Napoleonic | War History

Wellington: The Great Military Leader Who Led His Armies To Victory Against Napoleon

The armies that fought against Napoleon are some of the most celebrated in British history. Under the leadership of the Duke of Wellington, they drove…

The Battle of Waterloo and the Final Downfall of Napoleon

Fought on June 18, 1815, the Battle of Waterloo was one of the most decisive encounters in European history. The final defeat of Napoleon ended…

The Battle of Salamanca: Wellington at his Opportunistic Best

Fought on July 22, 1812, the Battle of Salamanca was a great success for the then Earl and later Duke of Wellington. Leading the British…

Fighting for Both Sides: the Spanish Army in the Napoleonic Wars

In 1807, Napoleon’s French armies crossed Spain to invade Portugal. It began a seven-year campaign known as the Peninsular War. For the Spanish, it was…

Disease, Starvation, and the Brutal Russian Winter – Why Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia Failed

Shahan Russell

In 1812, Napoleon’s Grande Armée (Great Army) invaded Russia. Though made up of about 680,000 soldiers, they lost. Historians have given many reasons as to…

Napoleon Changed His World, And Ours

Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most influential figures in European history. Two hundred years after his short-lived Empire collapsed, the world continues to be…

When Malaria Sided With Napoleon: The Doomed British Walcheren Expedition That Cost 4,000 Lives

The British expedition sent to Walcheren in the Netherlands in 1809 was one of the boldest moves of the Napoleonic wars. Unfortunately for the soldiers…

The Duke of Wellington, Napoleon’s Arch-Enemy

Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was Napoleon’s most famous opponent. In 1808 he led the British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces that defeated the French…

The Battle of Austerlitz – Napoleon’s Greatest Success

On December 2, 1805, Napoleon achieved what many consider his greatest success. Outnumbered by the combined armies of the Russian Tsar Alexander I and the…

Napoleon Bonaparte: A military life – one of the most successful generals in military history

Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most successful generals in military history. Through skill as a military commander, he made himself the ruler of a…

Napoleon – one of the most influential generals in history

Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most influential generals in history. Combining the ideas of the foremost military theorists of his era with the study…

Seven Years, A Hundred Thousand Men – Napoleon’s Peninsular War in Numbers

The Peninsula War was one of the most drawn out and bloody of the Napoleonic Wars. Figures on the war help to shed light on…