Complete guide to French coalition wars with Napoleon playing the major role in table format
Tabular formulation of French coalition wars
|
Coalition
Number/ Constituents |
Date /Year |
Status Napoleon’s
role |
Battle’s name/
location |
Parties involved/
Result |
Description
in brief |
|
|
First
Coalition. The first coalition of anti-French states, consisting of Britain, Sardinia,
Prussia, Spain, Holland, and Austria, disintegrated by 1796. |
20 Sept 1792 |
Kingdom of
France under King - Louis XVI (till 22nd
Sept. When Monarchy was abolished during
French Revolution. He was executed on 21 January 1793). |
Battle of
Valmy in France. |
During their
march on to Paris, Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick encountered
French Generals François Kellermann
and Charles Dumouriez. The Battle of
Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the
Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. |
The Prussian
army marched on Paris to restore the French monarchy was halted by French
army and the French Revolution saved.
The Prussians and their allies withdrew, allowing the French to renew their
invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. The victory emboldened the newly
assembled National Convention to formally declare the end of monarchy in France
and to establish the First French Republic two days later, |
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|
First
Coalition |
21 December
1792 – 25 May 1793 |
First French Republic /
The first military service of the
Napoleon Bonaparte as Lieutenant Colonel. |
French
expedition to Sardinia, (Mediterranean Island in Italy) |
The
expedition to Sardinia by the new French Republic was a short military
campaign fought in 1793 in the Mediterranean Sea in the first year of the War
of the First Coalition, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It ended with Sardinian
victory. Most notably,
the Sardanian expedition saw the first military service of the Napoleon
Bonaparte as Lieutenant Colonel. |
France
planned to invade Sardinia being strategically important. Sardinia was
neutral at the time, but immediately joined the anti-French coalition. The
operation was a total failure, with attacks directed at the Sardanian cities Cagliari
in the south and La Maddalena in the north both ending in defeat. French
troop delayed to assemble which allowed Sardinian army to get ready for the war. They drove off
the French troops by fighting them
when they landed at the city of Quartu Sant'Elena on 11th February . A
subsequent attack on the island of La Maddalena off the northern coast of
Sardinia also failed, partly due to deliberate sabotage by Corsican troops;
On 25 May a Spanish fleet recaptured the small islands of San Pietro and
Sant'Antioco, the last of the French garrisons on Sardinia. |
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|
First
Coalition |
18 March 1793 |
French
Republic |
Battle of
Neerwinden, then Austrian Netherland (Now
Belgium) |
Republican
French army led by Charles François Dumouriez attacked a Coalition army of the
Habsburg Monarchy and Dutch Republic troops commanded by Prince Josias of
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld which resulted in Coalition victory. |
Coalition
army repulsed all French assaults after bitter fighting and Dumouriez
conceded defeat, withdrawing from the field. The French position in the
Austrian Netherlands collapsed. |
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|
First
Coalition |
29 August – 18 December 1793 |
French
Republic |
Siege of
Toulon. Napoleon was the Commander of French Artillery . |
French
Republican victory. End of
allied occupation in Toulon Destruction
of the French fleet. |
Command of
the revolutionary army assigned to Toulon was given to General Carteaux. Carteaux
began a siege of the port in 1793. when the commander of Carteaux’s artillery
was wounded and had to leave in September, a young officer called Napoleon
Bonaparte appointed as his replacement. Major Bonaparte now showed great
skill in increasing and deploying his resources Napoleon definitely played a vital role, and
he was able to take full credit when the port fell on December 19th, 1793.
His name was now known by key figures in the revolutionary government, and he
was both promoted to Brigadier General and given command of the artillery in
the Army of Italy. |
|
|
First
Coalition |
15–16
October 1793 |
French
Republic |
Battle of
Wattignies |
French
victory. Siege of the city of Maubeuge
by Austria was raised. |
A Republican
French army commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan attacked a Coalition army
directed by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After two days of combat
Jourdan's troops compelled the Habsburg covering force led by François
Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt to withdraw. |
|
|
First Coalition |
24 to 28 April, 1794 |
French Republic / Napoleon as Chief of Artillary of French Army. |
Battle of Saorgio |
Was fought between a French First Republic army commanded by Pierre
Jadart Dumerbion and the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and the
Habsburg Monarchy. The French earned
victory. |
The French sieged Saorigo |
|
|
First Coalition |
26 June 1794 |
French Republic |
Battle of Fleurus (in Austrian Netherland) |
The fight was between the army
of the First French Republic, under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and the
Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg. The Victory of French Republic led to
destruction of Dutch Republic and a
full withdrawal of allied forces from
Belgium. |
It was most significant battle
during the French Revolutionary Wars as it marked a turning point for the French army
in as much as continued its winning trail in the rest of the Wars of the First Coalition.
However, the battle was a costly affair
for the French, with casualties
estimated between five and six thousand. |
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|
Counter revolution by Royalist armies. |
23 June- 21 July, 1795 |
French Republic |
Battle of Quiberon & Vendee |
The counter revolution failed at the hand of French Republican Army.
A large number of Royalists were captured and executed. |
This was invasion of France by counter-revolutionary troops in support
of royalists aiming to bring an end to the French Revolution and restore the
French monarchy. But, the invasion failed and consequently dealt a disastrous blow to the royalist cause. |
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|
5 October 1795 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General. |
13 Vendémiaire (1795)- |
Battle between the French Revolutionary (Republican) troops commanded
by Napoleon and Royalist forces in the
streets of Paris, the result of which was a decisive Republican victory. |
This battle was part of establishing a new form of government, the
so-called Directory, and it was a major factor in the rapid advancement of
Republican General Napoleon Bonaparte's career. |
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|
|
First Coalition |
12 April 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Montenotte (in the then kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont
now in north -western part of Italy) |
Fought 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. |
Napoieon concentrated large forces against Argenteau. In a forcible attack from the French force Argenteau's outnumbered
force lost heavily while retreating and was badly disorganized. |
|
|
Do |
13 and 14 April 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Battle of Millesimo (in present day Italy) |
A small battle that was fought
between the armies of France and the allied armies of the Habsburg Monarchy
and of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont being won by the French |
After his victory at Montenotte, Bonaparte on 13 April,sent General of Division Pierre Augereau to attack FML Giovanni di Provera's weak
Austrian Auxiliary Corps at Millesimo
and defeated him. Provera along with available corps retreated to Cosseria Castle and
was further reinforced by the battelion of Colonel Filippo Del. Bonaparte ordered the castle to be captured.
