Xavier Riaud
Introduction: If we dwell upon Baron General Louis-François Lejeune’s painting entitled “The Battle of Moskova” and painted in 1822, we can notice a man standing in the corner of the canvas. The man in uniform has brown hair and is putting a bandage around an injured man’s face. If we look at it carefully, we can easily identify that this man who is practicing surgery is none other than Dominique Larrey, the chief surgeon of Napoleon’s Great Army in 1812.On September 7th 1812, in the morning (around 10 or 11 o’clock), General Morand, who commanded the 1st infantry division of Davout’s corps, had his jaw crushed by shrapnel. Larrey treated him and the General carried on commanding his troop with gestures all through the Russian retreat.Dominique Larrey’s recommanded guidelines would be applied to the Grande Armée’s “broken faces” as much as possible.
