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Trafalgar (1805)
Austerlitz (1805)
Jena/Auerstadt (1806)
Eylau and Friedland (1807)
Vimeiro (1808)
Wagram (1809)
Busaco (1810)
Albuera (1811)
Salamanca (1812)
Borodino (1812)
Leipzig (1813)
Waterloo (1815)
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Member Article: Napoleon's Campaign of 1809
by Birrion Sondahl
Napoleon's campaign of 1809 is a very interesting episode of the Napoleonic
Wars. In this campaign Napoleon once again showed his brilliance as a military
leader in gaining victory after setbacks and against a very competent enemy in
the Archduke Charles and the Austrian army. The campaign itself consisted of
two major battles fought along the north bank of the Danube. The first battle
is now called Aspern-Essling while the second is known as Wagram. Each of these
battles was preceded by crossings of the Danube which were impressive feats in
their own right. These crossings and the battles combined make a study of the
campaign of 1809 profitable to gaining a further understanding of the
Napoleonic Age.
Member Article: Austerlitz: Napoleon Makes His Own Luck
by Lonny L. Grout
Austerlitz was the battle that many historians have considered Napoleon's
masterpiece. Napoleon himself considered this his masterpiece. There is no
doubt that Austerlitz was a great victory for Napoleon, both strategically and
tactically. So, was it all the genius of Napoleon, or was it merely that luck
was on the side of Napoleon's army that day? While researching this question,
what came directly to my mind was a saying I once heard someone unknown say,
"you make our own luck." This described Napoleon at Austerlitz very well.
Napoleon clearly made his own luck.
The Grande Armee of 1812 in Russia
by Major James T. McGhee
Author and historian David G. Chandler identifies Napoleon Bonaparte as "one of
the greatest military minds that has ever existed."[1] Indeed Napoleon's
exploits as a military commander and his subsequent rise to the position of
Emperor of France and much of Europe has produced an enormous amount of
scholarly interest. Historians, political scientists, military theorists and
others have published volumes on Napoleon and his times.
Read more...
The Master's Misstep
by Drew Betson
On 14 October, 1806, French forces achieved decisive victory in pitched battles
against Prussian forces in the fields near the towns Jena and Auerstadt. As the
battle commanded by Napoleon at Jena approached its finish and the Prussian
lines began to break, Napoleon maintained many of the elite foot soldiers of the
Imperial Guard in tactical reserve.[1] After overhearing a soldier yell
"Forward!" Napoleon retorted, "This can only be a young man with no beard who
wishes to prejudge what I am going to do; let him wait until he has commanded in
thirty pitched battles before pretending to give me his opinion."[2] This
vignette plays to the common perception of Napoleon as the singular man with
decision-making ability in his Grand Armée. While it was true that on his level
of command, Napoleon was his own operations and intelligence officer and
dictated orders from the movements of corps to the state of supplies, Napoleon's
actions on campaigns provides for the historian a truly amazing military
mind.[3]
Read more...
Trafalgar Remembered
by Nitin K. Shankar
The sea battle of Trafalgar fought in 1805 is strongly linked to memories of my
school history lessons in 1951, a visit to the HMS Victory in
Portsmouth in 1957 and a day spent in Cadiz in 1987. My school history
book described the victor of the battle, Horatio Nelson, as a 'weak and sickly
child' who distinguished himself through great personal courage and went on to
become the Royal Navy's greatest admirals. It was the combination of Nelson's
puny appearance and daring that inspired me to read more about him. Born in
1758, Nelson entered the Royal Navy at the age of 12. He passed his
lieutenant's exam more than a year under the official age in 1777 and was made
post-captain at the age of 21. His youthfulness stood out and even the Prince
of Wales, who was then a young midshipman on board Admiral Samuel Hood's
flagship, the Barfleur, noticed Nelson. The future King William IV
described Nelson as 'the merest boy of a captain I ever beheld.'
Read more...
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