On this monument dedicated to the soldiers of the Grande Armée who died in 1807 at the hospital of Zalewo, one can read, in French: "Here, in the former cemetery of the communal hôtel-dieu, which existed in this place from the 15th century until 1840, are buried the remains of the soldiers of Napoleon's Grande Armée who died at Saalfeld during the campaign of 1807."
Inaugurated on 25 September 2010 by the municipality, it is the fruit of a project entitled "The unknown traces of History – the graves of the Napoleonic soldiers of Zalewo", led by the Association of the Friends of the Land of Zalewo. The association had won a competition and obtained funding from the Foundation for Rural Development. The stele, erected on a rectangular base, was built entirely from granite imported from Brazil. The engraving on the left, representing a drummer of the Grande Armée, is a reproduction of the painting "The Awakening" by Auguste Raffet, painted in 1848. The park avenue surrounding it was restored on this occasion, notably with the installation of benches and work to clear the vegetation.
During the Prussian campaign of 1806, Zalewo (in German Saalfeld) was abandoned by the Prussian garrison, which had left to fight against the Grande Armée. From February to December 1807, the town was under French control, and welcomed the Emperor himself during the night of 6 to 7 June. There was at that time a field hospital where wounded and sick soldiers (mainly with typhus) were treated. It organised their evacuation to the rear of the front. It was located in a number of public buildings, notably the building of the judicial commission, the municipal school and the town hospital. Private houses were also requisitioned: four buildings on the market square, a few residential buildings belonging to wealthy townspeople of Długa Street (in German Langgasse, today Częstochowa Street), and several barns nearby.
At Zalewo were buried soldiers wounded, in particular at the battle of Eylau (in Polish Iławka, today Bagrationovsk in the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad, not far from Zalewo). The names of some soldiers who died and were buried in this place are known and available online. Furthermore, about 300 French soldiers died here of a typhus epidemic between March and May 1807, and were buried in the same cemetery, which no longer exists today.