Because Napoleon had ordered the burning of non-essential materials just days before, a great deal of bridge material had been destroyed. French troops were forced to find wood in a nearby town.

Repeated crossings, mass confusion, and general apathy lead to the collapse of the artillery bridge on two separate occasions. When hordes of non-combatants refused to cross the bridge to escape the advancing Russian troops the bridge was burned and thousands of people were killed.

"...the bank became a scene of horror, of indescribable carnage, especially when the Russians' repeated attacks on the last troops to cross the river had driven the crowd of non-combatants to the river's edge. Everyone then rushed the bridges, which were soon broken down, as much by the disorder as by the fugitive's weight. We Frenchmen, unhappy and helpless spectators of these scenes of horror and cruelty, were able from our side of the river to gauge roughly the number of victims of Russian barbarism. Ten thousand lives were lost. The estimate of the number of unarmed stagglers, camp-followers, refugees, women and children is not exaggerated (p. 251)."