How Minard used data to convey the story of Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia

As someone who has an interest in history, and in particular the Napoleonic era, combined with a professional interest in data and information and how best to present this to tell a story, Minard’s 1869 drawing showing, in data terms, Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 is an absolute gem.

Charles Joseph Minard was a French engineer who became known for his pictographic drawings representing data-points across cartographic maps. His drawing of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia is his most famous work and is a fantastic example of how the visual representation of data can be used as both an analytical as well as narrative device.

The picture, shown below, shows in such a simple and powerful way the absolute defeat of Napoleon’s Grande Armée between June and December 1812. 

It is such a powerful diagram as it succinctly displays six points of data in two dimensions: the number of Napoleon's troops (scaled to 1mm for each 10,000 men), the distance travelled, the direction of travel, the cartographic locations, and from the point of retreat it shows the dates of the army movement and the temperature as Russia was plunged into a harsh winter.

In June 1812, La Grand Armée numbered around 450,000 troops, one of the largest invasion forces assembled in history. Napoleon had planned on executing his usual shock and awe strategy rapidly marching into Russia, forcing a decisive battle and then subjugating his vanquished foe to his terms, namely, to abide by the Continental System that aimed to isolate Britain from trade with European nations. His strategy had worked spectacularly in the past; against the Austrians and the Russians at the Battle of the Three Emperors at Austerlitz, and against Prussia at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, putting an end to the Wars of the Third and Fourth Coalitions respectively.

What Napoleon didn’t count on, or expect, this time was the scorched-earth policy that Russia would employ in its defence. The Russians avoided a full-scale battle, and only fought rear-guard defensive battles at Smolensk and Borodino, neither of which were decisive wins for Napoleon. Upon reaching Moscow, Napoleon found it abandoned, of people, valuables and the provisions he hoped to feed his army on. The French armies of the time were required to be, to a large extent, self-sustaining, avoiding the need for long trains of supply lines, they would instead forage and scavenge from the country. Russia’s tactic of razing the land in their retreat left nothing of sustenance for the French army, and when they arrived at Moscow, they were a miserable, hungry lot. An army marches on its stomach, and a hungry army is a rag-tag affair.

Napoleon remained in Moscow for five weeks, hoping to parley with the Russians and agree terms for their surrender, however no such offer came, and then, to the shock of the Emperor, Moscow was set alight – assumed by the Russians to put a final blow into Napoleons hopes of success. Reluctantly he began the long march into retreat – badgered on all sides by Russian and Cossack skirmishers, and then the final abject defeat at the Battle of Berezina where tens of thousands of soldiers, attendants and hangers-on were sacrificed to the Russians when Napoleons orders to demolish the temporary bridges was carried out.

At the conclusion of the miserable campaign, only around 10,000 number remained of La Grande Armée, who only six months earlier were 450,000 strong. Six months after it began, Napoleon’s invasion of Russia crashed to an ignoble end, and soon after, his Empire would crumble away in front of him during the War of the Sixth Coalition.

Minard’s “Figurative Map” shows clearly and succinctly the scale of the loss experienced by La Grande Armée. It is a powerful example of how data can be shown to convey information, to support analysis and to provide a concise narrative of events.

Minard drew his map in 1869 – data analysis is not a new invention, nor is it only a demand of the twenty-first century, but with the amount of data being collected en masse in today’s world, it is a reminder that data is only as useful as the information it conveys, and wielded in the right way data can illuminate complex situations, simplify a vast narrative, and highlight critical detail.

Charles Joseph Minard was 88 in 1869 when he drew his famous map, he died the following year at 89 years of age, but left a legacy of informational graphics and statistical maps, and his 1869 drawing Carte figurative des pertes successives en hommes de l'Armée Française dans la campagne de Russie 1812–1813 was his pinnacle, it displays the cost, in human lives, of Napoleon’s failed ambition, and is considered to be one of the finest statistical graphics ever produced.