Initially, the allied garrison resisted the repeated attacks by the French stoutly. But, early the next
morning Augereau was compelled to surrender due to lack of ammunition. The French lost 700 men in their fruitless
attacks. Out of Provera's 988 men, only 96 were killed and wounded, but the
remainder was held prisoners of war. |
|
|
Do |
14 and 15 April 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Second Battle of Dego in northwestern Italy. |
Fought during the French Revolutionary Wars between Napoleon’s French forces and
Austro-Sardinian forces. The battle ended in a French victory. |
After successfully defeating the Austrian right wing at the Battle of
Montenotte, Napoleon Bonaparte continued with his plan to separate the
Austrian army of General Johann Beaulieu from the army of the Kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia led by General Michelangelo Colli. By taking the defences
at Dego, the French would control the only road by which the two armies could
link with each other. |
|
|
Do |
16 April 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Battle of Ceva (Piedmont in present
day Italy) |
In the Battle of Ceva, the First French Republic army of Napoleon Bonaparte under Pierre Augereau
fought against the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by General
Giuseppe Felice, Count Vital. The result was French victory. |
Vital withdrew against the assault of French forces and Augereau
occupied the abandoned Sardinian positions on 17 April. |
|
|
Do |
21 April 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Mondovì (Piedmont , Italy) |
between the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte and the army of the
Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi. The French
earned decissive victory. |
Sardanian- Piedmontese army could not cope with speed of the French
attack and consequently had to flee. The town was surrendered. After four years of fighting, the French
under Bonaparte had beaten the Piedmontese army in the Battle of Montenotte
on 12th April,1796, and finally on 21 April 1796 in the Battle of
Mondovi. This forced King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia to sign an armistice
at Cherasco one week later, abandoning the First Coalition against the French
Republic. The Treaty of Paris of 15 May 1796 was a treaty between the French
Republic and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia during the War of the First
Coalition. In the following treaty King Victor Amadeus III recognized the French
Republic, ceded the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France
and gave the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest
of Italy. The King died a few months after signing the treaty. |
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|
Do |
Between 7 and 9 May 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Battle of Fombio (in Italy) |
Was fought between the French Army of Italy led by Napoleon Bonaparte
and the Austrian army under Feldzeugmeister Johann Peter Beaulieu which ended
in French victory. |
At first the Austrian army resisted the French assault stoutly but
later decided to withdraw to avoid being trapped and retreated to the east. |
|
|
Do |
10 May 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Lodi (in Italy) |
Was fought between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and an
Austrian rear guard led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf at Lodi, Lombardy which
resulted in French victory. |
The rear guard was defeated, and the main body of Johann Peter Beaulieu's
Austrian Army retreated. |
|
|
Do |
30 May 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Borghetto (in Italy) |
Took place in the Veneto of northern Italy during the War of the
First Coalition as a part of the French Revolutionary Wars between a French
army led by General Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian army commanded by Feldzeugmeister
Johann Peter Beaulieu which ended in French victory. |
French army forced a crossing of the Mincio River in the face of
opposition from Austrian army. 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. |
|
|
Do |
3 and 4 August 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General in command of Army of Italy. |
The Battle of Lonato (in present day Italy) |
Between the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte and
a corps-sized Austrian column led by Lieutenant General Peter Quasdanovich,
resulted in French victory. |
After a week long hard-fought actions that began on 29 July
and ended on 4 August the Austrian force having badly mauled, gave in and retreated. |
|
|
Do |
5 August 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Castiglione ( in Italy) |
Fought between the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon
Bonaparte and an army of Habsburg (Austrian)
Monarchy led by Feldmarschall Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmse which resulted in
the French victory. |
The outnumbered Austrians could not resisst the French attack and were
defeated and driven back. This battle
was one of four famous victories won by Bonaparte during the War of the First
Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. |
|
|
Do |
4 September 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Rovereto (in Italy) |
A French army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Austrian
corps led by Paul Davidovich. |
The battle was fought during the French Revolutionary Wars. The advancing
three divisions of French force greatly outnumbered Davidovich’s. The French
steadily pushed back the Austrian
defenders and finally routed them.
Davidovich retreated to the north. |
|
|
Do |
8 September 1796, |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Bassano, Republic of Venice ( in present day Italy). |
Was fought during the French Revolutionary Wars between a French army
under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces led by Count Dagobert von
Wurmser. It was a French victory. |
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. It was the second Austrian attempt to raise
the siege of Mantua. |
|
|
Do |
6 November 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Second Battle of Bassano 9in Italy) |
Occured during the French Revolutionary Wars which saw a Habsburg ( Austrian) army commanded by
József Alvinczi fight Napoleon Bonaparte's French Army of Italy. It marked the first tactical defeat of
Bonaparte's career. |
The engagement was part of the
third relief of the Siege of Mantua during the War of the First Coalition.
After severe fighting the French Army
retreated to Verona. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. |
|
|
Do |
12 November 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Battle of Caldiero (in Italy) |
The Habsburg ( Austrian) army led by József Alvinczi fought a First
French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte during the War of the
First Coalition. The battle marked
tactical defeat of Bonaparte. |
The French assaulted the Austrian positions but were pushed back. French forces withdrew into Verona 15 Kms west of
Caldiero that evening after having suffered greater losses than their
adversaries. |
|
|
Do |
15–17 November 1796 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Battle of Arcole (Republic of
Vencice , now Italy) |
A battle fought between French and Austrian forces led by József
Alvinczi 25 kilometres south-east of Verona. The result was French victory. |
The battle was a part of the French
Revolutionary Wars. Napoleon
Bonaparte's French Army of Italy exhibited courageous war skills and tactics to
outflank the Austrian army and cut off its line of retreat. The French
victory proved to be a highly significant event during the third Austrian failed
attempt to lift the Siege of Mantua. |
|
|
Do |
14–15 January 1797 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Battle of Rivoli (Republic of Venice, now Italy) |
It was a part of French campaign in Italy against Austria. Napoleon
Bonaparte's 23,000 Frenchmen defeated an attack of 28,000 Austrians under
General of the Artillery Jozsef Alvinczi. |
The Battle of Rivoli was a key
victory because this ended Austria's
fourth and final attempt to relieve the Siege of Mantua (a city in the
Lombardy region of Italy, lies on the Mincio River). Rivoli further
demonstrated Napoleon's brilliance as a military commander and led to the
French consolidation of northern Italy. |
|
|
Do |
16 January 1797 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The battle of La Favorita (Northern Italy) |
The battle between Napoleon Bonaparte's French army and Austrian army
under Generals Dagobert Sigismund von Wurmser and Giovanni Provera. was a
French victory that ended the fourth and final Austrian attempt to lift the
siege of Mantua. |
After winning the battle at
Rivoli on 15th January, Napoleon
dashed towards Mantua. Provera, with his remaining 7,000 men, arrived
at La Favorita outside Mantua on 15 January, and prepared to attack
Sérurier's Division of French forces outside the city. On 16 January Provera
thus found himself pinned between two French forces. Würmser charged from Mantua, but was unable to break through
French lines, and eventually Provera
was forced to surrender with his entire force. The French took at least 5,000
prisoners on the day which completed
the virtual destruction of the Austrian armies involved in the fourth attempt
to break the siege of Mantua. Two weeks later Würmser was finally forced to
surrender. Napoleon was then free to
cross the Alps into Austria. |
|
|
Do |
June 4, 1796–Feb. 2, 1797 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
Siege of Mantua. |
The crucial episode in Napoleon Bonaparte’s first Italian campaign. Following
the victory in the battle of Borghetto, the French attempted to lay siege on
the strategically important fortress of Mantua on the river of Mincio, Italy and
ultimately invested on 3rd June, 1976.
Mantua was under siege by the French till February 2, 1797 (except for a
temporary period from 2nd August to 26th August) when the Austrians’
fourth and final attempt to
relieve Mantua of the siege failed with the surrender of Mantua by Austrian Commander
Wurmser. With this victory, the French conquest of northern Italy was
virtually completed. |
In late July, a new Austrian Commander, Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser led an army to the relief of the siege when the French were forced to abandon the siege (
2nd August – 26th August) . Austrians were subsequently beaten in the battles
of Lonato and Castigilone and were forced to retreat. The French crushed the Austrian Main army at Rivoli in their fourth
attempt to relieve Mantua and was
forced to retreat with remaining force. The French victory in the battle of
La Favorita on 16th January, 1797
ended the fourth and final attempt of Austria to lift the seige of
Mantua. With no hope, Wurmser
surrendered Mantua on Feb. 2, 1797. However, the successful siege of Mantua
excluded the Austrians from northern Italy.
