Napoleon Bonaparte Research Paper

This essay will not focus upon the success of Napoleon but rather where he made poor judgement as well as the other factors for his decline however the failings of Napoleon are closely linked to his greatest innovations and successes. As a result of research it will not take into consideration many political reasons and the situations of other nations. Furthermore, due to France not being a great sea power, even under Napoleon, this essay will not focus upon sea battles.
Introduction:
Napoleon’s conquest of the continent has spawned a vast array of work, detailing huge areas of the subject, innovating warfare. The historical records of the Napoleonic era span from Napoleon’s hand in the rediscovery of the Rosetta stone (Benjamin, 2009) to
They were relatively rich, for the island, and maintained nobility status even after the acquisition of the originally Italian island to France. Due to uneasy tension on the island following the loss of the Italian island, in 1768 (Lonely Planet, 2016) to the French Napoleon’s father, Carlo Buonaparte, attempted to appease the new French regime. It was evidently successful as he was rewarded with a scholarship for Napoleon to the military college of Brienne in France (McLynn, 2002). Kick starting the military career of Napoleon. In mainland France their wealth could’ve counted for nothing. In 1784, Napoleon went on to a French military academy, Ecole Militaire. Directly following this the teenage Napoleon, age 16, became an officer, a Second Lieutenant in the
In this battle Napoleon was engaged in a pitched battle against Russian and Austrian forces, almost twice the size of Napoleon’s forces with him at the time. Prior to the engagement Marshal Davout summoned by Napoleon force marches the III corps d’armée from Vienna, over 140 kilometres in just over 48 hours, with only 13 hours of rest (Chandler, 1966, p. 149). This swift response in almost unheard of in absolutely every other nation before Napoleon yet moving entire corps of men from miles away is something Napoleon did several times. Upon reaching the battle field Napoleon used another one of his innovative tactics, creating a screen of cavalry along the river Morava (Chandler, 1966) preventing the main body of Lé Grande Armée, Davout’s III corps d’armée and Bérnadotte’s I corps d’armée, from being fully scouted by the allies. On the right flank, Davout held in the wake of the main Russian offensive, preventing disaster and holding the allies long enough to secure Napoleon’s victory (Gallaher, 1997). From this battle we see two of Napoleon’s greatest strengths, his deceptive capabilities in the middle of war showed through the use of a screening of cavalry and the manoeuvrability of his corps d’armée. Famously, the subject of Napoleon’s corps is summed up with a French Infantryman, “the Emperor has discovered a new way of waging war; he makes use of