Napoleon's Lost Army: The Soldiers Who Fell

BBC ^ | Jan. 4, 2006 | Paul Britten-Austin

[libstripper]

Vilnius, venerable capital of Lithuania, is sometimes called 'the city built on human bones'. It stands in the main Berlin to Moscow corridor, which for over 200 years has been the battlefields of the armies of Napoleon, the Tsars of Russia, Hitler and Stalin, as well as Poles and Prussians - hence its sinister description.

'Thousands of skeletons were discovered there, laid out neatly in layers.' Early in 2002, while bulldozing some ugly Soviet barracks on the outskirts of Vilnius, municipal workers uncovered a mass grave. Thousands of skeletons were discovered there, laid out neatly in layers. Where did these bones come from? Were they those of Jews, massacred by the Nazis? No. For here's a metal button, with '61' stamped on it. Here's another, stamped '29'. And here's a patch of an ancient uniform, once blue. Also to be seen is a gold 20-franc coin from Napoleonic times, and a 'shako' (a French infantryman's helmet), squashed flat.

[libstripper]

This BBC article is a great, short history of Napoleon's catastrophic Russian campaign and the collapse of what was left of his army when it arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania after its retreat from Moscow.

[mainepatsfan]

The Discovery channel had a good program on this.

[GreyFriar]

ping

[IronJack]

Interesting article. Not much new there, but a great summary of Napoleon's fateful Russian campaign.

[DK Zimmerman]

For anyone who hasn't seen this, this is a reference to a graphic of the size of Nap's army en route to and returning from Moscow. Considered one of the best statistical representations ever done. (Couldn't figure out how to post it directly, without access to a web site to park it.)

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters

[Riley]

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters

Clickable link. I've seen this before- it is quite impressive.

[libstripper]

Fantastic graphic!! Everybody else on this thread ought to look at it.

[libstripper]

Do you know where those of us who are interested could get a copy translated into English? Thanks.

[Riley]

http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/re-minard.html

Scroll down a bit.

[Sans-Culotte]

The article was by Paul Britten Austin. His trilogy on the 1812 campaign, drawn entirely from eyewitness accounts, is one of the most exciting books on a campaign I've ever read. Reading it is almost like watching an epic film that jumps from character to character.

I would take issue with his statement in the article that Napoleon had set out to "conquer Russia". All evidence shows he merely wanted to inflict a defeat on the Tsar's army and bring them back into the anti-British fold. Had the Russian Army stood and fought early on, Napoleon would have achieved this end. However, the Russians, either accidentally or on purpose, kept drawing Napoleon deeper into Russia.

That graphic about the campaign shows that half the army was lost on the way in. It was logistically impossible to take so large a force so far in 1812.

[mainepatsfan]

Correct. Though it proved to be the correct strategic move I tend to think the initial reason for the Russians retreat was simply because they knew they'd get crushed if they stood and fought Napoleon just across the border.

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. A gruesome end to Napoleon's army.

[SunkenCiv]

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