Chi ripulisce i campi dopo la battaglia? Le guerre napoleoniche ...
Mentre cavalcava attraverso il campo il quinto giorno dopo la battaglia, von Borcke vide dei soldati feriti a terra accanto al cadavere di un ...
Shannon Selin
*Il testo è tratto da: <anchor>Shannon Selin</anchor>, How were Napoleonic battlefields cleaned up? , che ringraziamo per averci concesso di pubblicare questo adattamento; è integrato con la sua trasposizione spagnola, di Jorge Alvarez, Cómo se limpiaban los campos de batalla de las guerras napoleónicas e con altre precisazioni che mi sono sembrate utili per il lavoro in classe. Le foto, dove non specificato, sono quelle proposte da Selin, il cui sito, inoltre, è ricchissimo di racconti, materiali e indicazioni di studio, in genere di storia militare.
How were Napoleonic battlefields cleaned up? - Shannon Selin
MENU

# How were Napoleonic battlefields cleaned up?

Somewhere in the range of 3.5 million to 6 million people died as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, which lasted from 1803 to 1815. This includes both military and civilian casualties, and encompasses death from war-related diseases and other causes. Estimates of the number of soldiers killed in battle range from 500,000 to almost 2 million. What happened to all of those bodies? What did Napoleonic battlefield cleanup entail?

The Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812, by Albrecht Adam

The Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812, by Albrecht Adam

## Scavenging

The depiction of post-battle scavenging in Napoleon in America is based on fact. Soldiers were typically the first to pick through the dead and wounded, taking weapons, clothing and valuables. There was little sentimentality involved. The victors looted from the fallen of both sides. It was a matter of survival, or profit. Camp followers – civilians and women who accompanied the men on campaign – also stole and salvaged from the battlefield. So did the local inhabitants, who had to deal with the mess the armies left behind. British General Robert Wilson described the scene after the Battle of Heilsberg (1807):

One of the unusual things about the remains of a soldier unearthed in 2012 at the battlefield of Waterloo (1815) is that the man does not appear to have been robbed.

## Tooth hunting

Dentures with Waterloo Teeth - Military Museum, Dresden, Germany

Dentures with Waterloo Teeth – Military Museum, Dresden, Germany

Some scavengers came with pliers. Teeth from dead soldiers were in great demand for the making of dentures. In Spain in 1814, the nephew of English surgeon Astley Cooper received a visit from a tooth hunter sent by his uncle.

The flood of teeth onto the market after the Battle of Waterloo was so large that dentures made from them were known as “ Waterloo teeth.” They were proudly advertised as such, since it meant the teeth came from relatively healthy young men.

## Burning, burial and decomposition

A pyre at Hougoumont after the Battle of Waterloo, by James Rouse, 1816, an example of Napoleonic battlefield cleanup

A pyre at Hougoumont after the Battle of Waterloo, by James Rouse, 1816

After they had been stripped, the bodies were either burned, buried, or left in the open to decompose, a process aided by vultures, wolves and other scavengers. Captain Jean-Roche Coignet wrote after the Battle of Marengo (1800):

Depending on the size of the losses, the weather, and the capacities of the army and the local population, battlefield cleanup could take some time. On March 2, 1807, three and a half weeks after the Battle of Eylau, the 64th Bulletin of Napoleon’s Grande Armée reported:

During Napoleon’s Russian campaign, remains lingered for months. French General Philippe de Ségur described the scene at Borodino (1812) during the retreat from Moscow, almost two months after the battle.

Napoleon had ordered the Westphalian VIII Corps) to stay and guard the battlefield, transport the wounded to hospitals, and bury the dead while the rest of the army continued on to Moscow. However, the corps could do little for the wounded, as the hospital system was rudimentary and no wagons or other means of transport could be found in the deserted villages.

Given these conditions, the Westphalians had managed only a rudimentary burial on the battlefield, as attested to by Sergeant Adrien Bourgogne, who came across the same sight as Ségur:

After the Battle of Waterloo, local peasants were hired to clean up the battlefield, supervised by medical staff. The allied dead were buried in pits. The French corpses were burned. Ten days after the battle, a visitor reported seeing the flames at Hougoumont.

