Skeleton found in Russia believed to be one of Napoleon's generals

PanARMENIAN.Net - A one-legged skeleton unearthed by a team of archaeologists is believed to be one of Napoleon Bonaparte's generals, Charles-Etienne Gudin, CNN reports citing a French historian and former soldier.

A team of French and Russian archaeologists discovered the 200-year-old skeleton in July during an excavation in the Russian city of Smolensk, which lies about 250 miles west of Moscow.

Pierre Malinowski, who led the dig, told CNN that after he unearthed the remains he flew overnight with part of the skeleton's femur and teeth inside his suitcase from Moscow to Marseille to compare the DNA with that of the general's mother, brother and son.

"A professor in Marseille carried out extensive testing and the DNA matches 100%," Malinowski told CNN. "It was worth the trouble."

Malinowski also said he believes Gudin will be buried at Les Invalides, a historic complex of military museums and monuments in Paris, which holds the body of Napoleon.

Gudin died of gangrene after having his leg amputated during Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia in 1812.