wounded. When the Cossacks came he finally agreed to leave. He was held in such estime by everyone that only 1 grenadier escorted him across in the middle of the chaos, and everybody stood aside to let him through.
Truly a remarkable man
ambulances volants
God's grace got him across. Only that could have saved him.
Anthony nope. Not how it works.
@wayne wayne exactly how it works
I've only begun watching this entire series last week and this one episode has had me in awe and moved me more than any TV show has ever done....utterly incredible...I nearly teared up at Marshal Ney's utter badassery....I'm still learning my history the Napoleonic wars and his russian campaign was something I didn't know much about but this series has filled my head with inspiration and perspective....10/10
Once again, Marshal Nay proves himself a badass. Even against all the odds. That man was a soldier true and true.
He did a fatal mistake on Waterloo, good soldier does not make good general. But I guess he was probably a good commander, it was fate that he ruined all the battle by acting prematurely.
@Hona Hona he broke the encirclement, or rather he was able to void the russians and reunite with the main army. I ain't saying hes inflatable, but he earns his command quite well. Given Napoleons tendency to value skill more than social standing. Plus I'm willing to bet Nays really did stay until the last man crossed.
@@Hashishtani everytime i hear about him i either hear about his great defensive battles or failures at the battle of the nations/waterloo
Maybe he was just a better defender then an attacker
I was in awe when it reached the part that showed him making the crossing to avoid the blockade.
Yuki Terumi: No when he gave his word to King Louis that he would bring back Napoleon in chains But went over to his Army That is NOT a true man that is a traitor
In Russian history books: “Total rout of Ney’s corps at Krasny!”
In French history books: “Marshal Ney’s miraculous breakthrough at Krasny!”
Well his army was mostly crushed...Only a small number of struggelers escaped...
@@command_unit7792 So historians can interpret the same event in both ways without totally lying ? Interesting.
Well just look 6000 against 65000 that also under Kutuzov. Still brave of him to fight and come out alive out of situation
Well neither were wrong. They were enemies.
Yes... But you know, in France we don't learn about Napoléon ahah.
There is an arms museum in the city of Tula (actually, it's a church in the Tula kremlin converted to a museum),... you can see the Grande Armee weapons and standards taken from the battlefields and displayed. I was overwhelmed.
Great Narration and the music in the background is terrific. Suspenseful .
History repeated itself when in WWII Germany tried to t
Conquer Russia but again determined Russian army fought hard and when horrible weather of cold and snow came, the German army suffered huge losses and failed to take Russia like it had done to many countries
In France, to sum up something that went really bad, we still use the expression "c'est la Berezina".
@Cronobacter Sakazakii - Thanks for sharing that French expression with its origins in the retreat from Moscow with us!
Very poignant.....
@Lans Quenet The average french won't tell you details about this campain or even the year it occured. They have no idea of what are Minsk or Smolensk, but la Berezina yes. You talk about tactical success from a military point of view, people generally don't. The french army crossed the Berezina like an Arch of Defeat. As heroic as it was, still a catastrophy.
Ps: I work near la Place de l'Etoile, I ride down L'avenue de Wagram on my way home ;-)
@Lans Quenet the fact that Napoleon excaped does not mean that Berezina is success. Frenches lost more than 20K troops that day, including relatively fresh 4000 from 4th Corp under Eugene..
@Lans Quenet it's like Dunkerque, we're so glorious in the defeat x)
Those engineers in Berezina river saved Napoleon's Army. It was too cold ice water and I am astonished to see there resolve to build the bridge.😌
Better to freeze than to fall into Russian army's hands.
Usually building such bridges doesn't need jumping on water .
Well, you know how the Dutch and their water management skills are...
Glad he mentioned the Dutchmen who gave their lives!
Reals Heroes
When your mum tells you to wear a jacket and you say no
when your mum is Mother Russia
You can really tell how much effort goes Into making these videos. Theres never been a better time to self learn thanks to channels like yours.
