Saint Helena medals

The only surviving images of veterans of Napoleonic Wars taken in 1858

The only surviving images of veterans of Napoleonic Wars taken in 1858

Napoléon Bonaparte’s final defeat was the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Even after his death in 1821, the surviving soldiers of Grande Armée revered his historic leadership. 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…