The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought between the French Empire and its allies, under Emperor Napoleon I, and a series of alliances, or coalitions, among other nations of Europe, primarily Great Britain and Prussia. The Napoleonic Wars were spawned by continuing issues in the aftermath of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s desire to dominate continental Europe. The Napoleonic Wars ended with the French defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena, where he died in 1821.
Napoleonic Wars
Wind billowed and waves crashed onto the deck of the massive 120-gun French flagship L’Ocean. From a window in his quarters, Captain General Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc studied the vast flotilla as it plowed through the lapping foam of the Atlantic. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Looking back on the age of fighting sail, a common image is that of battles between huge ships of the line, led by such famous admirals as Nelson and Collingwood. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
By the year 1798, the First Coalition was collapsing. Only Britain remained as France’s implacable foe. With the advent of relative peace, the governing body of France, the Directory, ever in need of cash, now sought new means of employment for the army and its general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
By the autumn of 1797, revolutionary France had been at war with the combined forces of the First Coalition for four long years. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
The 95th Regiment of Foot was a new formation in 1808, having originated with the experimental Corps of Riflemen raised in 1800. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
During the summer of 1802, Europe was at peace for the first time in 13 years. The Treaty of Amiens (March 27, 1802), had ended what would later be seen as the opening round of the Napoleonic Wars. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
The force multiplier that allowed the outnumbered British to stand up to the overwhelming numbers of Russian attackers at Inkerman was the Minié bullet (not ball). Read more
Napoleonic Wars
War produces casualties … and captives. Much “war art” concerns itself with the heroics and clash of battle, the sway of forces, and the turns of history. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Following the French Army’s brilliant victories at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstadt on October 14, 1806, the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte subsequently launched his Grande Armée in a devastating pursuit of the remnants of the Prussian Army. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Dashing hussars in beautifully braided dolmans and fur-lined pelisses; chasseurs in their brilliant green uniforms; the heavy cavalry of cuirassiers in their glistening breastplates, mounted on magnificent chargers; and the dragoons, wearing brass Grecian helmets with long, flowing manes of black horsehair—all magnificent in their martial and fashionable airs. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Of all the celebrated generals commanding corps in the Grande Armée, none was more highly esteemed by Napoleon for his friendship, generalship, and personal bravery than Marshal Jean Lannes. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
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
Napoleonic Wars
Had he—and not Emmanuel, the Marquis of Grouchy—been named a Marshal of France on April 1, 1815, General Count Jean Rapp might have helped the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte win the Battle of Waterloo. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
The French nation was stunned by the catastrophic defeat its army suffered at the hands of a Prussian-led German coalition in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
[Editor’s note: The following are participant accounts—mainly those of Alfred Armand Robert Saint-Chamans—of Napoleon’s 1813 campaign in Germany ending in the decisive battle of Leipzig. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew and namesake of the great Napoleon, once said, “March at the head of the ideas of your century, and these ideas follow you and support you. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Few mortals commanded such intense devotion from their troops as did French Emperor Napoleon I, and fewer soldiers still can claim to have had a direct hand in helping to save the life of their commander. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Political unrest in France and public disenchantment with King Louis XVIII prompted exiled emperor Napoleon Bonaparte to return to his country from the island of Elba in the spring of 1815. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was in Vienna when the news arrived in early March 1815 that Napoleon had escaped from exile on Elba and returned to France. Read more
Napoleonic Wars
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