Please, Swiss/Italian campaign of Suvorov. It's such an amazing thing, and almost without any coverage on youtube
I Wish that suvorov fought longer in italy and fight napoleon
@joanne chon Suvorov never fought any important battles so nobody outside of Russia has ever heard of him.
@@TallDude404 he mainly fought with Turkey. The Turks must remember him well. well, the Poles probably too
@@TallDude404 I have.
@@TallDude404 *shouts in swiss german*
The survivors of this retreat probably all suffered severe PTSD, including Napoleon himself. None suffered worse than Ney, after his incredible acts of valor as the rearguard. The experience wrecked his ability to exercise judgment, which some hypothesize to be a major factor in his poor performance at Quatre Bras and Waterloo.
Every dog has his day.... until he doesn't.
On the field of Quatre Bras itself, he did good... He just didn't follow with an ordered pursuit. Basically, the Retreat left him with his bravery and cunning intact, but it ruined every bit of subtlety he once possessed. That made him an asset tactically, but a burden strategically.
there were reports of net hitting cannons and acting crazy at waterloo, maybe that could have been from borodino
Ney sending cavalry by themselves against a Square formation is the biggest NOOB move ever. Go play Napoleon Total War online and find out why. It amazes me that somebody online would every do such a thing. Ney of all people did this, pure insanity. I do believe that your theory is correct, there is no way a SANE person does that.
@@chibiromano5631 The French were in a valley from which they could not see the massed squares on the other side of the hill. I read that Ney saw some British troops move back over the hill and thought the British were in retreat so his natural inclination was to charge with all the cavalry. When they got over the hill they were confronted with the infantry squares and were already committed to the charge. When Napoleon, who was ill and later returned to the battle, learned that Ney had wasted the cavalry he was furious. Had the cavalry not been lost, it could have checked the later arrival of the Prussians.
19:40 Random but Napoleon gave the last of his wine to the engineers who built the bridge in the freezing water.
That was pretty (put on sunglasses) chill of Napoleon.
….I'll leave now.
probably to get them drunk enough to help with the sub zero conditions the knew they were going to die to save the army why not be wasted when you go down
Theres a good book called "diary of a napoleonic footsoldier" that follows the events of the retreat. Real crazy how it became every man for himself. Theres the account where if you fell your body would be stripped before you were dead.
You know what they say, we are only 3 meals away from being savage animals, terrible reality and one that was later shown in WW1
@@Galejro And only 9 from complete societal collapse.
700,000 came in,only 5,000 returned
Thank you, I’ll check that out.
@@dethray1000 - Like the Germans at Stalingrad!
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT I GOT THIS YEAR IS A 30 MIN EPIC HISTORY TV NAPOLEON VIDEO :)
last workday this year, a cold beer and a new epic history video up
today is a good day
@BH Soldier thats cool and all, but show me literally one person who asked
Russia: Can’t take Moscow, *if there is no Moscow.*
You will not take Moscow, you will take ashes, or buildings with no doors in winter
xaxaxa
😂😂😂
Banner "we have moved. Sorry about the inconvenience"
600 iq move
Two years later Russian troops entered Paris. No violence to civil people at all. No one case.
Most moral army in the world to date .
Too bat Kutusov had died before his men got there
Main reason why there weren’t any violence to civils was because French civils were actually fine with the coalition invading Paris, and didn’t resist at all. Also during the invasion of Russia, French troops were exhausted, hungry and angry. That’s why they sometimes pillaged Russian villages.
@@Peter-xg1ol ok let it be the case. I like France and French people. I worked as a research scientist in University of Perpignan many years ago.
R.I.P Dutch engineers who died building the escape bridge over the river. That is serious dedication
Indeed; unspoken heroes.
I’m proud of my fellow countrymen who passed away in that ice cold rivier, 199 years ago
@@kayvan671 you are wrong. Napoleon is just the first element that allowed the unification of Germany by weakening the HRE and the Habsburg.
The Grande Armée was an incredible adventure with Multi National soldiers and the Napoleon reforms were crucial. Just read Hegel.
