30,000 Women Followed NAPOLEON to Russia. Only 500 Returned. This is Their Story

30,000 Women Followed Napoleon to Russia. Only 500 Returned. This is Their Story

When historians count the 500,000 casualties of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign, they forget the 30,000 to 50,000 invisible people who marched alongside the Grande Armée—and died in even greater numbers.
This documentary reveals the untold story of the cantinières, vivandières, laundresses, children, and camp followers who provided essential services to Napoleon's army. They sold brandy under artillery fire, gave birth in blizzards at -20°C, and walked 3,000 miles from the Neman River to Moscow and back.

🔍 What You'll Discover:
The official licensing system for women in Napoleon's army
How cantinières operated as military entrepreneurs
Children born and raised in military camps (enfants de troupe)
The Battle of Borodino from civilian perspectives
The November 6, 1812 snowstorm that changed everything
Madame Dubois giving birth during the retreat
The Berezina River crossing: 20,000 civilians abandoned
Starvation, freezing, and survival cannibalism
Why 98% of camp followers died vs. 80% of soldiers
Archaeological evidence from mass graves near Vilnius
DNA analysis revealing true causes of death

This is not a story of glory or military genius. This is a story of the women who sold drinks under fire, the mothers who gave birth in snowstorms, the children who froze on the roadside, and the merchants who became refugees. Their names were never recorded in history books. Their suffering was never commemorated with monuments.
Until now.

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