The study highlights that diseases were the leading cause of death for Napoleon’s soldiers. They paid dearly for their cataclysmic retreat from Russia during the ill-fated invasion of 1812. A team of researchers then worked to identify the infections responsible for these soldiers’ deaths. This revelation serves to remind us of the myriad other challenges they endured, far more than the famously chronicled fatigue and cold.
The research sequenced ancient DNA collected from the teeth of these 13 soldiers. It turned out that at least one person had contracted Borrelia recurrentis, the louse-borne bacterium responsible for relapsing fever. The outbreaks led to four soldiers being diagnosed with paratyphoid fever, a condition caused by a specific strain of Salmonella enterica. Those two ailments stand in for the appalling health situation that confronted Napoleon’s army on their retreat.
Paratyphoid fever mainly transmits through food or water infected with the bacteria. By comparison, relapsing fever, which is caused by Borrelia, specifically Borrelia recurrentis, is spread by lice. The study suggests that the interplay between these diseases and the challenging environment contributed to the staggering loss of life. It is believed that some 300,000 soldiers perished in this retreat. This colossal event now ranks as one of the greatest military catastrophes in all of history.
The researchers used shotgun sequencing methods to detect fragments of DNA from 185 bacteria capable of causing disease in humans. As a final precaution, they made sure to validate the authenticity of the ancient DNA by looking for signatures of degradation, resulting in trustworthy findings. The researchers investigated the evolutionary heritage of the bacteria. Their findings provide new insight into how these organisms evolved and what influence they’ve had on human health.
“In light of our results, a reasonable scenario for the deaths of these soldiers would be a combination of fatigue, cold, and several diseases, including paratyphoid fever and louse-borne relapsing fever,” stated Nicolás Rascovan and his team. “While not necessarily fatal, the louse-borne relapsing fever could significantly weaken an already exhausted individual.”
This study drives home the point that environmental influences such as famine and severe weather focused with brutal effectiveness on the suffering of these soldiers. Infectious diseases made their plight much worse still. This unique analysis clearly demonstrates that Napoleon’s army was not only fighting the elements, but the effects of disease during their retreat were just as formidable.
One of the researchers, Dr. Michael Rowe, commented on the implications of their findings: “The science is interesting because I think it does something which a historian couldn’t do.” This is a perfect example of how scientific analysis can yield new insights into our history.
Consider Napoleon’s troops, who suffered terribly throughout their campaigns. Some of these experts caution against oversimplifying what caused their failures just by pointing to the weather or disease. Dr. Rowe remarked, “That underplays the Russians and it underplays the fact that they actually do some very clever things and that they’ve got a very good strategy and they’ve got actually quite a sophisticated army.”