After a series of battles, with the Austrian surrender of Mantua on Feb. 2, 1797, the
French conquest of northern Italy was virtually completed. Napoleon was then
free to cross the Alps into Austria. |
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|
Do |
16 March 1797 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Tagliamento at Valvasone ( in present day Italy) |
Between First French Republic army led by Napoleon Bonaparte and Habsburg
Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. The result was French
victory. |
First French Republic army led by Napoleon Bonaparte attacked a
Habsburg Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. The Austrian
army fought a rear guard action at the crossing of the Tagliamento River but
was defeated and withdrew to the northeast Travis Pass. The actions occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of
the French Revolutionary Wars. |
|
|
Do |
21–23 March 1797 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General in command of Army of
Italy. |
The Battle of Tarvis (present-day Tarvisio in far northeast Italy) |
Was fought between the First
French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte and Habsburg Austrian
army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen which ended in French victory. |
In the battle, three divisions of a First French Republic army
attacked several columns of the retreating Habsburg Austrian army. In three
days of confused fighting, French divisions succeeded in blocking the Tarvis
Pass and capturing 3,500 Austrians. The engagement occurred during the War of
the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. |
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|
|
10–12 June 1798. |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General |
French invasion of Malta |
Between French First Republic Army led by Napoleon and army of Islands
of Malta and Gozo under the Order of St. John. Resulted in French victory. |
The French invasion of Malta was the successful invasion of the
islands of Malta and Gozo, then ruled by the Order of St. John, by the French
First Republic led by Napoleon in June 1798 as part of the Mediterranean
campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. The French occupation of Malta
lasted from 1798 to 1800 being ended
with the French surrendering to the British in 1800. |
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|
|
17th August to 2nd September, 1801 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General |
Capture of Alexandria |
Was fought during the French Revolutionary Wars between Napoleon’s French
army and British forces commanded by John Hely-Hutchinson. The French occupied the fortified city since 2 July 1798, however, had to
surrender the garrison there on 2
September, 1801. |
After capturing Malta, Napoleon departed for Egypt. The fleet of
Napoleon landed at Alexandria on 1
July successfully escaping detection by the Royal Navy. By surprise assault the French soldiers broke into the city. The
French had occupied Alexandria, a major fortified harbour city on the Nile
Delta in northern Egypt since 2 July 1798 till the garrison there surrendered on 2
September 1801. Hutchinson, with his battalions landed on 16 August and
charged on the French garrison of Fort Marabout . Both sides mounted combined
assaults but the French soldiers being unable to break out and food shortages and
disease taking their toll, became disheartened. Seeing no hope, the garrison Commander, Menou proposed for terms for surrender on 26
August. Accordingly, by 2 September total of 10,000 French
surrendered under British terms known as the Capitulation of Alexandria which
allowed them to keep their personal weapons and baggage, and to return to
France on British ships. However, all French ships and cannons at Alexandria
were surrendered to the British. |
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|
|
13 July, 1798. |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General . |
The Battle of Shubra Khit, or Chobrakit, |
Occured between the French army and an Ottoman army. It was the first major engagement during
Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt which ended in French victory. |
On their march to Cairo, the French army encountered an Ottoman army
consisting of Mamluk cavalry and drafted Fellahins under Murad Bey. Napoleon applied
his tactical brilliance to repel the Mamluk cavalry. A naval battle also
occurred, with an Ottoman flotilla being repelled by a French flotilla. It
was a Part of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria during the French Revolutionary Wars. With the
Ottoman forces routed, Napoleon and his forces continued onwards. |
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|
|
21 July 1798 |
French Republic/ French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General |
Battle of the Pyramids. Or Embabeh, Egypt (Ottoman Empire) |
A major engagement during the French invasion of Egypt. The French
army under Napoleon Bonaparte scored a decisive victory against the forces of
the local Mamulk rulers. Anglo-Ottoman victory French conquest of Egypt and end of Mamluk rule Failure of French expedition to Syria Capitulation of French administration in Egypt |
It was the battle where Napoleon employed one of his significant contributions
to military tactics, the divisional square. The French forces wiped out
almost the entire Ottoman army located in Egypt. Mamluk commander Murad Bey fled to Upper Egypt with his paltry remaing
forces. The victory effectively sealed the French conquest of Egypt. Napoleon
entered Cairo and established his administration. Napoleon named the battle
after the Egyptian Pyramids because they were faintly visible on the horizon
when the battle took place. |
|
|
|
1–3 August 1798 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as Brigadier General |
Battle of the Nile. |
Naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy under Rear-Admiral
Sir Horatio Nelson and the Navy of the French Republic under General Napoleon
Bonaparte at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the Nile Delta of
Egypt. French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces |
Nelson had found them there in the bay in the evening after weeks of anxiously
searching the Mediterranean and immediately ordered to begin attack which the
French could not anticipate.. The fighting continued into the night, with
just two French ships of the line and two of their frigates able to avoid
destruction by the British. The casualties were high, with the British
suffering close to one thousand wounded or killed. The French death toll was
five times that number, with over 3,000 men captured or wounded. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout
the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). |
|
|
|
21-22 October 1798. |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General |
Revolt of Cairo |
A revolt by the citizens of Cairo against the French occupation of
Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte. French
soldiers supressed the revolt by cannon firing and other brutal actions
on the rebel forces and their supporters . |
The French fired cannons indiscriminately at areas sheltering rebel forces. French soldiers destroyed the
rebels’ barricades and fortifications during night operations. Bonaparte personally pursued rebels from street to street and forced them
to seek refuge in the Al-Azhar Mosque. He then ordered to open fire on the
Mosque. The French soldiers stormed into the Mosque by breaking down the
gates and killed the inhabitants. At
the end of the revolt 5,000 to 6,000 citizens were dead or wounded. Several
sheikhs, along with various people of influence, were convicted of
participation in the plot and executed. To complete his punishment, a heavy
tax was placed upon the city and its divan was replaced by a military
commission. |
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|
|
8-20 February 1799. |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General |
The Siege of El Arish |
The Siege of Ottoman Fortress of El Arish in Egypt was a successful siege
by French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte against Ottoman forces under
Mustafa Pasha during the French campaign in
Egypt. |
As a continuation of offensive against the Ottoman Empire the French Army under
the command of Jean Reynier marched towards the Ottoman Fortress at El
Arish. After foiling the split Ottoman defences in its
way, the French forces reached El Arish on 12 Feb 1799 and began operations
to siege the fort. Meanwhile, the main
body of French forces under Napoleon arrived in El Arish. The French began
their final assault on 20th February and successfully captured the fortress. |
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|
|
3 – 7 March, 1799 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General |
The Siege of Jaffa |
The Siege of Jaffa was a military engagement between the French army
under Napoleon Bonaparte and Ottoman forces under Ahmed al-Jazzar. The French
laid siege to the city of Jaffa, which was under Ottoman control. |
Napoleon had to win Jaffa before he could advance any further, and
the whole expedition's success depended on its capture as the city was one of
Greater Syria's main mercantile centres, and had a harbour which would
provide vital shelter for his fleet. Bonaparte sent an officer and a
trumpeter to Ahmed al-Jazzar, the Governor to ask for his order for surrender
of the city. But, in retaliation, he decapitated the messengers and ordered an
attack. The attack was pushed back by the Napoleon’s army in no
time. The French caused damage to the
city fortifications and captured Jaffa on 4th March, 1799 despite
resistance by its defenders . The
French siege of Jaffa lasted for two
days. The infamous Jaffa Massacre happened on March 10, 1799 in which approximately 4500
prisoners of war (mainly Albanians) were killed, commanded and supervised by Napoleon
Bonaparte. (It is said that the survivors took refuge in old khans and they
asked for mercy should they lower their weapons. This was granted and they
were taken outside with their hands tied. They were given bread and water as
food. After two days, Napoleon ordered them massacred. The prisoners were
marched down to sand-hills of the coast and they were arranged in small
squares. They were given a few minutes to prepare for death. The execution
lasted for hours with some fleeing out in the ocean and asking for mercy.
When they returned they were massacred). |
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|
|
20 March – 21 May 1799 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General. |
The Siege of Acre |
It was an unsuccessful French siege of the Ottoman city of Acre (now
Akko in modern Israel). It was Napoleon's first decisive defeat in his career
as three years previously he had been tactically defeated at the Second
Battle of Bassano. |
It was the turning point of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and Syria,
along with the Battle of the Nile. Acre was a site of significant strategic
importance due to its commanding position on the route between Egypt and
Syria. The French attempted to lay siege on 20 March using only their infantry.
Napoleon believed the city would give in
quickly to him. However, the troops of the capable Jezzar Pasha,
Ottoman Governor, refusing to
surrender, withstood the siege for one and a half months. Finally, the siege
was raised. Napoleon Bonaparte retreated to Egypt two months later on 21 May
after a failed final assault on 10 May. |
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16 April 1799 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General. |
The Battle of Mount Tabor |
The Battle of Mount Tabor, also known as the Skirmish of Mount Tabor,
was an engagement between French forces under Jean Baptiste Kléber of
Napoleon’s Army and Ottoman force led by Abdullah Pasha
al-Azm of Damascus which ended in French victory. |
When Napoleon Bonaparte was besieging Acre, the Ottoman governor of
Damascus sent an army to relieve the siege. On interception by Kléber, the Ottoman army retreated to the south and crossed the River Jordan.
