French invasion of Russia order of battle

After a whole day of preparation by Morand and Eblé, the invasion commenced on Midsummer, 24 June 1812 with Napoleon's army crossing the river.

[2] Within a few days, almost half a million men from this multinational army - split up into five columns - crossed the river Neman and entered the Russian Empire.

[9] Marshal Joachim Murat, his brother-in-law, under King of Naples, followed with (21,000) Napoleon to Vilnius and Vitebsk It followed behind the central force and (81,000) crossed at Pilona and avoided Vilnius Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte King of Westphalia (62,000) crossed the Niemen near Grodno on 1 July,[17] and moved towards Bagration's (second western) army.

With French forces moving through different routes in the direction of Vitebsk, a first major engagement took place on 25 July at the Battle of Ostrowno.

In addition, National Guard units had been conscripted for full military service defending the frontier of the Duchy of Warsaw.

Anthony Joes in Journal of Conflict Studies wrote that:[41] Figures on how many men Napoleon took into Russia and how many eventually came out vary rather widely.

Whatever the accurate number, it is generally accepted that the overwhelming majority of this grand army, French and allied, remained, in one condition or another, inside Russia.Minard's infographic (see below) depicts the march ingeniously by showing the size of the advancing army, overlaid on a rough map, as well as the retreating soldiers together with temperatures recorded (as much as 30 below zero on the Réaumur scale) on their return.

In the third line were the 36 recruit depots and militias, which came to the total of approximately 161,000 men of various and highly disparate military values, of which about 133,000 actually took part in the defence.

The IV corps under Eugène at Halšany on 11 July 1812. The cavalry, the artillery, the generals, and the drummers, followed by the infantry by Albrecht Adam .
The Grande Armée crossing the Niemen by Waterloo Clark
Napoleon's Hill or Jiesia mound from the other bank of the Niemen river
Anonymous, the Grande Armée crossing the river
Napoleon's army crossing the Niemen river, starting on 24 June  [ O.S. 12 June ( Julian Calendar )] 1812 [ 1 ]
French Army crossing Nieman River 1812 by Auguste Raffet
Italian corps of Eugène de Beauharnais crossing the Niemen on 30 June 1812. Oil and gouache on paper by Albrecht Adam . In: Hermitage Museum .
Battle of Smolensk on 18 August 1812, by Albracht Adam
Berezina. French troops in Studzenke (C. Faber du Faur, 27.11.1812).
The Bug near Drohiczyn , where the Austrian army and Reynier crossed the river
Ney at Kowno in December 1812, painting by Auguste Raffet in the Louvre
Night Quarters at Molodechna , December 3–4, 1812, Rijksmuseum
Michail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813) is sitting on the far left, with his generals (Council of War) deciding to save the army from another battle and surrender Moscow to Napoleon.
Monument to Kutuzov in front of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. The Kazan Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow were built to commemorate the Russian victory against Napoleon.
As irregular cavalry , the Cossack horsemen of the Russian steppes were best suited to reconnaissance, scouting, and harassing the enemy's flanks and supply lines. Seldom were they committed to execute a conventional charge in battle.
Babruysk fortress in 1811
Detaille - Cossacks Attacking a squad of the Gardes d'honneur from the Jeune Garde Imperiale