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Napoleon’s retreating army may have been plagued by these microbes

DNA from soldiers’ teeth reveal infections that may have worsened the 1812 retreat from Russia

A painting of Napoleon riding a white horse over snowy ground, with his freezing army surrounding him.

Bitter cold, exhaustion, starvation and infectious disease contributed to the downfall of Napoleon’s army as it retreated from Moscow (depicted in this painting).

Adolph Northen/Wikimedia Commons

By Meghan Rosen

In 1812, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte led a doomed army on a disastrous retreat from Russia. With food scarce, winter approaching and diseases running rampant, hundreds of thousands of soldiers ultimately perished.