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The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army
Amazon.com ^ | Unknown | Unknown

Posted on 05/31/2009 1:03:31 PM PDT by decimon

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Even as the Russians retreated before him in disarray, Napoleon found his army disappearing, his frantic doctors powerless to explain what had struck down a hundred thousand soldiers. The emperor’s vaunted military brilliance suddenly seemed useless, and when the Russians put their own occupied capital to the torch, the campaign became a desperate race through the frozen landscape as troops continued to die by the thousands. Through it all, with tragic heroism, Napoleon’s disease-ravaged, freezing, starving men somehow rallied, again and again, to cries of “Vive l’Empereur!”

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(Excerpt) Read more at amazon.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Health/Medicine; History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: bonaparte; france; godsgravesglyphs; napoleon; napoleonbonaparte; typhus; worldhistory
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The above segment of a book review may answer a question about what accounted for Napolean's defeat in Russia.

Via InstaPundit

1 posted on 05/31/2009 1:03:31 PM PDT by decimon
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To: SunkenCiv

Complex ping.


2 posted on 05/31/2009 1:04:12 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

I just finished reading The Ghost Map by Johnson and I really recommend it for those, who like myself, are fascinated by plagues. It’s about the 1854 cholera epidemic in Soho, London England.


3 posted on 05/31/2009 1:05:08 PM PDT by Mercat (The Constitution is not a suicide pact.)
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To: decimon

Typhus? Yeah, right. Two of Russia’s generals were most responsible for Napoleon’s defeat. Do you know their names?


4 posted on 05/31/2009 1:06:45 PM PDT by Krankor
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To: decimon

There was a plaque on my hospital commander’s desk:

“Disease has killed more soldiers and decided more wars than all the bullets and bombs ever fired in anger.”

I believe it is a quote or a paraphrase though I do not know the source.


5 posted on 05/31/2009 1:07:37 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: Krankor

Kutozov and Bagration


6 posted on 05/31/2009 1:09:09 PM PDT by OldCorps
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To: Krankor

I believe they are “January” and “February” though I do not know their official ranks.


7 posted on 05/31/2009 1:10:01 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: OldCorps

Close, but no cigar. The two I’m talking about have been responsible for keeping Russia safe for generations.


8 posted on 05/31/2009 1:12:00 PM PDT by Krankor
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To: taxcontrol

You, sir, are a true historian.


9 posted on 05/31/2009 1:13:09 PM PDT by Krankor
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To: decimon

10 posted on 05/31/2009 1:13:11 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Mercat
The book was good but the Author is a commie, his slavering over Marx almost made me puke. That aside a good read.
11 posted on 05/31/2009 1:15:13 PM PDT by Little Bill (Just a Poor White Person , clinging to God, Guns, and the Constitution)
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To: decimon

Napoleon lost another 50,000 men to disease (yellow fever) in Haiti. He sent them there with the intention of using it as a staging area for militarizing the Louisiana Territory. There was a slave revolt, and in the process he lost not only most of his army, but Haiti as well. He gave up his North American ambitions, and offered President Jefferson a chance to buy the Louisiana Territory, doubling the size of the USA.


12 posted on 05/31/2009 1:16:26 PM PDT by Hugin (GSA! (Goodbye sweet America))
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To: taxcontrol
“Disease has killed more soldiers and decided more wars than all the bullets and bombs ever fired in anger.”

Possibly so. But a big letdown to military buffs.

13 posted on 05/31/2009 1:17:31 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

Yeah ... as a hard charging Infantry Sergent, my first reaction was “No Way!” But then I did a little research. Hard to accept that one of the greatest inventions ever employed by the military is the latrine.


14 posted on 05/31/2009 1:21:41 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: Hugin
Napoleon lost another 50,000 men to disease (yellow fever) in Haiti.

"An army travels on its stomach." When it can no longer stand, I guess.

15 posted on 05/31/2009 1:22:36 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

At first I thought this was about all of the departed voters democrats rely on to swing elections.


16 posted on 05/31/2009 1:26:56 PM PDT by Jagman
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To: Krankor; taxcontrol

The “Generals January and February” saying is a crock. Napoleon invaded Russia in June 1812, and what was left of his army left Russia in December 1812. A quick review of the calendar reveals that no months named January or February appeared between those dates.


17 posted on 05/31/2009 1:29:28 PM PDT by Cheburashka (Democratic Underground: you now know where all those who took the brown acid at Woodstock wound up.)
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To: decimon

An obvious (and maybe dumb) question is this: Why was typhus a worse problem for Napoleon’s army than for the Russians? I would guess the answer is that the French forces were more concentrated, allowing the disease to spread more easily.


18 posted on 05/31/2009 1:31:30 PM PDT by hellbender
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To: taxcontrol
An aside but I remember reading somewhere that maleria has killed approx. 1:5 people who have ever lived.
19 posted on 05/31/2009 1:32:51 PM PDT by yankeedame ("Oh, I can take it but I'd much rather dish it out.")
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To: Hugin
He gave up his North American ambitions, and offered President Jefferson a chance to buy the Louisiana Territory, doubling the size of the USA.

Napoleon knew that France and Britain were weeks away from resuming their war, and sold Louisiana to the U.S. because he knew as a French colony it would fall to the British easily. A fire sale, as it were.

1803:
30 April: Napoleon sells Louisiana to United States.
18 May: Britain declares war.

http://www.napoleonsims.com/timeline/timeline.htm

20 posted on 05/31/2009 1:37:49 PM PDT by Cheburashka (Democratic Underground: you now know where all those who took the brown acid at Woodstock wound up.)
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