1.
Marshal of the Empire
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Marshal of the Empire was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was created by Sénatus-consulte on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent resurrected the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. According to the Sénatus-consulte, a Marshal was an officer of the Empire, entitled to a high-standing position at the Court. Although not a rank, a Marshal displayed four silver stars, while the top military rank, General of Division. Furthermore, the Marshalate quickly became the sign of the supreme military attainment. Each Marshal held his own coat of arms, was entitled to special honours and they wore distinctive uniforms and were entitled to carry a cylinder-shaped baton, which was a symbol of their authority. Throughout his 1804–1815 reign, Napoleon appointed a total of 26 Marshals, the initial list of 1804 included 14 names of active generals and four names of retired generals, who were given the honorary title of Marshal. Six other promotions ensued, with eight other generals elevated to the Marshalate, the title often ensured a highly privileged social status – four Marshals were created Counts of the Empire and 17 received either the title of Duke or Prince. With two exceptions – Jean-Baptiste Bessières and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier – the Marshals led a lifestyle and left behind significant, at times immense. Two Marshals – Joachim Murat and Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte – went on to become Kings, a single commander, Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire, was publicly named as a Marshal-to-be by Napoleon, but he died of battle wounds before the next promotions were made. Most of the Marshals held significant commands during the Napoleonic Wars, three of them – Jean Lannes, Louis-Nicolas Davout and Louis-Gabriel Suchet were virtually never defeated in pitched battle, despite fighting in dozens of engagements. Often formidable when serving under the command of Napoleon, the Marshals proved to be less effective when having to cooperate. Some repeatedly acted in ill-faith when placed under the command of another Marshal, after Napoleons downfall, most of them swore allegiance to the Bourbon Restoration and several went on to hold significant commands and positions. The boulevards of the marshals in Paris are a collection of thoroughfares that encircle the city near its outermost margins, most bear the name of marshals who served under Napoleon I. The French word Maréchal traces its origins back to the Carolingians, from the Ancient German word marascahl, with the growing importance of the battle horse during the early Middle Age, the role came to acquire some prestige and began to be known as Marshal of France. Albéric Clément, who led King Philippe-Augustes vanguard during the victory over the English at Bouvines in 1214, was the first recorded incumbent. At first, the role was granted to a single person, as early as the 15th century, the Marshals no longer cared for the Kings horses and stables, and were simply military leaders, a role that they would retain through to modern times. Although the position remained highly prestigious, their number grew throughout the centuries, eleven years later, Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of the French and wanted to institute a military elite for the new French Empire
2.
Battle of Elchingen
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The Battle of Elchingen, fought on 14 October 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the army of Emperor Napoleon I of France while other formations fled to the east. Soon afterward, the Austrians trapped in Ulm surrendered and the French mopped up most of the remaining Austrians forces, in late September and early October 1805, Napoleon carried out a gigantic envelopment of the Austrian army in Bavaria led by Karl Mack von Lieberich. While the Austrian army lay near Ulm, south of the Danube River, then Napoleons troops crossed the river east of Ulm, cutting the Austrian retreat route to Vienna. Finally waking up to his danger, Mack tried to out on the north side of the river. Realizing that his enemies might escape the trap, Napoleon ordered Ney to cross to the bank of the river. Neys larger corps attacked Rieschs corps at Elchingen on the north bank, the French captured the heights and drove the Austrian soldiers west toward Ulm, forcing many of them to surrender. While a body of Austrians remained at large on the north bank, on 8 September, the army of Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Mack and Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este crossed the Inn River and invaded the Electorate of Bavaria. Mack planned to establish 88 battalions and 148 squadrons on the Lech River near Augsburg by the end of October. Though called upon to join Austria against France, Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of Bavaria instead withdrew his army north to the Main River in accordance with his alliance with France. By 12 September when the Austrians occupied Munich, Mack changed his mind and he decided to concentrate his army farther west on the Iller River so he could counterattack any French invasion coming through the Black Forest. As part of his new strategy, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franjo Jelačić was ordered to move from Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Johns Army of the Tyrol to Lake Constance, Mack expected to have 50,000 to 55,000 troops in position near Ulm by the end of September. Jellačić would hold the flank with 11,000 soldiers while Feldmarschall-Leutnant Michael von Kienmayer 12. However, the change of plans threw the Austrian armys supply system into disarray, as the weather turned bad, sickness and desertion began to diminish the armys numbers. The nominal army commander, Archduke Ferdinand and Macks chief of staff General-Major Anton Mayer von Heldensfeld both insisted that the halt at the Lech as originally planned. By the end of September, relations between Mack and Ferdinand became so poor that all communication between the two was done in writing, Ferdinand and Mayer appealed to Emperor Francis II. The emperor sought the advice of Feldmarschall Archduke Charles, who commanded the Army of Italy, even so, the emperor backed Mack to the hilt and relieved Mayer of his post. Macks army began to assemble on the Iller, on 24 and 25 September, Napoleon launched the Grande Armée across the Rhine River to open the Ulm Campaign
3.
Saarlouis
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Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327, Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located on the River Saar. It was built as a fortress in 1680 and named after Louis XIV of France, with the Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen in 1678/79, the Lorraine fell to France. In 1680, Louis XIV of France gave order to build a fortification on the banks of the river Saar which was called Sarre-Louis. Frances famous military engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, constructed the city, the plans were made by Thomas de Choisy, in 1683, Louis XIV visited the fortress and granted arms. The coat of arms shows the sun and three Fleur-de-lis. The heraldic motto is Dissipat Atque Fovet, He dispels and heats, in 1697, with the Treaty of Ryswick, most parts of Lorraine gained independence again, but Saarlouis and the surrounding areas remained a French exclave. During the French Revolution, the town was renamed Sarre-Libre, with the Treaty of Paris in 1815, Saarlouis became Prussian. Marshal Michel Ney, who was born in Saarlouis, was arrested and tried for treason after the failure of Napoleon Is Waterloo Campaign. Neys attorney tried to use the Prussian annexation to save his clients life, arguing that Ney was no longer a French citizen, Ney refused to cooperate, declaring himself to be French, and so was convicted and later executed. After World War I, French troops occupied Saarlouis, the Saargebiet became a protectorate of the League of Nations for a period of 15 years. In 1933, a number of anti-Nazi Germans fled to the Saar. As a result, anti-Nazi groups campaigned heavily for the Saarland to remain under control of League of Nations as long as Adolf Hitler ruled Germany, however, long-held sentiments against France remained entrenched, with very few sympathizing openly with France. When the 15-year-term was over, a plebiscite was held in the territory on 13 January 1935,90. 3% of those voting wished to rejoin Germany, from 1936 till 1945, Saarlouis was named as Saarlautern in an attempt by the Nazis to Germanise the town name. After World War II, the region, was occupied by France. In a plebiscite in 1955, most of the people in the Saarland opted for the reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1980, Saarlouis celebrated its 300th anniversary. Even today, the fortress dominates the citys hexagonal floor plan, beside the buildings made by Vauban, there are also some constructions left from the 19th century when the Prussians got control over the town. Saarlouis was famous for its steel and iron ore production
4.
Three Bishoprics
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The Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-revolutionary France consisting of the dioceses of Metz, Verdun, and Toul within the Lorraine region. The three dioceses were Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire until they were seized by King Henry II of France between April and June 1552, at the end of the Thirty Years War, they were officially ceded to France by the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. In the course of the rebellion against the Habsburg emperor Charles V and they agreed to establish contacts with the Catholic French king Henry II, disregarding his oppression of the Protestant Huguenots. In autumn Henry declared war against Charles V and prepared to march against the Empire up to the Rhine River, on 15 January 1552, he signed the Treaty of Chambord with Maurice of Saxony and his Protestant allies, whereby the French conquests were legitimised ahead of time. The princes acknowledged the lordship as Vicar of the Empire over the Imperial cities of Metz, Toul and Verdun, as well as Cambrai. On Palm Sunday 1552 French troops under the command of Anne de Montmorency in a surprise attack moved into the walls of Metz, Henry then turned against the Lorraine capital Nancy, where he had the minor duke Charles III abducted to the French court in Paris. On 18 April the king celebrated his entry into Metz and, after an attack on the Imperial City of Strasbourg. At that time, the French had occupied the three Imperial cities as well as the territory of the surrounding Prince-bishoprics, the expedition ultimately failed, when the Imperial troops were defeated by the French forces under Duke Francis of Guise in the 1554 Battle of Renty. When the emperor, worn out and exhausted, abdicated in 1556, King Henry II left a permanent garrison in each of the cities and gradually subjected its citizens to his royal authority. Initiated by Cardinal Richelieu, the Trois-Évêchés received a certain autonomy with a provincial parlement installed in 1633 in Metz, civil commotions decreased as the cities prospered under French rule, though the implementation of the gabelle of salt sparked some unrest in Metz. When King Louis XIV acceded to the throne in 1643, he confirmed the privileges of the Metz, Toul and Verdun citizens as his good and faithful subjects. The Diocese of Saint-Dié, created in 1777 and sometimes called the Fourth Bishopric of Lorraine, is not related historically to the Three Bisphoprics, Trois-Évêchés on the French Wikipedia 450th anniversary celebrations on the French Ministry of Cultures website Biography of Henry II
5.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
6.
Saarland
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The Saarland is one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. With its capital at Saarbrücken, it has an area of 2,570 km², in terms of both area and population size – apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg – it is Germanys smallest state. Prior to its creation as the Territory of the Saar Basin by the League of Nations after World War I, until then, some parts of it had been Prussian while others belonged to Bavaria. The inhabitants voted to rejoin Germany in a referendum held in 1935, from 1947 to 1956 the Saarland was a French-occupied territory separate from the rest of Germany. Between 1950 and 1956, Saarland was a member of the Council of Europe, in 1955, in another referendum, the inhabitants were offered independence, but voted instead for the territory to become a state of West Germany. From 1920 to 1935, and again from 1947 to 1959, Saarland is the result of a regulation of the treaty of Versailles and was created in 1919. Prior to this creation, there never existed a comparable administrative unit or a feeling of togetherness, the region of the Saarland was settled by the Celtic tribes of Treveri and Mediomatrici. The most impressive relic of their time is the remains of a fortress of refuge at Otzenhausen in the north of the Saarland, in the 1st century BC, the Roman Empire made the region part of its province of Belgica. The Celtic population mixed with the Roman immigrants, the region gained wealth, which can still be seen in the remains of Roman villas and villages. Roman rule ended in the 5th century, when the Franks conquered the territory, for the next 1,300 years the region shared the history of the Kingdom of the Franks, the Carolingian Empire and of the Holy Roman Empire. The region of the Saarland was divided into small territories. Most important of the rulers were the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. It was not the king of France but the armies of the French Revolution who terminated the independence of the states in the region of the Saarland, after 1792 they conquered the region and made it part of the French Republic. While a strip in the west belonged to the Département Moselle, the centre in 1798 became part of the Département de Sarre, after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the region was divided again. Most of it part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Another part in the east, corresponding to the present Saarpfalz district, was allocated to the Kingdom of Bavaria, a small part in the northeast was ruled by the Duke of Oldenburg. On 31 July 1870, the French Emperor Napoleon III ordered an invasion across the River Saar to seize Saarbrücken, the first shots of the Franco-Prussian War 1870/71 were fired on the heights of Spichern, south of Saarbrücken. The Saar region became part of the German Empire which came into existence on 18 January 1871, in 1920 the Saargebiet was occupied by Britain and France under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
7.
Bourbon Restoration
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The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history following the fall of Napoleon in 1814 until the July Revolution of 1830. The brothers of executed Louis XVI of France reigned in highly conservative fashion, and they were nonetheless unable to reverse most of the changes made by the French Revolution and Napoleon. At the Congress of Vienna they were treated respectfully, but had to give up all the gains made since 1789. King Louis XVI of the House of Bourbon had been overthrown and executed during the French Revolution, a coalition of European powers defeated Napoleon in the War of the Sixth Coalition, ended the First Empire in 1814, and restored the monarchy to the brothers of Louis XVI. The Bourbon Restoration lasted from 6 April 1814 until the uprisings of the July Revolution of 1830. There was an interlude in spring 1815—the Hundred Days—when the return of Napoleon forced the Bourbons to flee France, when Napoleon was again defeated by the Seventh Coalition they returned to power in July. During the Restoration, the new Bourbon regime was a monarchy, unlike the absolutist Ancien Régime. The period was characterized by a conservative reaction, and consequent minor but consistent occurrences of civil unrest. It also saw the reestablishment of the Catholic Church as a power in French politics. The eras of the French Revolution and Napoleon brought a series of changes to France which the Bourbon Restoration did not reverse. First of all, France became highly centralized, with all decisions made in Paris, the political geography was completely reorganized and made uniform. France was divided more than 80 departments, which have endured into the 21st century. Each department had an administrative structure, and was tightly controlled by a prefect appointed by Paris. The Catholic Church lost all its lands and buildings during the Revolution, the bishop still ruled his diocese, and communicated with the pope through the government in Paris. Bishops, priests, nuns and other people were paid salaries by the state. All the old rites and ceremonies were retained, and the government maintained the religious buildings. The Church was allowed to operate its own seminaries and to some extent local schools as well, bishops were much less powerful than before, and had no political voice. However, the Catholic Church reinvented itself and put a new emphasis on personal religiosity that gave it a hold on the psychology of the faithful, education was centralized, with the Grand Master of the University of France controlling every element of the entire educational system from Paris
8.
