On 23 June 1812, with virtually all of Europe under his control, Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grand Armee, the largest force yet assembled for war, crossed the River Niemen into Russia in an attempt to defeat the Russian army and force the Tsar, Alexander I, into a Treaty confirming Napoleon's dominance over the whole of continental Europe.

Over half a million men embarked on the invasion and, initially, the attack went well, the Russians retreating before the French to within 70 miles of Moscow. Here, though, the Russians turned and fought one of the bloodiest battles of the war, at Borodino, with total casualties approaching 100,000. The Russians withdrew further and Napoleon entered Moscow on 14 September.

These events were experienced by the author of this account, General of Brigade Count Philip de Segur. His detailed, eye-witness account of an epoch-making campaign is compelling reading. This first volume relates events leading up to the burning of Moscow, a precursor to the horrors of the French retreat related in Volume Two.