on September 14th 1812 Napoleon bonapart Grand arm entered Moscow expecting a Triumph instead they found the city eerily empty just after midnight fires erupted spreading rapidly and consuming much of the city including the Kremlin these devastating Flames believed to be set by Russian Patriots turned Moscow into a blazing ruin Napoleon shocked and infuriated wrote a letter to zar Alexander I mourning the destruction of a city centuries in the making the fire signaled the beginning of the end for Napoleon's campaign struggling through a brutal winter and Relentless Russian attacks his army faced a harrowing Retreat September 14th 1812 thus became a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of fate and the limits of military power