As a result, the bodies of many soldiers simply gave out. While it’s been said that an army marches on its stomach, food in the Grande Arm ée was often rotten and the water equally foul. Far from toughening up the fighting men, the physical punishment of campaigning wore both veterans and recruits down. In 1812, some marched from Madrid to Moscow. Soldiers typically walked hundreds of miles in a single campaign. Not surprising, considering how tough life in the French army was in the early 19 th century. (Image source: WikiCommons) “I walked too much.”Īccording to primary sources, 40 per cent of soldiers who perished during the Napoleonic Wars died of illness. Physical exhaustion could be just as deadly to fighting men as musket balls or bayonets. Here are the five most common causes of death. Thanks to regimental registers, we have a chance to explore the various unexpected ways Bonaparte’s fighting men lost their lives in wartime between the years 17. Yet, only a fraction of the fallen actually died on the battlefield. IN OUR UPCOMING book, Fighting the British, my co-author and I calculated that approximately 45 per cent of all the soldiers who fought in the French army during the Napoleonic Wars never returned home. (Image source: WikiCommons) “ Only about a 30 per cent of all fatalities occurred in combat. Of the million or so French soldiers to die fighting for Napoleon, only a fraction were killed in combat.
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