The Battle of Eilau

The Battle of Eilau took place on February 8th, 1807. As many as 55,000 people were killed or wounded in this engagement. The responsibility for caring for tens of thousands of injured men from both sides now fell on the medical core of the Grand Armée. Among the French doctors struggling against this humanitarian disaster was Dominique Jean-Laurie. He dispatched his assistance across the battlefield to butcher dead horses. Once enough meat and bones had been gathered, they made a kind of crude horse broth that probably saved many lives.