| Summary/Abstract |
The article is devoted to one of the most tragic episodes of the Patriotic War of 1812 (Napoleon’s Russian campaign), associated with a massive loss of Russian wounded in Moscow. For 200 years the participants of the events and historians have expressed many opinions about the causes, culprits of the tragedy, and the number of victims. Based on the integrated use of currently available sources, bringing previously unknown documents from the Russian and French archives, the author has tried to give convincing answers to the key questions of the theme. In his opinion, the retreating Russian army left in Moscow from 10,000 to 15,000 sick and wounded soldiers, of which at least 8,000 died or were taken prisoner. Some of the dead (about 1,000 people) were victims of fire, initiated by Moscow authorities headed by Governor-General F. V. Rostopchin. Causes of death for the greater part of the wounded and sick were associated mainly with the lack of medical care and food.
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