NAPOLEON’S BATTLES

HISTORY 20-IB

Monday, November 22, 2010

 FIRST ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS
• Begins April 2, 1796 when Bonaparte marched his troops to Italy
 
• Odds were against them (38,000 French vs. 38,000 Austrians + 25,000 Piedmonts
 
• Strategy of Bonaparte’s was to separate Austrians and Piedmonts in a divide and
      conquer (took 2 weeks, Piedmont surrenders on April 26)
 
• New to Austrians/allies, Napoleon demands gold and silver, pays troops and also attacks from all sides
 
• Austrians surprised greatly, flee to Lodi (bridge that Bonaparte was dared to cross, eventually does and wins battle
(Austrians escape, though)
 
• Bonaparte’s role: basically fought like a corporal in the middle of the battle to support his troops, gained their
respect and complete allegiance
 
• Effected Napoleon greatly: it was at this time that he decided that fate had plans for him to be someone much
greater than he already was
 
• Controlled much of Italy (autumn, 1796), marched into Austria in March 1797.  Austrian emperor calls for peace and
so negotiates with Bonaparte himself
 
• First invades because he is trying to conquer all of Europe
 
• Confidence boost for Napoleon and his entire army and even France, because of success on the battlefield  
 
• Background: Napoleon wanted to/was told to invade Italy in the hopes of forcing Austria to withdraw from Italy and
to force the Euro. countries trying to crush any trace of revolution in France to abandon Sardinia (important post)

Monday, November 22, 2010

 EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN &
BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS
What was Napoleon’s role in the battle? What were its effects?
• Battle of the Pyramids: • Ended the Mameluke rule in Egypt (of 700 years)
       o Led the French army • Ottoman Empire lost power of Egypt
       o Ordered the tactics – massive divisional square
*Why is it important or significant?
When did it take place? • Napoleon gained control of Egypt
• Egyptian Campaign: 1798-1801         o Made himself “Master of Egypt”
       o Battle of the Pyramids: July 21, 1798               • Ended traditional rule by the Mamluks
              • New tactics were introduced, and put into effect
Where did it take place?               • Affected Britain’s routes to India
• Egyptian Campaign:
       o Alexandria >> Cairo  (Battle of Chobrakit) >> Aboukir Why did it happen?
(naval) >> Syria >> Abukir • Napoleon wanted to cut off Britain’s route to India (through Egypt)
• Battle of the Pyramids:        o Rather than invading Britain, itself
       o On the banks of the Nile – 9 miles from Cairo        o Generally, Napoleon’s suggestion led to the battle
              • Biktil (French-power)
              • Embabeh (Mamelukes-powered) How did it affect nationalism in France and/or other European countries?
• French army fought for their country
       o Had pride in their leader (Napoleon) and for France
       o Increased nationalism due to victory
Who was involved?
• French army (Napoleon-led)
• Ottoman Empire
       o Mamelukes forces (local) – Turkish warriors

What was the background? – Battle of the Pyramids

• Captured Alexandria, and headed to invade Cairo
• Met Mamelukes 9 miles from Cairo
       o Had a strong cavalry
• Napoleon made 5 divisions: Desaix, Reynier, Dugua, Vial, Bon
• Rectangle tactic used:
       o “Hollow” (troops around outside)
       o Cavalry and baggage in middle
       o Cannons at corners
• Used the Nile for protection (French & Mamluks)
• Mamelukes repeatedly attempted to break the French formations –
failed miserably every time
• Eventually, French trapped Mamluks against the Nile
       o Resulted in them fleeing
              • Attempted to swim to safety – hundreds drowned

Monday, November 22, 2010

 SECOND ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS
Background:
• Napoleon created a reserve army to support  campaigns on Rhine or in “Italy”  (Reserve army officially controlled by (Louis Alexandre Berthier)
        

•  Coalition led by Austria and Great Britain in an attempt to contain/eliminate the French empire
        

•  Bonaparte had returned to Egypt and sent Moreau to the Rhine while he went to the Alps where the French forces had almost been driven out of Italy
        

(1799)
•  Austrians had strong armies in the Alps (1800) protecting ‘Northern Italy’
        

Vocabulary:
• Rhine – one of the most important rivers in Europe, flows from the Swiss Alps to the Netherlands
        

•  Moreau – A French general who helped Napoleon

        

Events:
• 1799 – Second Coalition
        

•  France was at war against Austria and Great Britain

        

•  Napoleon, the commander and leader of the French wanted to catch Austrians by surprise (Austrian leader is General Michael von Melas)
        

•  May. 20, 1800 – Napoleon took his soldiers over the Alps through Great    St. Bernard Pass into “Northern Italy”
        

•  June 14 – Battle of Marengo – French victory

        

EFFECTS:
•  1801 – French-Austrian Treaty of Lunéville
        

• 1802 – Great Britain signed a treaty with France (Peace of Amiens )

        

Vocabulary:
• Second Coalition - Alliance of Austria, Russia, and Great Britain
        

• Great St. Bernard Pass

        

"My power depends on my glory, and my glory on my victories."

