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First Napoleonic mass grave uncovered in Vilnius
Times of India ^ | APRIL 09, 2002 | Unknown

Posted on 04/10/2002 12:31:59 PM PDT by Korth

VILNIUS: Researchers are rushing to remove hundreds of skeletons from a mass grave of Napoleonic soldiers discovered on a Vilnius construction site in a find that promises to offer fresh insights into the disastrous 1812 campaign to Moscow.

The remains of an estimated 1,000 soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Army were buried here as they retreated from the ill-fated campaign to Moscow, dumped in a ditch they had built when advancing on the Russian Empire.

It is the largest mass grave of Napoleonic soldiers ever found, according to Olivier Dutour, an anthropological biologist at the University of Marseille's school of medicine, who heads a five-man team from France's National Center for Scientific Research.

The remains may help anthropologists and historians learn more about the physical condition of soldiers of the Grand Army as it retreated from Moscow in 1812.

"Thanks to methods from molecular biology, we can test whether typhus, which existed in the period, was widespread in the region" and contributed to the large numbers of deaths of soldiers, he told AFP.

"What we can learn from this find is the age of the soldiers in the Grand Army and their state of health on the march back from Moscow," said Rimantas Jankuaskas, chair of the anthropology department at Vilnius University, who is leading the excavation work.

The Russians pursued a scorched-earth policy, even setting light to Moscow, leaving Napoleon's troops to freeze in the unusually harsh winter reducing the Grand Army to just one-fifth of the 700,000 men from 20 nations that it initially contained.

So far the grave site is testimony to the severe cold which claimed many lives.

"Looking at the skeletons, we can say that the bodies were buried frozen," said Dutour.

He points to a skeletal finger, the only bones recovered from one man, bent in an "abnormal" curled position.

"This man died from exposure at a temperature of around minus 30 degrees centigrade (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in a crouched position," said Dutour.

The grave was found last October as preparations were made to begin building a residential complex on land that has been used for military purposes by Czarist Russian, Polish, Nazi and Soviet troops since the end of 19th century.

Work had to quickly be suspended because of the winter, and was resumed only in mid-March after the snow melted.

Investigators originally believed the remains may have been those of Polish soldiers killed by the Soviets, but based on buttons and other articles of clothing identified them as belonging to the Grand Army.

Work is pursuing at a rapid pace because the construction company only gave researchers one month, or until April 11, to complete their work.

The scientists don't have adequate time to record in detail the position of each of the skeletons found.

"We've been forced to focus on just several individuals," said Michel Signolis, the deputy director of the French team.

The team was dispatched to Vilnius with such haste that they did not even receive a formal budget for the trip, and are sleeping at the site in an old camper made available to them by a French citizen who lives in Lithuania.

"We must keep watch over and protect our treasures from the curious" who can easily gain access to the open site, said Signolis.

The remains are being removed to Vilnius University's Anthropology Institute while a decision is taken on their final burial.

The city is "in contact with French officials to determine a dignified burial site for these soldiers," Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas told AFP.

More experts from the French defense ministry were expected in Vilnius to help the Lithuanians examine the remains and review information on trenches where others soldiers may have been buried.

According to historians, the remains of some 40,000 soldiers were either buried or burned when the Grand Army fled from Vilnius in 1812.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Russia
KEYWORDS: archeology; army; france; historylist; lithuania; napoleon; russia; soldiers
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1 posted on 04/10/2002 12:31:59 PM PDT by Korth
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To: Korth
As an amateur student of this time period, I find this discovery very interesting. Will you ping me if more comes in? Thanks.

Leni

2 posted on 04/10/2002 12:36:15 PM PDT by MinuteGal
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To: Korth
According to historians, the remains of some 40,000 soldiers were either buried or burned when the Grand Army fled from Vilnius in 1812.

And the French have been retreating ever since.

3 posted on 04/10/2002 12:40:37 PM PDT by malakhi
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: Korth
Bump for the dead soldiers.
6 posted on 04/10/2002 1:03:16 PM PDT by blam
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To: angelo
The French consider the battle of Moscow a victory, and it is included in the mosaic of Great Victories of the Empire that encircles Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides in Paris.




