During the French invasion of Russia he was responsible for the defence of the city against Napoleon's Grande Armée, and he took every means available to rouse the population of the town and district to arm and join the army to defend the city against the invaders. After the Battle of Borodino it was clear to the Russian generals that their army could not deal with another battle; half of the population left the city, according to Leo Tolstoy. Rostopchin was invited to the council at Fili but excluded after a few hours and had the remaining population of the city evacuated, including all the city administrators and officials, leaving behind only a few French tutors, foreign shop keepers. In addition, the prisons and asylums were opened and the inhabitants set free by his order. No one came to meet the Emperor Napoleon with keys when he arrived at the city gates on 14 September in the afternoon. On the first night of French occupation a fire broke out in the bazaar and a number of small fires erupted in other quarters. As the French rode through the streets to the Kremlin they found the streets deserted. That night the city began to burn in earnest. Rostopchin had left a small detachment of police, whom he charged with burning his house and the city to the ground. (Houses were prepared with out of wood.) The city's fire-engines were disassembled. Fuses were left throughout the city to ignite the fires. He left Moscow on 14 September 1812 and gave up his position as governor. Rostopchin owned two mansions in Moscow and an estate near Tarutino, Russia. Robert Wilson was with him, when Rostopchin set fire to his estate.