## Bones for fertilizer

Human remains could still be seen at Waterloo a year after the battle. A company was contracted to collect the visible bones and grind them up for fertilizer. Other Napoleonic battlefields were also reportedly scoured for this purpose. In November 1822 a British paper reported:

## Souvenir hunters

After Napoleon’s final defeat, Britons hurried across the Channel to visit Waterloo, Paris and other sites associated with the French Emperor. The sightseers played a role in battlefield cleanup through their enthusiastic quest for souvenirs. In 1816, satirical poet Eaton Stannard Barrett wrote:

Scottish journalist John Scott), who visited Waterloo on August 9, 1815, seven weeks after the battle, found a 12-pound British shot, which he planned to bring home “with the cuirass and other spoils of battle which I have secured.” (12) Scott wrote:

The demand for Waterloo relics soon outstripped the supply, though the locals continued for decades to hawk souvenirs that were claimed to be genuine battlefield artefacts.

You might also enjoy:

1. Robert Wilson, Brief Remarks on the Character and Composition of the Russian Army and a Sketch of the Campaigns in Poland in the Years 1806 and 1807 (London, 1810), p. 147.
2. Jean-Baptiste de Marbot, The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, translated by Arthur John Butler, Vol. 1, (London, 1903), p. 216.
3. Bransby Blake Cooper, The Life of Sir Astley Cooper, Vol. 1 (London, 1843), pp. 401-402.
4. Jean-Roch Coignet, The Note-Books of Captain Coignet, Soldier of the Empire, edited by Jean Fortescue (New York, 1929), p. 81.
5. Jacques Peuchet, Campaigns of the Armies of France, in Prussia, Saxony, and Poland, translated by Samuel MacKay, Vol. 4 (Boston, 1808), p. 201.
6. Philippe de Ségur, History of the Expedition to Russia Undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the Year 1812, Vol. II (New York, 1872), p. 119.
7. Achilles Rose, Napoleon’s Campaign in Russia Anno 1812: Medico –Historical(New York, 1913), pp. 32-34.
8. Adrien Bourgogne, Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne, 1812-1813, edited by Paul Cottin (New York, 1899), p. 60.
9. Bernard Cornwell, Waterloo: The True Story of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles (New York, 2015), p. 325.
10. The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, Arts, Sciences and Literature for the Year 1822 (London, 1823), p. 132.
11. Eaton Stannard Barrett, The Talents Run Mad; or, Eighteen Hundred and Sixteen: A Satirical Poem (London, 1816), pp. 18-19.
12. Richard Henry Stoddard, ed., The Life, Letters and Table Talk of Benjamin Robert Haydon (New York, 1876), p. 152
13. John Scott, Journal of a Tour to Waterloo and Paris, in company with Sir Walter Scott in 1815 (London, 1842), pp. 46-48.

### 83 commments on “How were Napoleonic battlefields cleaned up?”

- Pier Kuiperssays:

Great article, macabre as it may be. You mention the remains of a British soldier at Waterloo – would that be in reference to the skeleton that was found during the construction of a car park, and turned out to be German? See http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7011508.html

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 8, 2016 at 10:32 am

  Many thanks, Pier. That’s the one. I was working from an earlier article, which said the remains were British. I’ll update the post.

  Reply

- Mark Andersonsays:

Very interesting post Shannon.

Let them see what is on the end of that long newspaper spoon.

William S. Burroughs

Were the names of the dead soldiers recorded, so that the parents and widows could be notified?

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 8, 2016 at 11:36 pm

  Good question, Hels. I’d like to think that in cases where a regiment was able to identify its dead members, an effort was made to notify the next of kin, and I’ve come across references to Napoleon occasionally dictating such letters, but I don’t know how often this happened in practice.