It ended badly because of the reactionary forces in Europe and British gold.
Connect all the dots and the war mongers are still the same.
Trust a dutch person to pull up some bridges in the middle of the Russian winter. Can't go wrong.
Napoleon: I will make peace in Moscow!
Russians: Rest in peace Napoleon!
😂😂😂
@@ConcentrationCompy
Nicholas: I will take Constantinople and replace french influence in middle east!
Napleon III: Rest in peace Nicky!
@@AlexC-ou4junapoleon the III:
I will take berlin!
Bismarck: rest in peace nappy!!
@@MAHORAGADAOPPSTOPPA Bismarck: I will Keep Alsace Lorraine!
Foch: 'Rest in peace German ambitions don't make us take Berlin in a month again!'
Nice you copied this comment smh
One of the engineers who constructed the pontoon bridge at Studienka is my ancestor. He and several young men from his home village died in this battle or somewhere else during the retreat. I cannot imagine the horrors they must have faced, no one even wanted to be there since they were all drafted. This video gives me an insight in how horrible it must have been for them. Thank you for your work
si tu veux en connaitre plus sur cette periode il y a les mémoires du sergent Bourgogne et celles du capitaine Coignet
@@jean3525 merci, mais je ne peux pas parler la langue francais tres bien. est-il disponible en anglais ou neerlandais?
@@guusd8898 ok very interesting what was the nationality of your ancestor ? i said in my comment that french soldier that have done 1812 russia retreat wrote their memories in books i read in this days
@@jean3525 I was able to understand that, i can read a little bit but an entire book in french would be too much. My ancestors are Dutch, they were conscripted for the grande armee and served in the 77e cohort and 51e line regiment
@@guusd8898 it seems that the engineers of the bidge were all dutch have you got more information about ... i know that the general eblé come from lorraine but wikipedia told about 400 dutch engineers man only 8 survives i heard
Kutuzov, tsar Alexanders commander, is one of my heroes. So is Aleksandr Suvorov, skilled commander in Alexanders fathers, Paul I:s army that drove the forces of revolutionary France out of northern Italy after his legendary march over the Alps. Best wishes fro Sven in Sweden. ( By the way our Swedish king happenes to descend from, ammong others, one of Paul I:s daughters. 🙂)
This isn't just the best documentary I have seen for Napoleon, but it is the best documentary I have seen period.
Это русский фильм.
I read the Memoirs of Sgt Bourgogne many years ago. It was an incredible account of the retreat and you did that account justice with your best video yet. The naration was fantastic and you should be rightly proud of this series. Well done Epic History.
I’m watching as snowmaggedon is concluding in the south central US. At my house I got about 8 inches of snow with temps as low as -9 F. I went outside to shovel my driveway and during those 5 minutes I was completely miserable. Couldn’t imagine retreating across Russia with no winter clothing in far lower temperatures. It’s amazing that even a few made it back alive.
Spent a winter in North Dakota, I can't think of anything more depressing than retreating through that. I guess it'd be par with retreating across the Sahara
And now your liberal and Neo cons elites decided to build your nato bases and bio labs on our doorstep..
What do you think will happen if you get mandatorily conscripted to fight us on our doorstep (and yes, about 70% of modern Ukrane is historic Russian territory.. that’s why the vast majority of Ukrane speaks Russian and the rest speak a dialect which is a Russian Polish mix)..?
Why are you here??
Should we come to Mexico (considering they want freedom from you, judging by the rhetoric of the democratically elected leader of Mexico with the vast support of the population) and also return to Cuba..?
Didn’t you annex Texas and south California from Mexico (whilst Northern California, cities such as San Francisco, was Russian territory along with Alaska.. which were sold to you but we never got the payment) and should we help them to get it back..?
Is that what you really want???
@@CC-vq1yg i think that winter in Dakota is like holidays compared to winter in Russia
@@S7midnight yup, we had -36 (farenheit), they had worse. Oh we also had heated houses, cars, and we had winter clothes
@@CC-vq1yg The Russian Bear is cannot be kept in chains.
