How did Napoleon handle and deal with the large numbers of POWs that he took during his wars? Did he use them like he stated in his bullitens to "till the fields," were they put in fortresses, allowed free leave in France etc.? This is particularly interesting considering the number of prisoners Napoleon took in his early campaigns. He took 60,000 during the Ulm campaign, probably another 15-20K during the Austerlitz one, and 140,000 during the Jena campaign. These were probably the largest numbers of POWs in Europe in living memory until that time (I cannot think of an 18th century war where these amounts of prisoners were taken in a single campaign). If you have any sources it would be appreciated!