Napoleon

1769 CE – 1821 CE

Retrace Napoleon's life across the map — 104 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

1792 CE

Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars

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Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars1792 CE
The Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1801) were a series of conflicts fought principally in Northern Italy between the French Revolutionary Army and a Coalition of Austria, Russia, Piedmont-Sardinia, and a number of other Italian states.
War of the First Coalition1792 CE
The War of the First Coalition was a set of wars between a coalition of several European powers and France fought between 1792 and 1797. The coalition was only loosely allied and fought without much coordination; each power wanted to annex a different part of France should they defeat the French, something that never occurred.
Siege of Toulon1793 CE
The siege of Toulon took place during the War of the First Coalition. Following the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, a Federalist revolt against the French First Republic broke out in the city of Toulon, France. The Federalists were soon supplanted by more numerous French Royalists, aided by the First Coalition, which sent forces to help them hold the city. An Anglo-Spanish fleet arrived on 28 August transporting 13,000 British, Spanish, Neapolitan and Sardinian troops. As Toulon was strategically vital, being a major naval port which was then host to a third of the French Navy's ships of the line, the French Republican government quickly moved to recapture the city.
First Battle of Dego1794 CE
The Battle of Dego took place on September 21, 1794, in present-day Italy, during the War of the First Coalition. The battle was fought between French and Austrian armies resulting in a French victory. The battle is notable for being described in Napoleon's correspondence, as he was present at the battle.
13 Vendémiaire1795 CE
13 Vendémiaire, Year 4 in the French Republican Calendar, was a battle between the French Revolutionary troops and Royalist forces in the streets of Paris. This battle was part of the establishing of a new form of government, the Directory, and it was a major factor in the rapid advancement of Republican General Napoleon Bonaparte's career.
Battle of Millesimo1796 CE
The Battle of Millesimo, fought on 13 and 14 April 1796, was the name that Napoleon Bonaparte gave in his correspondence to one of a series of small battles that were fought in Liguria, Northern Italy between the armies of France and the allied armies of the Habsburg monarchy and of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.
Battle of Montenotte1796 CE
The Battle of Montenotte was fought on 12 April 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, between the French army under General Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian corps under Count Eugène-Guillaume Argenteau. The French won the battle, which was fought near the village of Cairo Montenotte in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. The modern town is located in the northwestern part of Italy. On 11 April, Argenteau led 3,700 men in several assaults against a French mountaintop redoubt but failed to take it.
Battle of Borghetto1796 CE
The Battle of Borghetto, near Valeggio sul Mincio in the Veneto of northern Italy, took place during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. On 30 May 1796, a French army led by General Napoleon Bonaparte forced a crossing of the Mincio River in the face of opposition from an Austrian army commanded by Feldzeugmeister Johann Peter Beaulieu. This action compelled the Austrian army to retreat north up the Adige valley to Trento, leaving the fortress of Mantua to be besieged by the French.
Battle of Lodi1796 CE
The Battle of Lodi was fought on 10 May 1796 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf at Lodi, Lombardy. With a flanking maneuver and a bold assault, Napoleon's troops took the bridge at Lodi. The rear guard was defeated, but the main body of Johann Peter Beaulieu's Austrian Army had time to retreat. It occurred as part of the Italian campaign of 1796–1797.
Battle of Ceva1796 CE
In the Battle of Ceva on 16 April 1796, troops of the First French Republic under General Pierre Augereau fought against part of the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by General Giuseppe Felice, Count Vital. Augereau assaulted the strong defensive position without success. At the direction of the Sardinian army commander, Feldmarschal-Leutnant Michelangelo Colli, Vital withdrew on the 17th in order to avoid being trapped by a second French division.
Battle of Mondovì1796 CE
The Battle of Mondovì was fought on 21 April 1796 between the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte and the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi. The French victory meant that they had put the Ligurian Alps behind them, while the plains of Piedmont lay before them. A week later, King Victor Amadeus III sued for peace, taking his kingdom out of the First Coalition. The defeat of their Sardinian ally wrecked the Austrian Habsburg strategy and led to the loss of northwest Italy to the First French Republic.
Battle of Bassano1796 CE
The Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, in the territory of the Republic of Venice, between a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces led by Count Dagobert von Wurmser. The engagement occurred during the second Austrian attempt to raise the siege of Mantua. It was a French victory; however, it was the last battle in Napoleon's perfect military career as two months later he would be defeated at the Second Battle of Bassano, ending his victorious streak. The Austrians abandoned their artillery and baggage, losing supplies, cannons, and battle standards to the French. The victory led to Wurmser being trapped in Mantua, but Napoleon would find his army now badly overstretched, due to holding both Trento and Bassano, meaning he could not support either of those locations without being drawn too far away from the other, something that would nearly allow the Austrians to win during the third attempt to raise the siege of Mantua in November.
Battle of the Bridge of Arcole1796 CE
The Battle of Arcole or Battle of Arcola was fought between French and Austrian forces 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of Verona during the War of the First Coalition, a part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle saw a bold maneuver by Napoleon Bonaparte's French Army of Italy to outflank the Austrian army led by József Alvinczi and cut off its line of retreat. The French victory proved to be a highly significant event during the third Austrian attempt to lift the siege of Mantua. Alvinczi planned to execute a two-pronged offensive against Bonaparte's army. The Austrian commander ordered Paul Davidovich to advance south along the Adige River valley with one corps while Alvinczi led the main army in an advance from the east. The Austrians hoped to raise the siege of Mantua where Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser was trapped with a large garrison. If the two Austrian columns linked up and if Wurmser's troops were released, French prospects were grim.