A Latvian friend of mine,his family took in one of Napoleon soilders.A deserter,or whatever his circumstances,and that person married into that family and became part of as well as a Latvian.For any soilders, returning back to France ment a certain death as a deserter.
That’s a crazy story
This is one of the most intense and most inspirational stories I’ve ever watched in my life.
Napoleon: let's peace m8
Alexander: *seen*
Some Guy ?
Loool
Last seen online 40 days
Everytime I would get that from a girl, I would think Napoleon went through much worse. But hes luckier to have lived in days that made more sense than today
Just the narration, picture displays and quality of the video really made me feel I was right there, a soldier of the Grandé Armeé. A saulte to their hardships and to the channel for making it a part of our history.
A saulte to their hardships? which one, rob and murder civilians?
Thank you for the history lesson and thank you to the narrator for explaining it. Here in New York City listening and learning Russia and France has a beautiful long history, but war is very very ugly.
This channel is a slap on the faces of those who say history is boring 😎
This is an incredible video and if anyone is interested on reading about the Russian campaign in horrifying detail, then I highly recommend Paul Britten Austin's three book series on the subject.
1. 1812 The March on Moscow
2. 1812 Napoleon in Moscow
3.1812 The Great Retreat
Very good reading!
Agreed, made heavy use of the last of those for this video. Nice to re-read it for the first time in.. 25 years??
@@EpichistoryTv How old are you? :O
"Our situation is unparalleled.
If Napoleon extricates himself today, he must have the devil in him."
--- Marshall Ney
“If Napoleon extricates himself today, he must have the devil in him.” Probably my favorite quote from this entire series
everyone who crosses Russia's western borders ends up eating their own horse.
Napoleons army defeated the russian army when hitlers 3 armies groups entered the soviet union the whole army led by coward stalin fled east out of conflict only to invade nazi germany backed by the usa with odds of 80 to 1
@@Buildbeautiful Napoleon lost 80% of their Army in Russia and soviet flag raised in Reichstag in 1945 at the end ( in just one battle of Stalingrad germans lost 500.000 mans ). So don't write stupid thinks and stop crying about the russian winter as an excuse.
@@Buildbeautiful are u implying stalin and the soviets chickened out? u do know the Red Army was destroyed and reconstituted several times in 1941 and 1942 campaign season? no one fled east, they were pushed east early in the eastern campaign. 80 to 1 myth. germans never faced those odds in the east. the extreme was 10 to 1 during the last days of ww2 when Germany has practically exhausted herself. At the start of Barbarossa the germans even outnumbered the Soviets along the frontiers.
@B A In Budapest operation Germans had 2.5 to 1 superiority, because they wanted to protect Vienna no matter what, and Soviet troops were foxused on Kenigsberg and Warsaw. The result- they failed to break the front, lost their defensive Attila line and ran into the city. It was their last attempt of offensive in the east that ended in disaster despite numerical superiority, because at 1944 Soviets got so much battle experience, they were literally unstoppable. They even had lesser casualties in offensive, which wa unheard of.
Anthony Redmond, why you so butthurt about Russians, what wrong have they done to you?
The most epic thing at all is, that Alexander really beat Napoleon‘s strategy. Those russian army‘s didn’t appear out of mud. They were placed along the road of retreat to slow down and weaken the grand army. Alexander must have calculated, that Napoleon will have to retreat. Most likely on a road, on which he didn’t came to gain new resources (means to steal them from the civilians). It is often portrayed, that Napoleon was defeated by the russian winter. That is not the truth. The winter had been a strategic element of Alexander‘s plan. He defeated Napoleon and made Waterloo possible.
Might be Kutuzov's idea.
@@vonSchwarzberg It definitely was, and much maligned for his strategy, amongst his own officers he was.
But Alexander knew nothing and contributed less.
@@MrDCrosswell This is probably unfair. The zar certainly heard both the historical plan and various other alternatives, and decided for the plan.
