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Piles of defeat

Napoleon at Waterloo

  • Published:
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Abstract

Major events of history have frequently turned on seemingly trivial matters. One such situation involves Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo. Napoleon was not feeling well on the day of the battle of Waterloo, despite fighting well at Ligny, a few days before the last, dramatic June 18 battle. There is considerable indication that Napoleon was bothered by very painful thrombosed hemorrhoids. Did this affect his generaship that day? What is the evidence that Napoleon was afflicted with thrombosed hemorrhoids? What contribution could this factor have made to the French defeat at Waterloo?

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, 200 First Street S. W., Rochester, 55905, Rochester, Minnesota

    David R. Welling M.D., Col, USAF,  Bruce G. Wolff M.D. & Roger R. Dozois M.D.

Authors
  1. David R. Welling M.D., Col, USAF
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  2. Bruce G. Wolff M.D.
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  3. Roger R. Dozois M.D.
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Additional information

Read at the meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Washington, D.C., April 5 to 10, 1987. Dr. Welling received the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Historical Award for this paper.

The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the United States Air Force.

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Welling, D.R., Wolff, B.G. & Dozois, R.R. Piles of defeat. Dis Colon Rectum 31, 303–305 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02554365

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02554365

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