  Reply

  - Bas de Grootsays:

    July 9, 2016 at 11:41 pm

    In Scottish Regiments, this was often done through the kirks/parishes, where news about enlisted men, including their deaths, was often nailed to the church door or a nearby bulletin board. In Scotland this was possible because the Regiments often were close-knit societies, with many men from villages enlisting in a single Regiment together.

    On reading a number of Flemish/northern French soldiers’ letters ( http://janvanbakel.nl/menu6.htm), it becomes clear that quite often soldiers, when writing home, also conveyed news about soldiers they knew from their home towns, and so often would ask their own family members to let family X or Y know that soldier X or Y had died, or was in hospital.

    Reply

    - Shannon Selinsays:

      July 10, 2016 at 10:23 am

      Thanks, Bas. That’s good to know.

      Reply


  - Jason St.Justsays:

    August 4, 2016 at 6:00 am

    Wherever possible it was written down how the soldiers died. Of course it was not very detailed and of course medical knowledge then was not as advanced as today. If we research the records of those fallen we will see the following causes of death: fever, wounds, dysentry and just ‘died on such date’ which is usually the date of or just after a battle. When I look into my own personal records, I have a young forefather of 19 serving in the infantry who died of ‘fever’ in Toulouse in March 1814. Probably was sent to Spanish front for a year but did not survive too long…poor fellow. Another one was serving in the infantry of the Guard in 1813 and together with a friend was allowed to go on leave after the battle of Bautzen in May. When hostilities resumed in August 1813, the young lads were not back yet, so they were given up as ‘deserted’. Their families were arrested instead which prompted the young lads to return to their regiment by the end of August. Hard times!

    Reply

    - Shannon Selinsays:

      August 4, 2016 at 10:10 pm

      Hard times, indeed! Those poor men and their families. Thank you, Jason. I’m glad there are some records (however imperfect) of how the soldiers died, which could presumably reach their loved ones.

      Reply



- Tim Sutherlandsays:

An interesting article. Your readers might be interested in the television documentary we made recently called ‘Waterloo Dead’ (UKTV Yesterday Channel). It covers some of the same issues. I also made a Facebook page which contains some of our research https://www.facebook.com/ArchaeologyWaterloo/. There is also a website

Best wishes, Tim

After Wagram, the French forced the citizens of Vienna to go out on to the Marchfeld to clear up. Constable drew a series of sketches of Waterloo about a year later. I seem to remember that Janetschek includes a memoir about Austerlitz about a year after the battle. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=aOotAQAAIAAJ&dq=editions:WZENEB7-7Q0C

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 9, 2016 at 8:53 am

  Thanks, David. Re. Wagram, James Arnold, in Napoleon Conquers Austria (1995), writes, “under the July heat, the battlefield quickly became a stinking abattoir. Whereas the dead soldiers could be buried relatively quickly, the bloated bodies of the thousands of dead horses…soon putrefied.” (p. 172).

  Reply

  - David Hollinssays:

    July 10, 2016 at 5:10 am

    Many Wagram bodies were burned near Markgrafneusiedl and the bones are now interred in the church crypt. I think the ossuary at Marengo dates from 1805 and there has been some research on some of the bones.

    Many of the bodies from Aspern finished up in the Danube and reappeared when the river level fell.

    Reply

    - Shannon Selinsays:

      July 10, 2016 at 10:32 am

      What a horrid reminder that must have been for the locals. Thanks for the tip about the ossuary at Marengo, David. I’ve just searched and found this article, which gives details of the research: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258340883_Bone_lesions_from_the_ossuary_of_the_Napoleonic_battle_of_Marengo_Northern_Italy_14th_June_1800.

      Reply

      - David Hollinssays:

        July 11, 2016 at 1:43 pm

        I was reading this in the British Library recently – three injuries were identified: one was cut in the rear shoulder by a sabrebriquet, one was sabrebriquet or light sabre slashing wound to the skull and the last was a canister round into the pelvis. They all apparently caused “instant death” – it struck me that all three were probably from the final phase of the battle.




