Fr | En
The e-mémoires of the Académie Nationale de Chirurgie

Maxillofacial Surgery and Napoleonic Great Army

RIAUD X

Seance of wednesday 29 june 2016 (COMMUNICATIONS LIBRES)

Abstract

For a minute if you dwell upon Baron General Louis François Lejeune’s painting titled the Battle of Moskova painted in 1822, we can notice a man standing in the corner of the canvas. The man in uniform has brown hair and is dressing an injured man’s face. If we look carefully, we can easily identify that this man who is practicing surgery is none other than Dominique Larrey, the chief surgeon of Napoleon's Grande Armée in 1812. Luck or coincidence? Luck: On September 7th 1812, in the morning, General Morand, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division of Davout’s corps, had his jaw crushed by shrapnel. Larrey treated him but the general continued to command with gestures throughout the retreat from Russia. Coincidence: Dominique Larrey’s recommended guidelines would be applied to the Grande Armée’s "broken faces" as much as possible. What were they?