French First Republic
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In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. The foreign threat exacerbated Frances political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the passion, in the violence of 10 August 1792, citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the Kings Swiss guards and insisting on the removal of the king. A renewed fear of action prompted further violence, and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the citys prisons. This included nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also numerous common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many murdered in their cells—raped, stabbed and this became known as the September Massacres. The resulting Convention was founded with the purpose of abolishing the monarchy. The Conventions first act, on 10 August 1792, was to establish the French First Republic, the King, by then a private citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he was convicted, and on 21 January, throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The new Convention did little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, despite growing discontent with the National Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by popular vote in early August. The Committees laws and policies took the revolution to unprecedented heights, after the arrest and execution of Robespierre in July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the Constitution of the Year III and they reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body. On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established, the period known as the French Consulate began with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Members of the Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the failing power of the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte was a co-conspirator in the coup, and became head of the government as the First Consul. He would later proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the First French Republic and ushering in the French First Empire
9.
First French Empire
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The First French Empire, Note 1 was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. Its name was a misnomer, as France already had colonies overseas and was short lived compared to the Colonial Empire, a series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. The plot included Bonapartes brother Lucien, then serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred, Roger Ducos, another Director, on 9 November 1799 and the following day, troops led by Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump legislature to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the Consulate, he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of the Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X, the Battle of Marengo inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleons Moscow campaign. Napoleon planned only to keep the Duchy of Milan for France, setting aside Austria, the Peace of Amiens, which cost him control of Egypt, was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the Piedmont and by acquiring Genoa, Parma, Tuscany and Naples, then he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the Concordat of 1801 to control the material claims of the pope. Napoleon would have ruling elites from a fusion of the new bourgeoisie, on 12 May 1802, the French Tribunat voted unanimously, with exception of Carnot, in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France. This action was confirmed by the Corps Législatif, a general plebiscite followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay. On 2 August 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Consul for life, pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the Recess of 1803, which brought Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden to Frances side. The memories of imperial Rome were for a time, after Julius Caesar and Charlemagne. The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, did little other than create a more unified Germany to threaten France. On the other hand, Napoleons creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the occupation of Ancona, to create satellite states, Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The Bonapartes began to marry into old European monarchies, gaining sovereignty over many nations, in addition to the vassal titles, Napoleons closest relatives were also granted the title of French Prince and formed the Imperial House of France. Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power, Prussia had been offered the territory of Hanover to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal and this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. In this War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon destroyed the armies of Frederick William at Jena-Auerstedt, the Eylau and the Friedland against the Russians finally ruined Frederick the Greats formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at Tilsit. The Treaties of Tilsit ended the war between Russia and the French Empire and began an alliance between the two empires that held power of much of the rest of Europe, the two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes
10.
Hundred Days
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The Hundred Days marked the period between Napoleons return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815. This period saw the War of the Seventh Coalition, and includes the Waterloo Campaign, the phrase les Cent Jours was first used by the prefect of Paris, Gaspard, comte de Chabrol, in his speech welcoming the king back to Paris on 8 July. Napoleon returned while the Congress of Vienna was sitting, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars pitted France against various coalitions of other European nations nearly continuously from 1792 onward. The overthrow and subsequent public execution of Louis XVI in France had greatly disturbed other European leaders, rather than leading to Frances defeat, the wars allowed the revolutionary regime to expand beyond its borders and create client republics. The success of the French forces made an out of their best commander. In 1799, Napoleon staged a successful coup détat and became First Consul of the new French Consulate, five years later, he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I. The rise of Napoleon troubled the other European powers as much as the revolutionary regime had. Despite the formation of new coalitions against him, Napoleons forces continued to conquer much of Europe, the tide of war began to turn after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 that resulted in the loss of much of Napoleons army. The following year, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, Coalition forces defeated the French in the Battle of Leipzig, following its victory at Leipzig, the Coalition vowed to press on to Paris and depose Napoleon. In the last week of February 1814, Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher advanced on Paris, the Battle of Reims went to Napoleon, but this victory was followed by successive defeats from increasingly overwhelming odds. Coalition forces entered Paris after the Battle of Montmartre on 30 March 1814, on 6 April 1814, Napoleon abdicated his throne, leading to the accession of Louis XVIII and the first Bourbon Restoration a month later. The defeated Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany, Napoleon spent only nine months and 21 days in uneasy retirement on Elba, watching events in France with great interest as the Congress of Vienna gradually gathered. He had been escorted to Elba by Sir Neil Campbell, who remained in there while performing other duties in Italy. Equally threatening was the situation in Europe which had been stressed and exhausted during the previous decades of near constant warfare. The conflicting demands of major powers were for a time so exorbitant as to bring the Powers at the Congress of Vienna to the verge of war with each other. Thus every scrap of news reaching remote Elba looked favourable to Napoleon to retake power as he reasoned the news of his return would cause a popular rising as he approached. So threatening were the symptoms that the royalists at Paris and the plenipotentiaries at Vienna talked of deporting him to the Azores or to Saint Helena, at the Congress of Vienna the various participating nations had very different and conflicting goals. Tsar Alexander of Russia had expected to absorb much of Poland and to leave a Polish puppet state, the renewed Prussian state demanded all of the Kingdom of Saxony
11.
War of the First Coalition
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France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792. In July 1792, an army under the Duke of Brunswick and composed mostly of Prussians joined the Austrian side and invaded France, France suffered reverses and internal strife and responded with draconian measures. The Committee of Public Safety formed and the en masse drafted all potential soldiers aged 18 to 25. The new French armies counterattacked, repelled the invaders, and advanced beyond France, the French established the Batavian Republic as a sister republic and gained Prussian recognition of French control of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the first Peace of Basel. With the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Holy Roman Empire ceded the Austrian Netherlands to France, Spain made a separate peace accord with France and the French Directory carried out plans to conquer more of the Holy Roman Empire. The First Coalition collapsed, leaving only Britain in the fighting against France. The key figure, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, brother to the French Queen Marie Antoinette, had looked on the Revolution calmly. He became more concerned as the Revolution grew further radical, although he hoped to avoid war. Dumouriez prepared an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands, where he expected the population to rise against Austrian rule. However, the revolution had thoroughly disorganized the French army, which had insufficient forces for the invasion and its soldiers fled at the first sign of battle, deserting en masse, in one case murdering General Théobald Dillon. While the revolutionary government frantically raised fresh troops and reorganized its armies, in July 1792 the invasion commenced. Brunswicks army, composed mostly of Prussian veterans, took the fortresses of Longwy, although the battle was a tactical draw, it bought time for the revolutionaries and gave a great boost to French morale. Dumouriez went on the offensive in Belgium once again, winning a victory over the Austrians at Jemappes on 6 November 1792. On 21 January the revolutionary government executed Louis XVI after a trial and this united all European governments, including Spain, Naples, and the Netherlands against the Revolution. France declared war against Britain and the Netherlands on 1 February 1793, in the course of the year 1793 the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Portugal and Naples, and the Grand-Duke of Tuscany declared war against France. Thus the First Coalition was formed, the French government sent Citizen Genet to the United States to encourage them into entering the war on Frances side. The newly formed nation refused and remained throughout the conflict. After a victory in the Battle of Neerwinden in March, the Austrians suffered twin defeats at the battles of Wattignies, British land forces were defeated at the Battle of Hondschoote in September
12.
Battle of Valmy
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The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris, generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne. The outcome was unexpected by contemporary observers – a vindication for the French revolutionaries. The victory emboldened the newly assembled National Convention to formally declare the end of monarchy in France, Valmy permitted the development of the Revolution and all its resultant ripple-effects, and for that it is regarded by historians as one of the most significant battles in history. As the French Revolution continued, the monarchies of Europe became concerned that revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries, the War of the First Coalition was an effort to stop the revolution, or at least contain it to France. King Frederick William II of Prussia had the support of Great Britain, the French commander Charles Dumouriez, meanwhile, had been marching his army northeast to attack the Austrian Netherlands, but this plan was abandoned because of the more immediate threat to Paris. A second army under General François Kellermann was ordered to link up with him in a mutual defense and these veterans provided a professional core to steady the enthusiastic volunteer battalions. Combined, Dumouriez Army of the North and Kellermanns Army of the Centre totalled approximately 54,000 troops. Heading towards them was Brunswicks coalition army of about 84,000, all veteran Prussian and Austrian troops augmented by large complements of Hessians and the French royalist Army of Condé. The invading army handily captured Longwy on 23 August and Verdun on 2 September, in response, Dumouriez halted his advance to the Netherlands and reversed course, approaching the enemy army from its rear. From Metz, Kellermann moved to his assistance, joining him at the village of Sainte-Menehould on 19 September, the French forces were now east of the Prussians, behind their lines. The unfavorable situation was compounded by bad weather and an increase in sickness among the troops. With few other options available, Brunswick turned back and prepared to do battle, the troops trudged laboriously through a heavy downpour – rain as of the days of Noah, in the words of Thomas Carlyle. Brunswick headed through the northern woods believing he could cut off Dumouriez, at the moment when the Prussian manœuvre was nearly completed, Kellermann advanced his left wing and took up a position on the slopes between Sainte-Menehould and Valmy. His command centered around an old windmill, and his veteran artillerists were well-placed upon its accommodating rise to begin the so-called Cannonade of Valmy, Brunswick moved toward them with about 34,000 of his troops. As they emerged from the woods, a gunnery duel ensued. The Prussian infantry made a cautious, and fruitless, effort to advance under fire across the open ground, as the Prussians wavered, a pivotal moment was reached when Kellermann raised his hat and made his famous cry of Vive la Nation. The cry was repeated again and again by all the French army, the French troops sang La Marseillaise and Ça Ira, and a cheer went up from the French line
13.
Battle of Neerwinden (1793)
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The Second Battle of Neerwinden saw a Republican French army led by Charles François Dumouriez attack a Coalition army commanded by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The French position in the Austrian Netherlands swiftly collapsed, ending the threat to the Dutch Republic, the War of the First Coalition engagement was fought at Neerwinden, located 57 kilometres east of Brussels in present-day Belgium. After Dumouriezs victory at Jemappes in November 1792, the French armies rapidly overran most of the Austrian Netherlands, rather than driving the Austrians to the west bank of the Rhine River, Dumouriez and the French government became preoccupied with a war with the Dutch Republic. During the breathing space offered by her enemy, Austria assembled an army under the Prince of Coburg, after a French covering force was routed by Coburg at Aldenhoven, Dumouriez began gathering his army for a counterstroke. Coburg took up a position at Neerwinden and awaited the confident Dumouriezs attack. The Coalition army was outnumbered in infantry but possessed a superiority in cavalry. After intense fighting, Coburgs troops repulsed the attacks of the French center, when Dumouriez found that his left wing was driven off the battlefield, he began retreating. The defeat led to desertions from the discouraged French volunteers. In the face of the collapse, Dumouriez negotiated a free withdrawal of French troops in return for the surrender of Belgium. Soon, Dumouriez was plotting against his own government and when his plans failed, he defected to the Austrians, on 6 November 1792, a French army under Charles François Dumouriez defeated the Austrian army of Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen at the Battle of Jemappes. The French enjoyed a numerical superiority with 40,000 infantry,3,000 cavalry and 100 guns against an Austrian army counting 11,628 foot soldiers,2,168 horsemen and 56 guns. Within one month the French armies overran most of the Austrian Netherlands, on the right flank, the Army of the Ardennes led by Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Valence advanced down the Meuse River toward Huy. On the way, Valence dropped off a force under Louis-Auguste Juvénal des Ursins dHarville to besiege Namur, Dumouriez himself with the Army of Belgium captured Liège. The Army of the North commanded by Francisco de Miranda laid siege to Antwerp and it was joined by a column under Benôit Guérin de Berneron that marched first from Ath northeast to Leuven. On the 27th Stengel with 8,000 soldiers from the Army of Belgium won an action at Voroux-lez-Liers near Liège over Anton Sztáray. Antwerp fell on 29 November to Mirandas 17,600 infantry and 1,245 cavalry, the Austrian garrison of the 1st Battalion of the Hohenlohe Nr. 17, two companies of the Vierset Nr.59 and four companies of the Würzburg Infantry Regiments, the French captured 57 cannons,50 additional 3-pound regimental cannons,3,150 muskets and 1,523 hundredweight of gunpowder. The 2, 599-man garrison of Namur under Johann Dominik von Moitelle surrendered on 2 December to Valence, the Austrian defenders included two battalions of the Kinsky Infantry Regiment Nr
14.
