Napoleon proved to be a capable military commander from a young age. From his actions during the Siege of Toulon to his accession as Emperor of the French to his final defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon stamped his legacy upon the continent of Europe and beyond.
The history of his wars has provided historians and analysts with many lifetimes of learning. The battles he fought are studied today as lessons of strategy and tactics from the mind of one of the world’s most revered generals.
These are eight of Napoleon’s key battles.
1. The Battle of the Pyramids (1798)
In 1798, the French invaded Egypt with the goal of disrupting British interests in the region. Opposing the French, however, was not the British but the Ottoman Empire, which held control over Egypt.
Also known as the Battle of Embabeh, the Battle of the Pyramids was fought on July 21, after Napoleon had captured Alexandria and marched south. The French fielded around 25,000 troops, while the Mamluk rulers, under the thrall of the Ottomans, fielded as many as twice that, according to some estimates.
During the battle, Napoleon proved the effectiveness of the divisional square, a formation designed to ward off cavalry attacks. The French were so successful in the battle that they inflicted 10,000 casualties while only suffering 289 deaths and wounded.
After the battle, Napoleon marched into Cairo and took control of Egypt, setting up a French-controlled administration and forming a foundation from which the French could threaten British assets further to the east, including India.
2. The Battle of Marengo (1800)
The Battle of Marengo, fought on June 14, 1800, was an extremely important engagement during the War of the Second Coalition. This conflict pitted France, Spain, and their client states against the Holy Roman Empire and its allies.
Fought on the Marengo Plain in Northern Italy, Napoleon’s army numbered around 28,000, while his Austrian opponents fielded around 31,000 under the command of General Michael Friedrich von Melas.
Surprising the Austrians, Napoleon maneuvered his forces into Italy by crossing the Alps, a move that mirrored the actions of Hannibal Barca two millennia earlier during the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome.
Napoleon reached Milan and cut Austrian supply lines, a position from where he could threaten the Austrian capital of Vienna. Melas moved against Napoleon’s army, and the two met at Marengo.
Initially, the battle swung in favor of the Austrians, who forced the French into a slow retreat. With reinforcements arriving, the French reformed their lines and were able to counterattack and outflank the Austrians in a move that resulted in Napoleon winning a close-run battle.
To the north, French troops in Germany also saw success against the Austrians, and the Austrians were forced to sue for peace.
3. The Battle of Austerlitz (1805)
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most critical engagements during the Napoleonic Wars. It is cited as an example of Napoleon’s tactical brilliance.
In 1805, Napoleon’s naval ambitions were scuppered after the French and Spanish fleets were defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nevertheless, on the continent, Napoleon’s forces reigned supreme. The British managed to organize a coalition against the French, consisting of Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Naples. The hope was that the combined forces of these nations would be able to defeat Napoleon on the continent.
Despite achieving victory at the Battle of Ulm and dealing the Austrians a major blow, Napoleon knew that he had to win another major victory lest his forces become overwhelmed. The Austrians avoided further conflict and waited for the Russians to arrive, while Napoleon feigned weakness in a bid to lure the Coalition forces into a reckless offensive maneuver.
The resultant battle on December 2, 1805, saw Napoleon’s army of around 70,000 soldiers defeat the Russians and Austrians, who numbered around 73,000 to 89,000 soldiers. The engagement was decisive, with the Russians and Austrians taking 27,000 to 30,000 casualties, while the French lost just under 9,000 killed or wounded.
The outcome brought an end to the Third Coalition and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, which was a series of states that formed a buffer between the French Empire and their enemies in the east. This political development also resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, while France gained lands in Italy and Bavaria.
4. The Twin Battles of Jena and Auerstedt (1806)
Jena and Auerstedt were fought on October 14, 1806, between Napoleon’s forces and the Prussians at the beginning of the War of the Fourth Coalition. This war was the direct result of Austria’s defeat and Prussia’s fear of further French conquest.
The Prussians declared war on October 9, 1806, and just a few days later, two decisive battles would be fought. The Prussian army, once highly formidable, was commanded by old leaders using outdated tactics and consisted of soldiers using inferior muskets. Meanwhile, the French army was modern and efficient.
The disparities became clear when the armies clashed on the fields of Jena and Auerstedt in Saxony. Napoleon split his army to deal with the Prussians. At Jena, he commanded the forces directly and overwhelmed the Prussian defenders, while at Auerstedt, French troops under Marshal Davout achieved stunning success against a much larger Prussian force.
Prussia’s prestige was shattered, and the kingdom was humiliated by being subjugated by France. This subjugation would last until 1813, when Prussia took the opportunity to break free from French control after Napoleon’s failed invasion of Russia.
5. The Battle of Wagram (1809)
On July 6, 1809, Napoleon’s army inflicted a monumental defeat on the Austrians at Wagram. This battle spelled the end of the Fifth Coalition, a coalition of nations arrayed against Napoleon’s imperial ambitions.
In 1809, British intervention in the Peninsular War in Iberia forced Napoleon to divert much of his strength to the West. Taking advantage of the weakened French presence in the Confederation of the Rhine, the Austrian Empire invaded Bavaria, an ally of France.
