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New evidence suggests that typhoid, spread by lice, was the main cause of the deaths of French soldiers during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, rather than the harsh winter or Russian people. Prior to this discovery, historians believed that the French army withdrew due to the citizens of Moscow burning the city or the severe cold during their retreat. Napoleon was not particularly short for his time and one of his soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone during his campaign in Egypt. He was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.
While Napoleon Bonaparte didn’t meet his Waterloo until three years later, the failure of his invasion of Russia in 1812 was one of the greatest upsets in military history. But evidence now suggests that it was neither the Russian people nor the harsh winter that played the greatest role in the defeat of the famous French military leader: he was the smallest of enemies. Archaeologists who have excavated the remains of some of the roughly 570,000 French soldiers who died during the war say most of these deaths were caused by typhoid, a disease caused by several types of bacteria and spread by lice. The lice moved quickly from soldier to soldier, who usually slept next to each other and wore the same clothes for days. Indeed, 80,000 French soldiers died of typhus just one month after the Russian invasion. Prior to this discovery, most historians believed that the largely intact French army, which they pushed with little resistance into the Russian capital, only withdrew after the citizens of Moscow burned most of the city, denying to Napoleon’s troops the food and supplies they needed to survive. Another popular theory is that many French troops died in the severe cold during their retreat.
What you don’t know about Napoleon:
Contrary to popular belief, Napoleon was not particularly short for his time: he was about 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm), which was the average height for a man.
In 1799, during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, one of Napoleon’s soldiers discovered an ancient basalt stone with the inscription: Today we know it as the Rosetta Stone.
Napoleon was finally defeated by the Seventh Coalition at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He was exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821 at the age of 51.