Siege of Mainz (1793)
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In the Siege of Mainz, from 14 April to 23 July 1793, a coalition of Prussia, Austria, and other German states besieged and captured Mainz from revolutionary French forces. The allies, especially the Prussians, first tried negotiations, but this failed, within the town the siege and bombardment led to stress between citizens, municipality and the French war council, governing since 2 April. The city administration was displaced on 13 July, this increased the stubbornness of the remaining population, since a relief army was missing, the war council was forced to take up negotiations with the allied forces on 17 July, the remaining soldiers capitulated on 23 July. Nearly 19,000 French troops surrendered at the end of the siege, consequently, they were used to fight French royalists in the Vendée region of France. They left the town singing La Marseillaise, the Republic of Mainz, the first democratic state on the later German territory, was subsequently dissolved. Mainz received a Prussian commander to administer the city, crucis, the Benedictine abbey St. Jacob on the citadel and the remains of St. Albans Abbey. The cathedral had been heavily damaged, the biggest impact of the occupation and siege was that the citys part in the old imperial electoral structure finally came to their end. Thus the events of the year 1793 also marked the end of Aurea Moguntia, the city lost its status as the electoral residence. The shelling of Mainz was widely discussed in Europe, many people gathered round the town in order to view the siege. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe assisted Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar during the siege, the Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von Die Belagerung von Mainz, schmittlein, Raymond, Un Recit de Guerre de Goethe le Siege de Mayence II. Arthur Chuquet, The Wars of the Revolution, The Siege of Mainz, Die Belagerung von Mainz by Goethe in the Project Gutenberg
15.
War of the Second Coalition
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The War of the Second Coalition was the second war on revolutionary France by the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Naples. Their goal was to contain the spread of chaos from France and they failed to overthrow the revolutionary regime and French territorial gains since 1793 were confirmed. The Allies formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back Frances previous military conquests, the Coalition did very well in 1799, but Russia pulled out. Napoleon took charge in France in late 1799, and he, in the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801, France held all of its previous gains and obtained new lands in Tuscany, Italy, while Austria was granted Venetia and the Dalmatian coast. Britain and France signed the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, by May 1803 Britain and France were again at war and in 1805 Britain assembled the Third Coalition to resume the war against France. On 20 April 1792, the French Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria, in this War of the First Coalition, France ranged itself against most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her, plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire. In the summer of 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte led an expedition to Egypt, where his army was trapped, meanwhile, during his absence from Europe, the outbreak of violence in Switzerland drew French support against the old Swiss Confederation. When revolutionaries overthrew the government in Bern, the French Army of the Alps invaded. In northern Italy, Russian general Aleksandr Suvorov won a string of victories, driving the French under Moreau out of the Po Valley, forcing them back on the French Alps and the coast around Genoa. However, the Russian armies in the Helvetic Republic were defeated by French commander André Masséna, ultimately the Russians left the Coalition when Great Britain insisted on the right to search all vessels it stopped at sea. In Germany, Archduke Charles of Austria drove the French under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan back across the Rhine, Jourdan was replaced by Massena, who then combined the Armies of the Danube and Helvetia. From October 1797 until March 1799, the signatories of the Treaty of Campo Formio avoided armed conflict, despite their agreement at Campo Formio, two primary combatants, France and Austria, remained suspicious of each other and several diplomatic incidents undermined the agreement. The French demanded additional territory not mentioned in the Treaty, the Habsburgs were reluctant to hand over designated territories, much less additional ones. The Congress at Rastatt proved inept at orchestrating the transfer of territories to compensate the German princes for their losses, Ferdinand of Naples refused to pay tribute to France, followed by the Neapolitan rebellion and the subsequent establishment of the Parthenopaean Republic. Republicans in the Swiss cantons, supported by the French army, overthrew the government in Bern. Other factors contributed to the rising tensions, on his way to Egypt, Napoleon had stopped at the heavily fortified port city of Valletta. Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, who ruled the island, the French Knights of the order deserted, and the remaining Knights failed to mount a successful resistance. Bonaparte forcibly removed the other Knights from their possessions, angering Paul, Tsar of Russia, the French Directory, furthermore, was convinced that the Austrians were conniving to start another war
16.
Battle of Winterthur (1799)
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The small town of Winterthur lies 18 kilometers northeast of Zürich, in Switzerland. Because of its position at the junction of seven cross-roads, the army held the town controlled access to most of Switzerland. By mid-May 1799, the Austrians had wrested control of parts of Switzerland from the French as forces under the command of Hotze, the French Army of Switzerland and the Army of the Danube, now both under the command of André Masséna, sought to prevent this merger. Masséna sent Michel Ney and a mixed cavalry and infantry force from Zürich to stop Hotzes force at Winterthur. Despite a sharp contest, the Austrians succeeded in pushing the French out of the Winterthur highlands, once the union of the Habsburg armies took place in early June, Archduke Charles attacked French positions at Zürich and forced the French to withdraw beyond the Limmat. Initially, the rulers of Europe viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere, the French position became increasingly difficult. Compounding problems in relations, French émigrés continued to agitate for support of a counter-revolution. On 20 April 1792, the French National Convention declared war on Austria, in this War of the First Coalition, France ranged itself against most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her, plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty called for meetings between the parties to work out the exact territorial and remunerative details. Convened at a town in the mid-Rhineland, Rastatt, the Congress quickly derailed in a mire of intrigue. The Austrians were reluctant to cede the designated territories, compounding the Congresss problems, tensions grew between France and most of the First Coalition allies. Ferdinand of Naples refused to pay tribute to France. The French invaded Naples and established the Parthenopaean Republic, encouraged by the French Republic, a republican uprising in the Swiss cantons led to the overthrow of the Swiss Confederation and the establishment of the Helvetic Republic. The French Directory was convinced that the Austrians were planning to start another war, indeed, the weaker France seemed, the more seriously the Austrians, the Neapolitans, the Russians, and the English discussed this possibility. In mid-spring, the Austrians reached an agreement with Tsar Paul of Russia by which the legendary Alexander Suvorov would come out of retirement to assist Austria in Italy with another 60,000 troops. The French Directorys military strategy in 1799 called for offensive campaigns on all fronts, central Italy, northern Italy, the Swiss cantons, the upper Rhineland, and Holland. Theoretically, the French had a force of 250,000 troops. As winter broke in 1799, General Jean Baptiste Jourdan and the Army of the Danube, at a strength of 50,000
17.
Battle of Mannheim (1799)
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The Battle of Mannheim was fought between a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and a Republican French army under Jacques Léonard Muller. Most of the French Army of the Rhine had retreated to the west bank of the Rhine River, despite assistance by Michel Ney, Laroches division was beaten and driven out of the city when attacked by Charles and a much superior force. The War of the Second Coalition action occurred in the city of Mannheim, in the summer of 1799, Mullers 18, 000-man army had the mission of drawing Charles Austrian army away from Switzerland, the central and western portions of which were held by André Massénas army. Moving south from Mannheim, the Army of the Rhine laid siege to Philippsburg, provoked by this threat to his strategic rear, Charles and 30,000 troops moved north against Muller, who quickly withdrew. On 4 June 1799, the First Battle of Zurich was fought between André Massénas 45, 000-strong Army of the Danube and a 53, 000-man Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. Austrian casualties numbered 2,400 and eight guns while the French lost 4,400 men and 28 guns, though the French held their ground, Masséna evacuated Zürich the next day and withdrew to a strong position overlooking the city. The 6th and 7th Divisions were supervised by Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino while Lecourbe controlled the 1st, included in Massénas command were Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand with 6,186 men and Claude-Sylvestre Colaud with 5,106 men watching the Rhine north of Strasbourg. The Army of the Rhine was formed on 5 July 1799 by Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the French reported the strength of the army as 40,000 to 60,000 men, but this was a ruse to trick the Austrians. In fact, much of the strength was tied up in garrisons. The purpose of the Army of the Rhine was to lure the Austrian army away from Masséna and this could be achieved by menacing Archduke Charles supply line, which ran northeast from Switzerland to Ulm on the Danube River. The army was too weak to fight the Austrians in a pitched battle, meanwhile, an Austro-Russian army under Alexander Suvorov had cleared most of Italy of its French occupiers. In the Battle of Novi on 15 August 1799, the Allies suffered 8,200 casualties, mostly Austrian, during this time, the Austrians were very successful in reducing the French-held fortresses in Italy. By 11 September, the only Piedmont fortress that remained in French hands was Cuneo, at this time there was a major change in Allied strategy which apparently originated with William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, the British foreign minister. According to the plan, Suvorov was to march north into Switzerland with 20,000 Russians to join 45,000 newly arrived Russians under Alexander Korsakov near Zürich and these soldiers would be assisted by 18,000 Austrians led by Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze. Meanwhile, the British agent William Wickham would raise an army of 20,000 Swiss, the mostly-Russian force was supposed to invade France across the Jura Mountains. As soon as Korsakovs army was situated, Charles was to move north into southern Germany with 60,000 Austrians, tsar Paul I of Russia and Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor approved this plan and issued the necessary orders which arrived at Charles headquarters on 7 August. In fact, the archduke was reluctant to carry out the plan, in the end, bad timing ruined the new scheme, Charles would leave Switzerland too early and Suvorov would arrive in Switzerland too late. However, Archduke Charles was not quite finished with Switzerland, the Austrian general tried to gain a bridgehead across the Aare River at Döttingen
18.
Battle of Hohenlinden
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The Battle of Hohenlinden was fought on 3 December 1800, during the French Revolutionary Wars. A French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau won a victory over the Austrians and Bavarians led by Archduke John of Austria. After being forced into a retreat, the allies were compelled to request an armistice that effectively ended the War of the Second Coalition. Hohenlinden is 33 km east of Munich in modern Germany, General of Division Moreaus 56,000 strong army engaged some 64,000 Austrians and Bavarians. The Austrians, believing they were pursuing a beaten enemy, moved through heavily wooded terrain in four disconnected columns, instead, Moreau ambushed the Austrians as they emerged from the Ebersberg forest while launching MG Antoine Richepanses division in a surprise envelopment of the Austrian left flank. Displaying superb individual initiative, Moreaus generals managed to encircle and smash the largest Austrian column and this crushing victory, coupled with First Consul Napoleon Bonapartes victory at the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800, ended the War of the Second Coalition. In February 1801, the Austrians signed the Treaty of Lunéville, accepting French control up to the Rhine and the French puppet republics in Italy, the subsequent Treaty of Amiens between France and Britain began the longest break in the wars of the Napoleonic period. From April to July 1800, Moreaus army drove the Austrian army of Feldzeugmeister Pál Kray from the Rhine River to the Inn River with victories at Stockach, Messkirch, on 15 July, the combatants agreed to an armistice. Realizing that Kray was no longer up to the task, Emperor Francis II removed him from command, because his brother, the capable Feldmarschall Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, also refused the command, the emperor appointed another brother, the 18-year-old Archduke John. Clearly, the youth could not cope with this enormous responsibility, so the emperor nominated Franz von Lauer as Johns second-in-command. John was directed to follow Lauers instructions, to further complicate the clumsy command structure, the aggressive Oberst Franz von Weyrother was named Johns chief of staff. The armistice was renewed in September but lapsed on 12 November, by this time, Weyrother had convinced John and Lauer to adopt an offensive posture. Weyrothers plan called for crushing the French left wing near Landshut, after a few days of marching, it became obvious that the Austrian army was too slow to execute such an ambitious plan. So Lauer convinced the archduke to convert the enterprise into an attack on Munich. Even so, the advance caught Moreaus somewhat scattered French forces by surprise. In the Battle of Ampfing on 1 December, the Austrians drove back part of General of Division Paul Greniers Left Wing, the defeated French managed to inflict 3,000 casualties on the Austrians while only suffering 1,700 losses. Yet, when the Austrian leaders found that Grenier evacuated Haag in Oberbayern the next day, Archduke John and Weyrother overrode Lauers cautious counsel and launched an all-out pursuit of an enemy they believed to be fleeing. However, Moreau decided to stand and fight, deploying his army in open ground near Hohenlinden, to approach his position, the Austro-Bavarians had to advance directly west through heavily wooded terrain
19.
