French army enters Vyazma to find it empty of its 15,000 inhabitants
At the start of his Russian campaign, Napoleon was pursuing the Russian army to force a decisive battle. He was hoping to catch up with the Russians at Vyazma but found it had retreated once more.
When Napoleon was told that a Russian Priest had died from shock at the news of his approach, he ordered him to be buried with all military honours. One possible reason of the priest’s shock was the fact the Russian Orthodox Church issued a proclamation, in which it declared Napoleon an anti-Christ form the Book of Revelation.