Their backs to Moscow, the Russians fought Napoleon Bonaparte with exceptional tenacity at the Battle of Borodino.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte & The 1812 Battle of Borodino

by Jonathan North

At 11 o’clock on the evening of June 23, 1812, the first elements of Napoleon’s mighty army marched on three pontoon bridges over the river Niemen and set foot on Russian soil; the epic invasion of Russia had begun. Read more

The Prussian Army's Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher made some critical decisions on the field at the Battle of Waterloo.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Prussian Army at the Battle of Waterloo

by Michael Haskew

Two centuries after his catastrophic defeat, historians may well point to Napoleon Bonaparte’s supreme self-confidence as his worst enemy at the Battle of Waterloo, fought June 18, 1815. Read more

Forty years after the death of Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of St. Helena, his body was entombed in a sarcophagus at Les Invalides in Paris.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte

by Michael Haskew

Exiled on the island of St. Helena since his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte, once Emperor of France and master of the greatest expanse of European territory since the days of the Roman Empire, died at the age of 51 on May 5, 1821. Read more

The long retreat during the Russian winter of 1812 doomed Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Armee, and brought defeat at the hands of the Sixth Coalition.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte & The Russian Winter of 1812

by Michael Haskew

Although the French Empire and Imperial Russia were nominal allies following their agreement of mutual support concluded at Tilsit in 1807, divergent interests drove a wedge between them in subsequent years. Read more

With the stunning victory at the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon Bonaparte executed a tactical masterpiece that some believe was his highest achievement during the Napoleonic Wars.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Napoleonic Wars: The 1805 Battle of Austerlitz

by Michael Haskew

During the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte, a year after proclaiming himself Emperor Napoleon I of France, won perhaps the greatest victory of his military career near the Bohemian village of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors because Napoleon confronted Austrian and Russian armies led by Francis II and Alexander I respectively. Read more

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte

By Michael Haskew

Born on the island of Corsica to parents of minor nobility on August 15, 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Emperor of France and one of the leading military strategists and tacticians in history, graduated from the French military academy, the prestigious École Militaire, in September 1785, ranking 42nd in a class of 58. Read more