War of the Third Coalition
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The War of the Third Coalition was a European conflict spanning the years 1803 to 1806. During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I, defeated an alliance, from 1803–05, Britain stood under constant threat of a French invasion. The Royal Navy, however, secured mastery of the seas, the Third Coalition itself came to full fruition in 1804–05 as Napoleons actions in Italy and Germany spurred Austria and Russia into joining Britain against France. Victory at Austerlitz also permitted the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German states intended as a buffer zone between France and central Europe. As a direct consequence of events, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when, in 1806, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated the Imperial throne, emerging as Francis I. These achievements, however, did not establish a peace on the continent. Austerlitz had driven neither Russia nor Britain, whose armies protected Sicily from a French invasion, meanwhile, Prussian worries about growing French influence in Central Europe sparked the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. Europe had been embroiled in the French Revolutionary Wars since 1792, after five years of war, the French Republic subdued the armies of the First Coalition in 1797. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798, but this too was defeated by 1801, in March 1802, France and Britain agreed to end hostilities under the Treaty of Amiens. For the first time in ten years all of Europe was at peace, however, many problems persisted between the two sides making implementation of the treaty increasingly difficult. Bonaparte was angry that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta, the tension only worsened when Bonaparte sent an expeditionary force to re-establish control over Haiti. Prolonged intransigence on these issues led Britain to declare war on France on 18 May 1803, Bonaparte had already revived plans for an invasion of England in March 1803. Bonapartes expeditionary army was destroyed by disease in Haiti, and subsequently swayed the First Consul to abandon his plans to rebuild Frances New World empire, without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, the vast territory of Louisiana in North America had little value to him. Though Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France per the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on 30 April 1803. Despite issuing orders that the over 60 million francs were to be spent on the construction of five new canals in France, Bonaparte spent the whole amount on his planned invasion of England. The execution of Enghien shocked the aristocrats of Europe, who remembered the bloodletting of the Revolution. The statement is sometimes attributed to French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. Sometimes the quote is given as, It was worse than a crime, pitt scored a significant coup by securing a burgeoning rival as an ally
20.
War of the Fourth Coalition
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The Fourth Coalition against Napoleons French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, several members of the coalition had previously been fighting France as part of the Third Coalition, and there was no intervening period of general peace. On 9 October 1806, Prussia joined a coalition, fearing the rise in French power after the defeat of Austria. Prussia and Russia mobilized for a campaign, and Prussian troops massed in Saxony. Napoleon decisively defeated the Prussians in a campaign that culminated at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt on 14 October 1806. French forces under Napoleon occupied Prussia, pursued the remnants of the shattered Prussian Army and they then advanced all the way to East Prussia, Poland and the Russian frontier, where they fought an inconclusive battle against the Russians at the Battle of Eylau on 7–8 February 1807. Napoleons advance on the Russian frontier was briefly checked during the spring as he revitalized his army, Russian forces were finally crushed by the French at the Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807, and three days later Russia asked for a truce. By the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, France made peace with Russia, respectively, these acquisitions were incorporated into his brother Jérôme Bonapartes new Kingdom of Westphalia, and established the Duchy of Warsaw. The end of the war saw Napoleon master of almost all of western and central continental Europe, except for Spain, Portugal, Austria, despite the end of the Fourth Coalition, Britain remained at war with France. Hostilities on land resumed later in 1807 when a Franco-Spanish force invaded Britains ally Portugal, a further Fifth Coalition would be assembled when Austria re-joined the conflict in 1809. The Fourth Coalition of Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, despite the death of William Pitt in January 1806, Britain and the new Whig administration remained committed to checking the growing power of France. Peace overtures between the two early in the new year proved ineffectual due to the still unresolved issues that had led to the breakdown of the Peace of Amiens. One point of contention was the fate of Hanover, a German electorate in personal union with the British monarchy that had been occupied by France since 1803, dispute over this state would eventually become a casus belli for both Britain and Prussia against France. This issue also dragged Sweden into the war, whose forces had deployed there as part of the effort to liberate Hanover during the war of the previous coalition. The path to war seemed inevitable after French forces ejected the Swedish troops in April 1806, rather, there was an escalation in the ongoing economic warfare between the two powers. With Britain still retaining its dominance of the seas, Napoleon looked to break this dominance with his issuance of the Berlin Decree, Britain retaliated with its Orders in Council several months later. In the meantime, Russia spent most of 1806 still licking its wounds from the years campaign. Napoleon had hoped to establish peace with Russia and a peace treaty was signed in July 1806, but this was vetoed by Tsar Alexander I
21.
Battle of Eylau
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Late in the battle, the Russians received a timely reinforcement from a Prussian division of von LEstocq. The town is now called Bagrationovsk and is a part of Kaliningrad Oblast, the engagement was fought during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Of all Napoleonic battles, this is considered to be the most uncertain, Napoleons armies previously smashed the army of the Austrian Empire in the Ulm Campaign and the combined Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Austerlitz forced the Austrians to sue for peace and their Russian allies to withdraw from the conflict, on 14 October 1806, Napoleon crushed the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Eylau was the first serious check to the Grande Armée and the myth of Napoleons invincibility was badly shaken, however, the French would end up defeating the Russians later in the year at the Battle of Friedland. In late January, Bennigsens Russian army went on the offensive in East Prussia, Napoleon reacted by mounting a counteroffensive to the north, hoping to prevent their retreat to the east. After his cossacks captured a copy of Napoleons orders, Bennigsen rapidly withdrew to the northeast to avoid being cut off, the French pursued for several days and found the Russians drawn up for battle at Eylau. In a vicious evening clash, the French captured the village with heavy losses on both sides, the following day brought even more serious fighting. Early in the battle, an attack by Napoleon failed with catastrophic losses. To retrieve the situation, the emperor launched a cavalry charge against the Russians. This bought enough time for the French right wing to throw its weight into the contest, soon, the Russian left wing was bent back at an acute angle and Bennigsens army was in danger of collapse. A Prussian corps belatedly arrived and saved the day by pushing back the French right wing, as darkness fell, a French corps tardily appeared on the French left flank. That night Bennigsen decided to retreat, leaving Napoleon in possession of a snowy battlefield covered with thousands of corpses, with the Prussian army routed at Jena-Auerstedt, Napoléon occupied the major cities of Germany and marched on east in pursuit of the remaining forces opposed to him. These were largely Russians under the command of the frail 68-year-old Field Marshal Count Mikhail Kamensky, the old marshal was unwilling to risk battle, and continued to retreat, leaving the Grande Armée free to enter Poland almost unopposed. Nevertheless, as the French pressed aggressively eastward across the Vistula, the French seized a crossing over the Wkra on 23 December at the Battle of Czarnowo. Russian resistance soon stiffened and on 26 December the two clashed at the Battles of Pułtusk and Gołymin. After these fierce engagements Napoléons troops took up quarters in Poland to recuperate after a victorious. In January 1807, the new Russian army commander Levin August, having cleared Neys troops out of the way, the Russians rolled down on the isolated French I Corps under Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
22.
Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen
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In the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen on 5 and 6 June 1807, troops of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August, Count von Bennigsen attacked the First French Empire corps of Marshal Michel Ney. The Russians pressed back their opponents in an action that saw Ney fight a brilliant rear guard action with his heavily outnumbered forces, during the 6th, Ney successfully disengaged his troops and pulled back to the west side of the Pasłęka River. The action occurred during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, dobre Miasto is on Route 51 about 20 kilometers southwest of Lidzbark Warmiński and 24 kilometers north of Olsztyn. The fighting occurred along Route 580 which runs southwest from Guttstadt to Kalisty on the Pasłęka, at the beginning of June, Bennigsen launched an offensive against the forces of Emperor Napoleon I in East Prussia. The Russian commander planned to trap Neys corps between several converging columns, although all three French marshals saw sharp fighting, the Russian plan failed to put significant numbers of French troops out of action. Afraid of being cut off in his turn, Bennigsen ordered a retreat on the night of the 7th as Napoleon instructed his forces to counterattack the Russians, the decisive Battle of Friedland was fought a week later on 14 June. After the bloody Battle of Eylau on 7 and 8 February 1807, however, his soldiers clamored for an end to the fighting. Instead of the shouts of Vive lEmpereur, cries of Vive la paix were heard in the bivouacs when the emperor passed by. On 17 February the French began their withdrawal westward into winter quarters, by the 23rd the French reached their cantonments, with Bernadottes I Corps on the left, Soults IV Corps in the center, and Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davouts III Corps on the right. Neys VI Corps occupied a position at Guttstadt, while the Imperial Guard. Napoleon stationed the V Corps in a position to cover Warsaw, Marshal Pierre Augereaus decimated VII Corps was broken up and its survivors were allotted to the other corps. LEstocqs attempt to pursue the French came to grief at Braniewo on 26 February, in this action, the Russian-Prussian force lost 100 killed and wounded, with 700 soldiers and six guns captured. French losses were not reported but were probably light, meanwhile, to the northeast of Warsaw, General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savarys V Corps defeated Lieutenant General Ivan Essen at the Battle of Ostroleka on 16 February. The French lost 1,171 casualties including one general killed, Russian losses were 2,500 soldiers, seven guns, and two colors. At the end of March 1807, Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier withdrew many of his troops from the Siege of Stralsund with the intention of using them for the Siege of Kolberg and his Swedish opponent, General-Leutnant Hans Henric von Essen immediately pushed back the outnumbered besiegers. Quickly returning with the bulk of his soldiers, Mortier drove the Swedes north of the Peene River and this freed many of Mortiers troops for other duties and allowed Napoleon to concentrate on reducing Gdańsk. Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre invested the fortress of Danzig on 10 March 1807, after a prolonged defense in the Siege of Danzig, General of Infantry Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth surrendered on 24 May. Of the 370 officers and 15,287 men of the garrison,3,000 were killed, wounded, French losses numbered about 6,000 killed, wounded, or died of sickness
23.
Battle of Friedland
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Napoleon and the French obtained a decisive victory that routed much of the Russian army, which retreated chaotically over the Alle River by the end of the fighting. The battlefield is located in modern-day Kaliningrad Oblast, near the town of Pravdinsk, the engagement at Friedland was a strategic necessity after the Battle of Eylau earlier in 1807 had failed to yield a decisive verdict for either side. The battle began when Bennigsen noticed the seemingly isolated corps of Marshal Lannes at the town of Friedland, Lannes held his ground against determined Russian attacks until Napoleon could bring additional forces onto the field. By late afternoon, the French had amassed a force of 80,000 troops on the battlefield, relying on superior numbers, Napoleon concluded that the moment had come and ordered a massive assault against the Russian left flank. The sustained French attack pushed back the Russian army and pressed them against the river behind, unable to withstand the pressure, the Russians broke and started escaping across the Alle, where an unknown number of them died from drowning. The Russian army suffered casualties at Friedland–losing over 40% of its soldiers on the battlefield. Napoleons overwhelming victory was enough to convince the Russian political establishment that peace was necessary, Friedland effectively ended the War of the Fourth Coalition, as Emperor Alexander I reluctantly entered peace negotiations with Napoleon. The lands lost by Prussia were converted into the new Kingdom of Westphalia, Tilsit also gave France control of the Ionian Islands, a vital and strategic entry point into the Mediterranean Sea. Some historians regard the political settlements at Tilsit as the height of Napoleons empire because there was no longer any continental power challenging the French domination of Europe, prior to Friedland, Europe had become embroiled in the War of the Third Coalition in 1805. Following the French victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in December 1805, franco-Prussian tensions gradually increased after Austerlitz. Napoleon insisted that Prussia should join his economic blockade of Great Britain and this adversely affected the German merchant class. Napoleon aimed to win the war by destroying the Prussian armies before the Russians could arrive,180,000 French troops began to cross the Franconian forest on October 2,1806, deployed in a bataillon-carré system designed to meet threats from any possible direction. On October 14 the French won decisively at the large double-battle of Jena-Auerstedt, a famous pursuit followed, and by the end of the campaign the Prussians had lost 25,000 killed and wounded,140,000 prisoners, and more than 2,000 cannon. A few Prussian units managed to cross the Oder River into Poland, Russia now had to face France alone. By November 18 French forces under Louis Nicolas Davout had covered half the distance to Warsaw, Augereaus men had neared Bromberg, when the French arrived in Poland, the local people hailed them as liberators. The Russian general Bennigsen worried that French forces might cut him off from Buxhoevdens army, so he abandoned Warsaw, on November 28,1806, French troops under Murat entered Warsaw. The French pursued the fleeing Russians and a significant battle developed around Pułtusk on December 26. The result remained in doubt, but Bennigsen wrote to the Tsar that he had defeated 60,000 French troops, at this point, Marshal Ney began to extend his forces to procure food supplies
24.