Kléber, reinforced by the rest of the soldiers under Napoleon charged afresh and routed the Ottoman force.
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July 25, 1799 |
French Republic/ Napoleon as
Brigadier General |
The Battle of Abukir |
It was a battle in which
Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Seid Mustafa Pasha's Ottoman army during the
French campaign in Egypt. |
The French, by a sudden and rapid action, attacked the Ottoman beachhead positions by the Mediterranean sea. The Turkish army fled in panic. Some
Ottomans drowned trying to swim to the British ships two miles away from
shore, while others fled to Abukir castle, but they surrendered shortly
thereafter. The Turks suffered about 8,000 casualties and the French only
1,000. This battle temporarily secured France's control over Egypt. |
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November 9–10, 1799 |
French Republic / |
Coup of 18–19 Brumaire. Brumaire was the second month of the French
Republican calendar (1793–1805), originally running from 22 October to 20
November. |
Napoleon was part of a group that successfully overthrew the French
Directory. Abbé Sieyès and Talleyrand, members of the then Directory planned the coup with the aid of General
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had arrived in France from the ill-fated Egyptian
campaign. Napoleon's younger brother,
Lucien Bonaparte, President of the
then Council of Five Hundred (Lower House) was also instrumental in the coup. |
The Coup d'état overthrew the
system of government under the Directory in France and substituted with the
Consulate, making way for the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte. The event is often
viewed as the effective end of the French Revolution. A new constitution was adopted, under which the
First Consul, a position Bonaparte was to hold, had the most power in the
French government . It ultimately led to the rise of the First French Empire. |
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The second coalition(November 29, 1798 – March 25, 1802). It comprised
of Turkey (Ottoman Empire), England, Austria, Russia, Portugal, Naples,
Sweden and various German monarchies. . |
May 14 - June 1, 1800 |
Fench Republic / Napoleon as First Consul. |
The Siege of Fort Bard |
It involved a military action
that took place during the second Napoleonic Italian campaign. The French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte
and his reserve force were stopped by
an Austrian company commanded by Stockard Von Bernkopf for two weeks
from capturing the fort. However, the
French ultimately succeeded to siege
the fort on 1st June, 1800. |
It was a part of French Revolutionary wars. On the evening of May 20,
after Napoleon's force led by generals Dupont and Dufour reached the village
of Bard, they demanded the surrender
of Stockard Von Bernkopf, commander of the Austrian company in the fort. But
he refused. On the night of May 21 the
French army conquered the village of
Bard and proceeded to the fort. They
started firing on the fort from cannons. In the morning of
May 26, a force of 300 grenadiers attacked the fort. By outshowing firm resistance, the defenders killed or wounded more than 200
of the grenadiers. General Dufour died while trying to cross the river on a
raft. Then on May 27, the French started
a fresh attack on the fort and fired
from cannons causing damage to the fort.
At last, on June 1, after a
fierce battle, Bernkopf surrendered, having lost half of his forces. The Italians were allowed to leave the fort with the honours of war
before being made prisoner, as was custom at that time. |
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14 June 1800 |
French Republic/ First Consul |
The Battle of Marengo (Piedmont, Italy) |
The Battle of Marengo was
fought between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and
Austrian forces which ended in the French victory. |
After becomimg the First Consul of France in December, 1799 in the wake of his coup d’état the previous
November he decided to lead an army over the Swiss Alps to attack the
Austrians in northern Italy, while French forces under General Jean Victor
Moreau marched into southern Germany. One of the French aims of the campaign
had been to relieve the French garrison besieged by the Austrians in Genoa,
but the city fell to the Austrians on 4 June. Despite this set back, Napoleon
dared to move through the Alps. The
Austrian commander, General Michael von Melas, withdrew his forces from the
Franco-Italian border to give battle to the French near the fortified town of
Alessandria. The French mistook it to
be a retreat. But the
Austrians launched a surprise attack on 14 June. French counterattacks were repulsed
repeatedly. Ultimately, Austrian numerical superiority forced the exhausted
French to retreat to a new position at St. Guiliano Vecchio. By this time,
French reinforcements were beginning to arrive on the battlefield which the Austrians were not aware of. Supported
by reinforced artillery and the heavy cavalry the French spearheaded the
counterattack. Sustained French offensive
and the chance explosion of an Austrian ammunition wagon forced the
Austrians back into Alessandria with heavy losses. Being humiliated, Melas
was obliged the next day to enter into a truce, which led to the loss of
Lombardy to France. |
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Third Coalition (made up of
the United Kingdom, the Austrian
Empire, Sweden, and the Russian Empire was formed in 1805 to overthrow the
French Empire). |
25 September – 20 October 1805 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
The Ulm Campaign (in Germany) |
The Ulm campaign lasted for nearly a month and saw the French army
under Napoleon deliver blow after blow to the confused Austrians. It ended on
20 October with the surrender of an
entire Austrian army under the command of Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich. |
Bavaria ( now a German State) sided with Napoleon. The Ulm campaign
was a series of French and Bavarian military maneuvers and battles to outflank
and capture an Austrian army during the War of the Third Coalition. The Ulm
Campaign is considered to be one of the finest examples of a strategic
victory. The campaign was won with no major battle. The Battle of Ulm on
16–19 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. |
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Third Coalition. |
December 2, 1805 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
Battle of Austerlitz (now Slavkov u Brna, Czech Republic). |
The battle was between the French army led by Emperor Napoleon I and larger Russian and Austrian army led by
Emperor Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II which ended in the
French victory. It was one of Napoleon’s greatest victories. It
is also called the Battle of the Three
Emperors. |
Napoleon’s 68,000 troops
defeated almost 90,000 Russians and Austrians. The French had entered Vienna on November 13
and then pursued the Russian and Austrian allied armies into Moravia. The
arrival of the Russian emperor Alexander I virtually deprived Kutuzov of
supreme control of his troops. The allies decided to fight Napoleon west of
Austerlitz and occupied the Pratzen Plateau, which Napoleon had deliberately
evacuated to create a trap. Allies’ attack was stubbornly resisted by the
French. Napoleon launched Marshal
Nicolas Soult, with 20,000 infantry, to capture the Pratzen Plateau. He held
it against the allied attempts to retake it with 25,000 reinforcements . The
allies fought vigorously and suffered heavy casualties. The remnants of the
allied army were scattered. Two days later Francis I of Austria agreed to a
suspension of hostilities and arranged for Alexander I to take his army back
to Russia. The Allied disaster significantly shook the faith of Emperor
Francis in the British-led war effort. France and Austria agreed to an
armistice immediately and the Treaty of Pressburg followed shortly after, on
26 December. The treaty took Austria
out of both the war and the Coalition while reinforcing the earlier treaties
of Campo Formio and of Lunéville between the two powers, thus resulting effective end of the Third
Coalition. The treaty confirmed the Austrian loss of lands in Italy and
Bavaria to France, and in Germany to Napoleon's German allies. French victory
at Austerlitz permitted the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a
collection of German states intended as a buffer zone between France and
Central Europe. The Confederation rendered the Holy Roman Empire virtually
useless, so the latter collapsed in 1806 after Francis abdicated the imperial
throne, keeping Francis I of Austria as his only official title. |
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21 October 1805 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
The Battle of Trafalgar |
It was a naval warfare enforced
by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French
and Spanish Navies. The British won
the battle. The victory confirmed the naval supremacy of Britain. |
As a part of French plan to take control of the English Channel and
thus enable Napoleon's Imperial Army to invade England, a combined French and ally
Spanish fleets under French Admiral Villeneuve sailed from the port of Cádiz
in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. They encountered the British fleet
under Admiral Lord Nelson on 21st October off Cape Trafalgar, in
the Atlantic Ocean. In a fierce
battle, 27 British ships of the line fought 33 French and Spanish ships of
the line. But, the greater experience and training of the Royal Navy overcame
the greater numbers of the French and Spanish navies. The Franco-Spanish
fleet lost 22 ships; the British lost none. During the battle, Nelson died
being shot by a French soldier. It is said that Nelson deviated from the conventional
battle practice prevailing at the time which partly facilitated the victory. The convention was to engage the fleet in a
single line parallel to the line of opposing fleet to ensure fair war
facilities. Nelson instead arranged
his ships into columns sailing perpendicularly into the enemy fleet's line. |
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Fourth Coalition (Russia, Prussia, Britain) Saxony( a part of Germany), Sweden also
contributed. October 1806 – July 1807 |
14 October 1806 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
Battles of Jena and Auerstedt ( in present day Germany) |
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on the plateau
west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I
of France and Frederick William III of Prussia. Decisive French victory brought
the Kingdom of Prussia under the French Empire until the Sixth Coalition
was formed in 1812. |
At Jena Napoleon himself was
in supreme command while Marshal Michel Ney was to lead the attack on
Prussian Army. Ney's initial assault was a success, but later he fell into
disadvantagious position under heavy fire during counter attack by Prussian
artillery. But Napoleon’s timely intervention saved the situation. He ordered
Marshal Jean Lannes to shift from the centre of attack and deployed the Imperial Guard to rescue Ney.