- Nico Taksays:

A very good article, just as shocking as the 24 hours at Waterloo by Robert Kershaw, stripped from all the glory and heroics, which gave me another look at the battles fought in those days.

Really interesting article Shannon. This is actually the topic I’m researching for my PhD, except I’m looking at a slightly earlier period (15th-17th century England). Have you found that most references to the disposal of the dead are in memoirs and other personal accounts or other types of source too?

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 9, 2016 at 12:28 pm

  That sounds like a fascinating topic, Sarah. So far the references I’ve come across are mainly in personal accounts, but there must be some references in things like financial records, military orders, etc. I just haven’t looked for them.

  Reply

- Mary Grantsays:

I’m glad to see this. People seldom realize that these wars did not produce cemeteries or even great memorials, which came later. We have an entirely different take now, and glorify war as never before. I was shocked when visiting Westminster Abbey, the war applause that exists there in statues of generals and heroes applauded in marble, along with images of their swords and regalia. Meanwhile, Hastings and Clechy are just a grassy field of ‘hallowed ground’, which really means blood soaked.

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 9, 2016 at 9:38 pm

  Thanks, Mary. There was a fair amount of glorification of war at the time (e.g., Napoleon commissioned the Arc de Triomphe in 1806), but people saw more of the gruesome effects than we do today (at least in the West), as war has become more technologized.

  Reply

- Michael N. Escobarsays:

Thénardier encounters Colonel Pontmercy (the father of Marius) at Waterloo while scavenging after the battle.

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 9, 2016 at 9:43 pm

  That’s right! Thanks, Michael. It’s so long since I’ve read Les Misérables, I’d completely forgotten that.

  Reply

- Erwin Muilwijksays:

I am very much reluctant to believe that there is any truth with regards to Waterloo in 1815, that bones were in later years unearthed to be used as fertilizer. This seems to be a perpetuated myth. Also, there is no overall evidence for Waterloo that much of the bodies were burned, instead of being interred in mass graves.

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 10, 2016 at 10:48 am

  This article by Joe Turner delves into the question of whether battlefield bones were used for fertilizer and concludes that it is probably not a myth: https://medium.com/study-of-history/the-bones-of-waterloo-a3beb35254a3#.aojt9ep4g. As you say, the majority of bodies were most likely buried, and the archaeological research underway at Waterloo (as per Tim’s excellent links above) should provide more information on this topic.

  Reply

- Andrew Salmonsays:

Grim but fascinating research, thanks. While researching my own book on the battle of Imjin River (Korea, April, 1951) veterans interviewed recalled their worst experience as being, not the combat, but the battlefield clearance. (They returned to the field a month after the battle to recover equipment and recover the dead.) It was a hot May day, and a subaltern of the 8th Hussars, dressed in overalls and rubber gloves and was disentangling the decomposing body of one of his men from the wreck of a Centurion tank. It was a warm day. He reached up to brush the sweat off his brow with his hand – and the decomposing matter on his glove mingled with his sweat and ran down his face into his mouth. Traumatic stuff that – like dressing stations and field hospitals – is not usually featured in war movies. “Orderly – put him down on the table, so./ Easily, gently – thanks, you may go./And it’s war! But the part that is not for show.”

I think you are doing a great job here.

The other side of the glorious medal… thank you.

Thanks, Shannon, for your presentation. It’s very well done with a wide perspective. I knew only about Wagram and Borodino after-battle depiction.

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 14, 2016 at 8:58 pm

  Thanks, Ermanno. I’m glad you found it interesting.

  Reply

- Ricard Sánchez Pérezsays:

The most realistic point of view I’ve ever seen

Absolutely, awesome; loved it!

A very detailed and fascinating overview of a part of warfare that is often totally ignored.

It was General Robert E. Lee who said, ‘It is well that War is so terrible–otherwise we would grow too fond of it.” I come from a family that has borne arms professionally for 700 years, all the way back to the days of armour & swords–and ending with F-14 US fighter planes, machine guns, & B-52 bombers.

