The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) were a series of major conflicts that pitted the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions. The wars stemmed from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and its resultant conflict. The wars revolutionized European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly owing to the application of modern mass conscription and industry to warfare.
Over the course of 12 years, the Napoleonic Wars would be defined by a series of epic battles and campaigns that dramatically reshaped the European continent. Here are 12 of the most pivotal battles that decided the titanic struggle:
1. Battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 1805)
Also known as the "Battle of the Three Emperors", Austerlitz is considered one of Napoleon‘s greatest victories. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in present-day Czech Republic, where Napoleon‘s 68,000-strong army defeated a larger Russo-Austrian force of 90,000 men under Tsar Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II.
Napoleon‘s tactical genius was on full display. He deliberately weakened his right flank to lure the Allies into attacking it, while launching a surprise attack on the Allied center with a massive concentration of force, splitting the opposing army in two. The French lost around 1,305 killed and 6,940 wounded, while the Allies suffered 15,000 killed and wounded, with 12,000 captured. The crushing defeat at Austerlitz forced Austria to withdraw from the war and sign the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg. It firmly established Napoleon as the master of Europe.
2. Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (October 14, 1806)
Napoleon‘s stunning victory over the vaunted Prussian army in 1806 is actually two separate but concurrent battles. At Jena, Napoleon with 96,000 men launched a massive frontal assault against 64,000 Prussians under Prince Hohenlohe. After heavy fighting, the Prussian lines collapsed and they retreated in disorder.
Meanwhile, 20 miles north at Auerstedt, 26,000 French under Marshal Davout managed to hold off and then defeat the main Prussian force of 63,000 men under the Duke of Brunswick. Davout‘s victory was perhaps even more impressive than Napoleon‘s, as he was significantly outnumbered. The Prussians suffered catastrophic losses – 20,000 killed or wounded, 20,000 captured, and 300 guns lost. French casualties totaled around 14,000.
The twin battles shattered the Prussian army‘s reputation as one of Europe‘s finest and confirmed France‘s military supremacy. Prussia was forced to surrender half its territory and pay heavy indemnities. The philosopher Hegel, who saw Napoleon riding through the streets of Jena after the battle, later wrote that it was "the end of history" – the point at which the old order in Europe had been definitively supplanted by the new ideas of the Enlightenment and French Revolution.
3. Battle of Friedland (June 14, 1807)
The Battle of Friedland was the climactic engagement of the War of the Fourth Coalition, fought near the town of Pravdinsk in modern-day Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. 80,000 French troops under Napoleon decisively defeated a Russian army of 60,000 men led by Count von Bennigsen.
The battle began when Bennigsen attempted to cross the River Alle and attack the seemingly isolated French corps of Marshal Lannes. Napoleon rushed his remaining forces to the scene and launched a massive attack on the Russian left flank as they were halfway across the river. After hours of fierce fighting, the French broke the Russian lines and sent them into a headlong retreat. The Russians suffered 20,000 casualties to the French 8,000.
The victory at Friedland, coming on the anniversary of Marengo, was one of Napoleon‘s most complete. It forced Tsar Alexander I to sue for peace, resulting in the Treaties of Tilsit which made Russia an ally of France and divided up control of central Europe between them. It marked the high point of Napoleon‘s power and success.
4. Battle of Wagram (July 5-6, 1809)
The Battle of Wagram was the largest battle in European history up to its time, involving over 300,000 troops. It ended in a hard-fought French victory over Austria and resulted in the Treaty of Schönbrunn, which ended the War of the Fifth Coalition.
Napoleon, with 170,000 men, attacked the 136,000-strong Austrian army under Archduke Charles near the town of Deutsch-Wagram in Austria. On the first day of battle, Charles launched a series of attacks on the French right flank, which Napoleon countered by launching a massive central assault on the Austrian lines, supported by a grand battery of 112 guns. Despite heavy fighting, neither side scored a decisive advantage by nightfall.