This endeavour worked. Then Napoleon took a decisive move to strike the
Prussian flanks hard and the attacks proved to be a success. The Prussian
army was forced to withdraw and Napoleon had won another battle. In total the
Prussian army lost 150 guns and 10,000 men, killed or wounded, another 15,000
held as prisoners. |
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November 1806 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
Greater Poland uprising in Wielkopolska. |
Greater Poland uprising of 1806 was a military insurrection by Poles
in Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) with the support of French army against the
occupying Prussian forces after the Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth (1772–1795). It was a part of the wars of fourth coalition. |
the Kingdom of Prussia possessed large Polish population. Prussian
ruler Frederick the Great who hated and despised Poles and wanted to replace them with Germans. Polish people
were discriminated and subjected to opression. They were
portrayed as 'backward Slavs'. So, the War of the Fourth Coalition between
Napoleonic France and the Kingdom of Prussia gave hope to the Polish
inhabitants of Greater Poland of recovering their independence and ending
oppressive Prussian rule. The uprising was organized by General Jan Henryk
Dąbrowski by creating Polish units
under instruction of Napoleon to help advancing French forces under Napoleon
in liberating Poland from Prussian occupation. The uprising first statrted in Poznań where Dąbrowski
entered in November, 1806 and then spread to other
regions.The Wielkopolska Uprising was a decisive factor that allowed the
formation of the Duchy of Warsaw, a Polish state established by Napoleon I in
1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of
the Treaties of Tilsit and the
inclusion of Wielkopolska (Greater
Poland Province) in the Duchy of Warsaw. |
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23–24 December 1806 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
Battle of Czarnowo (in Poland) |
Occurred between the French Imperial Army and Russian Army commanded by Lieutenant
General Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's which resulted in French
victory.. |
Troops of the First French Empire under Emperor Napoleon I crossed the Wkra River and launched an evening
assault against defending Russian Empire forces. After an all-night struggle,
the Russian commander withdrew his troops to the east,thus ending this War of the Fourth Coalition
action. |
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7-8, February, 1807 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor |
Battle of Eylau (modern Bagrationovsk, Russia). |
It was an strtegically inconclusive battle of Napoleon against the
Russians under the command of Levin August von Bennigsen. |
After a succession
of victories in 1806, it was the first
major deadlock Napoleon had suffered. It was a bloody and inconclusive battle. After
14 hours of continuous battle, the only result was enormous loss of life on
both sides. The unrelenting cold of winter aggravated the horror of the battle, leaving the
battlefield spread with only bloodstained
snow and frozen corpses. The Frecnh had suffered enormous losses and yet failed
to destroy the Russian army. The
French had gained nothing but the possession of the battlefield. |
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14 June 1807 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Friedland, Prussia
in present Russia. |
It was a major engagement of
the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by
Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by Count von
Bennigsen. Russian forces were
defeated . |
The sustained French attack pushed back the Russian army which retreated
over the Alle River by the end of the fighting. The Russian army suffered
horrific casualties, forcing them to enter into peace negotiations with Napoleon which eventually culminated in two separate Treaties of Tilsit, one with Russia and the other
with Prussia. In the process Prussia ceded about half of its pre-war territories and Napoleon
cemented France’s control in Central Europe. |
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A part of Peninsular Campaign
of Napoleon (1808-1809) |
November 30, 1808 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Somosierra in Spain. |
Took place during the Peninsular War.
Between a combined Franco(French Imperial army commanded by Napoleon I
)-Spanish (of the part of Spain loyal to Napoleonic Empire as a client
state)-Polish (The Duchy of Warsaw, a Polish state established by Napoleon I
in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms
of the Treaties of Tilsit) forces under the direct command of Napoleon
Bonaparte and Spanish force commanded by Benito de San Juan. |
The combined force while advancing towards Madrid forced pass Spanish guerrillas stationed at the Sierra
de Guadarrama as an indirect defence of the Spanish capital by defending the
road leading to the Somosierra Pass. At
the resulting battle of Somosierra San Juan lost most of his artillery and his force was
dispersed. The combined force clinched victory which removed the last obstacle barring the road
to Madrid. Benito de San Juan raced
his army back to Madrid. He was later
killed by his own men. French patrols reached the outskirts of Madrid on the
1 December. The remaining Spanish force made a futile attempt to defend the capital,
and finally on 4th December
, the Spanish defence failed against devastating French artillary attack. Spaniards
surrendered and the French entered
Madrid for the second time that year. |
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Fifth Coalition. 10 April – 14 October, 1809. ( A coalition of the Austrian Empire
and the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain) |
19 April 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
The Battle of Teugen-Hausen or the Battle of Thann (in Lower Bavaria,
part of modern-day Germany). |
Between the French Army led by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout and
Austrian Army commanded by Prince
Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The French won a hard-fought
victory. |
After a day long intense attacks and counter attacks the Austrians
withdrew that evening and retreated. Generals of both armies led their troops
with courage and skill. |
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20 April 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Abensberg (in Bavaria, Germany) |
Occured 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 which ended in a complete Franco-German victory. |
Napoleon's French troops, reinforced
by troops from the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Kingdom of Württemberg
outfought their opponents, inflicted heavy losses, and forced the Austrians
to retreat to the southeast. The only good result for the Austrians on 20 April was the surrender
of the French garrison in Regensburg due to a strategic mistake. Austrian army while retreating, had split in two taking two
separate directions. Napoleon still didn't know how strong the Austrian right wing
actually was, and so on 21 April he focused all of his attention on the
retreating Austrian left, in the belief that this was the main body of their
army. As a result Davout was left to face the Archduke's main force around
Eggmuhl, while the main French and Allies army advanced towards Landshut,
where a battle developed on 21 April. |
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21 April 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Landshut In Bavaria, Germany. |
Held between the French, Württembergers- a historical German territory (VIII Corps)
and Bavarians- a landlocked state of
Germany, occupying its southeastern corner (VII Corps) under Napoleon and Austrians
under the General Johann von Hiller. The result was a French victory. |
Napoleon’s force was of about 77,000 strong as against 36,000 Austrians. The Austrians, though
outnumbered, initially fought hard. But after arrival of Napoleon in the field the position altered
and the battle became in favour of the
French victory. Many of the defenders
were captured, but Hiller was able to retreat with the bulk of his force and Landshut finally fell to the French. There
were in fact two engagements at Landshut. The first occurred on 16 April when
Hiller pushed a defending Bavarian division out of the town. |
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21-22 April 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Eckmühl (in Bavaria, Germany) |
Was fought between the Frech under Napoleon I and the Austrians under
the Archduke Charles of Austria. The French won the battle. |
The Austrians fought heroically but were heavily outnumbered and had
to retreat. It is said to be the
turning point of the 1809 Campaign as Napoleon was able to defeat the
principal Austrian army. |
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23 April 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Regensburg or Ratisbon (in Bavaria, Germany). |
Occured between the army of the First French Empire, led by Napoleon
I, and that of the Austrian Empire, led by Archduke Charles which resulted in
the French victory. |
TheFrench victory and fall of Regensburg
ended the Bavarian phase of the war. A pontoon bridge to the east on the
Danube enabled the retreating Austrian army to escape into Bohemia (now in
Czec Republic). The road into Austria was now open. Bonaparte himself was
wounded in the ankle. |
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21–22 May 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Aspern-Essling (Lobau, Vienna) |
The French and allies commanded by Napoleon fought against and the Austrians under Archduke Charles.
