Napoleon Bonaparte's Most Decisive Land Battles: The History of Austerlitz, the French Invasion of Russia, Leipzig, and Waterloo
ISBN: 9781979656283
$12.99
*Includes pictures
*Includes accounts of the battles
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
For those questioning why generals continued using tactics from the Napoleonic Era even as technology changed the battlefield, the Battle of Austerlitz may provide the best answer. Napoleon is regarded as one of history’s greatest generals, and Austerlitz was his greatest victory. In 1805, Britain, Austria, and Russia allied together to form the Third Coalition against the French, and the Third Coalition’s forces consisted of armies from Austria and Russia, with Britain providing naval support as well as its financial powers. The Battle of Austerlitz was a tactical masterpiece that saw Napoleon actually invite an attack on his army by the bigger Coalition army, and over the course of about 9 hours, the French successfully defended their right flank while counterattacking in the center and splitting the Russo-Austrian army in two, allowing the French to hit the flank of the advancing left wing of the enemy. The result was a decisive victory that virtually annihilated the Third Coalition’s army and made Napoleon the master of the European continent.
By 1812, he had succeeded in subduing most of his enemies – though in Spain, the British continued to be a perpetual thorn in his flank that drained the Empire of money and troops – but his relationship with Russia, never more than one of mutual suspicion at best, had now grown downright hostile. On July 23rd, 1812, he launched his army across the border, despite the protestations of many of his Marshals. The Russian Campaign had begun, and it would turn out to be Napoleon’s biggest blunder. Russia’s great strategic depth already had a habit of swallowing armies, a fact many would-be conquerors learned the hard way. Napoleon, exceptional though he was in so many regards, proved that even military genius can do little in the face of the Russian winter and the resilience of its people. By the time the Grande Armee had reached the Berezina, it had been decimated: of the over 450,000 fighting men that had invaded Russia that autumn, less than 40,000 remained.
*Includes accounts of the battles
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
For those questioning why generals continued using tactics from the Napoleonic Era even as technology changed the battlefield, the Battle of Austerlitz may provide the best answer. Napoleon is regarded as one of history’s greatest generals, and Austerlitz was his greatest victory. In 1805, Britain, Austria, and Russia allied together to form the Third Coalition against the French, and the Third Coalition’s forces consisted of armies from Austria and Russia, with Britain providing naval support as well as its financial powers. The Battle of Austerlitz was a tactical masterpiece that saw Napoleon actually invite an attack on his army by the bigger Coalition army, and over the course of about 9 hours, the French successfully defended their right flank while counterattacking in the center and splitting the Russo-Austrian army in two, allowing the French to hit the flank of the advancing left wing of the enemy. The result was a decisive victory that virtually annihilated the Third Coalition’s army and made Napoleon the master of the European continent.
By 1812, he had succeeded in subduing most of his enemies – though in Spain, the British continued to be a perpetual thorn in his flank that drained the Empire of money and troops – but his relationship with Russia, never more than one of mutual suspicion at best, had now grown downright hostile. On July 23rd, 1812, he launched his army across the border, despite the protestations of many of his Marshals. The Russian Campaign had begun, and it would turn out to be Napoleon’s biggest blunder. Russia’s great strategic depth already had a habit of swallowing armies, a fact many would-be conquerors learned the hard way. Napoleon, exceptional though he was in so many regards, proved that even military genius can do little in the face of the Russian winter and the resilience of its people. By the time the Grande Armee had reached the Berezina, it had been decimated: of the over 450,000 fighting men that had invaded Russia that autumn, less than 40,000 remained.