Montenotte Campaign1796 CE
The Montenotte campaign began on 10 April 1796 with an action at Voltri and ended with the Armistice of Cherasco on 28 April. It was the beginning of the Italian Campaign of 1796–1797, which would ultimately end the War of the First Coalition a year later. In his first army command, Napoleon Bonaparte's French army separated the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont under Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi from the allied Habsburg army led by Johann Peter Beaulieu. The French defeated both Habsburg and Sardinian armies and forced Sardinia to quit the First Coalition. The campaign formed part of the Wars of the French Revolution. Montenotte Superiore is located at the junction of Strada Provinciale 12 and 41 in the Liguria region of northwest Italy, 15 kilometres (9 mi) northeast of Carcare municipality. However, the fighting occurred in an area from Genoa on the east to Cuneo on the west.
Second Battle of Bassano1796 CE
The Second Battle of Bassano on 6 November 1796, saw a Habsburg army commanded by József Alvinczi fight Napoleon Bonaparte's French Army of Italy between Bassano del Grappa and Cittadella. The Austrians repulsed persistent French attacks in a struggle in which both sides suffered heavy losses. The engagement, which happened two months after the more famous Battle of Bassano, marked the first tactical defeat of Bonaparte's career and occurred near Bassano del Grappa in Northern Italy during the French Revolutionary Wars. The action was part of the third relief of the siege of Mantua during the War of the First Coalition.
Battle of Lonato1796 CE
The Battle of Lonato was fought on 3 and 4 August 1796 between the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte and a corps-sized Austrian column led by Lieutenant General Peter Quasdanovich. A week of hard-fought actions that began on 29 July and ended on 4 August resulted in the retreat of Quasdanovich's badly mauled force. The elimination of Quasdanovich's threat allowed Bonaparte to concentrate against and defeat the main Austrian army at the Battle of Castiglione on 5 August. Lonato del Garda is located near the SP 668 highway and the Brescia-Padua section of Autostrada A4 to the southwest of Lake Garda.
Battle of Caldiero1796 CE
In the Battle of Caldiero on 12 November 1796, the Habsburg army led by József Alvinczi fought a First French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte. The French assaulted the Austrian positions, which were initially held by the army advance guard under Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The defenders held firm until reinforcements arrived in the afternoon to push back the French. This marked a rare tactical setback for Bonaparte, whose forces withdrew into Verona that evening after having suffered greater losses than their adversaries. The action occurred during the War of the First Coalition, which was part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Caldiero is a town located about 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Verona.
Italian Campaign of 1796-17971796 CE
The Italian campaign of 1796–1797, also known as the First Italian Campaign, was a series of military operations in Italy during the War of the First Coalition. Led by Napoleon Bonaparte, the First French Republic's Army of Italy fought and defeated the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Papal States, as well as various revolts, notably in the Republic of Venice.
Battle of Rovereto1796 CE
In the Battle of Rovereto on 4 September 1796 a French army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Austrian corps led by Paul Davidovich during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought near the town of Rovereto, in the upper Adige River valley in northern Italy.
Battle of Fombio1796 CE
The Battle of Fombio was fought between the French Army of Italy led by Napoleon Bonaparte and the Austrian army under Feldzeugmeister Johann Peter Beaulieu between 7 and 9 May 1796. It was the decisive strategic point of the campaign, as Bonaparte crossed the Po River at Piacenza in Beaulieu's rear, threatening both Milan and the Austrian line of communications. This threat forced the Austrian army to withdraw to the east.
Battle of Castiglione1796 CE
The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of the Habsburg monarchy led by Feldmarschall Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated and driven back along a line of hills to the river crossing at Borghetto, where they retired beyond the Mincio River. The town of Castiglione delle Stiviere is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Lake Garda in northern Italy. This battle was one of four famous victories won by Bonaparte during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The others were Bassano, Arcole, and Rivoli.
Anglo-Spanish War1796 CE
The Anglo-Spanish War was fought between 1796 and 1802, and again from 1804 to 1808, as part of the First Coalition Wars. The war ended when an unexpected alliance was formed between Great Britain and the Spanish Bourbon dynasty, resulting in the French invasion. The Anglo-Spanish alliance eventually ended in military victory against Napoleonic France, instrumental in ending Napoleon's reign and dominance over Europe.
Second Battle of Dego1796 CE
The Second Battle of Dego was fought on 14 and 15 April 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars between French forces and Austro-Sardinian forces. The battle was fought near Dego, a hamlet in northwestern Italy, and ended in a French victory.
Battle of Valvasone1797 CE
The Battle of Valvasone, also known as the Battle of Tagliamento, saw a First French Republic army led by Napoleon Bonaparte attack a Habsburg Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. The Austrian army fought a rear guard action against the French vanguard led by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte at the crossing of the Tagliamento River but was defeated and withdrew to the northeast. The French troops crossed the river at Valvasone and the battle developed on the opposite bank, mainly between the little villages of Gradisca and Goricizza. The next days, a French division cut off and captured an Austrian column at Gradisca d'Isonzo. The actions occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Valvasone is located on the west bank of the Tagliamento 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Udine, Italy. Gradisca d'Isonzo lies on the Isonzo River 14 kilometres (9 mi) southwest of Gorizia, Italy.
Battle of Rivoli1797 CE
The Battle of Rivoli was a key military engagement during the War of the First Coalition near the village of Rivoli, then part of the Republic of Venice. In the climax of the Italian campaign of 1796–1797, the outnumbered French Army of Italy, commanded by General Napoleon Bonaparte, decisively defeated the attacking Austrian army led by General of the Artillery József Alvinczi. Alvinczi was attempting to march south in a fourth and final effort to relieve the siege of Mantua, despite his deteriorating health. The French victory at Rivoli demonstrated Bonaparte's capability and deftness as a military commander. The French victory also led to the Austrian surrender of Mantua in February, French consolidation of northern Italy, and ultimately France's victory over Austria in the war later that year.
