During the war of 1812 Napoleon spent here the first night after the tragic crossing the river Berezina. A badly wounded French general made his confession in church. He died and was buried in Zembin. The war between the Russian Empire and France, later the uprisings of the 19th century prevented the township from developing. Before 1800 there were 52 homesteads, in 1864 there were only 50. In later years Zembin grew quickly. In 1880 there were already 635 inhabitants and 139 homesteads (101 of them belonged to the Jews). The township became the administrative centre of a volost. As of 1890 it consisted of 124 populated localities with total population 9209.