Peninsular War
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The Peninsular War was a military conflict between Napoleons empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, the Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española, which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas, the British Army, under the then Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralised Portuguese army was reorganised and refitted under the command of Gen, in the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Josephs army at Vitoria. The years of fighting in Spain were a burden on Frances Grande Armée. The Spanish armies were beaten and driven to the peripheries. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had provoked a total war. War and revolution against Napoleons occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, political instability and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spains American colonies, the Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and Russia allied with France, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with the United Kingdom, furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperors Continental System against British trade. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne, meanwhile the Portuguese governments resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junots corps to cross the frontier into Spain, while all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleons marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, the treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy, the rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junots invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 men in three Spanish columns, Gen. Taranco and 6,500 troops were ordered to march from Vigo to seize Porto in the north. Capt. Gen. Solano would advance from Badajoz with 9,500 soldiers to capture Elvas, Gen. Caraffa and 9,500 men were instructed to assemble at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and cooperate with Junots main force
25.
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)
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In the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal Michel Ney took the fortified city from Field Marshal Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti on 10 July 1810 after a siege that began on 26 April. Neys VI Corps made up part of a 65, 000-strong army commanded by André Masséna, Herrasti commanded 3 regular battalions from the Avila, Segovia and 1st Majorca Infantry Regiments,375 artillerymen and 60 sappers. These troops were supplemented by 3 battalions of the Volunteers of Ciudad Rodrigo and 1 battalion of the Urban Guard. Viscount Wellington was not however prepared to meet the French in open battle, as he was greatly outnumbered, Herrasti met Ney at the foot of the breach and having been offered the chance of an honourable capitulation, accepted. Ney promised that the people and property of the inhabitants of the city would be respected, however, all the men who had participated in the defence, and the members of the Central Junta who had encouraged it, would be taken as prisoners to France. The Spanish suffered 461 killed and 994 wounded, while 4,000 men and 118 cannon were captured, Neys VI Corps lost 180 killed and over 1,000 wounded during the siege. The French soldiery then pillaged the city, breaking Neys promise, the siege delayed Massénas invasion of Portugal by over a month. French troops advanced, following up the retreating British fought the Battle of the Côa soon after, the Siege of Almeida was started and ended suddenly with a massive explosion of the fortress magazine on 26 August. With all obstacles cleared from their path, the French could march on Lisbon in strength, the lines were designed to enable a successful defence of Lisbon and avoid a British evacuation of the peninsular, as had happened after the Battle of Corunna in January 1809. A second Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo occurred in January 1812, with the French being besieged this time, the French Campaign in Portugal 1810–1811, An Account by Jean Jacques Pelet. History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol I, chatham, The Institution of Royal Engineers
26.
Siege of Almeida (1810)
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In the Siege of Almeida, the French corps of Marshal Michel Ney captured the border fortress from Brigadier General William Coxs Portuguese garrison. This action was fought in the summer of 1810 during the Peninsular War portion of the Napoleonic Wars, Almeida is located in eastern Portugal, near the border with Spain. Lying on an invasion route from Ciudad Rodrigo to Lisbon. The previous day the French forces had pushed back the British Portuguese army at the Battle of the Côa, the 50, 000-man British-Portuguese army of General Lord Wellington now held the far bank of the Coa. However, the banks were steep, with only two bridges, and the French 6th Corps guarded the crossings, so the British were unable to retake the crossings to relieve Almeida. Fresh from the successful Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the French army laid siege to Almeida on July 25,1810, brigadier-General William Cox commanded a 4, 000-man Portuguese garrison of three battalions of militia, from Arganil, Trancoso and Vizeu. Some regular British forces were present, including 1,200 men of the 24th Line Regiment. The defences of Almeida were in repair and stronger than Ciudad Rodrigo which the French had recently taken. In particular, there were over 100 artillery pieces, of which 40 were 18-pounders or heavier, and most were in protected casemates. The siege was conducted by the 14,000 infantry,1,000 cavalry,1,000 artillerists and 100 cannon of the VI Corps under the command of Marshal Michel Ney, in addition, General Jean-Andoche Junot lay in reserve nearby with his VIII Corps. The French received siege supplies from Ciudad Rodrigo on August 15, the siege train was well supplied with guns, as well as the existing French ones, it also included captured Spanish guns from Ciudad Rodrigo. By August 24, the French lines had eleven batteries in place, throughout, the Portuguese defenders had fired upon the French, with little effect. When the French bombardment opened on August 26 at 6 AM, several quarters of the town were set on fire. The governor was confident in withstanding the assault, until a shell made a freak hit. The great magazine in the castle had been used through the day to supply the defenders, at around 7 PM, one French shell landed in the courtyard, igniting a gunpowder trail that led through the still open door, and set off a chain reaction into the magazine. The ensuing explosion killed 600 defenders and wounded 300 more, the castle that housed the gunpowder was razed and sections of the defenses were damaged, leaving a crater still visible today. Unable to reply to the French cannonade without gunpowder, Cox was forced to capitulate the following day with the survivors of the blast and 100 cannon, the French lost 58 killed and 320 wounded during the operation. The next action was the Battle of Bussaco, list of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions Glover, Michael, The Peninsular War 1807-1814
27.
Battle of Bussaco
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Having occupied the heights of Bussaco with 25,000 British and the same number of Portuguese, Wellington was attacked five times successively by 65,000 French under Marshal André Masséna. In 1810, Emperor Napoleon I ordered Masséna to drive the British from Portugal, accordingly, the French marshal began the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in April. The Spanish garrison held out until 9 July when the fortress fell, the Battle of the Côa was fought soon after. The Siege of Almeida ended suddenly with an explosion of the fortress magazine on 26 August. With all obstacles cleared from their path, the French could march on Lisbon in strength and it was important to delay the French until the defences being built around Lisbon, the Lines of Torres Vedras could be completed. Using selective demolition of bridges and roads, Viscount Wellington restricted the choice of routes the French could use, at the end of September, they met Wellingtons army drawn up on the ridge of Bussaco. BG George DeGrey, BG John Slade, BG George Anson and BG Henry Fane led four British cavalry brigades, in batteries of six guns apiece, there were six British, two Kings German Legion and five Portuguese batteries under BG Edward Howorth. The Anglo Portuguese army numbered 50,000, with 50% Portuguese troops. Massénas army of 60,000 included the II Corps under Reynier, the VI Corps led by Ney, the VIII Corps under MG Jean Andoche Junot, the divisions of MG Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle and MG Étienne Heudelet de Bierre made up Reyniers corps. Neys corps had three divisions under MGs Jean Marchand, Julien Mermet and Louis Loison, Junot had the divisions of MG Bertrand Clausel and MG Jean-Baptiste Solignac. Each French corps contained the standard brigade of light cavalry, General of Brigade Jean Baptiste Eblé, Massénas artillery chief, commanded 112 guns. Wellington posted his army along the crest of Bussaco Ridge, facing east, to improve his lateral communications, he had previously ordered his four officers from the Royal Corps of Engineers to cut a road that ran the length of the ridge on the reverse slope. Next came Craufurd, Spencer, Picton and Leith, hill held the right flank with Hamiltons men attached. Masséna, believing he outnumbered the British and goaded by Ney and other officers to attack the British position rather than go around it. Very few of Wellingtons troops were visible, as they remained on the slope and were ordered not to light cooking fires. The French General planned to send Reynier at the centre of the ridge, once the II Corps attack showed some signs of success, Masséna would launch Neys corps at the British along the main road. The VIII Corps stood behind the VI Corps in reserve, while Ney announced that he was ready to attack and conquer, Reynier suddenly had second thoughts, predicting his attack would be beaten. Reyniers troops struck in the morning mist
28.
Battle of Pombal
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The Battle of Pombal was a sharp skirmish during Marshal Massénas retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, the first in a series of lauded rearguard actions fought by Michel Ney. At the Battle of Pombal, Ney turned to face the larger Anglo-Portuguese forces, unable to break the Lines of Torres Vedras, Ney was given charge of the rear-guard while the main body of the French army withdrew from Portugal. The rear-guard consisted of Mermets and Marchands divisions, when it became clear to Wellington that he had been deceived, the British-Portuguese left Torres Vedras and began a pursuit. The British caught up with Ney at the town of Pombal, a British advanced-guard much larger than that of the French, the latter consisting of only two battalions of the 6th Light Infantry, attacked the town of Pombal. The two French battalions were overwhelmed by numbers and, after a struggle, the French were forced out of Pombal. It was then that Ney rushed in and spoke to the six th Light Infantry, “Chasseurs, ” he said, “you are losing your beautiful reputation, and you will dishonour yourselves forever if you do not drive the enemy out of Pombal. Those who are brave, with me. ”With these words he galloped towards Pombal, the Anglo-Portuguese driven out, all the way to the river Arunca. Despite success, Ney promptly set fire to the town of Pombal, the next action would be the Battle of Redinha. General Picton was very impressed by Ney’s actions, as the former was able to observe the latter’s deceiving movements, historic Doubts as to the Execution of Marshal Ney 1895. Victoires, conquêtes, désastres, revers et guerres civiles des francais, volume 20
29.
Battle of Redinha
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Challenging the Allies with only one or two divisions, Neys 7,000 troops were pitched against 25,000 men. The success of Neys action delayed the Allied advance and bought time for the withdrawal of the main body of the French army. Redinha was the second and most successful action fought during Massénas retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras in the spring of 1811. Having held off the British at Pombal on 11 March, Marshal Ney, by March 5, every corps in the French army was in motion, a concentration at Punhete under Loison masked the broader movements, Loison feinting an attempt to force the Tagus. Marshal Ney raced from Tomar towards the heights of Leiria with two divisions and a brigade, adding Conrouxs division on the march and putting some 22,000 men on the approach to the sea. Meanwhile, Reynier moved from Santarém to Tomar, descending the heights at Miranda do Corvo, junot would march to Torres Novas, passing Ney, crossing Pombal, and racing on to Coimbra. Loison, after destroying the bridges at Punhete March 7, joined Ney at Leiria. The Allies stood still between March 4 and 6, tracking the French manoeuvres and trying to discern Massénas intentions with certainty. To Wellington the apparent French retreat was itself a welcome relief, unbeknownst to the French, however, several Allied detachments had already seized many positions along the Mondego. Consequently, the Allies did not march until the morning of the 6th, with Wellington directing a circumspect, Wellingtons first check came at the village of Pombal, which Ney initially yielded to the approaching Allied columns without a fight the morning of March 11. The French battalions then put Pombal to the torch, stalling the Allied pursuit and buying Masséna the crucial hours needed to occupy Coimbra—though, as it turned out, when one column closed in, the French attacked with musket fire, bayonet or cavalry. Each time the allied columns pressed the French too hard, his troops took the column in the flank and his troops formed two rank lines, supported by artillery, skirmishers placed in strategic locations to the front and cavalry positioned further back. When the Light Division, Pack’s Portuguese Division and Picton’s 3rd Division had been joined by the 4th Division, with the 1st and 6th Divisions close behind, did Wellington begin his attack. The 3rd Division attacked the skirmishers on the heights of the French left, pictons division succeeded in mastering the heights and the French fell back. The allies followed but were brought in range of all six of Neys guns, a bayonet charge from three small battalions of the 27th, the 59th and all Neys tirailleurs drove the British-Portuguese all the way back to the foot of the heights. On Neys right, the Light Division suffered a similar fate and they managed to eject the French skirmishers posted in the wood but were met and driven back by infantry and cavalry hidden from view. Coles men were unable to make any progress, with both of his flanks driven back, Wellington advanced his centre to attack the position of the French in front. Ney responded with the 25th Light and the 50th of the line, supported by artillery and the 3rd Hussars, there was a discharge of musketry and artillery, followed by another bayonet and cavalry charge, and the Anglo-Portuguese centre was thrown into confusion
30.
