Napoleon's army and the invisible enemy: How bacteria decided the Russian campaign

A new scientific study sheds new light on Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812: Not only cold, hunger and fatigue, but a whole cocktail of deadly pathogens decimated the Grande Armée. Using modern DNA analyses from the teeth of soldiers from a mass grave near Vilnius, researchers were able to prove that, in addition to typhoid fever, other infections such as paratyphoid fever were raging.

Napoleon's retreat from Russia in the form of a painting. Credit: Heritage Images/Getty Images