Dead French soldiers were buried in the already existing cemetery for the victims of contagious diseases. Hence the current name – the French cemetery is one of the monuments of Jemielnica. The history of the cemetery is connected with the Russian campaign of Napoleon’s Grand Army. After the defeat, a small number of French soldiers managed to get out of Russia. The Emperor wanted to create a new army that would be made up of the veterans of the Russian campaign and freshly conscripted soldiers. His soldiers continued fighting with Russia, Prussia and other countries. In Silesia, they engaged in a bloody battle on the Kaczawa river and were heavily defeated yet again. A few thousand of them became Prussian prisoners. A lot were very ill so the Prussian authorities decided to treat them. Under this plan, about 1200 soldiers navigated down the Oder and then travelled on carts to finally arrive in Jemielnica. The local Cistercian monastery complex was abandoned as the monks were expelled by the Prussians in 1810. The monastery buildings were changed into a military hospital. Local priests and inhabitants took up the task of treating the ill. Most of the French prisoners suffered from contagious diseases which is why as many as 500 of the soldiers died. They were buried in a mass grave in the old cemetery in Zawodzie. A wooden cross marked the place. In 1921, during the Upper Silesia plebiscite, there were French troops deployed in Strzelce and they funded a monument commemorating the soldiers of Napoleon’s Army.