Nature, Published online: 24 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03487-6
Remains of some of the 300,000 soldiers who died on the retreat from Moscow reveal two bacterial diseases that probably added to the death count.
How Napoleon’s army met its doom: DNA reveals surprise illnesses had a role
Cold, hunger and disease killed some 60% of Napoleon’s 500,000-strong army during its retreat from Moscow in 1812.Credit: R. Barbieri et al./Curr. Biol.
