Download Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution

The French Revolution and
the Napoleonic Wars
Lsn 6-7
ID & SIG:
• Aspern-Essling, Austerlitz, Continental
System, corps d’armee, influences of
Napoleonic warfare, Jena-Auerstadt, levee
en masse, manoeuvre sur les
derrieres,Marengo, Napoleon, Napoleonic
soldiers, Nelson, Peninsular Campaign,
pre-Revolution reforms, reverse slope,
Rivoli, Russian Campaign, Trafalgar, Ulm,
Wagram, Waterloo, Wellington
Agenda
• French Revolution background
– Changed nature of armies and warfare
• Rivoli
– Central position
• Napoleon’s various roles
• Marengo
– Manoeuvre sur les derrieres
• Napoleon’s army compared to others
• Ulm and Austerlitz
– Mobility and decisive battle
• Jena-Auerstadt
– Corps system
Agenda (cont)
• Trafalgar
– British naval superiority
• Continental System
– Economics
• Peninsular War
– Guerrilla war
• Aspern-Essling and Wagram
– Napoleon in decline
• Russia
– Logistics
• Waterloo
– Reverse slope
• Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
Reforms 1763-1789
• Defeat in the Seven Years’ War had humiliated
the French army
• The officers tried to initiate reform, but real
political and social reform was stifled by the
ancien regime
• Still from 1763 to 1789 the French experimented
with the ordre mixed (mixed order) which took
advantage of both the firepower of the line and
the mobility of the column tactical formations,
fielded light infantry skirmishers, and developed
the more mobile Gribeauval artillery system
Limitations of the Reforms
• What was missing was a new type of citizen
soldier who would fight with the initiative and
enthusiasm born of conviction
• Likewise the French needed to reform their
officer corps by freeing it from dependence on
wealth and status and instead selecting and
promoting officers based on competence
• Changes of this sort would have to wait until the
Revolution
The Revolution Begins
• In May 1789, in an
effort to raise taxes,
King Louis XVI
convened the Estates
General, an assembly
representing the
entire French
population through
three groups known
as estates
King Louis XVI
French Revolution: Review
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Estates General and ancien regime
National Assembly
Storming of the Bastille
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
Austria and Prussia
Convention
Levee en masse
Robespierre
The Directory
(Where we left off last lesson)
• Many of the victims of the reign of terror were fellow
radicals who had fallen out of favor with Robespierre and
the Jacobins
• Within two years the tide of battlefield failures turned and
the revolutionaries were able to advance beyond their
borders and cast aside their more radical leaders
• In July 1794, the Convention arrested Robespierre and
his allies, convicted them of treason, and executed them
• A group of conservative men of property seized power
and ruled from 1795 to 1799 under a new institution
called the Directory
• The Directory sought a middle way between the ancien
regime and radical revolution but had little success
• In Nov 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup d’etat
and seized power
Napoleon (1769-1821)
• Was an officer under
King Louis XVI and
had become a
general at age 24
• Gained fame in the
First Italian Campaign
of 1796-1797
– Drove the Austrians
from northern Italy and
established French
rule there
The First Italian Campaign
(1796-1797)
• Although leading a very underequipped
army, Napoleon fought 18 major battles
and 47 engagements in 10 months to
defeat Piedmont and Austria, destroy the
First Coalition, and ensure France’s
territorial integrity
• Favorite techniques included:
– Manoeuvre sur les derrieres
– Central position
Manoeuvre sur les derrieres
• While pressing the enemy front in a feint,
Napoleon would outflank the enemy, move into
its rear, and thereby sever its lines of
communication
• This prevented the arrival of enemy
reinforcements, halted logistical support, and
often forced the enemy into battle under
unfavorable circumstances
• By living off the countryside, relying on speed,
and having much lighter logistical requirements,
Napoleon was able to operate for a short time in
the enemy’s rear without fear
Central Position
• When faced by several
large enemy armies,
Napoleon would fight a
series of smaller battles
against the enemy’s
scattered forces
• While containing one
enemy army with a small
French army, Napoleon
would concentrate against
another
• Rivoli is a good example
Rivoli: January 1797
(Central Position)
• The Austrians were converging on Napoleon on
