Napoleon marched 450,000 men into Russia. Fewer than 40,000 marched back out

In June 1812, Napoleon led the largest army Europe had ever seen deep into Russia, only to find Moscow burned and abandoned by the time he arrived. The retreat through a brutal winter, harassed constantly by Russian forces, destroyed his army almost completely and marked the beginning of the end of his empire.

— Adam Zamoyski, 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow — HarperCollins, 2004
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