ALEXANDER is a Warrior name
The strategy was more Barclay's and Kutuzov's than Alexanders
This entire Napoleonic Wars series was a masterpiece. Creme de la creme. Your content puts to shame history channels. Your videos revealed to me this amazing era in our history and urged me to research and learn more about it. A time when men were brave, courageous and honour was a feat. I'm honoured to be a member of your patreon. Keep up the good work, sir.
Thank you for your support!
Epure Stefan It’s better to have brave men working together than brave men dying against each other. Peace in Europe has been costly, but we should defend it at all costs, even at the risk of losing that “fighting spirit”, that simply came from geopolitical instability.
@@gs7828 agreed 👍
Indeed, peace came at a great cost and we should preserve it. A good day to you.
Outstanding video!! I enjoyed learning from it so much i watched it 3 times!! You guys are doing a great job - The paintings, the audio, the lyrics....everything.
"The most infamous retreat in history"
Absolutely top notch video in every way and interesting to learn details about the retreat I wasn't familiar with prior.
Washington's retreat from encirclement in New York during the Revolution is every bit as nail-biting as this one, but less damning and destructive overall. Washington and his army eventually recovered; Napoleon's never did.
Napoleon's actual quote: "Cossacks are the best light cavalry in the world. If I had them in my army I would conquer the world."
What "cossacks"? Just a weather.
napoleon has also said "shishy washy bishy bashy" he really was a man out of time...
@@otishannah7712 An Amish from Loserville said...
I doubt Cossacks were best.
Cossacks cavalry continued their charge in ww2
Marshal Ney was such a bad ass. Cant wait for the 1813 campaign and 6 days campaign. Understandable after their performances in Russua that Napoleon picked Oudinot and Ney to invade Germany in 1813 but man what would have happened if he had sent Davout instead.
Oudinot and Ney both will loose battles of Grossbeeran and Dennevits. This shows that they are bad, very bad commanders, while Napoleon is not near
@@sirgray2322 Yeah Lannes was much better, had he been alive, he would have served Emperor better.
@@lsatep Yeah on Economic level he was not so good, I agree as we can see there was a heavy debt on French Navy as well.
@@lsatep Napoleon, an early version of the next madman in line to invade Russia. "Kick in the door and the whole rotten building will come crashing down!" Yeah, right! Who will be the next one to burn his plans of world domination in the snow and ice?
lsatep didn’t Napoleon sell Louisiana to the United States because he wanted nothing to do with colonialism after his failure in Egypt. And also cause he needed money. And because he thought it was better that the US got it rather than Britain or Spain.
Amazing. Best documentary ive ever seen!
Truly breathtaking, congrats for those episodes. The French still use the saying: "c'est la Berezina" which describes a catastrophic situation.
let me tell you from the position of a historian living in Moscow near the places where many decisive events took place. I live in a house that is located near the street along which Napoleon entered Moscow. We have many monuments dedicated to 1812 - Kutuzov, Bagration, a hut in Fili and the Museum of the Battle of Borodino, as well as Victory Park - it was built in honor of the victory of 1945 in 1995, but it was from that place (before the park there was an elevated area) Napoleon stopped after Borodino to look at Moscow. I am a historian and wrote about the events of 1812, studied the memoirs of residents and French officers who left memoirs. Interesting facts that are not found anywhere, but I learned them from the memoirs of different sides: 1) when the French units were about to enter Moscow, the Russians retreated after Borodino through Moscow, then a truce was reached between the generals of both armies for about 1 day, so that the Russians would take their wounded and drunken soldiers, who were a danger to everyone. 2) The fire, according to the recollections of French officers, started with mysterious arsonists and Napoleon miraculously escaped from the Kremlin, going to the Moskva River through a secret tunnel, and in the area of Arbat he was met by a grenadier who evacuated him to a safe place, since then everything was on fire. 3) During the retreat, Napoleon planted Kutuzov, as we say, a pig: he opened all the valuable vaults and spread the word, so immediately after the departure of the French army, Moscow was flooded with peasants and residents of Moscow, who had not far left the city in order to appropriate more. This maneuver, according to the recollections of many, cost about 2 weeks of delay for the Russian army. 4) And according to the memoirs of a French officer, he was one of the last to leave Moscow and saw how special units laid gunpowder at the Kremlin towers, and when he drove about 30-40 kilometers and stopped for the night in the house and went to bed, he was thrown out of the sofa and the shock wave from the explosion in Moscow knocked out the window. The same officer described the field near Borodino a couple of months after the battle as littered with corpses and horses running back and forth that had lost their riders. 