Battle of Tarvis1797 CE
The Battle of Tarvis was fought during 21–23 March 1797 near present-day Tarvisio in far northeast Italy, about 12 kilometres (7 mi) west-by-southwest of the three-border conjunction with Austria and Slovenia, and was the final battle before the end of the War of the First Coalition. In the battle, three divisions of a First French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte attacked several columns of the retreating Habsburg Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. In three days of confused fighting, French divisions directed by André Masséna, Jean Joseph Guieu, and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier succeeded in blocking the Tarvis Pass and capturing 3,500 Austrians led by Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza. The engagement occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
Siege of Mantua1797 CE
The siege of Mantua lasted from 4 June 1796 to 2 February 1797 with a short break where French forces under the overall command of Napoleon Bonaparte besieged and blockaded a large Austrian garrison at Mantua for many months until it surrendered. The siege was the focal point of the Italian Campaign of 1796-1797, lasting the vast majority of the campaign and being the hinge point that would determine which side would control Northern Italy. The eventual surrender, together with the heavy losses incurred during four unsuccessful relief attempts, led to Napoleon invading Austria and convincing the Austrians to sue for peace in 1797. The siege occurred during the War of the First Coalition, which is part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Mantua, a city in the Lombardy region of Italy, lies on the Mincio River.
Battle of La Favorite1797 CE
The Battle of La Favorita was fought on 15–16 January 1797 between French forces of the Army of Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian troops commanded by Field Marshal Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser and General Giovanni Provera. The engagement took place east of Mantua during the final phase of the Italian campaign of 1796–1797.
War of the Second Coalition1798 CE
The War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) was the second war between revolutionary France and a coalition of European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples and various German monarchies. Prussia did not join the coalition, while Spain supported France.
Mediterranean campaign of 17981798 CE
The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India and support Tipu Sultan, and thus force Great Britain to make peace. Departing Toulon in May 1798 with over 40,000 troops and hundreds of ships, Bonaparte's fleet sailed southeastwards across the Mediterranean Sea. They were followed by a small British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, later reinforced to 13 ships of the line, whose pursuit was hampered by a lack of scouting frigates and reliable information. Bonaparte's first target was the island of Malta, which was under the government of the Knights of St. John and theoretically granted its owner control of the Central Mediterranean. Bonaparte's forces landed on the island and rapidly overwhelmed the defenders, securing the port city of Valletta before continuing to Egypt. When Nelson learned of the French capture of the island, he guessed the French target to be Egypt and sailed for Alexandria, but passed the French during the night of 22 June without discovering them and arrived off Egypt first.
French invasion of Egypt and Syria1798 CE
The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition to Ottoman-held Egypt and Syria led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a scientific and administrative presence in Egypt. Napoleon also sought to sever Britain's connection to its colonial holdings in India, with the long-term ambition of challenging British dominance in the region.
Quasi-War1798 CE
The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
Capture of Alexandria1798 CE
The capture of Alexandria was the first operation on Egyptian soil during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. On 2 July 1798, the French army landed and took the city of Alexandria from the hands of the Janissaries.
Franco-Turkish War1798 CE
The Franco-Turkish War (1798–1801) was a conflict between Revolutionary France and the Ottoman Empire, forming a part of the wider French Revolutionary Wars. It began with the French invasion of Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte but lasted until 1802. Its other fronts included Palestine, Syria, Albania, the Ionian Islands, Sicily and mainland Italy. The Ottomans also allied themselves with the Russian Empire and Great Britain.
Battle of the Pyramids1798 CE
The Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was fought on 21 July 1798 during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. Occurring near the village of Embabeh, Ottoman Egypt, the battle was named by Napoleon after the distant Great Pyramid of Giza.
Battle of Shubra Khit1798 CE
The Battle of Shubra Khit was the second major engagement of the French invasion of Egypt and Syria and took place on 13 July 1798. On their march to Cairo, the French army encountered an Ottoman army consisting of Mamluk cavalry and drafted Fellahins under Murad Bey. Napoleon lined his forces up into infantry squares, a tactic which helped repel the Mamluk cavalry, largely due to their inability to penetrate them without suffering severe casualties. A naval battle also occurred, with an Ottoman flotilla being repelled by a French flotilla.
Siege of Jaffa1799 CE
The siege of Jaffa was a military engagement between the French Army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Ottoman forces under Ahmed al-Jazzar. On March 3, 1799, the French laid siege to the city of Jaffa, which was under Ottoman control. It was fought from March 3 to 7, when French forces managed to capture the city. For the pillaging of the city, the murder of its civilian population and the execution of 4,100 Ottoman prisoners of war, the siege has been called "one of the most tragic episodes of [Napoleon's] Egyptian campaign".
coup of 18 Brumaire1799 CE
The Coup of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of the French First Republic. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and would soon lead to the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French. This bloodless coup d'état overthrew the Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate. This occurred on 9 November 1799, which was 18 Brumaire, Year VIII, under the short-lived French Republican calendar system.
Battle of Mount Tabor1799 CE
The Battle of Mount Tabor was fought on 16 April 1799 between French forces commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte and Jean-Baptiste Kléber against an Ottoman army under Abdullah Pasha al-Azm, the pasha of Damascus. The battle took place during the siege of Acre of French invasion of Egypt and Syria.