Napoleon faced defeat. |
Napoleon attempted a forced crossing of the Danube near Vienna, but his
forces were driven back by the Austrians. The battle saw Napoleon personally defeated
for the first time in over a decade.
However, Archduke Charles failed to secure a decisive victory as Napoleon was
able to successfully withdraw most of his forces. |
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5– 6 Jul 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Wagram, Vienna. |
It was fought betwen the Emperor Napoleon I's French and allied army and
the Austrian army under the command of
Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen. French won. Treaty of Schönbrunn was
signed between France & Austria
imposing harsh terms on Austria. |
This military engagement of
the Napoleonic Wars saw a costly but decisive victory for Emperor Napoleon
against the Austrians. With 80,000
casualties, the two-day battle of Wagram was particularly bloody. Archduke Charles retreated north into
Bohemia( now in Czech Republic) hoping to regroup his battered forces. The
defeat forced Austria to sign an armistice and led eventually to the Treaty
of Schönbrunn in October, ending Austria’s 1809 war against the French. The
battle also paved the ground for breakup
of the Fifth Coalition against France. |
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10-11 July 1809 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Znaim |
It was fought betwen the Emperor Napoleon I's French and allied army
and the Austrian army under the
command of Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen which did not produce any
decessive result for any of the warring sides and led to signing of an armistice. |
It was the last battle on the
main front of the Franco-Austrian War of 1809, and was cut short after
Napoleon agreed to Austrian offers of an armistice. In the immediate
aftermath of the battle of Wagram (5-6 July 1809) Napoleon’s force eventually
caught up wth the retreating Austrian army at
Znaim (now Znojmo, Czech Republic) on 10 July 1809. After two days of futile
fighting, with both sides suffering similar casualties and neither side
gaining any advantage, Napoleon finally agreed to offer of
an armistice and end the battle. Although the Battle of Znaim was the
last action between Austria and France in the war, a formal peace was not
agreed until the Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed on 14 October 1809, which
finally ended the War of the Fifth Coalition. |
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French invasion of Russia |
26 and 27 July 1812 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Vitebsk (Belarus, then Russian Empire) |
Was a military engagement that took place during the French invasion
of Russia between French force under the command of Emperor Napoleon I
and Russian forces under General Petr Konovnitsyn and Peter von der Pahlen. The French won the battle, the Russians
retreated. |
The Battle of Vitebsk was in fact no more than a rearguard combat. Realising that their chances to win against
Napoleon were gloom, the Russians adopted the strategy to delay the action and keep the French at
bay for long enough so that they could retreat to Smolensk, where they planned to reinforce. They succeeded in their plan. The Russian
army made a hasty retreat and safely reached Smolensk, thus failing the Emperor's plans for a major
battle. The French lost Colonel Liédot, a distinguished officer. Russian losses amounted to some 3,000 men,
killed and wounded. French casualties
were some 400 dead, 900 wounded and 70
captured. |
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16–18 August 1812 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Smolensk (in Russia) |
It took place between Grande Armée under Emperor Napoleon I and Russian troops under General Barclay de
Tolly. The French won the battle. |
The Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle of the French
invasion of Russia. Napoleon attacked the fortress city of Smolensk and captured
two of the suburbs. The French artillery bombardment burned the city to the
ground. During the night the Russians evacuated the burning city. Of the
city's 15,000 inhabitants, about 1,000 were left at the end of the battle
inside the smoking ruins. With over 20,000 casualties, it was one of the
bloodiest battles of the invasion. The Battle of Smolensk is commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "SMOLENSK 17 VIII 1812. |
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7 September 1812 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Borodino ( in Russia) |
Was fought in the Napoleonic Wars during the French invasion of
Russia. It was fought between Napoleon’s troops and Russians commanded by General M.I.
Kutuzov which the French won. Napoleon’s success facilitated him to occupy Moscow. |
It was the deadliest and bloodiest among the Napoleonic Wars with at
least 70,000 casualties. Both armies were exhausted after the battle and the
Russians withdrew from the field the following day. Napoleon entered Moscow a
week later , only to find it abandoned. The city was soon ablaze, which the
French blamed on Russian arsonists. The
capture of Moscow proved a victory that inflicted a devastating toll on
French army. Since the Russians had no intention of negotiating with Napoleon
for peace, the French evacuated Moscow in October and conducted a difficult retreat
that lasted until December, by which point the remainder of the Imperial Army
had largely disillusioned . Some historians believe that Napoleon forfeited the chance of gaining a decisive
victory by not committing the 20,000-man Imperial Guard and 10,000 other
practically fresh troops as a last resort. The Russians suffered about 45,000
casualties. The French lost about 30,000 men. |
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November 15 to 18, 1812 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Krasnoi (in Russia) |
Occured during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia between the Russian
Army under General Mikhail
Illarionovich Kutuzov and Napoleon’s
Imperial Army in which Napoleon was defeated. |
The Battle of Krasnoi was a series of skirmishes fought in the final
stage of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. The Russians inflicted heavy losses
on the remainders of the French Army.
Lacking sufficient artillery, cavalry and supplies to wage battle, Napoleon's
objective at Krasnoi was to collect his scattered troops and to resume his
retreat. Despite the vast superiority of his forces, Kutuzov refrained from
launching a full-scale offensive during the four days of fighting and their
delayed action made it possible for
Napoleon to withdraw a part of his army before the Russians seized
Krasnoi. A large numbers of French troops were captured by the Russians. The French
Army was also compelled to abandon
much of its remaining artillery and baggage train. |
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November 26 to 29, 1812 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Berezina (or Beresina) near Borisov, Belarus. |
Held between the French army of Napoleon and the Russian armies under
Mikhail Kutuzov, Peter Wittgenstein and Admiral Pavel Chichagov. The battle ended
with a mixed outcome. Russians had a tactical
victory while the French won a strategic victory; |
The French had suffered a defeat just two weeks earlier during the
Battle of Krasnoi. The surviving troops of the Imperial army, being pursued by the Russian armies, were struggling hard for retreating to safety. Napoleon's plan was to cross the frozen Berezina
River and head for Poland, while his enemies wanted to trap him there and
destroy him. But the French managed to cross the river and avoid being
trapped although they suffered heavy losses. Swiss regiment of the French Empire under
Marshal Oudinot gave a brave fight to save most of the retreating French
troops even though they themselves suffered a terrible loss. Since then "Bérézina" has been
used in French as a synonym for "disaster". |
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Sixth coalition. (Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom,
Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States) formed after the
disastrous and failed French invasion of Russia (24 Jun 1812 – 14 Dec 1812) |
2 May 1813 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Lützen (in Germany) |
Was fought between the army of Napoleon I of France and Coalition
army under the Russian commander, Prince Peter Wittgenstein which ended with the French victory. |
After the French invasion of Russia which involved massive French losses Napoleon I of France was
engaged in halting the advances of the
Sixth Coalition. In a bid to strike on
the coalition’s lines hastily before they could integrate, Napoleon crossed the river Saale on
the 30th April and advanced on Leipzig.