5) There were many Poles in the Great Army, who were considered one of the most adapted and combat-ready units in the conditions of the Russian winter. According to the recollections of Muscovites, who were not aware that Moscow would be given up without a fight, in the morning on the day of Napoleon's entry, cavalry with a small cannon swept to the Kremlin. There was a small fight near the Kremlin with local residents who organized a rebuff, but they were quickly pushed back and then fired from a cannon at the Kremlin. As it turned out, it was the Polish cavalry. 6) After the battle of Borodino, there was a meeting in Fili (now there is a museum-hut on that place), at which they decided to leave the city in order to save the army. The retreat was unexpected for many, but Kutuzov was able to disorientate Napoleon and lead the army to the South, to Tarutino, while for 9 whole days the French thought that the army had gone to Ryazan. This is very important, because when retreating from Moscow, Napoleon really wanted to spend the winter in Ukraine, where it is warmer and more food, so there was a bloody battle for Maloyaroslavets and the city changed hands 10 times. The Russians were driven out of the city, but they dug in right behind it, and Napoleon did not dare to further storm the positions and turned onto the devastated Smolensk road, along which he reached Moscow and which the Cossacks attacked from all sides. Thus, the retreat from Russia along the imposed road, in cold, hunger and constant attacks on foragers and the army, led to its almost complete defeat. By the way, I read that in the place of my house, children found many artifacts of that era, right in the yard, in the 1960s-1980s. Sorry for so many letters, i hope it was interesting :)
Thank you very much for your effort ! It is indeed a rare piece of knowledge hidden from outsiders .
@@saimkhanafridi happy to share knowledge)
This was a nice read
Very interesting. Do you have books in English? If so what is the name?
@@edwardspan396 thank you) I wrote essays as a student on this topic, I took information from the memoirs of French officers and residents of Moscow
Alright, these three episodes about Napoleon's campaign in Russia have truly made up an astonishing work. As history student from Russia, I thank you sincerely for being objective and careful with Russian history. Your research is of the highest level, and so is the narration. A particularly nice decision by you was to listen to other Russian fellows who noted wrong stresses and from that point consult the pronunciation of all locations, geographical names and surnames. A friendly advice: always stick to this rule, simply judging Russian stresses by yourself will 90% get you wrong.
Btw there are still heated debates in Russia as regards the impact of low temperatures on Napoleon's army. Some historians claim that unlike the lack of supplies along the Old Smolensk Road and guerrillas/cossacks raids, the temperatures had no severe implications up until Smolensk, as they were quite mild. However, what could have been mild for the Russian troops was devastating for Napoleon's European soldiers, who rarely faced such low temperatures and especially harsh winds at home.
Also, Kutuzov was reluctant to strike a lethal blow on Napoleon not only because of numerous conscripts. He believed that his mission was to just drive Napoleon out of Russia with as low casualties as possible. The rest, he assumed, was in the hands of Russia's European allies (after they switched sides) and Britain in particular, eager to finish Napoleon off. However, his viewpoint was challenged by Alexander I, illuminated by his military and political ambitions, who led Russia into another 1,5 years of Napoleonic wars.
I actually get mad that Epic History TV doesn't have more subscribers than 1.6 mill.
He deserves so much more
Today's temperature is 40°C. But after watching this, I feel cold. Respect from Pakistan.
@Rob Roy What do you mean exactly?
@Rob Roy not necessarily, the Ottomans were conquering greece and nations north of it, and had constant wars against Russia, who became their main rival during that period
@Rob Roy Ottoman Empire : what did you say???