Siege of Acre1799 CE
The siege of Acre of 1799 was an unsuccessful French siege of the Ottoman city of Acre and was the turning point of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and Syria, along with the Battle of the Nile. It was Napoleon's third tactical defeat in his career, being defeated at the Second Battle of Bassano and the Battle of Caldiero three years previously during the Italian campaign, and his first major strategic defeat, along with the last time he was defeated in battle for 10 years. As a result of the failed siege, Napoleon retreated two months later and withdrew to Egypt.
Siege of El Arish1799 CE
The siege of El Arish was a successful siege by French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte against Ottoman forces under Mustafa Pasha. The French army, commanded by Jean Baptiste Kléber and Jean Reynier laid siege to the fortress of El Arish for nine days. The fortress finally fell to the French on 20 February 1799.
First Battle of Abukir1799 CE
The Battle of Abukir was fought on 25 July 1799 between the French Army of the Orient under Napoleon Bonaparte and an Ottoman army under Mustafa Pasha during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. It is considered the first pitched battle with this name, as there already had been a naval battle on 1 August 1798, the Battle of the Nile.
Battle of Marengo1800 CE
The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General Michael von Melas's surprise attack, drove the Austrians out of Italy and consolidated Bonaparte's political position in Paris as First Consul of France in the wake of his coup d'état the previous November.
Siege of Fort Bard1800 CE
The siege of Fort Bard was a military action that took place during May 1800 during the second Napoleonic Italian campaign and blocked the advance of Napoleon Bonaparte's Armée de Reserve for 12 days in the narrow passage. Fort Bard was commanded by Captain Josef Stockard von Bernkopf with approximately 300 Austrian troops and 100 Piedmontese soldiers.
Combat of Turbigo1800 CE
The combat of Turbigo was a military engagement of the War of the Second Coalition that took place on 31 May 1800 in Turbigo between Austrian and French forces, the latter coming from Piedmont after crossing the Alps.
Second Italian Campaign1800 CE
The Marengo campaign saw a Habsburg Austrian army led by General der Kavallerie Michael von Melas fight against the defending French Army of Italy under General of Division (GD) André Massena and the invading French Reserve Army commanded by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. In early April, Melas launched a successful offensive that split the outnumbered Army of Italy and initiated the Siege of Genoa with Massena's forces trapped within the city. In mid-May, Bonaparte led the Reserve Army across the Great St Bernard Pass and into the Aosta Valley. After encountering a serious delay at Fort Bard, Bonaparte's forces broke into the plains of the Po Valley toward the end of May. At Turin, Melas blocked the direct route to Genoa, but Bonaparte's forces instead seized Milan and began severing the supply lines between Melas' army and Austria. After a long siege, Massena finally surrendered Genoa in early June, but by that time Melas' forces were isolated in northwest Italy. Melas tried to break out of the trap in the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800 and nearly succeeded because Bonaparte spread his army too thin. However, late-arriving troops defeated the Austrians and Bonaparte compelled Melas to evacuate northwest Italy as the price of a negotiated truce.
Haitian Revolution1804 CE
The Haitian Revolution, also known as the Haitian War of Independence, was a successful insurrection by enslaved Africans against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was one of the only known slave rebellions in human history that led to the founding of a state which was both free from slavery and ruled by former captives.
coronation of Napoleon I1804 CE
Napoleon was crowned Emperor of the French on December 2, 1804, at Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris. It marked "the instantiation of [the] modern empire" and was a "transparently masterminded piece of modern propaganda". Napoleon wanted to establish the legitimacy of his imperial reign with its new dynasty and nobility. To this end, he designed a new coronation ceremony unlike that for the kings of France, which had emphasised the king's consecration (sacre) and anointment and was conferred by the archbishop of Reims in Reims Cathedral. Napoleon's was a sacred ceremony held in the great cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in the presence of Pope Pius VII. Napoleon brought together various rites and customs, incorporating ceremonies of Carolingian tradition, the ancien régime, and the French Revolution, all presented in sumptuous luxury.
Battle of Austerlitz1805 CE
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire. Around 158,000 troops were involved, of which around 24,000 were killed or wounded.
Battle of Ulm1805 CE
The Battle of Ulm on 16–20 October 1805 was a series of skirmishes, at the end of the Ulm campaign, which allowed Napoleon I to trap an entire Austrian army under the command of Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich with minimal losses and to force its surrender near Ulm in the Electorate of Bavaria.
Ulm Campaign1805 CE
The Ulm campaign was a series of French and Bavarian military maneuvers and battles to outflank and capture an Austrian army in 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. It took place in the vicinity of and inside the Swabian city of Ulm. The French Grande Armée, led by Emperor Napoleon, had 210,000 troops organized into seven corps and hoped to knock out the Austrian army in the Danube before Russian reinforcements could arrive. Rapid marching let Napoleon conduct a large wheeling maneuver, which captured an Austrian army of 60,000 under Feldmarschall-Leutnant (FML) Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich on 20 October at Ulm. The campaign is by some military historians regarded as a strategic masterpiece and was influential in the development of the Schlieffen Plan in the late 19th century. Napoleon himself wrote:four months of marching about, months of fatigue and wretchedness, have proved to me that nothing is more hideous, more miserable, than war. And yet our sufferings in the Guard are not to be compared with those of the line.
War of the Third Coalition1805 CE
The War of the Third Coalition was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I and its ally Spain opposed an alliance, the Third Coalition, which was made up of the United Kingdom, the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire, Naples, Sicily, and Sweden. Prussia remained neutral during the war.
