Napoleon 1812 The Road To Moscow: It was to be Napoleon Bonapartes greatest adventure; an invasion of Russia with an army of more than 650,000 men, the largest the world had yet seen. The Emperors irresistible progress into the vast Russian interior saw many brutal conflicts including the Battle of Borodino, one of the bloodiest days fighting in military history. Napoleon would not be defeated in battle but by Russian guile and the savages of winter snows. To this day the infamous retreat from Moscow epitomises the suffering of ordinary soldiers.