Photos of Veterans of the Napoleonic Wars

The last of the Napoleonic Wars was fought in 1815. Napoleon died in 1821. The first photograph was taken in 1826, but portrait photography was developed in 1839. So photographs of the veterans of the Napoleonic Wars are a real treasure.

Each year on May 5, the anniversary of Napoléon's death, the veterans marched to Paris' Place Vendôme in full uniform to pay respects to their emperor.

These photographs were taken on one of these occasions, possibly in 1858. All the men — at this time in their 70s and 80s — are wearing the Saint Helena medals, issued in August 1857 to all veterans of the wars of the revolution and the empire.

See more photographs of the men of the Grande Armée and the Guard, still wearing their original uniforms, at Retronaut. -via reddit


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