Battle of Czarnowo1806 CE
The Battle of Czarnowo on the night of 23–24 December 1806 saw troops of the First French Empire under the eye of Emperor Napoleon I launch an evening assault crossing of the Wkra River against Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's defending Russian Empire forces. The attackers, part of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout's III Corps, succeeded in crossing the Wkra at its mouth and pressed eastward to the village of Czarnowo. After an all-night struggle, the Russian commander withdrew his troops to the east, ending this War of the Fourth Coalition action. Czarnowo is located on the north bank of the Narew River 33 kilometres (21 mi) north-northwest of Warsaw, Poland.
Greater Poland Uprising of 18061806 CE
The Greater Poland uprising of 1806 was a Polish military insurrection which occurred in the region of Wielkopolska, also known as Greater Poland, against the occupying Prussian forces after the Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772–1795).
Fall of Berlin1806 CE
The fall of Berlin took place on 24 October 1806 when the Prussian capital of Berlin was captured by French forces in the aftermath of the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. Berlin fell 15 days after the beginning of the war. The French Emperor Napoleon entered the city after three days without a fight, from which he issued his Berlin Decree implementing his Continental System. Large-scale plundering of Berlin took place.
Battle of Jena–Auerstedt1806 CE
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, more specifically in today's Thuringia, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia, at the outset of the War of the Fourth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars. The disastrous defeats suffered in these battles by the Prussian Army, which had not been reformed for about half a century, subjugated the Kingdom of Prussia to the French Empire until the Sixth Coalition was formed in 1813.
War of the Fourth Coalition1806 CE
The War of the Fourth Coalition was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, some members of the coalition had previously been fighting France as part of the Third Coalition, and there was no intervening period of general peace. On 9 October 1806, Prussia declared war on France and joined a renewed coalition, fearing the rise in French power after the defeat of Austria and establishment of the French-sponsored Confederation of the Rhine in addition to having learned of French plans to cede Prussian-desired Hanover to Britain in exchange for peace. Prussia and Russia mobilized for a fresh campaign with France, massing troops in Saxony.
Battle of Eylau1807 CE
The Battle of Eylau was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February [O.S. 26 and 27 Jan.] 1807 between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of General Levin August von Bennigsen near the town of Preussisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians received timely reinforcements from a Prussian division of von L'Estocq. After 1945, the town was renamed Bagrationovsk as part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The engagement was fought during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
Treaty of Finckenstein1807 CE
The Treaty of Finckenstein, often spelled Finkenstein, was a treaty concluded between France and Iran (Persia) in the Finckenstein Palace on 4 May 1807 and formalised the Franco-Persian alliance.
Battle of Heilsberg1807 CE
The Battle of Heilsberg took place on 10 June [O.S. 29 May] 1807 off the town of Heilsberg, during the Napoleonic Wars. In it, Joachim Murat's French troops began the offensive on Leonty (Levin) Bennigsen's Russian force ahead of schedule. The opponents fought until nightfall, by which time the French attacks had produced no results. They concluded an operational armistice. Napoleon, French supreme commander, intended to bring up more forces and continue the encounter, but Bennigsen eluded this, heading towards Königsberg. Due to Bennigsen's illness, corps-level commander Andrei Gorchakov temporarily replaced him during the action until the very end of it. Napoleon also arrived on the battlefield, but it was Murat who initiated the battle.
Battle of Friedland1807 CE
The Battle of Friedland was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire and the Russian Empire led by Napoleon I and General Levin August von Bennigsen respectively. Napoleon and the French obtained a decisive victory that routed much of the Russian army, which retreated chaotically over the Alle river by the end of the fighting. The battlefield is located in modern-day Kaliningrad Oblast, near the town of Pravdinsk, Russia.
Battle of Allenstein1807 CE
The Battle of Allenstein, also known as the Battle of Jonkowo and the Battle of Bergfriede, was a military engagement during the early stages of the 1807 Fourth Coalition Napoleonic campaign. While the battle resulted in a French field victory and allowed for a successful pursuit of the Russian army, it failed to produce the decisive engagement that Napoleon was seeking.
Battle of Somosierra1808 CE
The Battle of Somosierra took place on 30 November 1808, during the Peninsular War, when a combined Franco-Napoleonic Spanish-Polish force under the direct command of Napoleon I forced a passage through a Spanish division stationed at the Sierra de Guadarrama, which shielded Madrid from direct French attack. At the Somosierra mountain pass, 60 miles (97 km) north of Madrid, a heavily outnumbered Spanish detachment of regulars, volunteers and artillery under Benito de San Juan attempted to block Napoleon's advance onto Madrid. Napoleon overwhelmed the Spanish positions in a combined arms attack, sending the Polish Chevau-légers of the Imperial Guard at the Spanish guns while French infantry advanced up the slopes. The victory removed the last obstacle barring the road to Madrid, which fell a few days later.
Battle of Valencia1808 CE
The First Battle of Valencia or the Storming of Valencia was an attack on the Spanish city of Valencia on 26 June 1808, early in the Peninsular War. Marshal Moncey's French Imperial troops failed to take the city by storm and retreated upon Madrid, leaving much of eastern Spain unconquered and beyond the reach of Napoleon.
Battle of Eckmühl1809 CE
The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 21–22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon I had been unprepared for the start of hostilities on 10 April 1809, by the Austrians under Archduke Charles of Austria, and for the first time since assuming the French Imperial Crown had been forced to give up the strategic initiative to an opponent. Thanks to the dogged defense waged by the III Corps, commanded by Marshal Davout, and the Bavarian VII Corps, commanded by Marshal Lefebvre, Napoleon was able to defeat the principal Austrian army and wrest the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.
