BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/11/2007

Napoleon's soldiers reburied in Belarus

The Associated Press

Re-enactors dressed as 1812-era Napoleon's soldiers take part in the reburial of the remains of Grand Army soldiers near the Belarus village of Bryli, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Minsk, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007, to mark the 195th anniversary of the Berezina battle during Napoleon's army retreat from Russia. The retreat across the Berezina of the remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army, which invaded Russia June 24, 1812, took place from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 1812. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing, which was effected under heavy Russian attack and saved Napoleon and his forces from capture. In total of nearly half a million soldiers, from France as well as all of the vassal states of Europe, who invaded Russia in June, barely 10,000 survived by the end of the campaign, December 1812.

Re-enactors dressed as 1812-era Russian, left in the foreground, and French soldiers take part in a staged battle near the Belarus village of Bryli, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Minsk, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007, to mark the 195th anniversary of the Berezina battle during Napoleon's army retreat from Russia. The retreat across the Berezina of the remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army, which invaded Russia June 24, 1812, took place from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 1812. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing, which was effected under heavy Russian attack and saved Napoleon and his forces from capture. In total of nearly half a million soldiers, from France as well as all of the vassal states of Europe, who invaded Russia in June, barely 10,000 survived by the end of the campaign, December 1812. Re-enactors dressed as 1812-era French soldiers fire a gun during a staged battle near the Belarus village of Bryli, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Minsk, Sunday, Nov., to mark the 195th anniversary of a battle during Napoleon's army retreat from Russia. The retreat across the Berezina of the remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army, which invaded Russia June 24, 1812, took place from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 1812. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing, which effected under heavy Russian attack and saved Napoleon and his forces from capture. In total of nearly half a million soldiers, from France as well as all of the vassal states of Europe, who invaded Russia in June, barely 10,000 survived by the end of the campaign, December 1812. A re-enactor dressed as 1812-era Russian soldier looks on during the reburial of the remains of Grand Army soldiers near the Belarus village of Bryli, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Minsk, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007, to mark the 195th anniversary of the Berezina battle during Napoleon's army retreat from Russia. The retreat across the Berezina of the remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army, which invaded Russia June 24, 1812, took place from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 1812. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing, which was effected under heavy Russian attack and saved Napoleon and his forces from capture. In total of nearly half a million soldiers, from France as well as all of the vassal states of Europe, who invaded Russia in June, barely 10,000 survived by the end of the campaign, December 1812. Re-enactors dressed as 1812-era Russian soldiers take part in a staged battle near the Belarus village of Bryli, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Minsk, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007, to mark the 195th anniversary of battle of Berezina during Napoleon's army retreat from Russia. The retreat across the Berezina of the remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army, which invaded Russia June 24, 1812, took place from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 1812. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing, which was effected under heavy Russian attack and saved Napoleon and his forces from capture. In total of nearly half a million soldiers, from France as well as all of the vassal states of Europe, who invaded Russia in June, barely 10,000 survived by the end of the campaign, December 1812.

The remains of more than 200 Napoleonic soldiers who died in a major battle with the Russian army were reburied Sunday with the assistance of historical re-enactors.

Tens of thousands of French troops and civilians perished when the Russians attacked Napoleon's army as it was crossing the Berezina River in November 1812 on the punishing retreat from Moscow.

The remains of 223 of the French soldiers were buried in a mass grave near the village of Studenka at Berezina's bank, about 70 miles east of the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

"Today we must remember the suffering that befell these soldiers and forget about our disagreements," the French Ambassador to Belarus, Mireille Musso, said at the ceremony.

The remains were found by war enthusiasts and government-sponsored teams digging in the area, which was also the site of a major battle during World War II.

About 100 military history enthusiasts from Russia, Belarus and France, dressed in period uniforms, re-enacted episodes of the Berezina battle to mark the event.

Source:

http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/376333.html