By the time Napoleon Bonaparte and his men reached Moscow on September 14, 1812, an eerie quiet had descended upon the city. Most of its more than 250,000 residents had evacuated in anticipation of the approaching assault. Russian forces had also retreated—but they had by no means given up.
Instead of confronting the invaders in battle, they chose a scorched-earth approach: They would not allow the French to survive the brutal winter, which was fast approaching. Three months earlier, Napoleon had crossed into Russia , leading nearly 500,000 men across the Neman River and on toward Moscow. Upon reaching the city—and finding it empty—the soldiers eagerly anticipated a respite from their long journey.
When night fell, Napoleon and his troops took up residence in the lavish quarters of Moscow’s elite. “Both officers and the rank-and-file were only too eager to enjoy the palatial homes of wealthy Muscovites,” writes historian Alexander Mikaberidze in The Burning of Moscow: Napoleon's Trial by Fire, 1812 . “Senior officers were often greeted at the gates of palaces by servants in livery, offering hospitality in the hopes of sparing themselves and their master’s property a worse fate.
” The French enjoyed a luxurious first night in the city, perhaps hoping that there would be many more such evenings to come. They helped themselves to food and drink, and finally—after hundreds of miles of hardship and travel—they went to sleep. Napoleon was suspicious of the quie.