Battle of Abensberg1809 CE
The Battle of Abensberg took place on 20 April 1809 between a Franco-German force under the command of Emperor Napoleon I of France and a reinforced Austrian corps led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Louis of Austria. As the day wore on, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hiller arrived with reinforcements to take command of the three corps that formed the Austrian left wing. The action ended in a complete Franco-German victory. The battlefield was southeast of Abensberg and included clashes at Offenstetten, Biburg-Siegenburg, Rohr in Niederbayern, and Rottenburg an der Laaber. On the same day, the French garrison of Regensburg capitulated.
Battle of Ratisbon1809 CE
The Battle of Ratisbon, also called the Battle of Regensburg, was a meeting engagement fought on 23 April 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars, between the army of the French Empire, led by Napoleon I, and that of the Austrian Empire, led by Archduke Charles. Scene of the last engagement of the Bavaria phase of the campaign of 1809, the brief defense of the city and installation of a pontoon bridge to the east enabled the retreating Austrian army to escape into Bohemia. During the assault, Marshal Jean Lannes led his troops up ladders onto the walls, and Napoleon was wounded in his ankle by a small artillery round. The shot had been fired at great distance and did not severely hurt the Emperor, but caused a contusion.
Battle of Landshut1809 CE
The Battle of Landshut took place on 21 April 1809 between the French, Württembergers and Bavarians under Napoleon which numbered about 60,000 strong, and 40,000 Austrians under the General Johann von Hiller. The Austrians, though outnumbered, fought hard until Napoleon arrived, when the battle subsequently became a clear French victory. This battle was preceded by the first battle of Landshut between Archduke Louis's vanguard under Joseph Radetzky and Bernhard Deroy's Bavarian III Division, in which the Austrians forced the Bavarians to retreat, with little loss on both sides.
Battle of Teugen-Hausen1809 CE
The Battle of Teugen–Hausen or the Battle of Thann was an engagement that occurred during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was fought on 19 April 1809 between the French III Corps led by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout and the Austrian III Armeekorps commanded by Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. When the Austrians withdrew that evening, the French won a hard-fought victory over their opponents. The site of the battle is a wooded height approximately halfway between the villages of Teugn and Hausen in Lower Bavaria, part of modern-day Germany.
Battle of Znaim1809 CE
Following defeat at the Battle of Wagram, Archduke Charles retreated north into Bohemia hoping to regroup his battered forces. The French army had also suffered in the battle and did not give immediate pursuit. But two days after the battle, Napoleon ordered his troops north intending to defeat the Austrians once and for all. The French eventually caught up the Austrians at Znaim on 10 July 1809. Realising they were in no position to give battle, the Austrians proposed a ceasefire as Archduke Charles went to begin peace negotiations with Napoleon.
Battle of Wagram1809 CE
The Battle of Wagram was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor Napoleon's French and allied army against the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen. The battle led to the breakup of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian and British-led alliance against France. Wagram was the largest battle in European history up to that time.
Battle of Aspern-Essling1809 CE
In the Battle of Aspern–Essling, Napoleon crossed the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were attacked and forced back across the river by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. It was the first time Napoleon had been personally defeated in a major battle, as well as his first battle defeat in 10 years since the siege of Acre, and his first battle defeat as head of state, although he did suffer a tactical defeat in the Battle of Caldiero and in the Second Battle of Bassano. Archduke Charles drove out the French but fell short of destroying their army. The French lost over 20,000 men, including one of Napoleon's ablest field commanders and closest friends, Marshal Jean Lannes.
War of the Fifth Coalition1809 CE
The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in Central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Empire. The French were supported by their client states—the Kingdom of Italy, the Confederation of the Rhine and the Duchy of Warsaw. Austria was supported by the Fifth Coalition which included the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the Kingdoms of Sardinia and Sicily, although the latter two took no part in the fighting. By the start of 1809 much of the French army was committed to the Peninsular War against Britain, Spain and Portugal. After France withdrew 108,000 soldiers from Germany, Austria attacked France to seek the recovery of territories lost in the 1803–1806 War of the Third Coalition. The Austrians hoped Prussia would support them, having recently been defeated by France, but Prussia chose to remain neutral.
Battle of Borodino1812 CE
The Battle of Borodino or the Battle of Moscow took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812, during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée fought against the Imperial Russian Army.
Battle of Vitebsk1812 CE
The battle of Vitebsk, sometimes spelled Witepsk, was a military engagement that took place on 26 and 27 July 1812 during the French invasion of Russia. The battle put a French force, under the command of Emperor Napoleon I, in combat with Russian rearguard forces under General Pyotr Konovnitsyn and Peter von der Pahlen and ended with the Russian forces making a strategic retreat from the battlefield.
Battle of Maloyaroslavets1812 CE
The Battle of Maloyaroslavets took place on 24 October 1812 as part of the French invasion of Russia. Armies were evenly matched in the battle and suffered similar casualties, with a marginal edge going to the Franco-Italian army. It was Mikhail Kutuzov's decisive battle to force Napoleon to retreat northwest over Mozhaisk to Smolensk on the devastated route of his advance with a higher probability of starvation. Kutuzov's next attack against the remnants of the Grande Armée, the Battle of Krasnoi, began on 15 November 1812, three weeks later.
Battle of Krasnoi1812 CE
The Battle of Krasnoi unfolded from 15 to 18 November 1812 marking a critical episode in Napoleon's arduous retreat from Moscow. Over the course of six skirmishes the Russian forces under Field Marshal Kutuzov inflicted significant blows from a prepared ambush upon the remnants of the Grande Armée, already severely weakened by attrition warfare. These confrontations, though not escalated into full-scale battles, led to substantial losses for the French due to their depleted weapons and horses.
