Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow

Though this image is intended to accurately represent the retreat of Napoleon and his forces from Moscow, the event is fictionalized by the depiction of the troops with an ample supply of clothes and equipment.  In reality, the French forces were in poor condition at this point in the Napoleonic Wars.

At the forefront of the image is a horse-drawn buggy carrying a cannon, which is stuck in the snow. Two horses appear to have been pulling the buggy; however, one of them has fallen over. The other has a man atop its back. Behind this scene is a large caravan of French soldiers. Of these men, none have become stuck in the snow; it appears to be flattened down. Many of the other men are riding horses and have capes over their shoulders. The caravan is distinct and visible in the right of the image, but slowly blends into an indistinct blur as it winds back and to the left. In the distance, where the caravan ends, there are some pine trees, the only visible plant life.

Color, or, more importantly, a lack thereof, is a predominant motif in this image. Because the landscape is virtually colorless—even the trees are grayish—the eye is drawn to the people. It is interesting to note the color of the horses. Whereas in the earlier images many of the horses were white, now they are nearly all brown. The one horse that seems intended to draw the eye (as it is a bright, brown color) pulls a sleigh with fully bundled men in it. Historical documentation suggests that this depiction is hyperbolic. Hence, where the color is and where the color is not is very important. Additionally, the people in the image only wear the colors of the French flag. Although the retreat from Moscow was by no means a glorious event, it is still designed in this image to arouse patriotism.

William Henry Ireland’s depiction of Napoleonic events emphasize Bonaparte's valor. “On quitting Moscow, he had expressly ordered, that all carriages, without distinction, his own included, should be appropriated for the conveyance of the wounded” (W. Ireland, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte483). In the dead of winter in Russia, Napoleon allegedly exhibited altruism. Despite the mass casualties due to both the war and the climate, Napoleon was 

. . . still surrounded by their bravest and steadiest men, while those officers who had been wounded at Mosqua, were seen, one with his arm in a sling, another with his head covered with linen bandages, encouraging the firm, keeping together the doubting, throwing themselves upon the enemy’s batteries, driving them back, and even seizing three of their field-pieces, thus astonishing their adversaries and checking the influence of bad example by a display of the most noble intrepidity. (W. Ireland, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte 486).

It was not solely Napoleon who exuded heroism during these rough times; his men also displayed “noble trepidity.” Although there may have been valorous sentiment among Napoleon and his troops during their retreat from Moscow, attitudes soon shifted. As Napoleon’s troops began to lose more and more battles, Napoleon heard a rumor that his adversaries were planning to banish him to a remote island. Even though the French’s early attempts to exile him failed, he was later successfully contained: “Once Napoleon had been safely packed off to Saint Helena, England could turn her attention to domestic matters and, at once, issues which had been kept under the lid during the war began to bubble up more vigorously” (W. Ireland, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte 385).

This image intends to offer a historically accurate depiction of an event in Napoleon’s life. Much like the earlier images in this gallery, this one also fails to do so: Napoleon and his troops’ retreat from Moscow was bleak, and their amount of equipment was scanty. However, this image shows the men warmly clothed and with many supplies.

This scene invokes the Romantic picturesque. It “was seen as a distinct concept because it was used to describe landscapes which did not necessarily inspire awe or terror, but which were full of variety and interest, appealing to the viewer’s eye. Thus the picturesque could refer to a rural scene which to the viewer took on an idyllic simple beauty, or to the wild and remote” (N. King, Romantics 62). Another quality of the Romantic that this scene invokes is the gothic. The gothic “appealed to the same sentiments as those excited by the sublime in art, dealing as it did with the passionate, mysterious, horrific and supernatural” (N. King, Romantics 73). Death is addressed only casually in the image: although it is extremely prevalent to the soldiers, they are depicted as warm and clothed. The eeriness of the image then arises not from forebodings of death, but from the sheer number of soldiers and the viewer's inability to see where the trail ends.