Napoleon's invasion of Russia
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Napoleon hoped to compel Tsar Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace. The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia, Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish War to gain favor with the Poles and provide a political pretext for his actions. The Grande Armée was a large force, numbering 680,000 soldiers. Napoleon hoped the battle would mean an end of the march into Russia, plans Napoleon had made to quarter at Smolensk were abandoned, and he pressed his army on after the Russians. As the Russian army fell back, Cossacks were given the task of burning villages, towns and this was intended to deny the invaders the option of living off the land. The actions forced the French to rely on a system that was incapable of feeding the large army in the field. Starvation and privation compelled French soldiers to leave their camps at night in search of food and these men were frequently confronted by parties of Cossacks, who captured or killed them. The Russian army retreated into Russia for almost three months, the continual retreat and the loss of lands to the French upset the Russian nobility. They pressured Alexander I to relieve the commander of the Russian army, Alexander I complied, appointing an old veteran, Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, to take over command of the army. However, for two more weeks Kutuzov continued to retreat as his predecessor had done, on 7 September, the French caught up with the Russian army which had dug itself in on hillsides before a small town called Borodino, seventy miles west of Moscow. The battle that followed was the bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars until that point, involving more than 250,000 soldiers, the French gained a tactical victory, but at the cost of 49 general officers and thousands of men. The Russian army was able to extricate itself and withdrew the following day, Napoleon entered Moscow a week later. In another turn of events the French found puzzling, there was no delegation to meet the Emperor, the Russians had evacuated the city, and the citys governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered several strategic points in Moscow set ablaze. Napoleons hopes had been set upon an end to his campaign. The loss of Moscow did not compel Alexander I to sue for peace, Napoleon stayed on in Moscow looking to negotiate a peace, his hopes fed in part by a disinformation campaign informing the Emperor of supposed discontent and fading morale in the Russian camp. After staying a month Napoleon moved his army out southwest toward Kaluga, the French advance toward Kaluga was checked by a Russian corps. Napoleon tried once more to engage the Russian army for an action at the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. Despite holding a position, the Russians retreated following a sharp engagement
31.
Battle of Smolensk (1812)
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Napoleon attacked Smolensk occupied by Russian General Bagrations corps and captured two of the suburbs. During the night the Russians evacuated the burning city, the Battle of Smolensk is commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription SMOLENSK17 VIII1812. Initially the Russians employed hit and run tactics against the Grande Armée, Napoleon therefore devised the Smolensk Manoeuvre in an attempt to sweep behind the enemy and inflict a decisive defeat. On August 14,1812 forces under the command of Joachim Murat, Marshal Davout, and Michel Ney crossed the Dnieper River at Rassna using bridges constructed overnight. The plan was to race toward the city, taking it without a fight, unfortunately for the French, conflicting orders and a breakdown in communication had already led Bagration to disobey orders and instead of marching west, he occupied Smolensk to the south. By August 16, French forces found the city heavily garrisoned by Bagrations troops, further reinforced with the subsequent arrival of Barclay and the main Russian army. Smolensk, a fortress city of 12,600 inhabitants on the main Western invasion route to Moscow was defended by bastion towers. The River Dnieper ran through the middle, the main battle was fought on August 16. An initial probing force captured two suburbs but failed to bring the Russians out to battle, Napoleon ordered a general assault with three corps of the Grande Armée, supported by two hundred artillery pieces. By nightfall, most of the city was burning, estimates of casualties vary, Alain Pigeard quotes French losses at 4,200 and Russian at 4, 000–6,000. Around dawn on August 17, Grande Armée Polish forces successfully breached the walls, Barclay retained forces on the other side of the river preventing a crossing until the night of August the 18th. The city was almost completely destroyed, technically the battle of Smolensk was a victory for Napoleon as he captured the city. However his soldiers were running short of food and its destruction denied him a useful supply base. Napoleons invasion of Russia Battle of Smolensk Jean-Victor Poncelet Color Map of the Battle of Smolensk in 1812
32.
Battle of Borodino
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The Battle of Borodino was a battle fought on 7 September 1812 in the Napoleonic Wars during the French invasion of Russia. The fighting involved around 250,000 troops and left at least 70,000 casualties, Napoleons Grande Armée launched an attack against the Russian army, driving it back from its initial positions but failing to gain a decisive victory. Both armies were exhausted after the battle and the Russians withdrew from the field the following day, Borodino represented the last Russian effort at stopping the French advance on Moscow, which fell a week later. After a series of Russian retreats at the beginning of the campaign, Mikhail Kutuzov was appointed as his replacement. In a final attempt to save Moscow, the Russians made a stand near the village of Borodino and they fortified their positions and waited for the French to attack. The Russian right wing occupied ideal defensive terrain, so the French tried to press the Russian left for much of the battle, the highlight of the fighting became the bloody struggle for the large Raevsky redoubt near the village of Borodino. The French managed to capture this redoubt late into the day, the Russians suffered terrible casualties during the fighting, losing over a third of their army. French losses were heavy, exacerbating the logistical difficulties that Napoleon encountered in the campaign. Napoleons Imperial Guard, the unit on the battlefield that saw no fighting, was available to swing into action at a moments notice. In refusing to commit the Guard, some believe, he lost his one chance to destroy the Russian army. The capture of Moscow proved a pyrrhic victory since the Russians had no intention of negotiating with Napoleon for peace. The French evacuated Russias spiritual capital in October and conducted a retreat that only ended in December. Historical reports of the battle differed significantly depending on whether they originated from supporters of the French or Russian side, factional fighting among senior officers within each army also led to conflicting accounts and disagreements over the roles of particular officers. The French Grande Armée began its invasion of Russia on 16 June 1812, in response, Emperor Alexander I proclaimed a Patriotic War and prepared to face the French. However, Phulls plan soon proved to be a mistake, as the enormous Grande Armée was more than enough to separate. Furthermore, the participation of Tsar Alexander I as commander caused more chaos in the Russian army, the Russian forces which were massed along the Polish frontier were obliged to fall back in the face of the swift French advance. Napoleon advanced from Vitebsk, hoping to catch the Russian Army in the open where he could annihilate it, the French army was not positioned well for an extended overland campaign, it was 925 km from its nearest supply base at Kovno. French supply lines were vulnerable and Cossacks, light cavalry, guerrilla forces and even French deserters attacked and seriously depleted French supply columns
33.
Battle of Krasnoi
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The Battle of Krasnoi was a series of skirmishes fought in the final stage of Napoleons retreat from Moscow. The Russians under General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov inflicted heavy losses on the remnants of the Grande Armée, lacking sufficient artillery, cavalry and supplies to wage battle, Napoleons object at Krasnoi was to collect his scattered troops and to resume his retreat. Despite the vast superiority of his forces, Kutuzov refrained from launching an offensive during the four days of fighting. The climax of the engagement occurred on November 17, when an aggressive feint by the French Imperial Guard induced Kutuzov to delay a potentially decisive final Russian attack, Napoleon was thus able to withdraw part of his army before the Russians seized Krasnoi. Despite Napoleons success in saving part of his army from destruction at Krasnoi, during the four days of combat Napoleons subordinate commanders suffered heavy defeats in individual actions, and large numbers of French stragglers were captured by the Russians. The Grande Armée was also compelled to abandon much of its remaining artillery, the condition of the Grande Armée was further degraded by sub-zero temperatures in the first two weeks of November. By the time the French arrived at Smolensk on November 9, only 40% men of what was left of the Grande Armée was still under arms at this point. Due to the condition of his forces and French defeats on other fronts, Napoleon realized his position at Smolensk was untenable surrounded by Russian armies. The new strategic goal was to put the Grande Armée into winter quarters further west, having lost contact with Kutuzov during the previous two weeks, Napoleon incorrectly believed that the Russian army must have been as devastated by the elements as his own. Napoleon left on 14th, Davout on 15th, Beauharnais on 16th, Ney on 17th, together with Joseph Barbanègre, thus the French approached Krasny in a piecemeal 53 kilometres long column of disconnected corps, not massed together in preparation for battle. On November 14, the corps of Józef Zajączek and Junot, as the vanguard of the retreating French army, passed through Krasny, the next day, November 15, Napoleon himself arrived at Krasny with his 16, 000-strong Imperial Guard. Neys corps formed the rearguard and was not to leave Smolensk until November 17, marching between and around these French corps were nearly 40,000 troops who had disintegrated into mobs of unarmed, disorganized stragglers, looking for something else to eat than horsemeat. This made Napoleon stop further advance in order to bring up other echelons, however when on November 4 the Corps of Yevgeny Bogarne was approaching Krasnoye village, it suffered a strong attack inflicted by Miloradovich and was defeated. The same fate awaited Corps under Davout and Ney, without waiting for Ney’s rearguard, the French Emperor jointly with the Old Guard with the rest of the Davout’s Corps broke through the cover of Tormasov’s troops and moved to Orsha. During the same period, the main Russian army under Kutuzov followed the French on a parallel southern road, because this route passed through countryside unaffected by previous campaigning, the Russian army approached Krasny much less weakened by attrition than the Grande Armée. Kutuzov therefore accepted a plan proposed by his officer, Colonel Toll. The Russian position at Krasny began forming on November 15, when the 3, the same day, the 17,000 troops of Miloradovich took position on a hill alongside the eastern road leading into Krasny. Kutuzov himself reached Krasny with the 35, 000-strong main army on November 16, in all, Kutuzov had 52,000 to 60,000 regular troops at his disposal at Krasny, including a large cavalry force and approximately 500 cannon
34.
War of the Sixth Coalition
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After the disastrous French invasion of Russia of 1812, the continental powers joined Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal and the rebels in Spain who were already at war with France. The War of the Sixth Coalition saw major battles at Lützen, Bautzen, the even larger Battle of Leipzig was the largest battle in European history before World War I. Ultimately, Napoleons earlier setbacks in Russia and Germany proved to be the seeds of his undoing, with their armies reorganized, the allies drove Napoleon out of Germany in 1813 and invaded France in 1814. The Allies defeated the remaining French armies, occupied Paris, and forced Napoleon to abdicate, the French monarchy was revived by the allies, who handed rule to the heir of the House of Bourbon in the Bourbon Restoration. This was not however the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon subsequently escaped from his captivity and returned to power in France, sparking the War of the Seventh Coalition in 1815. In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia to compel Emperor Alexander I to remain in the Continental System, the Grande Armée, consisting of as many as 650,000 men, crossed the Neman River on 23 June 1812. Russia proclaimed a Patriotic War, while Napoleon proclaimed a Second Polish War, but against the expectations of the Poles, who supplied almost 100,000 troops for the invasion force, and having in mind further negotiations with Russia, he avoided any concessions toward Poland. Russian forces fell back, destroying everything potentially of use to the invaders until giving battle at Borodino where the two armies fought a devastating but inconclusive battle. Following the battle the Russians withdrew, thus opening the road to Moscow, by 14 September the French had occupied Moscow but found the city practically empty. Alexander I refused to capitulate, leaving the French in the city of Moscow with little food or shelter and winter approaching. In these circumstances, and with no path to victory. Total losses of the Grand Army were at least 370,000 casualties as a result of fighting, starvation and the weather conditions. By November, only 27,000 fit soldiers re-crossed the Berezina River, Napoleon now left his army to return to Paris and prepare a defence of Poland against the advancing Russians. The situation was not as dire as it might at first have seemed, on 9 January 1812, French troops occupied Swedish Pomerania to end the illegal trade with the United Kingdom from Sweden, which was in violation of the Continental System. Swedish estates were confiscated and Swedish officers and soldiers were taken as prisoners, in response, Sweden declared neutrality and signed the secret Treaty of Saint Petersburg with Russia against France and Denmark–Norway on 5 April. On 18 July, the Treaty of Örebro formally ended the wars between Britain and Sweden and Britain and Russia, forming an alliance between Russia, Britain, and Sweden. However, when Napoleon marched on Moscow, neither Britain nor Sweden would give any support to Russia. The alliance existed only on paper, according to the Treaty of Tilsit, Prussia had to support Napoleons invasion of Russia
35.
