BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/11/2006

French, Belarus bury remains of 224 Napoleon-era soldiers

The Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus: French and Belarusian officials held formal ceremonies Sunday to bury the remains of 224 soldiers killed in the rout that Napoleon's army suffered on its retreat from Russia in the early 19th century.

French Ambassador Stephane Chmelewsky thanked Belarusian army officials for discovering the remains and for helping to formally bury them in the Brilyovskoye field near the town of Borisov, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Minsk.

"We are taking these steps so tragedy is never repeated, the tragedy of the French army in 1812, so that people never will die with a sword in their hands and in an alien land," Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Gur said during the ceremony.

Amid a retreat that was already becoming disastrous, Napoleon's forces became trapped near Borisov beginning around Nov. 26, 1812.

Much of the French army succeeded in crossing the Berezina river at the village of Studenka over two days in a near panic as Russian forces shelled and harassed them. Between 30,000 and 50,000 French troops are estimated to have been killed

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/26/europe/EU_GEN_Belarus_France_Napoleon.php