But,
the French troops of Marshal
Ney's corps was caught by surprise attack from allied troops on the road from Lützen to
Leipzig. After a day of heavy fighting, the combined Prussian and Russian force
retreated in the darkness of twilight. Due to French losses and a shortage of
French cavalry, Napoleon did not conduct a pursuit. |
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20–21 May 1813 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Bautzen (in Germany |
Between French forces under Napoleon I and a combined
Russian-Prussian Army (the Prussians under Count Gebhard von Blücher and
Russians under Prince Peter Wittgenstein). The French won the battle. |
The combined Russian–Prussian army retreating after their defeat at
Lützen, were attacked by French forces
under Napoleon. After hours of intense
bombardment by the Napoleon's artillery and heated fighting, the French
overpowered the coalition first defense and seized the town of Bautzen. However, the French victory at Bautzen was associated with heavy toll on
them. Napoleon's trusted General Geraud Duroc, was severely wounded
and later died. Following the battle
at Bautzen, Napoleon agreed to a nine-week truce with the Coalition. It is
reported that Napoleon later (on Saint Helena) said that his agreement to
this truce was a bad mistake, because the break benefitted much more to the allies than to him. The
campaign would resume in August. |
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22 May 1813 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
The combat of Reichenbach (in Germany) |
The combat of Reichenbach was
a rearguard action during the Allied retreat after their defeat at Bautzen
which resulted in the French victory. But Napoleon lost his General Kirgener and Grand Marshal Duroc
who died being hit by an allied round shot. |
The French pursued retreating columns of Allied army. Napoleon and
his General Rayner encountered the
Allied army in Reichenbach ( in
Poland). The allied force Retreated
east to Markersdorf, four miles to the east. After the brief action at
Markersdorf, Napoleon ordered VII Corps to resume its advance. In the course, an allied round shot just
missed Napoleon but hit his General Kirgener and Grand Marshal Duroc, and
both died. This blow clearly deeply affected Napoleon, and he ordered the
combat to stop. |
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26–27 August 1813 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Dresden ( in Saxony, Germany) |
The battle took place the French forces under Napoleon and the Allied army led by Field Marshal
Schwarzenberg in which the French
scored a victory. |
The Battle of Dresden was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars
and Napoleon's last major victory in Germany . With the recent addition of
Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in their quest to expel the French from Central Europe. On August 26
Schwarzenberg attacked around the city which was Napoleon’s major base of
operations and supply depot. Despite being heavily outnumbered, French forces
drove the allies back to their original positions . Napoleon's failure to
follow up on his success due to the
lack of effective French cavalry units allowed Schwarzenberg to withdraw and
narrowly escape encirclement. Napoleon's victory did not lead to the collapse
of the coalition. Three days after the battle, the Allies surrounded and
captured a French corps at the Battle of Kulm. |
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16 to 19 October 1813 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Leipzig (in Germany) also called Battle of the Nations. |
The Coalition (sixth) armies
of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Emperor Alexander I and Karl
von Schwarzenberg, fought with imperial army
of French Emperor Napoleon I. The coalition force decisively defeated
the French imperial army. |
Napoleon's army was also supported
by allied Polish and Italian troops,
as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine (mainly Saxony and
Württemberg), a confederation of 16 German states formed by Napoleon after he
defeated Austria and Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz on 12 July 1806 by
the Treaty of Pressburg which lasted from 1806 to 1813. The battle was the end
of the German Campaign of 1813 which involved 500,000 soldiers, 2,200 artillery
pieces, the use of 200,000 rounds of
artillery ammunition, and saw 127,000 casualties, making it the largest
battle in Europe prior to World War I. Decisively defeated again, Napoleon
was compelled to return to France while the Sixth Coalition kept up its
momentum, dissolving the Confederation of the Rhine and invading France early
the next year. |
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30 to 31 October 1813 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Hanau (Duchy of Frankfurt, Germany) |
The Battle of Hanau was fought between Karl Philipp von Wrede's
Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French army. |
Following Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig earlier in
October, Napoleon began to retreat from Germany into France for relative
safety. Wrede attempted to block Napoleon’s line of retreat at Hanau (in
Germany) on 30th October. Napoleon
arrived at Hanau with reinforcements and defeated Wrede’s forces. On 31
October Hanau was in French control, opening Napoleon’s line of retreat. The
Battle of Hanau was a minor battle, but an important tactical victory
allowing Napoleon’s army to retreat onto French soil to recover and face the
coalition’s invasion of France. |
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29 January 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Brienne ( in France) |
Occured between the Imperial
French army led by Emperor Napoleon and Prussian / Russian forces commanded
by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The French won
victory. |
French army attacked Prussian and Russian combined forces. After heavy fighting that went on
into the night, the French seized the château (castle), 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 in
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. |
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1st of February 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of La Rothière ( in France) |
It was a battle between the French Empire and coalition army of Austria, Prussia, Russia. German
States (under confederation of Rhine) which were allied with France prior to Napoleon's failed
campaign against the Russian Empire took side of the coalition army.
Coalition earned tactical victory while the French had strategic victory. |
The battle took place in severe weather conditions (wet snowstorm).
The French were defeated but managed to hold until they could retreat under
cover of darkness. At nightfall the fighting ceased and the French retired to
Lesmont, leaving Marmont behind to observe Coalition movements. From Lesmont,
the French moved to Troyes. But no pursuit was attempted by coalition army. |
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on 10th February, 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Champaubert (in
France) |
Occured between a French army led by Napoleon I and a small Russian
corps commanded by Lieutenant General Count Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev. The
French won the battle. |
After defeating Emperor Napoleon at the Battle of La Rothière on 1st
February, 1814 allied Austrian army under Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of
Schwarzenberg and Prussian army
under Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht
von Blücher advanced in two separate directions for further assault on the
French. Allied lapses in communication and Blücher's overconfidence left General Olsufiev's corps of 5000 Russian
Army got isolated from Blücher's command near Champaubert when Napoleon's 30000 army pounced
on them. Despite putting up a good
fight, the Russian formation was effectively destroyed; the survivors escaped into the woods while
Olsufiev became a French prisoner. |
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11 February 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Montmirail (in France) |
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 which resulted in the French victory. |
In a hard fighting that lasted until evening, French troops defeated
Sacken's Russian soldiers and compelled them to retreat to the north. A Part
of Yorck's Prussian I Corps belatedly tried
to intervene in the struggle but it was also driven off. |
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12 February 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Château-Thierry (in France) |
The Imperial French army commanded by Emperor Napoleon fought with a Prussian
corps led by Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg and an Imperial Russian corps under
Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken. Napoleon own. |
After being defeated in the
hard-fought Battle of Montmirail on the previous day, the two Allied corps managed to escape
across the Marne River and scramble north toward Château-Thierry's bridge. Napoleon
launched his army in hot pursuit. Although
he failed to destroy Yorck and Sacken, the allied corps suffered considerably heavier losses
than the pursuing French and retreated to north. |
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14 February 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Vauchamps (France) |
It was the final major engagement of the Six Days Campaign in which the
Imperial Army under Napoleon I defeated
a superior Prussian and Russian force under Field-marshal Gebhard Leberecht
von Blücher. |
Being frustrated from his successive
defeats by Napoleon , Blücher, on 13 February, instead of engaging directly with him, fell upon the isolated
VI Corps of his Marshal, Auguste de Marmont, who was defending Napoleon's
rear. Marmont was falling back until Napoleon arrived on the battlefield
with strong combined-arms forces next
day and launched counter attack to drive back the Blücher’s Army. When Blücher realized that he would be facing the
Emperor in person he decided to pull back and avoid another battle against
Napoleon. |
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17 February 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Mormant |
Held between an Imperial French army under Emperor Napoleon I and a
division of Russians under Gen. Count Peter Petrovich Pahlen which was won
by the French. |
Surrounded by Napoleon’s strong
army of cavalry and infantry troops, Pahlen's outnumbered force was
nearly destroyed, with only about a third of its soldiers being able to escape and disperse over the
French countryside. |
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18 February 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
The Battle of Montereau ( in France) |
Held between an Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon and a
corps of Austrians and Württembergers commanded by Crown Prince Frederick
William of Württemberg. The Kingdom of Württemberg (German: Königreich
Württemberg) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918. The French
won the battle. |
Initially the Allies stoutly held off a series of French attacks.