The French response was powerful, and Vienna fell in May. Nevertheless, under Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen, the Austrians managed to mobilize a sizable army to challenge the French forces. He defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern-Essling, and Napoleon’s situation became significantly more difficult. He desperately needed a great victory to force the Austrians to capitulate.
At Wagram, the armies were equally matched in manpower, with both sides likely having more than 150,000 troops. Charles arrayed his forces along a 14-mile (23-kilometer) front, with the town of Wagram in the center. Knowing that Charles had 30,000 reinforcements en route, Napoleon decided to attack first on July 5 but was beaten back.
The following Austrian attack in the south also failed, while Napoleon’s main attack in the north succeeded. Following this, Napoleon went for the Austrian center. The Austrian lines broke, and the army was in full retreat before the 30,000 reinforcements could even arrive.
The result was a victory that forced Charles to sign an armistice. The casualty rate was enormous on both sides, with the French losing around 34,000 men and the Austrians losing over 40,000.
6. The Battle of Borodino (1812)
When Napoleon invaded Russia in June 1812, he had gambled on a quick campaign and hoped that a decisive victory would force the Russian Empire to capitulate. What happened instead was the beginning of the end for Napoleon’s French Empire.
The Battle of Borodino, fought on September 7, 1812, was a massive engagement. Each army consisted of well over 100,000 soldiers. The French, slightly outnumbered, managed to gain victory over the Russian forces, but the battle, the bloodiest day in the entire Napoleonic Era, cost the French so dearly that Napoleon’s campaign began to flounder.
The Russians managed to retreat in good order and employed a scorched earth policy, starving the French who were trying to live off the land. When Napoleon captured Moscow, he found an empty city in flames. The Russians had simply evacuated and prepared to fight on, ignoring established customs of how wars were expected to be won or lost.
With no option but to return home, Napoleon began his retreat, losing hundreds of thousands of personnel in the process. The retreat broke the back of French military might and set the stage for Napoleon’s defeat and exile.
Referring to the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon stated, “The French showed themselves worthy of victory and the Russians of being invincible.”
7. The Battle of Leipzig (1813)
Also known as the Battle of the Nations, the Battle of Leipzig was the largest battle in European history before the First World War. By mid-1813, Napoleon’s situation in Europe was dire. Defeated by the Russians, he retreated back to France. With the Spanish, Portuguese, and British under the command of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, having defeated the French in Iberia, and with Prussia having thrown off the yoke of French control, Napoleon’s ambitions were in shatters. Enemies were advancing on all fronts, and he desperately gathered together an army to counter the threat.
Napoleon launched an offensive in Germany but failed to capture Berlin. Coalition forces threatened to cut French lines of communication, and Napoleon found himself having to concentrate his army in and around Leipzig.
These efforts resulted in the massive Battle of Leipzig, fought from October 16 to 19. It was a monumental clash in which almost 200,000 soldiers from France, Saxony, Württemberg, Poland, Italy, and Naples faced off against around 350,000 soldiers from Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, and Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
The French initially beat back attacks from the south and the north but failed to inflict a decisive blow to the Coalition armies, which increased in size as reinforcements continued to arrive. Napoleon realized his only option was to retreat, but this did not go according to plan. With only a single bridge to funnel the entire army westwards out of Leipzig, the scene was chaotic.
While in retreat, a corporal blew up the bridge prematurely and trapped 30,000 rearguard French troops in the city. Ultimately, both sides took around 60,000 to 80,000 casualties, and the French lost complete control east of the Rhine.
The outcome was a decisive defeat for the French and their allies. The Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved soon after, and with forces of the Sixth Coalition pressing in on Paris, Napoleon abdicated in May 1814. He was exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.
8. The Battle of Waterloo (1815)
Napoleon’s most famous battle was also his last. After escaping from Elba on February 26, 1815, he returned to France. Despite not knowing how he would be received, the risk paid off, and French troops rallied around him. Alarmed at these events, European powers united as the Seventh Coalition to stop Napoleon.
The Battle of Waterloo took place on Sunday, June 18, 1815. Two days earlier, Napoleon had defeated the Prussians at Ligny while Michel Ney fought the Seventh Coalition to an inconclusive standstill at Quatre-Bras.
At Waterloo, the French army, numbering around 73,000, faced off against British, Dutch, and Hanoverian troops, as well as troops from the Duchy of Brunswick and the Duchy of Nassau. Under the command of the Duke of Wellington, this army of 68,000 soldiers took defensive positions and attempted to hold off the French until the Prussians, with an army of 50,000, could arrive to reinforce the Coalition forces.
Napoleon hoped to break Wellington’s lines and achieve victory before the Prussians arrived. Meanwhile at Wavre, the Prussian rearguard was fighting a blocking action to prevent 33,000 French troops under the command of Emmanual Grouchy from reinforcing Napoleon’s army at Waterloo. This action was successful, diminishing Napoleon’s chances of success.
At Waterloo, the Coalition lines held against a relentless French onslaught, and just as it looked as if their lines would break, the Prussians arrived, dashing all hopes of a French victory.
Napoleon abdicated and was sentenced to live out the rest of his days on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic. This time, there was no chance of ever escaping.
