Entry into Moscow
On the 13th of September,
almost three months after entering Russia, the main body of the Grand Army
reached the outskirts of Moscow and climbed the western hills to gaze at
last, after hundreds of miles of empty spaces and burned-out ruins, on
the gilded roofs and domes of a city rising from the middle of a fertile
plain.
At three in the afternoon, Napoleon
and the Imperial Guard arrived before the Dragomilov Gate, expecting to
be met by a deputation of the city elders bearing the municipal keys and
other tokens of submission. In fact, most Muscovites had been ordered to
evacuate by the governor Rostopchin. Of 250,000 residents, only 15,000
remained. The French found no delegation ready to parley with them, a fact
that troubled Napoleon although he dismissed its significance. As the Grand
Army rode through an untended gate, their boots and hooves echoed through
the city streets, deserted save for a few convicts and wounded soldiers.
Napoleon took up residence in
the Kremlin, from whence he sent out overtures to Tsar Alexander for terms
of peace. Now that he had defeated the Russians and occupied their capital,
he was sure that they would act like reasonable Europeans and meet his
demands. Perhaps he and Alexander could even be allies again.
Retreat
Advance