@@wafs1393 Ottomon empire was ripe for annexation from 1750 onwards.The other nations of europe were hesitant to allow russia gain a foothold on mediternean sea(especially uk).
Too many could find out what means to have their fingers totally frozen in your country's mountains. And that without having a swarm of angry cossacks slaughtering around. War, all wars, are utterly stupid.
God designed us for the love, not for the hate.
Kutusov wrote to Chichagov before the Beresina crossing saying:
"You have to do with a man as clever as he is cunning. Napoleon will make a demonstration that he is going to cross at one point, to draw your attention to it, while most likely doing it on the other side. Prudence and vigilance!"
When he received this he assumed that Studianka was too swampy to be practical and so the French preperations there were the feint and that Beresino was the real crossing point.
I believe Chichagov was just too much cautios and afraid to fight Napoleon itself even in such a condition.. no one wanted to be destroyed at the end of campagne and to become the biggest looser.
@@impaugjuldivmax Doubtfull, defending against a crossing of a very battered and completely weakened army with only bridges being used shouldn't be too "dangerous". And the prestige for not letting Napoleon escape would definitely be worth the risk.
@@MDP1702 Chichagov would lose 20k soldiers at minimun, or even more.. Napoleon as well but no one wanted this. Especially when Kutuzov itself was not too agressive when he had an opportunity to cut off Napoleon.
@@impaugjuldivmax I think you are overestimating Chichagov's possible losses. This wouldn't be just a battle. The french troops would be devasted while trying to cross. Now if you refer to when the French had already established a stable beachhead on his side of the river, then you might be right.
@@MDP1702 Nepoleon still had the Guard and a few fresh regiments from the North that haven't been involved in the campagne. Of course for him this was the most terrible position to start a battle, but I bet this would have been a deadly battle for both of them. But Chichagov was not the type of a leader to accept this. He was an admiral, acutally. Still, I think it was Kutuzov's decision to stay away from a close fight.
Napoleon entering Moscow: "Did we just win?"
Russian: "Well yes but actually no"
30k wounded russians soldiers*
@@35rpcorporation49 still get the job done napoleon have to retreat and lost most of soldier doing it
@@lunchingtangpua2415 and considering how many people Russia has it is not that severe as it sounds like
@@35rpcorporation49 Out of 5lakh only 90k made it alive 🥴 from napoleon side
@@35rpcorporation49 i hope you know Napoleon attacked Russia with 650.000 soldiers and left only with around 100.000~
«Кто с мечом к нам прийдёт, тот от меча и погибнет» Александр Невский
Who comes to us with a sword, will die by their own sword...
Russia has two forces, a human army and a weather army 🌨🤺❄️🥶
@@احمدهاشم-ب2ك my friend, you are right, but also vast territories and God’s will.
@@kostakosta5352
Exactly, Russia owns a vast land, which is always the graveyard of invaders. How foolish it is to try to conquer it.
@@احمدهاشم-ب2ك Sadly, ordinary people have died and will be dying because of rulers‘ mistakes.
These videos are so great and perfectly researched. They should be shown in school or in TV. They are much better than most of the documentaries out there. Keep on the good work.
68 years later. . .
Tchaikovsky: "I need a historic theme for this giant piece of music I'm writing. . . "
I always knew this was the inspiration for the 1812 Overture, and seeing it depicted here and in the Borodino video is pretty neat and fascinating. How he managed to condense a massive historic event into a 15-minute piece of music. . .
So Tchaikovsky made the soundtrack for the movie. Now we need the movie.
@@josepablolunasanchez1283 War and Peace directed by Sergey Bondarchuk lol
This video is just depressing to watch. The untold human suffering is just unimaginable. How Napoleon ever escaped this human and military catastrophe escapes me. The fact that he wasn’t completely down and out after these events must be a testament to Napoleon’s greatness (whatever mistakes he may have made) and why his name is forever enshrined in European and world history. Fantastic video as always!
