Napoleon’s withdrawal from Russia in 1812 was one of history’s most disastrous retreats. New research bolsters the theory that diseases made the calamitous situation even worse.

Researchers in France and Estonia have identified pathogens in the remains of soldiers who retreated from Russia that cause paratyphoid fever and relapsing fever. While the study doesn’t determine how widespread the diseases were, it identifies potential culprits behind the symptoms described in historical records of Napoleon’s army.

“The retreat from Russia spanned from October 19 to December 14 1812 and resulted in the loss of nearly the entire Napoleonic army,” the researchers wrote in a study published Friday in the journal Current Biology . “According to historians, it was not the harassment from the Rus

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