The Road to Ruin: Maloyaroslavets and the Grand Army’s Collapse
On 24 October 1812, flames and cannon thunder engulfed Maloyaroslavets as Kutuzov’s Russians and Napoleon’s weary Grande Armée clashed in savage combat. The town changed hands eight times before burning to ash. Forced to retreat through the frozen wastelands of Smolensk, Napoleon’s once-mighty army began its tragic march into oblivion.