The dude went into exile and then escaped to lead France again. Whatever you may think of him, he was a man who needed dozens of battles to be defeated for good.
He was maybe the greatest military leader the world has ever seen. He just tried to do too much - pretty much fought every single nation in Europe at some point.
Most badass moment is when he just walked up to soldiers sent to capture him when he returned from Elba, and just went "if you want to shoot me here I am".
Joey Nelson actually it was * if any one of you wants to kill his emperor, then here I am
Read 'Stalingrad' by Antony Beevor. Hitler repeated the exact same mistakes as Napoleon over 100 years prior. The suffering to the ground soldiers is absolutely unimaginable.
Joey Nelson not even close, I wouldn't even consider him a great general. He was never in the front, he shamed all generals and yet considered poisoning himself. Hannibal, Caesar, even Grant are better war generals.
I watched this video 4times, the narrator was so good and also the illustrations 👍
Ah shit. As a frenchman, this will be a long, hard, grueling video for me.
Funny thing, I was in Québec for me studies, and heavy snow started falling on the anniversary of the start of the retreat.
Frenchman here too. The good thing is how this video makes a tribute to la Grande Armée.
What are you doing in Québec more specifically?
@@karimlasdoug937 No other army in the world could have escaped those conditions. I think La Grande Armèe had it worse than the Germans all those years later!!
@@karimlasdoug937 Well I'm a history student (military history more specifically, contemporary and a bit of modern times) and given that I don't really want to be a teacher I figured I would try to take courses on international relations (diplomacy, military interventions, culture of countries, that sort of things), and a university in the city of Québec City was kind enough to have a deal with my uni in France, so right now I'm an exchange student. For now it's 10/10, will take another semester.
@@papazoulou9326 That's great! I already spoke with some Quebecers and they are very nice people. By any chance, do you know if some Quebecers around you are looking for interns? My school allowed me to do an internship abroad for 2020.
@@karimlasdoug937 Hmmm, well I currently do not (except for the usual student jobs like cashier and so on). I do know sometimes the unies give a part-time job to students too. However, I also know that quebec business are looking for people and that it's pretty easy (compared to France) to get a job given the opportunities. For example the current government wanted to make a law that got things quite a bit more difficult for foreign workers/migrants to get a job/become a citizen of Quebec and that said government was said to back off this project after everyone got pissed off at them.
Best tip I can give would be to get a LinkedIn account, go to forums in France that explain what you need to do (there was one in Paris which was a great way to get into contacts and learn more about job opportunities).
Québec is a great choice for an internship, the administration is very efficient (at least I never had any issues) and quebecers are quite open-minded when it comes to recruiting foreigners.
One of Napoleons best qualities in my opinion is his ability to be honest with himself after something like the 1812 campaign. Just look at his quote at the end of this video, or for example when others tried to blame Berthier for the route that the army took back form Moscow, Napoleon stopped them by saying" No it was my fault, I was commander in chief and I made the final decision".
Yes and no. He admitted his mistake .. but he never resigned or demoted himself..
@@alfonso87ful why would he? he’s the emperor, the leader all he had to do is fix his mistake.. and…… he almost did until his marshals kept losing in 1813 campaign
"It takes a classy man to admit when he's wrong" - Napolean Bonaparte
At the end of the day Napoleon would have thought exile in warm cloudy ST HELENA was a paradise compared to freezing to death anywhere in RUSSIA. The Brits gave him a nice retirement 'home' .
He sure managed to save his ass.
We need a big budget series on Napoleon. With multiple chapters telling this story.
to get reliable facts, you need to read or listen to E. Ponasenkov. He wrote an excellent book based on documents: The first scientific history of the war of 1812.
HBO is currently preparing one that is produced by Steven Spielberg, leveraging Stanley Kubrick's monster researches on the Napoleonic Wars... Can't wait.
@@joegage1255 Meh. It will be western biased and we will not see most of 1812's Russian campaign. You can bet it will have about 10-20 minutes of it mostly being mentioned by dialogue. We need a real series, if only History was behind it i would be more hopeful.