Battle of Berezina1812 CE
The Battle of (the) Berezina took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Wittgenstein and Admiral Chichagov. Napoleon was retreating toward Poland in chaos after the aborted occupation of Moscow and trying to cross the Berezina River at Borisov. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive as, despite heavy losses, Napoleon managed to cross the river and continue his retreat with the surviving remnants of his army.
Battle of Smolensk1812 CE
The Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle of the French invasion of Russia. It took place on 16–18 August 1812 and involved about 45,000 men of the Grande Armée under Emperor Napoleon I against about 30,000 Russian troops under General Barclay de Tolly. Napoleon occupied Smolensk by driving out Prince Pyotr Bagration's Second Army. The French artillery bombardment burned the city to the ground. Of 2,250 buildings, 84% were destroyed with only 350 surviving intact. Of the city's 15,000 inhabitants, about 1,000 were left at the end of the battle inside the smoking ruins. With over 15,000 casualties, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the invasion.
Battle of Hanau1813 CE
The Battle of Hanau was fought from 30 to 31 October 1813 between Karl Philipp von Wrede's Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Battle of Dresden1813 CE
The Battle of Dresden was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle took place around the city of Dresden in modern-day Germany, then the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony. With the recent addition of Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in their quest to expel the French from Central Europe. Despite being heavily outnumbered, French forces under Napoleon scored a victory against the Army of Bohemia led by Generalissimo Karl von Schwarzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory did not lead to the collapse of the coalition, and the weather and the uncommitted Russian reserves who formed an effective rearguard precluded a major pursuit. Three days after the battle, the Coalition surrounded and destroyed a French corps advancing into their line of withdrawal at the Battle of Kulm.
Battle of Lützen1813 CE
The Battle of Lützen, fought on 2 May 1813 near the town of Lützen in Saxony, was a major engagement during the War of the Sixth Coalition. It pitted Napoleon Bonaparte's French forces against a coalition army of Prussian and Russian troops commanded by Generals Wittgenstein and Blücher. The battle marked Napoleon's attempt to reassert dominance in Central Europe following his disastrous retreat from Russia in 1812. Although the Allies initially gained ground and inflicted significant damage on the French forces, Napoleon's tactical brilliance and use of concentrated reserves allowed him to turn the tide of the battle. The French ultimately secured a costly victory, forcing the Allies to retreat.
Treffen zwischen Napoleon und Metternich1813 CE
The memorable meeting between Napoleon and Metternich took place after the Armistice of Pläswitz and during the Reichenbach Conventions on 26 June 1813 in the Chinese room of the Palais Brühl-Marcolini in Dresden. The room, as well as the Pompean room where Napoleon spent the night, have survived to this day.
German campaign of 18131813 CE
The German campaign was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany against the French Emperor Napoleon, his marshals, and the armies of the Confederation of the Rhine – an alliance of most of the other German states, – which ended the domination of the First French Empire.
Battle of Bautzen1813 CE
In the Battle of Bautzen, a combined Prusso-Russian army, retreating after their defeat at Lützen and massively outnumbered, was pushed back by Napoleon but escaped destruction. Some sources claim that Marshal Michel Ney failed to block their retreat. The Prussians were led by General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, and the Russians by General Peter Wittgenstein.
Battle of Reichenbach1813 CE
The Battle of Reichenbach/Würtzen took place on 22 May during the German campaign of 1813 as part of the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Battle of Leipzig1813 CE
The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, Gebhard von Blücher and Swedish Crown Prince Charles John, decisively defeated the Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine. The battle was the culmination of the German campaign of 1813 and involved about 560,000 soldiers, 2,200 artillery pieces, the expenditure of 400,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, and 133,000 casualties. This made it the largest of the battles during the Napoleonic Wars and, arguably, the deciding battle of the wars.
Battle of La Rothière1814 CE
The Battle of La Rothière saw the Coalition forces of the Austrian Empire, Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia, Kingdom of Bavaria, and Kingdom of Württemberg attack a French army led by Emperor Napoleon. The main Coalition army was under the command of Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg but Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher was given tactical control of the fighting. The Allies defeated the outnumbered and overextended French during a snowfall.
Battle of Saint-Dizier1814 CE
The Battle of Saint-Dizier was fought on 26 March 1814, between the Russian Army under Ferdinand Wintzingerode and The French Army, also known as La Grande Armée, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte. The battle was part of Napoleon's Campaign of France, which took place during the War of the Sixth Coalition. It was Napoleon's last military victory before the surrender of Paris and his subsequent abdication.
Battle of Brienne1814 CE
The Battle of Brienne saw an Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon attack Prussian and Russian forces commanded by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. After heavy fighting that went on into the night, the French seized a château, nearly capturing Blücher. However, the French were unable to dislodge the Russians from the town of Brienne-le-Château. Napoleon himself, making his first appearance on a battlefield in 1814, was also nearly captured. Very early the next morning, Blücher's troops quietly abandoned the town and retreated to the south, conceding the field to the French.
Battle of Craonne1814 CE
The Battle of Craonne was fought between an Imperial French army under Emperor Napoleon I opposing a combined army of Imperial Russians and Prussians led by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The War of the Sixth Coalition engagement began when the bulk of Napoleon's army tried to drive Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov's 22,000 Russians off the Chemin des Dames plateau to the west of Craonne. After a bitter struggle, Napoleon's attacks compelled Vorontsov's force to withdraw, but French casualties exceeded Russian losses. While the battle raged, Blücher's attempt to turn Napoleon's east flank ended in failure due to poor planning.
