Investigation around a skeleton.

The work of the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) has made it possible to find the identity and history of a former soldier of Napoleon I, reports L'Est Républicain.

It took several months for archaeologists to trace the life of Jean-Jacques Zentz, "a force of nature", according to an archaeo-anthropologist.

It was archaeological excavations carried out in May 2021, at the castle of Cons-La-Grandville, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, which attracted the curiosity of scientists.

During a restoration project for the medieval part of the estate, the first blows of the pickaxe unearthed the remains of a man buried not far from the church, in the old cemetery that had been disused for more than a century.

Particularity, he holds, in one hand, a medal.

Cross-checking work

It is the Saint Helena medal, "a decoration awarded in 1857 to honor the surviving soldiers, having fought from 1792 to 1815", explains to the regional daily, Jean-Denis Lafitte, scientific manager of Inrap.

This first identification will help guide the investigative work which will go through the cross-checking of information, thanks to the family archives of the owners of the castle and the documents kept at the Historical Service of Defense in Vincennes, near Paris.

The man therefore turns out to be an officer of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I.

Died in 1876, at the age of 89, his name was Jean-Jacques Zentz.

"It was a force of nature," says Frédéric Adam, the archaeo-anthropologist who studied the skeleton.

As proof, during the Napoleonic campaigns, he was wounded on many occasions, in particular by a saber blow to the skull and a cannonball shot in the abdomen which displaced a vertebra.

After the defeat of Waterloo, he became a collector and municipal councilor of Cons-la-Grandville, near Longwy, where he was buried.

His descendants had always heard of a heroic ancestor.

Now they know where he is.

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