• “Northern Italy”  - 1861
        

•  Battle of Marengo - French and Austrians met at Marengo after passing through Great St. Bernard Pass where the French were victorious against the
        

Austrians
•  French-Austrian Treaty of Lunéville - reaffirmed the Treaty of Campo Formio, gave France the rights to Rhine, and the Alps
        

•  Treaty of Campo Formio – treaty signed following Napoleon’s victory of the first Italian Campaign between France and Austria
        

Significance:
• All of Europe was at peace between 1802-3
        

•  The Battle of Marengo gave the French command of the Po valley

        

•  Strengthened Napoleon’s position

        

•  The French-Austrian Treaty of Lunéville gave Austria peace it also confirmed the cession of the Rhineland for the French
        

•  British decided to negotiate

        

Why did it happen?

• When Bonaparte tried to make peace with the Holy Roman Empire and Great Britain, they refused
        

•  Austria still occupied over half of “Northern Italy”

        

•  When the attempt to peace was rejected Bonaparte began planning his attack on Austria
        

Affect on Nationalism:
• In the beginning Austria and Britain had a shared sense of nationalism in wanting to eliminate the French empire
        

•  France had a sense of nationalism from going through defeat and a poor economy to the new Consul and victories causing them to become
        

prosperous
•  Austria and Great Britain had a shared sense of Nationalism by being in the Second Coalition and having a common enemy at the time
        

•  It affected the nationalism in France because the victory brought the people of France and Napoleon pride and more faith
        

Monday, November 22, 2010

 BATTLE OF ULM
The Battle of Ulm was a battle that took place in the city of Ulm,
Germany, in October 16-19, 1805. It was between the Austrian Empire
and the French Empire. The Austrians were led by Mack von Liebereich,
and the French were led by Napoleon Bonaparte. It happened because
Austria, United Kingdom, and Russia formed the Third Coalition to take
down the French Empire. The reason why the Battle of Ulm was so
significant was because technically it was a battle, but really, it was a
mind game. There were barely any casualties, and the French took victory
by discreetly surrounding the Austrians in the city of Ulm, forcing a
surrender of over 70,000 soldiers. It showed everyone, not just in France,
but everywhere in Europe that not all battles had to be bloody, that clever
maneuvering can lead to a victory just as great. It provided nationalism
and even patriotism in France, because they started believing that
Napoleon and the French army can do anything and be unconquerable.

Monday, November 22, 2010

 BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR
Took place October 21, 1805, off the south-west coast of Spain, just west of Cape
Trafalgar
Who was involved: The british royal navy, French and Spanish navy.
The First French Empire (Napoleon) dominated land military.
The British royal navy dominated the seas.
British imposed a naval blockade on France - this affected trade
French failed to inflict a defeat upon the british
Third Coalition (Austria, Portugal, Russia and others) declared war on France.
Napoleon determined to invade Britain. in order to do so they needed to defeat the
royal navy. 
France and Spain were allied so the Spanish fleets were available.
British defeated France leaving them with only a few ships after and the British with
all ships remaining.
 
