Deadly bacteria that doomed Napoleon's army discovered 213 years after Russian retreat

Scientists say they've discovered traces of the deadly pathogens that ravaged Napoleon's soldiers during his doomed 1812 retreat from Russia - offering a clearer picture of the circumstances of the French general's downfall.

The soldiers served under Napoleon during his disastrous invasion of Russia in the winter of 1812. They were among the roughly 300,000 French Grande Armée soldiers who perished in the campaign.

These two pathogens had not been identified previously among Napoleon's soldiers, though historians have documented the harsh conditions of their deaths for over two centuries.

Study author Nicolás Rascovan, speaking to Reuters, said Vilnius "was a key waypoint on the 1812 retreat route." The mass grave contains the remains of up to 3,000 soldiers.

"Many soldiers arrived exhausted, starving and ill," the microbiologist said. 

Rascovan said that starvation, numbing temperatures and typhus were long known as major causes of death, but that the study conclusively proves that paratyphoid fever and louse-borne relapsing fever were also present.

These "may have contributed to debilitation and mortality," Rascovan added.

Paratyphoid fever is spread through food and water, while louse-borne relapsing fever is spread by body lice.

"The co-occurrence of pathogens with different transmission routes underscores how dire sanitary conditions were," he said. 

"Future work across more sites and individuals will refine the disease landscape of 1812."

Reuters contributed reporting.