Battle of Montmirail1814 CE
The Battle of Montmirail was fought between a French force led by Emperor Napoleon and two Allied corps commanded by Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg. In hard fighting that lasted until evening, French troops including the Imperial Guard defeated Sacken's Russian soldiers and compelled them to retreat to the north. Part of Yorck's Prussian I Corps tried to intervene in the struggle but it was also driven off. The battle occurred near Montmirail, France, during the Six Days Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. Montmirail is located 51 kilometres (32 mi) east of Meaux.
Battle of Vauchamps1814 CE
The Battle of Vauchamps was the final major engagement of the Six Days Campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition. It resulted in a part of the Grande Armée under Napoleon I defeating a superior Prussian and Russian force of the Army of Silesia under Field-marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. In the military career of Napoleon, this was one of his most outstanding tactical victories.
Battle of Montereau1814 CE
The Battle of Montereau was fought during the War of the Sixth Coalition between an Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon and a corps of Austrians and Württembergers commanded by Crown Prince Frederick William of Württemberg. While Napoleon's army mauled an Allied army under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the main Allied army commanded by Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, advanced to a position dangerously close to Paris. Gathering up his outnumbered forces, Napoleon rushed his soldiers south to deal with Schwarzenberg. Hearing of the approach of the French emperor, the Allied commander ordered a withdrawal, but on 17 February saw his rear guards overrun or brushed aside.
Battle of Mormans1814 CE
The Battle of Mormant was fought during the War of the Sixth Coalition between an Imperial French army under Emperor Napoleon I and a division of Russians under Count Peter Petrovich Pahlen near the town of Mormant, some 50 km (31 mi) southeast of Paris. Pahlen's outnumbered force was enveloped by cavalry and infantry, and nearly destroyed, with only about a third of its soldiers escaping.
War of the Sixth Coalition1814 CE
The War of the Sixth Coalition, sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation saw a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and a number of German states defeat the First French Empire and force Napoleon into exile on Elba. Following the disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 in which they had been forced to support France, Prussia and Austria joined Russia, Britain, Sweden, Portugal and Spain against France.
Battle of Champaubert1814 CE
The Battle of Champaubert was the opening engagement of the Six Days' Campaign. It was fought between a French army led by Emperor Napoleon and a small Russian corps commanded by Lieutenant General Count Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev. After putting up a good fight, the Russian formation was destroyed; the survivors escaped into the woods while Olsufiev became a French prisoner.
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube1814 CE
The Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube saw an Imperial French army under Napoleon face a much larger Allied army led by Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg during the War of the Sixth Coalition. On the second day of fighting, Emperor Napoleon finally realized he had blundered into battle as he was massively outnumbered, and immediately ordered a masked retreat. By the time the Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg realized Napoleon was retreating, most of the French had already disengaged and the Allied pursuit afterwards failed to prevent the remaining French army from safely withdrawing to the north. This was Napoleon's penultimate battle before his abdication and exile to Elba, the last being the Battle of Saint-Dizier.
Battle of Reims1814 CE
The Battle of Reims was fought at Reims, France between an Imperial French army commanded by Emperor Napoleon and a combined Russian-Prussian corps led by General Emmanuel de Saint-Priest. On the first day, Saint-Priest's Russians and General Friedrich Wilhelm von Jagow's Prussians easily captured Reims from its French National Guard garrison, capturing or killing more than half of its defenders; this event is also mentioned as the storming of Reims. On the second day, an overconfident Saint-Priest carelessly deployed his forces west of the city, not grasping that Napoleon was approaching with 20,000 troops. Too late, Saint-Priest realized who he was fighting and tried to organize a retreat. In the battle that followed, the French army struck with crushing force and the Allies were routed with serious losses. During the fighting, Saint-Priest was struck by a howitzer shell and died two weeks later.
Battle of Château-Thierry1814 CE
The Battle of Château-Thierry saw the Imperial French army commanded by Emperor Napoleon attempt to destroy a Prussian corps led by Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg and an Imperial Russian corps under Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken. The two Allied corps managed to escape across the Marne River, but suffered considerably heavier losses than the pursuing French. This action occurred during the Six Days' Campaign, a series of victories that Napoleon won over Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's Army of Silesia. Château-Thierry lies about 75 kilometres (47 mi) northeast of Paris.
Battle of Laon1814 CE
The Battle of Laon, fought on March 9–10, 1814, was a pivotal engagement during the waning months of the Napoleonic Wars. Blücher's Prusso-Russian force, occupying a tough defensive position at the town of Laon, repelled attacks by and successfully counterattacked French Emperor Napoleon and his subordinate corps commander, Marshal Marmont.
Battle of Ligny1815 CE
The Battle of Ligny, in which French troops of the Armée du Nord under the command of Napoleon I defeated part of a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, was fought on 16 June 1815 near Ligny in what is now Belgium. The result was a tactical victory for the French, but the bulk of the Prussian army survived the battle in good order, was reinforced by Prussian troops who had not fought at Ligny, and played a role two days later at the Battle of Waterloo. Ligny was the last victory in Napoleon's military career. In the culminating moment of this battle Blücher was wounded and carried off the battlefield, and was replaced by his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gneisenau.
Battle of Waterloo1815 CE
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, being the last engagement with Napoleon I. The French Imperial Army under the command of Napoleon I was defeated by two armies of the Seventh Coalition. One was a British-led force with units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of field marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. The other comprised three corps of the Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher. The battle was known contemporaneously as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean in France and La Belle Alliance in Prussia.
Waterloo Campaign1815 CE
The Waterloo campaign, also known as the Belgian campaign was fought between the French Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army had been commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, but he left for Paris after the French defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Command then rested on Marshals Soult and Grouchy, who were in turn replaced by Marshal Davout, who took command at the request of the French Provisional Government. The Anglo-allied army was commanded by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army by Field Marshal Graf von Blücher.

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