 Despite the British victory over the Franco-Spanish navies, Trafalgar had little
impact of the remainder of the war of the third coalition.
though Trafalgar meant France could no longer challenge Britain at sea, Napoleon
established the "Continental System" in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the
Continent
The people of France uncertain of their saftey through war from sea. this is affecting
their nationalism towards France and their faith and hope in Napoleon. Soon later
Napoleon redeems his trust with the people in future battles regaining the lost
nationalism from the people of France.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Background
•October 21st, 1805
•Took place near Cape Trafalgar, Spain
•A naval battle between the combined French and Spanish force and
the British navy with a resounding British victory
•During the War of the Third Coalition, of the Napoleonic Wars
Who was Involved?
•The battle was completely organized and put into motion by
Napoleon Bonaparte
•The main figureheads of the battle were Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve
who commanded the French/Spanish forces, and Admiral Lord
Nelson, who died in the battle leading the British force
•Nelson soundly beat the French navy by dividing his ships into 2
divisions as opposed to the traditional single line offense
Why did it Happen?
•Napoleon sought to invade Britain, and so needed to control the
English Channel
•Also, it would allow French ships to continue to trade, as well as
their navy to mobilise
Consequences and Significance
•The British navy was never challenged again
•Napoleon abandoned his invasion plans
•Was a factor in Britain’s continuing dominance of the oceans
How was Nationalism Involved?
•Britain’s morale was increased greatly, and feelings of nationalism
surrounded the death of Lord Nelson
•The Nelson Monument was created to commemorate Nelson’s
victory, and was placed in Trafalgar Square, now in Bridgetown,
Barbados
 BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ
• Also known as Battle of Three emperors
• Napoleon's greatest victory
• Victory acclaimed after 9 hours of fighting
• The victory brought the Third Coaliion to an end
• Countries fighting were Austria and Russia vs. France
• After Victory of France, Austria made peace with France through the treaty of Pressburg. This brought Austria out of war
• The people of France who took apart of this battle were in the : "La Grande Arme" (known as the great army)
• Napoleon used reverse psychology to win this battle. He had told leaders of Austria and Russia that France was not prepared for the Battle when they were
• Victory led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire
• Victory led to the Establishment of the Confederation of the Rhine.
• Battlefield: Austerlitz, Moravia
• Altered the nature of European politics

Background
Prior to the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon had won at Ulm in Swabia (southern Germany) as well as at Vienna.
The French follow the Russian troops north only to find that winter was fast approaching and that Russian troops had joined with the Austrian troops.
The only way Napoleon can gain anything is to attack the joint army.
Who?
Known as “The Battle of the Three Emperors” because the battle was fought between:
Napoleon Bonaparte – Emperor and commander of the French army
Alexander I –Tsar and commander of Russian army
Francis II – Holy Roman Emperor (Prussia)
When and where and how?
•Took place on December 2, 1805
•Took place by Austerlitz in modern day Czech Republic
Napoleon’s Army:
Around 70 000 men
Russo-Prussian Army:
Around 90 000 men
Napoleon planned to draw most of the Russo-Prussian army onto his right flank by pretending to weaken his forces. In reality, he had only moved them back farther west. He had also
sent spies to misinform Alexander. With this, Alexander attacked Napoleon’s right flank.
Napoleon pushes his troops forward to attack the center of the Russo-Prussian army. This split the Russo-Prussian army into half.
The allied army retreats and is chased by the French army.
Aftermath
French Losses:
1,305 dead, 940 wounded, 573 captured, 1 standard lost
Allied Losses:
15 000 dead or wounded, 2 000 captured,180 canons lost, 50 standards lost
Austria forced to pay 40 million francs
War of Third Coalition ended – Before the Battle of Austerlitz, Austria, Russia and United Kingdom formed a coalition against France in an attempt to stop Napoleon’s
campaigns against the rest of Europe.
Significance
Had France lost this battle, the Third Coalition would have been able to invade France and/or take over France completely.
Austria and France both agreed to a truce. (Treaty of Pressburg)

Monday, November 22, 2010

 BATTLE OF JENA
When: 14 October 1806
Where: Jena and Auerstedt, Germany

o Sides:
o French Empire:
• Napoleon I
• Louis Nicholas Davout
o Prussia and Saxony:
• Duke of Brunswick
• Prince of Hohenlohe
o Background Info:
o Prussia had begun movement almost a month ahead of the French and used a uniform and symmetric manner in their hierarchy of command which led the Prussian army to be
divided into three to be spread across Prussia. However, Napoleon kept his main force in a versatile and readily mobile state so he could easily engage Prussia in the series of wars
he had anticipated and planned after the refusal from Russia.
o Resulting Impacts and Significance:
o Exposed the need of liberal reforms for Prussia
• Many prominent Prussian reformers actually served at the Battle
o Hegel, a German philosopher, thought of the war as "the end of history", figuratively thought of as the ultimate move of human society towards the recognized "universal
homogenous state".
o Davout was praised after being insulted by Napoleon for his disbelief in Davout's victory against his outnumbering Prussian opponent.
o Napoleon severely censured Bernadotte for his choice against helping Davout.
o Furthered Napoleon's revolutionary campaign and aided in forcing Prussia to eventually surrender.
o Why it happened:
o Scouts from Napoleon's main attack force came into contact with the Prussian movement which led to a full engagement. Both sides had begun movement for the sake of the
inevitable battle both sides counted on.
o Napoleon's role:
o As Emperor, Napoleon was the lead commander for the army and took full control of the main attack group. It was his main portion of the army that first engaged Prussian forces.
Napoleon led about 48,000 men when he first engaged the Prussian army. However, he assumed the mistake of believing he had already seen the main portion of the Prussian
forces. Soon, he would call for Davout and Bernadotte to regroup, but Davout met with his own portion of the Prussian army to handle on his own while Bernadotte watched from a
distance.