Battle of Bautzen
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In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon I of France, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat. The Prussians under Count Gebhard von Blücher and Russians under Prince Peter Wittgenstein, the Prusso-Russian army was in a full retreat following their defeat at the Battle of Lützen. Finally, generals Wittgenstein and Blücher were ordered to stop at Bautzen by Tsar Alexander I, the Prusso-Russian army was nearly 100,000 men strong, but Napoleon had 115,000 troops. Additionally, Marshal Ney had 85,000 more men within easy marching distance, Wittgenstein formed two defensive lines, with the first holding strongpoints in villages and along ridges and the second holding the bridges behind a river bend. Napoleon had planned to pin down his enemies to their lines, however, due to faulty reconnaissance, he became concerned that the Prusso-Russians had more soldiers and held stronger positions than they actually did. So Napoleon then decided he would not set up his trap until they had been softened up, after an intense bombardment by the grande batterie of Napoleons artillery and hours of heated fighting, the French overpowered the first defensive lines and seized the town of Bautzen. The Prusso-Russians appeared to be buckling, by nightfall, the French were ready to cut the allies off from their line of retreat. But Marshal Ney became confused and his faulty positioning left the open for the Allies to escape. Fighting on the day, the 21st, was again hard and after several hours of setbacks. But these assaults were only intended to fix the allies in place so they could be cut off, once again, Marshal Ney became distracted and decided to seize the village of Preititz, and thus lost sight of the strategic importance of cutting off the allies. The Prusso-Russians were being pushed back across the river and, at 4 p. m. when the Imperial Guard was sent in, without Neys forces to seal them in, however, they again escaped the total defeat Napoleon had planned. Losses on both sides totaled around 20,000, the French victory at Bautzen is therefore often called a Pyrrhic victory. Although a success for the French, Bautzen was not the decisive, Neys failure to cut the line of retreat robbed the French of complete victory. Once more Napoleon had to settle for a narrow, pyrrhic victory, to make matters worse, during the battle, Napoleons close friend and Grand Marshal of the Palace, General Geraud Duroc, was mortally wounded by a cannonball and died hours after the battle. Following Bautzen, Napoleon agreed to a truce with the Coalition. The Armistice of Pleischwitz was signed on 4 June, and lasted until 20 July, during this time he hoped to gather more troops, especially cavalry, and better train his new army. The allies, however, would not be idle, they too would mobilize and better prepare, and after hostilities were resumed, the Austrians joined the ranks of the allies. It is reported that Napoleon later quoted, that his agreement to this truce was a bad mistake, the campaign would resume in August
36.
Battle of Dennewitz
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The Battle of Dennewitz took place on 6 September 1813 between the forces of the First French Empire and an army of Prussians and Russians of the Sixth Coalition. It occurred in Dennewitz, a village in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, in late August 1813, Napoleon decided to order a general offensive to take Berlin, the Prussian capital, with the overall goal of knocking the Prussians out of the war. Marshal Oudinots corps advanced towards this objective along three separate roads, the fighting that took place on 23 August was essentially three isolated actions at Blankenfield, Grossbeeren, and Sputendorf. In each case the Allies prevailed and Oudinot retreated to Wittenberg, at this point Napoleon appointed Marshal Michel Ney to command. Ney, with around 58,000 men, renewed the advance on Berlin on 6 September and this was because he mistakenly expected Napoleon, away to the southeast near Dresden, to support him from this direction. He encountered mixed elements of Prussian, Russian, and Swedish troops under the command of Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden at Dennewitz. Ney had decided to move his army down a single road and was shadowed to the north by Bülows III Corps. While this allowed Ney to maintain communications with his entire army, as a result, the battle swayed back and forth with the arrival of fresh French and Allied reinforcements throughout its course. The Prussian General Tauentzien was at Juterbog, blocking Neys route to Berlin, Neys troops reached Dennewitz as Bülow was approaching Juterbog along an eastward route to their north. To keep Tuentzien and Bülow from uniting, the French occupied the north of Dennewitz now known as the Denkmalsberg. Despite early damage done to Tauentziens Corps, Bülow saved the situation by taking the hill and this was followed by a charge of the Brandenburg Dragoons down the hill. This gave time for the Prussian units which had earlier wavered to regroup, there were signs that all was not well in the French army at this time. The French empire was short of cavalry troops and mounts since the 1812 Russian campaign. As a result, there was a lack of screening and reconnaissance, the French command situation was also strained, as Oudinot was angered at being placed under Neys command. Marshal Ney was determined to advance with all haste to Berlin, initially forced back, the Prussian elements of Bernadottes army were reinforced by General Bülow and recovered the lost ground. Bülow would now assume command of the side for most of the remainder of the day. A see-sawing battle now developed, but just as the French appeared on the verge of a victory, Ney, not helped by a lack of support from Oudinot, made a mistake that swung the battle. Having joined in the fighting personally and being unaware of the situation due to a rainstorm on the battlefield
37.
Battle of Leipzig
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The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813, at Leipzig, Saxony. Napoleons army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine, the battle was the culmination of the 1813 German campaign and involved nearly 600,000 soldiers, making it the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I. Being decisively defeated for the first time in battle, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Coalition hurried to keep their momentum, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814. However, the Russian Tsar refused to even as the French occupied the city. With this string of defeats, the armies of France were in retreat on all fronts across Europe, anti-French forces joined Russia as its troops pursued the remnants of the virtually destroyed Grande Armée across central Europe. He sought to regain the offensive by re-establishing his hold in Germany, the victories led to a brief armistice. He then won a victory at the Battle of Dresden on 27 August. This policy led to victories at Großbeeren, Kulm, Katzbach, after these defeats, the French emperor could not easily follow up on his victory at Dresden. With the intention of knocking Prussia out of the war as soon as possible, Oudinot was defeated at the Battle of Großbeeren, just south of the city. With the intact Prussian force threatening from the north, Napoleon was compelled to withdraw westward and he deployed his army around the city, but concentrated his force from Taucha through Stötteritz, where he placed his command. The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden, the coalition had some 380,000 troops along with 1,500 guns, consisting of 145,000 Russians,115,000 Austrians,90,000 Prussians, and 30,000 Swedes. This made Leipzig the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, surpassing Borodino, Wagram, Jena and Auerstadt, Ulm, Napoleon conscripted these men to be readied for an even larger campaign against the newly formed Sixth Coalition and its forces stationed in Germany. While he won several battles, his army was being steadily depleted as Coalition commanders, closely following the Trachenberg Plan. The Swedes also had under their command a company of the British Rocket Brigade armed with Congreve rockets, despite being outnumbered, Napoleon planned to take the offensive between the Pleisse and the Parthe rivers. The position at Leipzig held several advantages for his army and his battle strategy, the rivers that converged there split the surrounding terrain into many separate sectors. The northern front was defended by Marshals Michel Ney and Auguste de Marmont, the artillery reserve and parks, ambulances, and baggage stood near Leipzig, which Napoleon made his supply base for the battle. The bridges on the Pleisse and White Elster rivers were defended by infantry, the main battery stood in reserve, and during battle was to be deployed on the Gallows Height. This battery was to be commanded by the artillery expert Antoine Drouot, the western flank of the French positions at Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz was defended by Prince Joseph Poniatowski and Marshal Pierre Augereau and his young French conscripts
38.
Battle of Brienne
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The battle followed on the heels of reverses suffered by the French in both 1812, which had gutted the strength of the French Army, and 1813, where they fought against the Sixth Coalition. The Sixth Coalition had intentions of deposing Napoleon, dissolving the First French Empire, the battle took place near Brienne-le-Château, where Napoleon had attended military school in his early years. As the Allies advanced on France from three different directions, the French Emperor planned to attack and defeat each in turn, Napoleons first target was the spread-out force of some 17,000 Russians under Field Marshal Blücher. To battle his old adversary, Napoleon had a force of some 30,000 troops, Napoleon had tried to accomplish an envelopment of Bluchers whole force near the Aube River, but allied cavalry captured a set of the Emperors orders and Blucher avoided the trap. Additionally, rain had turned many area roads into mud, slowing Napoleons advance, Napoleon finally caught up with Blucher near Brienne. The French emperor began the clash by pinning the enemy down while he organised a flanking attack, General Grouchys cavalry and horse artillery kept the Prussians occupied as marshals Ney and Victor secured both the town of Brienne and its chateau. About dusk, the chateau was captured by the French, when Blucher thought the battle was nearly over, Blucher and his second-in-command General von Gneisenau only just managed to elude capture. During the heavy fighting Napoleon was almost taken prisoner by Russian Cossacks, the battle ended about midnight when the allies retreated. Blucher left behind some 4,000 casualties to Frances 3,000, the Brienner Straße in the Bavarian capital Munich is named after the battle to commemorate the Bavarian contribution in the battle
39.
Battle of Montmirail
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The Battle of Montmirail was fought between a French force led by Emperor Napoleon and two Allied corps commanded by Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg. In hard fighting that lasted until evening, French troops including the Imperial Guard defeated Sackens Russian soldiers, part of Yorcks Prussian I Corps tried to intervene in the struggle but it was also driven off. The battle occurred near Montmirail, France during the Six Days Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, Montmirail is located 51 kilometres east of Meaux. Leaving a small force in the east to watch Blücher, Napoleon turned the bulk of his army to the west in an attempt to destroy Sacken, unaware of the size of Napoleons army, Sacken tried to smash his way east to join Blücher. The Russians managed to hold their ground for hours, but were forced back as more and more French soldiers appeared on the battlefield. Yorcks troops belatedly arrived only to be repulsed, but the Prussians distracted the French long enough to allow Sackens Russians to join them in a withdrawal to the north, the following day would see the Battle of Château-Thierry as Napoleon launched an all-out pursuit. The two armies would be linked by Peter Wittgensteins corps and a force led by Alexander Nikitich Seslavin. Within a few days the cautious Schwarzenberg began pulling Wittgensteins troops to the south, believing the war was almost over, the Blücher pressed rapidly west after a smaller French force under Marshal Jacques MacDonald. Unknown to the Prussian field marshal, on 5 February Schwarzenberg switched Seslavins force from the flank to the extreme left flank without informing Blücher. Since he lacked a liaison officer with Seslavin, the Prussian was unaware that a dangerous gap yawned on his left flank, until 6 February, Napoleon planned to strike a blow against the Army of Bohemia. But that day the French emperor received intelligence that Blücher was moving on Paris, since MacDonald was too weak to stop Army of Silesia, Napoleon was compelled to deal with Blücher first. While sending out patrols to determine the whereabouts of the Prussian field marshals army. On 8 February these were joined by part of the Imperial Guard, on the same day MacDonalds patrols reported that Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg was near Épernay with 18,000 men. When, on the morning of 9 February, Napoleon received news from Marmont that Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken was near Montmirail with about 15,000 troops, the French army lurched into action. Marshal Claude Perrin Victor with 14,000 men, consisting of his own corps, at this time, Napoleon had only 70,000 soldiers to confront about 200,000 Allies. With Victor and Oudinot watching Schwarzenberg, Napoleon decided to act against Blücher who he assumed to have 45,000 troops, however, Blüchers army was spread across a front of 44 miles and Napoleon might count on the help of the 10,000 men under MacDonald. Napoleon striking force numbered 30,000 men and 120 guns, mortier was ordered to bring up the rear. Fearing that Napoleon would offer battle near Nogent, Schwarzenberg asked his colleague Blücher to send Kleists corps south to help, obligingly, the Prussian field marshal ordered Kleist, Kaptzevich and Olsufiev to converge on Sézanne on 10 February
40.
