Great graph, isn’t it? I made a copy of that and had it on my office wall for years.
So, the thickness of the tan part of the graph shows his inbound forces to Moscow, and the black thickness shows his outbound retreat from Moscow.
He started out with 422,000 men, and early on 22,000 men break off and go straight to the North, and shortly after that 33,000 men head up to Polotsk, where they stay put throughout the campaign, losing 3,000 men probably to winter and starvation.
They finally reached Moscow in September, but as the stepped appearance of the thickness indicated, they were losing men constantly down to half their strength by the time they got to Witbsk...only 175,000 remaining.
By the time they got to Moscow, they only had 100,000 men left, the city was empty and set ablaze by the retreating Russians. This was September, and it was a balmy 75 degrees. It dropped to 50 degrees, then plummeted to -10 by the time they returned to Smolensk on the way back.
As the Army passed far South of Polotsk, the guarding force (I presume) came South with 30,000 men to hook up with the main body.
By the time they arrived back to where they had started with 422,000 men, there were only 10,000 men remaining.
There were 100,000 battle casualties.
So, I think the answer to your question is that 322,000 men succumbed to the weather and privation, not to battle injuries.
Just wow.
I agree. Great graph. But if it is like you suggest lice and tyfoid (probably) killed many more than the cold which is really interesting. I have to read up on that. Cool!