Monday, November 22, 2010

 BATTLE OF BORODINO
-The battle of Borodino took place on September 7th, 1812. This battle was a battle that took place between Russia and France, near a village in
Russia called Borodino. The battle was between Napoleon with the French army against General Mikhail Kutuzov with the Imperial Russian army.

-Napoleon’s role of the battle was a commander of the French army.

-Before the battle took place, Napoleon had already begun to invade Russia during the June of that year. Their goal was to invade Russia’s capital,
Moscow.

-Napoleon had a chance to use the “guard” to defeat Russia and destroy the Russian army, but he insisted that he didn’t need to. Napoleon “won” the
battle temporarily, but was not able to destroy the Russian army. Even though he won the battle, Napoleon lost 1/3 of his army.

-Refusing to deploy the guard, Napoleon did not have enough men to battle. Because of this, t turned out to be the last offensive strike that Napoleon
had on Russia, before he was pushed back. Although Napoleon “won” the battle, he did not have enough troops to defeat the Russians, while Russia
just resupplied in men. Because Napoleon refused to deploy the guard, he also did not have enough men to hold their position. Eventually, Napoleon
was forced into a retreat.

-This battle was significant because it was the last offensive attack that Napoleon ever went on Russia. Napoleon called this his worst battle ever
fought.

-"Of the fifty battles I have fought, the most terrible was that before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy victors, and the Russians
can rightly call themselves invincible."

-A 1 ruble coin was made in 1987 by the Soviet, commemorating the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino.   

-A small planet discovered by Soviet astronomer in 1977 was named after the village Borodino.

- A monument was built in honor of the French soldiers that died there. The battleground was also preserved.

- Around 70 000-85 000 people were killed and wounded

- Napoleon reached Moscow because the Russians used it as a distraction. But when he got there, there was nobody in sight. A few days later, when
the Russian army was rebuilt, Napoleon was pushed out of Russia once and for all.

Monday, November 22, 2010

 BATTLE OF LEIPZIG
NAPOLEON’S ROLE
-ONE OF NAPOLEON’S GREATEST DEFEATS

-NAPOLEON FAILED TO RECAPTURE GERMANY AND HE SERVED AS THE COMMANDER OF THE FRENCH
FORCES

DATE:

-OCTOBER 16-19, 1813

COUNTRIES INVOLVED:

NAPOLEON’S ARMY AGAINST THE SIXTH COALITION (COMPRISING RUSSIA, AUSTRIA PRUSSIA,
SWEDEN, BRITAIN, SPAIN, PORTUGAL AND CERTAIN SMALLER GERMAN STATES)

-BATTLE WAS FOUGHT IN GERMANY

BACKGROUND AND EFFECTS:

-BATTLE INVOLVED OVER 600 000 SOLDIERS (THE LARGEST BATTLE IN EUROPE PRIOR TO WORLD WAR 1)

SIGNIFICANCE:

-DEFEAT FORCED NAPOLEON’S FORCES TO RETREAT BACK TO FRANCE (LEAD TO HIS EXILE LATER IN
SPRING AFTER THE COALITION INVADED FRANCE 1 YEAR LATER)

-80 000 TO 110 000 TOTAL KILLED (NAPOLEON LOST ABOUT 80 000 TO 110 000 TOTAL KILLED OR
WOUNDED. NAPOLEON LOST ABOUT 38,000 KILLED AND WOUNDED MEN)

Monday, November 22, 2010

 BATTLE OF WATERLOO

Napoleon
•He was commander of the French army following his return to France after being exiled and resumed his position as Emperor.

•After his return, many opposing states started assembling armies, and in fear of this, Napoleon chose to attack in the hope of
destroying them before they could invade France.

The Battle
•The battle itself took place on June 18, 1815 in Waterloo, Belgium which is south of Brussels.

•The three armies which were involved in the battle were Napoleon and his grande armée, the multinational army (British, Dutch,
Belgian) and the Prussian army.

Background
•After being defeated and exiled, Napoleon returned in hopes of destroying the armies being mobilized by the British, Belgian,
Prussians and Dutch.

•He aimed at attacking them at the south of Brussels before they could be reinforced, driving the British back to sea and
hopefully knocking the Prussians out of the war.

Outcome
•With the French forces failing, Napoleon’s only chance was his reserve, but they too could not rally the troops and were forced
to withdraw and recognize that had been defeated.

•This battle was Napoleon’s last and ended the years of war between France and European powers.

Monday, November 22, 2010