It is just 200 years since Swiss troops fought one of their bloodiest battles ever, at the Berezina river in what is now Belarus. They were among men from all over Europe serving in Napoleon’s Grande Armée in his disastrous Russian campaign.
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The invaders were almost completely wiped out by Russian scorched earth tactics and “General Winter”. The memoirs of the few who survived give a flavour of what it was like. Some described their experiences in letters, others wrote them down much later. Many were encouraged to do so in the 1850s, when Napoleon III gave medals to all those who had fought for his uncle, triggering a new interest in the campaign. Jula Slater reports.
Swiss troops recall a disastrous campaign
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A 200-year old battle unites and divides the Swiss
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Of the 9,000 or so Swiss who took part in the campaign – enrolled under Switzerland’s treaty obligations with France – about 400 returned to tell the tale. It was a campaign with few pitched battles; many of those who died perished from cold, hunger and disease and in Russian guerrilla attacks. But the three-day…
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The Russian campaign ended in disaster for Napoleon, who had assembled an army of more than half a million men from all over Europe. During the battle at the Berezina river, where the Swiss suffered terrible losses, the men of the Blenio valley are said to have taken an oath to parade annually in uniform…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.