In 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte, leading his Grande Armée, launched a campaign against Russia—an endeavor that would prove to be a disastrous mistake. Although the French forces did reach Moscow, they found the city abandoned and largely set ablaze. Without access to supplies, the army was forced to retreat in October—right into the heart of the Russian winter.
New findings on the diseases that crushed Napoleon’s army
As if cold, starvation, and typhus weren’t enough. New research reveals that Napoleon’s defeated army also suffered from paratyphoid fever and relapsing fever during the retreat from Russia.