The 1906 caption for this illustration reads: NAPOLEON'S FLIGHT.Here we are shown the celebrated conqueror in the despair in which he finally abandoned Russia. Even his carriage was too slow, and in a swift sled drawn by three horses, he fled from the scene of his broken hopes, as fast as man had then learned to move. He outrode the news of his failure, galloped across Germany unknown, and appearing in France raised a new army under a boast of victory. The year was 1812. Napoleon Bonaparte (17691821) was a French military and political leader who became the emperor of France. His invasion of Russia in 1812 led ultimately to his downfall with the winter taking a great toll on his troops and he escapes o Paris, leaving his army behind.