General Frost Shaveing Little Boney, William Elmes, 1812

Having waited until mid-october to depart for moscow, the exhausted french army soon found itself in the midst of winter—in fact, in the midst of an unusually early and especially cold winter. Temperatures soon dropped well below freezing, cossacks attacked stragglers and isolated units, food was almost non-existent, and the march was five hundred miles. Ten thousand men survived. The campaign ensured napoleon’s downfall and russia’s status as a leading power in post-napoleonic europe. The remnants of the grand army crossed the berezina on november 26-29, and reached prussian territory by crossing the niemen on december 13-14. Reference source: george #11917 subjects (lcsh): political cartoons; history--caricatures & cartoons; napoleon i, emperor of the french, 1769-1821; napoleonic wars, 1800-1815. Date: 1812. Place of creation: Cheapside, London. Medium: etching. Collection: University of Washington. General Frost Shaveing Little Boney (NAPOLEON 151)