Le Tombeau de Napoleon

7 posted on 04/10/2002 1:06:47 PM PDT by eastsider
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To: Korth
The Lithuanians were so oppressed by the Czars (who went so far as to outlaw the teaching and publishing of the Lithuanian language) that they welcomed Napoleon as a liberator, and there is today a building in the old city whose roof was designed to imitate Napoleon's hat! Sorry, didn't work out quite right.
8 posted on 04/10/2002 1:17:20 PM PDT by Chairman Fred
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To: MinuteGal
Vilnius, most well known as the childhood home of the captain of the "Red October".
9 posted on 04/10/2002 1:17:24 PM PDT by connectthedots
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To: Korth
Very interesting. Please ping me, too, if anything else comes out.
10 posted on 04/10/2002 1:20:47 PM PDT by livius
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To: Korth
The entire territory once occupied by the Soviet Union is one big mass grave. Put a spade into the earth anywhere and you'll come up with human remains.
11 posted on 04/10/2002 1:23:48 PM PDT by Argus
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To: Korth
cool.
12 posted on 04/10/2002 1:28:46 PM PDT by GraniteStateConservative
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To: Korth
There were a good many other nationalities than French during this Napoleonic campaign in Russia. Spanish, Prussian [and other Germans], Austrian, Dutch, Italian, Pole and even Portugese. Although this information may have some value, it would seem to me to be of greater worth if the nationality of these troops could be uncovered.
13 posted on 04/10/2002 1:36:14 PM PDT by curmudgeonII
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To: Korth
Bonaparte was one of the greatest men who ever lived. The Old Guard dies, but never surrenders. :)
14 posted on 04/10/2002 1:50:34 PM PDT by Lejes Rimul
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To: Korth
I wonder who is the author of this article?

"... The Russians pursued a scorched-earth policy, even setting light to Moscow, leaving Napoleon's troops to freeze in the unusually harsh winter reducing the Grand Army to just one-fifth of the 700,000 men ..."

What an interesting grammatical angle--portraying the Russiansas the subjects of the sentence--- asserting that the Russians, who were the invaded party (the subject), were pursuing a scorched earth policy by denying the invading army their food and urban infrastructure.

Hmmm. Very odd indeed. The ongoing Western war against Slavic Peoples continues unabated--even to the point of one little sentence in an article in The Times Of India

"... Work is pursuing at a rapid pace because the construction company only gave researchers one month, or until April 11, to complete their work. The scientists don't have adequate time to record in detail the position of each of the skeletons found.

Also instructive---The de-natured, self-hating ways of white people everywhere on the planet are so acute they can't even slow down the construction of a housing project for a brief period in order to treat the corpses of fallen soldiers with some decency. It reminds me of the brutality practiced upon the corpse of the 5000 year old man in the Alps. They ripped off his dessicated private parts in an effort to grab his poor body for "scientific evaluation".

"...The remains may help anthropologists and historians learn more about the physical condition of soldiers of the Grand Army as it retreated from Moscow in 1812. "Thanks to methods from molecular biology, we can test whether typhus, which existed in the period, was widespread in the region" and contributed to the large numbers of deaths of soldiers, he told AFP. ..."

Western scientists searching for the cause of death. How typical. The causeis everything and anything except the Cause for which the soldiers were fighting. The Cause must never be uttered, of course, because therein lies the clue to the decline and fall of Western Civilization.

Oh well. Here in my Homeland--which is constantly on guard against blue-haired grandmothers who might comandeer a jet and crash it into a skyscraper--the battlefields of the Civil War are under constant pressure for shopping mall development

Let's all play our version of "Ashokan Farewell" loudly and tip a glass to the Fallen.

15 posted on 04/10/2002 2:28:41 PM PDT by LaBelleDameSansMerci
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To: Lejes Rimul
Napoleon was an extremely short man who came to power in a culture of tall men--who had been articficially shortened by the guillotine.....
16 posted on 04/10/2002 2:33:56 PM PDT by LaBelleDameSansMerci
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To: Korth
Napoleon issued a famous bulletin after the debacle which stated "The Emperor's health has never been better." No mention was made in reference however to the state of health of "La Grande Armee" which had effectively ceased to exist.
17 posted on 04/10/2002 2:45:29 PM PDT by Eternal_Bear
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To: LaBelleDameSansMerci
Danny De Vito was the best movie Napoleon of all time :^)
18 posted on 04/10/2002 2:46:47 PM PDT by Eternal_Bear
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To: Eternal_Bear
If only Elomre Leonard had been alive in 1812. What a great chronicler of the life and times of Nappy he would have made.

Mr. Leonard, are you lurking?

How about "Just Shorty"? "Because Shorty"? "Shorty and the Russian Mafia"? "Shorty Takes It In the Shorts"? "All Shorty's Men"?

Or better yet: "The Importance of Being Short".

19 posted on 04/10/2002 3:03:45 PM PDT by LaBelleDameSansMerci
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To: LaBelleDameSansMerci
I meant "object" when I wrote "subject" the second time. I'm sure everyone knows that.....
20 posted on 04/10/2002 3:41:27 PM PDT by LaBelleDameSansMerci
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