2,300 men were wounding in the fighting of July 25-27th. Chief Surgeon, Baron Dominique-Jean Larreyclaimed that he carried out 56 of the 100 amputations performed, and that only eight of his patients died (Austin 1993 p. 155) (See Bibliography)
Larrey, who usually had a good relationship with Napoleon, was upset at the shortages of medical supplies and wondered why his repeated requests for medical supplies had been ignored. Later investigation into why there were no medical supplies revealed that most of the ambulances' horses had died en route. (Austin 1993 p. 156)
Napoleon and his troops delayed at Vitebsk waiting for reinforcements and supplies to arrive. Some of his generals advised waiting out the winter at Vitebsk, but Napoleon replied that the town was not situated for good fortification against the enemy or could not provide enough food and other provisions for his army and that delay would allow the Russians time to form and equip more armies.
Submitted for LIS 385T by Kathy Scott, October 1996
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