three columns:
– One on the east side of Lake Garda toward Joubert’s
division near Rivoli
– One from the east against Verona
– One moving south to relieve the Austrians at Mantua
• Napoleon concluded that the largest Austrian
force was moving along the east side of Lake
Garda toward Rivoli
Rivoli; January 1797
(Central Position)
• Napoleon ordered
Massena to march
toward Rivoli while
Augereau waited to
confront the Austrians
advancing on Mantua
• Massena defeated the
Austrian attack and
then marched 40
miles south in 24
hours to intercept the
Austrian column
marching to the relief
of Mantua
Napoleon as Emperor
• After a mixed campaign in Egypt,
Napoleon returned to France in
1799 and joined the Directory
• When Austria, Russia, and
Britain formed a Second
Coalition to attack France and
end the Revolution, Napoleon
staged a coup
• He overthrew the Directory,
imposed a new constitution, and
named himself first consul
• In 1802, he became consul for
life and in 1804 crowned himself
emperor
Napoleon as Stabilizer
• Napoleon brought stability to France through the
Civil Code and the Concordat
– The Concordat made peace with the Catholic Church
– The Civil Code affirmed the political and legal equality
of all adult men and protected private property
• But while Napoleon brought stability to France,
his quest for power and the Revolution’s
expansionist policy brought instability in Europe
Napoleon as Authoritarian
• Limited free speech, routinely
censoring newspapers
• Established a secret police
force and detained thousands
of political opponents
• Manipulated public opinion
through systematic propaganda
• Ignored elective bodies
• Surrounded himself with loyal
military officers
• Set his family above and apart
from the French people
Joseph Fouche, head of
Napoleon’s secret police
Napoleon as Military Reformer
• In 1800 Napoleon
formally adopted the
corps d’armee
system
– The corps consisted
of several divisions,
elements of all arms,
and a small staff
– They were highly
mobile, flexible, and
able to operate
independently
Marengo: May-June 1800
(Manoeuvre sur les derrieres)
• Using the mobile
corps d’armee system,
Napoleon marched his
army across the Alps;
the first major army to
do so since Hannibal
in 218 BC
• Then using
manoeuvre sur les
derrieres he defeated
the Austrians at
Marengo
Peace of Amiens
• Even after Marengo fighting continued with
the Austrians until December 1800
• In Feb 1801 the Peace of Luneville ended
the war with the Second Coalition
• In March 1802 Great Britain agreed to the
Peace of Amiens
• For the first time in ten years Europe was
at peace
Renewed Fighting
• Napoleon’s continued aggressive
foreign policy led Great Britain to
renew war against France in May
1803 and in 1805 Austria and
Russia formed a Third Coalition
against France
• Napoleon had built an outstanding
general staff around chief of staff
Alexandre Berthier
– Napoleon remained the brains of
the army, but the general staff
took care of enough
administrative and control
functions to allow Napoleon the
freedom to move about the
battlefield (“command and
control”)
Berthier
Additional Reforms
• By 1805 Napoleon’s Grand Army had seven
corps that could operate independently or be
grouped together to form ad hoc field armies
• Napoleon organized his cavalry into heavy, light,
and line units which proved especially skilled in
the pursuit
• He employed artillery with infantry divisions and
cavalry brigades as well as maintaining an
artillery reserve for the army
• The end result as a more uniform and flexible
structure designed for offensive operations
Napoleonic Soldiers
• Napoleon’s soldiers were
different from those in other
European armies
• They were largely combat
veterans that seldom saw
garrison duty
• New recruits spent little time in
training camps, instead learning
by mingling with the veterans
• Napoleon prized eagerness and
spirit over education
• Of Napoleon’s seven corps
commanders in 1805, only two
were over 40
• The ability to march long
distances was essential
The Other Armies
• The other European armies, most notably
the Austrians, had made few
improvements
• The highest positions were reserved for
members of the emperor’s family
– Most officers received direct appointments or
transferred from foreign armies
– Appointment of officers was the sole
prerogative of regimental colonels
Ulm
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• In Sept 1805 the Austrians moved into Bavaria with three
armies on line
• As soon as he ascertained the Austrians’ advance,
Napoleon dispatched Marshall Joachim Murat’s cavalry
