1813 and 1814 were a flash-point of the Napoleonic wars in Europe. After the invasion of Russia failed, the remnants of the French Grande Armée retreated west across the Czech lands under the pressure of the Russians forces. The Austrian monarchy joined an anti-Napoleon coalition and, together with Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal, were executing Napolean’s final defeat. The care of wounded Austrian, Russian, Prussian, and French soldiers, rapidly accumulating in the Czech territory, became a big issue. The existing hospitals were hardly able to care for Austrian soldiers, so many wounded had to stay on carriages in the streets. On 3 September 1813, a special board for managing field hospitals was appointed by the Czech Gubernium to solve this critical situation. Up till that time, unregulated first aid posts and hospitals began to be organized and classified into 2 categories: Main field hospitals (Hauptfeldspitals) and their subordinate branch hospitals (Filialfeldspital). For better orientation, the main hospitals were numbered; filial hospitals used the same number. These hospitals often occupied empty buildings of monasteries or castles, and their locality changed with the progressing front. For example, hospital number 24 was located in the Moravian castle of Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou from November 1813 till March 1814, then it was relocated to Venice and Treviso in Italy.
The database below contains the names of victims recoded in the death register duplicates for hospital number 24 who died in Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou and persons recoded in the original register who died in its filial hospital in nearby Jemnice. We transcribed these records at the request and thanks to financial support of Ms. Klára Čudrnáková - author of the book, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou - What Napoleon Left Here: Circumstances of the Years 1805-1814 - War Casualties.
Since the writer of the registers spelled the names phonetically, most of the names and places are misspelled. This is especially true for French and Russian individuals. Despite this inconvenience, we hope that our database will help solve the mystery about the last resting place for relatives who failed to return from their Napoleonic War campaign.
