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History > Napoleon's Soldiers

Napoleon's Soldiers

Emperor Napoleon I invaded Russia with his Grande Armée on June 24, 1812. The enormous army, featuring more than 400,000 soldiers and staff, was the largest European military force ever assembled to that date. The army comprised French, Polish, Italian, Dutch, and German troops.

The invasion was triggered by the refusal of  Tsar Alexander I to support Napoleon's continental blockade of Britain.
Illustration of German soldiers in Napoleon's Army
Illustration of German soldiers in Napoleon's Army
​​During the opening months of the invasion, Napoleon was forced to contend with a bitter Russian army in perpetual retreat. Refusing to engage Napoleon’s superior army in a full-scale confrontation, the Russians under General Mikhail Kutuzov burned everything behind them as they retreated deeper and deeper into Russia. On September 7, the indecisive Battle of Borodino was fought, and both sides suffered terrible losses. On September 14, Napoleon arrived in Moscow intending to find supplies but instead found almost the entire population evacuated, and the Russian army retreated again. Early the following day, fires broke across the city set by Russian patriots, and the Grande Armée’s winter quarters were destroyed. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving army out of Moscow.
Napoleon's retreat from Moscow
"Napoleons retreat from Moscow" by Adolph Northen (1828–1876). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Russian archival records document that 181 of Napoleon's soldiers were resettled in the Volga German colonies. These men either deserted the decimated Grand Armée or were captured by the Russians. Two of these soldiers, twenty-year-old Michael Alexander and thirty-six-year-old Friedrich Palm, were captured and resettled in the colony of Norka in 1814. Both men were probably born in German-speaking areas of Western Europe.

Michael Alexander married Anna Maria Lorei, the daughter of Johannes Lorei (also Loreÿ and Lohreÿ) and Anna Margaretha Weigandt (also Weigand) on February 24, 1816. Michael was recorded in the 1816 and 1834 censuses taken in Norka (Household 119). By 1834, he and Anna Maria had six children: Christina, Johannes, Katharina, Peter, Wilhelm, and Elisabeth. A seventh child, Georg, was born in 1835. Michael is not listed in the 1857 census and is presumed to have died before this date. Anna Maria lived with her sons Johannes, Peter, Wilhelm, and Georg and their families.

Friedrich Palm is recorded in the 1834 Norka Census (Household 404) with a notation that he died there in 1829. No other household members were listed, and Friedrich has no known descendants.

In hindsight, Michael Alexander and Friedrich Palm were fortunate to be captured and settled in Norka. Nearly 90 percent of Napoleon's soldiers did not survive the invasion of Russia.

Sources

Belousov, S.V. "Prisoners of war of Napoleon's army in the Volga region: the arrangement, content, relationships with the local population." Bulletin of the Samara State University. Samara, Russia. 2006. No. 1. pp. 48-55. Online 19 June 2018.

Mai, Brent Alan. 1834 Census of Norka in the District of Saratov, Russia, Dated 20 December 1834. Beaverton, OR: Dynasty Pub., 2007. Print.

Mai, Brent Alan. 
1857 Census of Norka in the District of Saratov, Russia, Dated 21 January 1858. Beaverton, OR: Dynasty Pub., 2008. Print.

Norka Personalbuch (Family Register) 1834-1845. Family No. 125.

List of Napoleon's 181 Soldiers Settled in Volga German Colonies. GASO, the State Archive of Saratov Oblast.
Last updated November 21, 2023.
Copyright © 2002-2025 Steven H. Schreiber
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    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
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        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
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    • Famine 1891-1892
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    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
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      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johann Baptist Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Baptism
      • Confirmation
      • Weddings
      • Communion
      • Prayers
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
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    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
      • Sonntagsblatt der Omaha Tribune
    • Related Links