- Shannon Selinsays:

  July 24, 2016 at 9:38 pm

  Thanks for this very appropriate quote, Alphonse-Louis. Sounds like your family truly knows the meaning of it.

  Reply

- luciano tantosays:

…a very normal, decent, useful and pretty “human” job.

Outstanding article on a subject that is rarely given prominence. It has crossed my mind on many occasions when watching battlefield scenes in films and on tv – who cleans up the mess afterwards? This has inspired me to do some further reading now.

Very sharp looking site, impressed and relate with the ‘about’ info. Looking forward to reading your Nap in America book as well.

Love this site!

If one were to watch the movie “Colonel Chabert” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8kU6FhOBBY there’s a great little scene after the battle that shows all of the nuances of battlefield cleanup. In “Waterloo” there’s an after battle scene as well where the soldiers are shooting at the civilian looters in order to scare them off from the scene.

A much needed post on a question everyone was too afraid to ask.

This was fascinating. It is a good thing to see this aspect of battle dealt with. It makes the history more real and more immediate. Life is never a sanitized Hollywood movie.

The scene of the most serious fighting at Waterloo was significantly changed by the creation of the Lion mound. Subsequent farming techniques may have further changed the contours significantly removing buried remains as a consequence. Can you recommend any sources of paintings/sketches that give a good sense of the field as it appeared at the time – that can be compared with the field today?

Here is how they dealt with the dead.

- marcel dionnesays:

I always wondered about the removal of the dead soldiers and their horses. Now I know. What a terrible end for all of these brave soldiers not to have a proper burial and to end up in farmers’ fields mixed in manure. I am not a soldier, but I salute all of these brave men of all regiments.

- Shannon Selinsays:

Well said, Marcel.

- Dav Vandenbrouckesays:

“I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle, for how can they charitably dispose of anything, when blood is their argument?”

- Shannon Selinsays:

Thanks for this very apt Shakespearean quote, Dav.

- Raheresays:

Before we get too thoughtful about the state of modern warfare, I’d remind readers that not too far south of Waterloo lie the battlefields of WW1, where the local farms have three stages by the front gate: one for milk, one for bones, and one for bombs. A colleague was part of the bomb squad which used to do the rounds, like delivering the mail.

- Raheresays:

As a descendant of Claudius Ash, the most renowned of the Waterloo teeth men (he was a battlefield surgeon), I’m also reminded of the terrible French curse which resulted: to call someone a “tire-dents”, a “tooth-puller” is to this day fighting talk of the gravest order.

- Shannon Selinsays:

Thanks for this excellent reminder of WWI, Rahere, and for the note about the “tooth-puller” curse. I didn’t know that.

- Bill Herbertsays:

Harry Smith said there were tents put over some of the dying for up to 3 days .

Hello Shannon, I have never understood why Napoleon is considered a hero by many. Except for doing some bureaucratic things for France, he unnecessarily killed millions of people for his own ego. There would be the same type of person causing WWII ? Although this article illustrates just some of the horrors of Napoleon’s post battle details well, I’m very sure the reality was so much worse than can be understood, unless to have actually been there then. And to think that all of them could have been avoided……. Also, I remember, as a child, seeing a famous and excellently well done painting of the post Waterloo battlefield during the night with a full moon. I can’t locate it now and am wondering if you are familiar with it ? Do you know the artist and its title ? I think it would be a great addition to your writing. Thank you so much for your time, BRB

- Shannon Selinsays:

  May 14, 2020 at 7:00 pm

  Thanks, BRB. I don’t know the painting you’re referring to, but perhaps someone reading these comments will be familiar with it and can provide the details.

  Reply

- Spencer Tapiasays:

Hi BRB – the painting you are referring to is ‘Soir de Waterloo’ by Paul-Alexandre Protais. It is not a contemporary piece; the artist was born some years after Waterloo, however he witnessed battles and their aftermaths in the Crimean campaign and elsewhere, travelling as an artist embedded with various regiments, not unlike the embedded correspondents of the modern era!