Battle of Vauchamps
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The Battle of Vauchamps was the final major engagement of the Six Days Campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition. It resulted in a part of the Grande Armée under Napoleon I defeating a superior Prussian and Russian force of the Army of Silesia under Field-marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. At the beginning of 1814, the armies of the French Empire, despite fighting against vastly superior forces, Napoleon managed to score a few significant victories and, between 10 and 13 February repeatedly beat Blücher’s Army of Silesia. The Prussian commander attacked and pushed back Marmont late on 13 February, nevertheless, the Emperor had read into his enemy’s intentions and directed powerful forces to support Marmont. On the morning of 14 February, Blücher, commanding a Prussian Corps, the latter continued to fall back until he was reinforced. Napoleon arrived on the battlefield with strong forces, which allowed the French to launch a determined counterattack. Blücher realized that he was facing the Emperor in person and decided to pull back, at nightfall, combat ceased and Blücher opted for an exhausting night march in order to take his remaining forces to safety. On 13 February, having three successful actions in three days against the Prussian and Russian army at Champaubert, Montmirail and Château-Thierry, Napoleon was pursuing the defeated enemy. After his consecutive defeats, Field-marshal Blücher decided to disengage from Napoleon and move a significant force against the isolated French Army Corps of Marshal Marmont, Blücher knew that Marmonts Corps was weak and his plan was to destroy it and thus fall upon the rear of Napoleons main force. Still in pursuit of the debris of the force, late on 13 February. The Emperor deduced that the force before him would have to be a much reduced one. Taking with him the cavalry of the Guard and Grouchys Cavalry Reserve, however, having read Blüchers intentions, Napoleon had given orders for a concentration of French forces in that very sector. IXth Corps, 9th division under Udom II, xth Corps under General Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich, 8th division under Prince Urusov, 22nd division under Turchaninov. Kleists II Corps numbered 13,500 men while Kaptzevichs X Corps counted 6,500 soldiers, there were also the 1,500 troops from IX Corps who survived the Battle of Champaubert. These were grouped into three or four battalions and an artillery battery. The rump of IX Corps lost 600 men and all of its guns on the evening of 14 February, the II Corps had eight 6-pound batteries and two 12-pound batteries. Each battery had eight guns or a total of 80 cannons, there was also a howitzer battery of unknown strength. The X Corps had three batteries attached, Napoleon had sent orders for a major concentration of forces, which resulted in a force of some 25,000 men being assembled in this sector
41.
Battle of Laon
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The Battle of Laon was the victory of Blüchers Prussian army over Napoleons French army near Laon. An Allied coalition attempted to complete the destruction of Napoleons French Empire in 1814, france had been defeated in Russia in 1812 and in Central Europe in 1813. Napoleons French Empire was now fighting for its survival, in the last week of February 1814, about a month after the start of the Allied invasion, Blücher seized the initiative and advanced on Paris with his forces. Napoleon hurried westwards to their rescue with around 30,000 troops, Blücher unsuccessfully attacked Marmont and Mortier along the Ourcq river in late February and early March and ordered a retreat north to regroup when he heard of Napoleons advance. Prussian troops crossed the swollen Aisne river and arrived at Soissons on 4 March, there they linked up with reinforcements that brought Blüchers total force to 100,000. On 7 March, a clash ensued at the Battle of Craonne as Napoleon attacked westwards along the Chemin des Dames, Blüchers outflanking maneuver did not materialize in time and the Prussians were forced to withdraw towards Laon. Blücher chose to fight at Laon because it was an important road junction with a defensive position. Laon was located on a hill with steep slopes that rose 330 feet above the surrounding area. The countryside to the north was flat and open, but the south contained rough, the villages of Ardon and Semilly at the foot of the hill served as good bastions for the Prussian and Russian forces. Blücher now had about 90,000 troops and 176 guns, friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülows Prussian corps was assigned the defense of Laon itself. Blüchers western wing was covered by a Russian corps under Ferdinand von Wintzingerode while the wing was defended by two Prussian corps under Generals Yorck and Kleist. Two Russian corps under Generals Langeron and Osten-Sacken stood in reserve, after Craonne, Napoleon had taken the bulk of his forces northeastwards towards Laon while detaching about 10,000 troops under Marmont to advance on Laon via the Berry-au-Bac road. Preliminary fighting on the evening of 8 March saw the French vanguard chase off a small Russian detachment from the village of Urcel on the Soissons road, in the early hours of 9 March, the French renewed their push along the road. French dragoons arrived in front of Laon, but had lost the element of surprise, from 7,00 a. m. onwards, the French repeatedly attacked the Allied positions at Ardon and Semilly. Some troops from the Young Guard even reached the top of the hill before being driven back, Blücher was suffering from a fever and could not direct affairs as closely as he was accustomed during previous engagements. By 11,00 a. m. however, the fog had lifted, Blücher, because of poor intelligence sources, was operating under the impression that the French had 90,000 troops and was generally reluctant to have his troops launch any attacks. Winzigerodes attacks were feeble and easily repulsed by the French, Blücher now decided to isolate Napoleons western forces from Marmonts column to the east. A convincing Allied attack captured the village of Ardon, but the victorious Prussian infantry brigade was ordered to halt because Blücher feared that French forces to the east would outflank them
42.
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube
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The Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube was Napoleon’s penultimate battle before his abdication and exile to Elba. Encountering Field Marshal Schwarzenbergs larger Austrian force, Napoleon Bonaparte withdrew his French army after confused fighting, faced with converging Allied Armies, Napoleon decided to attack Field Marshal Schwarzenbergs Austrian troops before attacking General Blücher’s lines of communications on the upper Marne. Early on 20 March Napoleon set out for Arcis-sur-Aube in order to break out towards the Marne. By 11,00 a. m. on 20 March, Marshal Ney, by 1,00 p. m. Napoleon arrived along the northern bank of the Aube River and crossed the bridge. A bitter cavalry action developed in the afternoon and into the night. On one occasion the Emperor, protected only by a company of the Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard barely avoided being taken prisoner. During the night Schwarzenberg brought up and deployed 80,000 troops to face the French. Schwarzenberg, suspecting a trap and yet unaware of his advantage, did not attack until 3,00 p. m. on 21 March. He broke contact with the enemy and ordered most French troops to recross the Aube River. A French rear guard commanded by Marshal Oudinot bitterly held off the Austrians until 6,00 p. m. before falling back in good order and blowing the bridge over the Aube River up behind them. The Austrians made no effort to pursue the retreating French, the battle cost the French 3,000 casualties and the Austrians 4,000 casualties. On 25 March the Allies defeated Marshal Marmont and Marshal Mortier at the Battle of Fère-Champenoise, the Allies ignored Napoleon’s attempts to attack their lines of communications, and marched on Paris, which the Allies occupied on 31 March
43.
War of the Seventh Coalition
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The Hundred Days marked the period between Napoleons return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815. This period saw the War of the Seventh Coalition, and includes the Waterloo Campaign, the phrase les Cent Jours was first used by the prefect of Paris, Gaspard, comte de Chabrol, in his speech welcoming the king back to Paris on 8 July. Napoleon returned while the Congress of Vienna was sitting, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars pitted France against various coalitions of other European nations nearly continuously from 1792 onward. The overthrow and subsequent public execution of Louis XVI in France had greatly disturbed other European leaders, rather than leading to Frances defeat, the wars allowed the revolutionary regime to expand beyond its borders and create client republics. The success of the French forces made an out of their best commander. In 1799, Napoleon staged a successful coup détat and became First Consul of the new French Consulate, five years later, he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I. The rise of Napoleon troubled the other European powers as much as the revolutionary regime had. Despite the formation of new coalitions against him, Napoleons forces continued to conquer much of Europe, the tide of war began to turn after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 that resulted in the loss of much of Napoleons army. The following year, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, Coalition forces defeated the French in the Battle of Leipzig, following its victory at Leipzig, the Coalition vowed to press on to Paris and depose Napoleon. In the last week of February 1814, Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher advanced on Paris, the Battle of Reims went to Napoleon, but this victory was followed by successive defeats from increasingly overwhelming odds. Coalition forces entered Paris after the Battle of Montmartre on 30 March 1814, on 6 April 1814, Napoleon abdicated his throne, leading to the accession of Louis XVIII and the first Bourbon Restoration a month later. The defeated Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany, Napoleon spent only nine months and 21 days in uneasy retirement on Elba, watching events in France with great interest as the Congress of Vienna gradually gathered. He had been escorted to Elba by Sir Neil Campbell, who remained in there while performing other duties in Italy. Equally threatening was the situation in Europe which had been stressed and exhausted during the previous decades of near constant warfare. The conflicting demands of major powers were for a time so exorbitant as to bring the Powers at the Congress of Vienna to the verge of war with each other. Thus every scrap of news reaching remote Elba looked favourable to Napoleon to retake power as he reasoned the news of his return would cause a popular rising as he approached. So threatening were the symptoms that the royalists at Paris and the plenipotentiaries at Vienna talked of deporting him to the Azores or to Saint Helena, at the Congress of Vienna the various participating nations had very different and conflicting goals. Tsar Alexander of Russia had expected to absorb much of Poland and to leave a Polish puppet state, the renewed Prussian state demanded all of the Kingdom of Saxony
44.
Battle of Quatre Bras
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The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, two days before the Battle of Waterloo. The battle was contested between Wellingtons Anglo-allied army and the wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney. It took place near the crossroads of Quatre Bras. He would then destroy the Prussian army before forcing Wellington back to the coast, however if Wellingtons Anglo-allied army could combine with the Prussians, the combined force would be larger than Napoleons. If Napoleon controlled the crossroads of Quatre-Bras he could prevent Wellington moving south-eastward along the Nivelles-Namur road towards the French, although the coalition commanders did have an overview of French pre-war movements, Napoleons strategy was initially very successful. It was 18,00 that Wellington drafted initial orders to concentrate his army, Wellington did not order his entire army to Quatre Bras on 16 June either, still suspecting a flanking manoeuvre through Mons. The headquarters of the I Corps, however decided to ignore Wellingtons order to assemble in and around Nivelles, the centre and left wing together would then make a night-march toward Brussels. The Coalition forces would thus be irremediably sundered, and all that remained would be to them in detail. The brigade, consisting of two regiments from Nassau, arrived at about 14,00 on 15 June, Prince Bernhard deployed before the first French scouts, lancers of the Guard Light Cavalry Division approached Quatre Bras. The lancers were interdicted at Frasnes after which the Nassauers retreated to the Bois de Bossu, Ney spent the morning of 16 June in massing his I and II corps, and in reconnoitering the enemy at Quatre Bras, who, as he was informed, had been reinforced. But up till noon he took no step to capture the cross-roads. Grouchy meantime reported from Fleurus that Prussians were coming up from Namur and he was still at Charleroi when, between 09,00 and 10,00, further news reached him from the left that considerable hostile forces were visible at Quatre Bras. Then, keeping Lobau provisionally at Charleroi, Napoleon hastened to Fleurus, arriving about 11,00. At the beginning of the battle the left wing of the Armée du Nord, with 18,000 men under Marshal Michel Ney, faced 8,000 infantry and 16 guns, under the command of William, Prince of Orange. The Dutch were thinly deployed south of the crossroads of Quatre Bras, fresh allied troops started to arrive two hours later, along with Wellington, who took over command of the allied forces. As the day wore on, fresh Dutch, British and Brunswickers arrived faster than fresh French troops and these forces consisted of the II/2nd Nassau regiment and Bijlevelds horse artillery. The Dutch and Nassau commanders had taken precaution however, and the Lancers were greeted by canister and volley fire, losing some men, patrols were sent out and the positions were kept until the next morning. From 5 AM on June 16, there were skirmishes between Allied and French forces, in which neither side managed to get an advantage
45.
Battle of Waterloo
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The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday,18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon Napoleons return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition, Wellington and Blüchers armies were cantoned close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them in the hope of destroying them before they could join in an invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Despite holding his ground at Quatre Bras, the defeat of the Prussians forced Wellington to withdraw to Waterloo, Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, who had withdrawn parallel to Wellington. This resulted in the separate and simultaneous Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard, upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, across the Brussels road. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon, in the evening Napoleon committed his last reserves to a desperate final attack, which was narrowly beaten back. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, Wellingtons Anglo-allied army counter-attacked in the centre, Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleons last. According to Wellington, the battle was the thing you ever saw in your life. Napoleon abdicated four days later, and on 7 July coalition forces entered Paris, the defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleons rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire, and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, the battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-lAlleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres south of Brussels, and about 2 kilometres from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, as this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved. On 13 March 1815, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, four days later, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon. Crucially, this would have bought him time to recruit and train more men before turning his armies against the Austrians and Russians, an additional consideration for Napoleon was that a French victory might cause French speaking sympathisers in Belgium to launch a friendly revolution. Wellingtons initial dispositions were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south-west of Brussels and this would have pushed Wellington closer to Blücher, but may have cut Wellingtons communications with his base at Ostend. In order to delay Wellingtons deployment, Napoleon spread false intelligence which suggested that Wellingtons supply chain from the ports would be cut. By June, Napoleon had raised a total strength of about 300,000 men. The force at his disposal at Waterloo was less than one third that size, Napoleon divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney, a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy and a reserve under his command. Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June, the French rapidly overran Coalition outposts and he hoped this would prevent them from combining, and he would be able to destroy first the Prussians army, then Wellingtons
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