On the second day, another huge French assault on the Austrian center finally broke their lines and sent them into retreat. Losses on both sides were heavy – around 34,000 for the French and 40,000 for the Austrians. While a French tactical victory, the high casualties shocked Europe and showed the war was taking an increasing toll on Napoleon‘s army.
5. Battle of Borodino (September 7, 1812)
Napoleon‘s invasion of Russia in 1812 marked a turning point in his fortunes, and the Battle of Borodino was the pivotal clash of the campaign. Near the small village of Borodino west of Moscow, Napoleon‘s Grande Armée of 130,000 men confronted a Russian army of 120,000 under Marshal Kutuzov.
The battle was a brutal slugfest, with both sides standing their ground in the face of horrific artillery fire and bloody infantry charges. The Russians defended a series of earthwork redoubts against repeated French assaults. The fighting at the Raevsky redoubt in the center of the Russian lines was especially savage – it changed hands several times and saw its surrounding ground covered with thousands of corpses.
By the day‘s end, the French had driven the Russians from the field, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. French losses numbered more than 30,000, the Russians lost over 40,000. And crucially, the battered Russian army escaped intact to fight another day. Napoleon himself remarked, "The most terrible of all my battles was the one before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy of victory, but the Russians showed themselves worthy of being invincible."
The Battle of Borodino allowed Napoleon to occupy a deserted Moscow, but with his army exhausted and overextended and the Russian winter approaching, it spelled the beginning of the end for his campaign in Russia and his empire.
6. Battle of Leipzig (October 16-19, 1813)
Also known as the "Battle of the Nations", Leipzig was the largest and most decisive battle of the War of the Sixth Coalition. Over 600,000 soldiers from a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden converged on Napoleon‘s 198,000-man army near the city of Leipzig in Saxony.
After four days of brutal fighting, with each side suffering over 50,000 casualties, the French were forced to retreat. On the final day, a solitary French corps was cut off and surrounded, with Napoleon himself barely escaping capture. In total, the French lost 38,000 killed and wounded and 30,000 captured. The Allies lost 54,000.
The crushing defeat at Leipzig marked the beginning of the end for Napoleon. His power in Germany and central Europe was broken, and he was forced to retreat back to France. The Allied victory encouraged more nations to join the Coalition against him. "The battle is completely lost," Napoleon admitted to his advisors. "We must retreat to Erfurt and there strike a balance. I shall certainly make peace, but it will be an inglorious one."
Other Key Battles
- Marengo (1800): Early French victory in Italy that cemented Napoleon‘s grip on power as First Consul.
- Trafalgar (1805): Decisive British naval victory that secured their control of the seas for the rest of the war.
- Salamanca (1812): Key Anglo-Allied victory in the Peninsular War that drove the French from Madrid and crippled their hold on Spain.
- Dresden (1813): Napoleon‘s last major victory on German soil, though its gains were soon reversed.
- Paris (1814): Capture of the French capital by Allied forces, leading to Napoleon‘s first abdication and exile to Elba.
- Waterloo (1815): Final climactic battle of the wars, resulting in Napoleon‘s permanent defeat and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.
The Napoleonic Wars marked a major turning point in European history, ushering in an extended period of reaction and restoration after the radical changes brought by the French Revolution. But they also had far-reaching consequences for the art of war.
Napoleon revolutionized military strategy and tactics, emphasizing rapid movement, massed artillery fire, and the concentration of force at key points to achieve decisive victories. His impact is still felt and studied in military academies worldwide. The Napoleonic Wars also saw the rise of nationalism and the mobilization of entire populations for war, foreshadowing the total wars of the 20th century.
In the end, after 23 years of nearly constant conflict, the wars ended with the defeat of Napoleon, the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France, and a new balance of power in Europe. But their legacy endures in the strategies employed, the tactics developed, and the stories of courage and carnage on battlefields from Austerlitz to Waterloo. As the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon‘s ultimate vanquisher, put it, "Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained."