However, under increasing French pressure, the Crown Prince's defence buckled
in the afternoon and his troops retreated. Brilliantly led by Pierre Claude
Pajol, the French cavalry seized Montereau along with the expanse across the
rivers Seine and Yonne. The Allied force suffered heavy losses and the defeat
confirmed Schwarzenberg's decision to continue the retreat to Troyes in
North-Central France. |
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March 5 , 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Berry-au-Bac (in
France) |
The battle saw the French cavalry commanded by Napoleon I opposing to
the Russian Cossacks of General Ferdinand von Wintzingerode which resulted in
the French victory. |
During the confrontation, the Russians quickly broke down at the overwhelming charge by the French which seized
the bridge over the Aisne and drove back the Russian cavalrymen. The capture
of the bridge and the town of Berry-au-Bac facilitated the rest of the French
corps to cross the Aisne to continue to follow the retreating Prussian army. |
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7 March 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Craonne (France). |
It was a battle 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 which resulted in a
narrow technical French victory,
having allied army been forced to
withdraw. |
It was one of the bloodiest
battle of the Campaign of France in 1814. Both sides suffered heavy
casualties (more than 5000 each). In the aftermath of this battle Blucher
united his forces around Laon, where he planned to fight a defensive battle. |
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9–10 March 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Laon (capital city of Aisne Department in northern France) |
The battle saw the victory of Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von
Blücher's Prussian army over Napoleon's French army. |
During the Battle of Craonne
on 7 March, Blücher's army was forced to retreat into Laon after a failed
attempt to halt Napoleon's east flank. Along the way to Laon, reinforcements
from Russian forces under Ferdinand von Wintzingerode and a Prussian corps
led by Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow joined the defensive. Blücher
opted to face Napoleon at Laon because it was the site of a strategically
important road junction, and because of its highly defensible position.
Blücher’s army successfully defended Laon.
Having successive French attacks failed to produce results, Napoleon decided to retire. |
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12–13 March 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Reims (France) |
Was fought between an Imperial French army commanded by Emperor
Napoleon and a combined Russian-Prussian corps led by General Emmanuel de
Saint-Priest. The French own the battle. |
On the first day, Russians and Prussians easily captured Reims from
its French National Guard garrison, capturing or killing more than half of
its defenders. On the second day, an overconfident Saint-Priest carelessly
deployed his forces west of the city, unaware of Napoleon’s approaching with 20,000 troops. In the
battle that followed, the French army struck with crushing force and the
Allies were routed with serious losses and the remaining forces scrambled to
safety. During the fighting, Saint-Priest was struck by a howitzer shell and
died two weeks later. |
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20–21 March 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (in France) |
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 in which the French suffered defeat. |
On the first day, the allies, despite being vastly superior in
numbers, did not gain an inch on the ground and ended the fight with two
armies posted on either side of the village Nozay on the River Aube. On the second day of
fighting only, Emperor Napoleon suddenly realized he was so massively outnumbered that it was futile to face the
allied army, 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. It
was a Coalition strategic victory,
Napoleon retreated and the Coalition advanced towards Paris. |
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26 March 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Saint-Dizier ( in France) |
Was a battle of Napoleon I fought against a combined Prussian, Russian
and Austrian (allied) forces. and is notable as Napoleon's last victory
before the surrender of Paris and his unconditional abdication. |
Despite a fierce attack by French Army on the Allied forces which were
outnumbered, Russian Army under Tettenborn,
lieutenant colonel and General Wintzingerode defended courageously but of no avail. They
had to retreat. The easy victory at St. Dizier helped convince Napoleon that
the main Allied armies were gone, but in fact his enemies were on the road to
Paris. |
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March 30–31, 1814 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Montmartre or Paris |
Was fought between the Sixth Coalition, consisting of Russia,
Austria, and Prussia, against the French Empire. French defeat and surrender
of Paris marked the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition and led to
abdication and exile of Napoleon to Elba. |
The French army could not withstand the Coalition attack from all
sides. After a day of fighting in the
suburbs of Paris, the French Marshal Auguste Marmont surrendered. On March 31, the city capitulated and the
Coalition armies triumphantly entered the city with the Russian Tsar at the
head of the army followed by the King of Prussia and Austrian Prince
Schwarzenberg. At that time Napoleon was
away as far as Fontainebleau on his way to Paris. He planned to proceed to the capital to take on the enemies, but his
marshals did not agree to fight and wanted
him to surrender. He abdicated in
favour of his son on 4 April. The Allies rejected this outright. He was
forced to abdicate unconditionally on April 6 and exiled to the Isle of Elba,
a Mediterranean island in Italy in terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau entered
into on April 11. Thus, the War of the Sixth Coalition was over. However, the European Allied Powers gave him
sovereignty over this Italian island and allowed him to retain the title of
'Emperor'. |
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Seventh Coalition. Following Napoleon’s escape from Elba, Seventh Coalition was formed
to fight him under the treaty of 25 March, 1815. Key members were Austria,
Prussia, Russia and the United Kingdom. Besides them, almost all other countries of Europe had signed the treaty. |
16 June 1815 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Ligny (in present-day Belgium)- Part of the Hundred Days
War |
French troops of the Armée du Nord ( Army of the North) under the
command of Napoleon I defeated a part of a Prussian army under Field Marshal
Blücher. The battle resulted in a
tactical victory for the French. It
was Napoleon’s last victory in his military career. |
Unhappy in exile, Napoleon escaped and landed in France on March 1,
1815. Marching to Paris, he built an army. He was declared an outlaw by the
Congress of Vienna. In a bid to reaffirm his power, Napoleon attacked early
before the coalition forces could reinforce and put together an overwhelming
force. Blücher's worn-out soldiers could not withstand the French Infantry
and Artillery assaults. The Prussian
Army under compelling situation retreated
bravely repelling all further attacks and ultimately they regrouped
south of Wavre, around 13 kilometres to the east of Waterloo. The battle resulted in a tactical victory
for the French, but the bulk of the Prussian army survived the battle in good
order and played a pivotal role two days later at the Battle of Waterloo,
having been reinforced by Prussian troops who had not participated at Ligny. |
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Seventh Coalition |
18 June 1815 |
French Empire / Napoleon as Emperor. |
Battle of Waterloo in Belgium, a part of the United Kingdom of the
Netherlands at the time. |
A British-led coalition (Anglo-allied army) consisting of units from
the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick and Nassau, under the
command of the Duke of Wellington along
with a Prussian army under the command
of Field Marshal von Blücher fought a French army under the command of
Napoleon Bonaparte. The French army was defeated. The battle marked the end
of the Napoleonic Wars and led to abdication of Napoleon and his exile to remote
South Atlantic island of Saint Helena where he died in 1821. |
In repeated attacks, Napoleon failed to break the allied centre of defence.
Subsequent forceful allied advance particularly that of Prussian Army forced the disorganised French Army to
retreat. After his defeat, instead of remaining in the field with his
shattered army, Napoleon returned to
Paris in the hope of retaining political support for his position as Emperor
of the French and subsequently getting prepared to continue the war. But the
fate was written otherwise. To his dismay, the members of the two chambers
created a Provisional Government and demanded Napoleon’s abdication. Napoleon
thought of the idea of a coup d'état
similar to Eighteenth of Brumaire but ultimately decided against it. He abdicated
on 22 June 1815 in favour of his son Napoleon II. On 25 June Napoleon left
Paris for the final time and after staying at the Palace of Malmaison, left
for the coast hoping to reach the United States of America. In the meantime,
the Provisional Government deposed his son and tried to negotiate a
conditional surrender with the Coalition powers. They failed to obtain any
significant concessions from the Coalition who insisted on a military
surrender and the restoration of Louis XVIII (the erstwhile King of France
from 1814-to 1824). Napoleon, realising he could not hope to evade the Royal
Navy, surrendered to Captain Maitland upon placing himself under his
protection on board HMS Bellerophon. The British Government refused to allow
Napoleon to set foot in England and in October that year was exiled to the remote South Atlantic
island of Saint Helena where he died in 1821. |
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