Muchas gracias por su trabajo!

A further memory comes from my student days, lodging with someone who’d studied medicine in the 1930s. No plastic skeletons for them, they had the real thing, courtesy of Joseph Stalin’s purges. The flesh had essentially been butchered away, but far from perfectly, so it had to be boiled from the bones. Other students marvelled at the smell of stew – they were never told.

A similar sense of plague pits is found at the Concentration Camps – a field covered in mounds ten feet high. And yet in many London churchyards, again the ground level is hugely raised.

thanks for this amazing details

### Join the discussion Cancel reply

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment

Name *

E-mail *

We saw the battlefield covered with Austrian and French soldiers who were picking up the dead and placing them in piles and dragging them along with their musket straps. Men and horses were laid pell-mell in the same heap, and set on fire in order to preserve us from pestilence.

Jean-Roche Coignet

- ## Napoleon in America

Napoleon in America by Shannon Selin

What if Napoleon had escaped from St. Helena and wound up in the United States in 1821? Kirkus Reviews calls Shannon's novel "evocative and immersive."

Buy it now from your favorite bookseller

Blog archivesSelect Month March 2024  (1) June 2023  (1) April 2023  (1) March 2023  (1) February 2023  (1) January 2023  (1) December 2022  (1) November 2022  (1) October 2022  (1) September 2022  (1) May 2022  (1) April 2022  (1) March 2022  (2) February 2022  (1) January 2022  (2) December 2021  (2) November 2021  (2) October 2021  (3) September 2021  (1) June 2021  (1) May 2021  (2) April 2021  (3) March 2021  (2) February 2021  (2) January 2021  (2) December 2020  (2) November 2020  (2) October 2020  (3) September 2020  (1) June 2020  (2) May 2020  (3) April 2020  (2) March 2020  (2) February 2020  (2) January 2020  (2) December 2019  (2) November 2019  (3) October 2019  (2) May 2019  (1) April 2019  (2) March 2019  (2) February 2019  (2) January 2019  (2) December 2018  (2) November 2018  (3) October 2018  (2) September 2018  (2) May 2018  (4) April 2018  (4) March 2018  (5) February 2018  (4) January 2018  (4) December 2017  (5) November 2017  (4) October 2017  (4) September 2017  (5) August 2017  (4) July 2017  (4) June 2017  (5) May 2017  (4) April 2017  (4) March 2017  (5) February 2017  (4) January 2017  (4) December 2016  (5) November 2016  (4) October 2016  (4) September 2016  (5) August 2016  (4) July 2016  (5) June 2016  (4) May 2016  (4) April 2016  (5) March 2016  (4) February 2016  (4) January 2016  (5) December 2015  (4) November 2015  (4) October 2015  (5) September 2015  (4) August 2015  (4) July 2015  (5) June 2015  (4) May 2015  (5) April 2015  (4) March 2015  (4) February 2015  (4) January 2015  (5) December 2014  (4) November 2014  (4) October 2014  (5) September 2014  (4) August 2014  (5) July 2014  (4) June 2014  (4) May 2014  (5) April 2014  (4) March 2014  (4) February 2014  (4) January 2014  (5) December 2013  (4) November 2013  (3)

What if Napoleon Bonaparte had escaped from St. Helena and wound up in the United States? Kirkus Reviews calls the first book in Shannon’s Napoleon series “evocative and immersive.”

- #### About Shannon

Shannon Selin writes historical fiction and blogs about Napoleonic and 19th century history. She lives in Stratford, Canada, where she is working on the next novel in her Napoleon series.

Your e-mail

What if Napoleon Bonaparte had escaped from St. Helena and wound up in the United States? Kirkus Reviews calls the first book in Shannon’s Napoleon series “evocative and immersive.”

- #### About Shannon

Shannon Selin writes historical fiction and blogs about Napoleonic and 19th century history. She lives in Stratford, Canada, where she is working on the next novel in her Napoleon series.

Your e-mail