• Tweeter

  • republish

Archaeologists work on the site of the tomb of Napoleonic General Charles-Etienne Gudin de la Sablonniere in Smolensk. AFP Photos / Denis Maximov

In Russia, a team of French-Russian archaeologists claims to have discovered the remains of a French general, who died in 1812 during Napoleon's Russian campaign. Charles-Etienne Gudin de la Sablonniere had been hit by a cannonball in the region of Smolensk, near the present border with Belarus.

With our correspondent in Moscow, Étienne Bouche

At the beginning of July, the team discovered in the citadel of Smolensk some bones with wounds corresponding to those of the general. She confirmed this Thursday, August 29 in Moscow that the body found was that of Gudin . If this thesis was validated in France, it would be a major historical discovery.

For this team of archaeologists, the anthropological clues agree: it is about the age, the size, but especially of the absence of left leg. General Gudin had been amputated before he died of gangrene.

A rare discovery

On the initiative of these excavations, the Frenchman Pierre Malinowski, a former soldier close to the Russian power, underlines the exceptional nature of the discovery: " Historical events like that, there never were - a general who was found, friend of Napoleon, the only one who tutoyait after the coronation of 1804. And then also for relations between France and Russia : there is a lot of tension, since 2014 especially, and to do this kind of projects we are getting closer since we are obliged to work together. It's history. It's diplomacy, but only positive. "

The conclusions were unveiled Thursday, August 29 in the presence of one of the descendants of General Gudin, Alberic d'Orleans. For him, this discovery is a surprise. His family thought the tomb had been destroyed during the Nazi invasion in 1941: " There will be genetic analysis to be done to confirm to 150 % that it is him, even if my intimate conviction is that it is he - I do not see who would have amused himself by changing the corps de place and imitating the wounds he received in battle. We hope he can be welcomed in France with the honors he deserves and get his burial at the Invalides . "

►To see also: Diaporama: Leipzig replays the victory of 1813 against Napoleon

For this, additional analyzes must be conducted in Marseille. It will be a question of comparing the DNA taken from the body to that of the general's brother.