followed by various corps
Ulm
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• Using his superior
mobility and ability
to live off the land,
Napoleon drove
deep into Germany
and conducted a
gigantic strategic
envelopment of the
Austrians
• 27,000 Austrians
surrendered
Austerlitz
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• Three days after Ulm, Napoleon marched
toward Vienna and the Russians opposing him
withdrew and received reinforcements
• Napoleon realized that after chasing the allied
armies almost 400 miles his lines of
communications were vulnerable and winter was
approaching
• He decided to lure the enemy into a decisive
engagement to end the campaign with one great
battle
Austerlitz
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• Napoleon did a careful
reconnaissance and
selected the Pratzen
heights as the site for the
battle but did not
concentrate his entire
army there in hopes of
luring the allies into an
attack
• When the allies attacked
on Nov 30, Napoleon had
his soldiers withdraw from
the Pratzen heights,
feigning disorder
Austerlitz
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• The allies occupied the
heights and on Dec 2 they
launched a three column
attack that was exactly
what Napoleon had hoped
for
– As the allies advanced,
they weakened their
center at the Pratzen
heights in order to
commit more forces to
their southern attack
– Napoleon attacked the
weakened allied center
and it collapsed
Austerlitz
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• Hundreds of Russians
surrendered
• As others tried to
escape across the ice
covered Satschan and
Menitz ponds,
Napoleon fired artillery
that helped break the
ice and compel the
Russians to surrender
or drown
Austerlitz
(Mobility and decisive battle)
• The allies lost
almost a third of
their troops
• Austria signed the
Treaty of
Pressburg on Dec
26 which ended
the Third Coalition
but the Russians
kept on fighting
Napoléon at the Battle of Austerlitz,
by Francois Gerard
Jena-Auerstadt
(Corps System)
• In Oct 1806 a Fourth Coalition of Britain,
Prussia, and Russia formed to fight
Napoleon
• The Prussians had an outdated army that
had a woefully immobile supply system
• On Oct 14 Napoleon concentrated 90,000
men and defeated what he thought was
the main Prussian army at Jena
Jena-Auerstadt
(Corps System)
• In the meantime, Davout’s
corps of 26,000 men
encountered a much
stronger Prussian force
about thirteen miles from
Jena at Auerstadt
• Davout appealed to
Bernadotte for help but
Bernadotte ignored him
• With no choice but to fight
or surrender, Davout
fought with a determination
that shocked the Prussians
Jena-Auerstadt
(Corps System)
• At Auerstadt, Davout won
although outnumbered
three to two in infantry, six
to one in cavalry, and five
to one in artillery
• The victory proved the
superiority of the corps
system
• Napoleon vigorously
pursued the fleeing
Prussians who were almost
completely destroyed
Marshall Louis Nicholas Davout
Trafalgar
(British Naval Superiority)
• In the Napoleonic era, the British navy
dominated the sea while the French army
dominated the European continent
– The British naval superiority lay in its fleet
greater aggressiveness and skill
• In 1804 Napoleon developed a plan to
draw the British fleet away from the
English Channel where it blocked a
French invasion
Trafalgar
(British Naval Superiority)
• Napoleon had his fleet sail for the West Indies
which would cause the British to divert ships
from the Channel to meet this new threat
• The plan failed and instead Napoleon ordered
Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve to “dominate” the
coast of southern Spain
• British Admiral Horatio Nelson and Villeneuve
then met off Cape Trafalgar on the southern tip
of the Spanish coast on Oct 20, 1805
Trafalgar
(British Naval Superiority)
• Villeneuve’s fleet
formed in a single
line while Nelson
formed his into
two
• Nelson’s southern
column attacked
first cutting off 16
of the French and
enemy ships and
then the northern
column struck
Trafalgar
(British Naval Superiority)
• Nelson was killed by a sniper
but the British gained one of the
most decisive victories in naval
history
– The British took or destroyed
18 of the enemy’s 34 ships
of the line while losing none
of their own
• Trafalgar gave the British
undisputed control of the seas
and the French were confined
to the land and made
vulnerable to strikes from the
coast
Continental System
(Economics)
• With Britain safe from attack, Napoleon turned
more energetically to economic warfare
• In Nov 1806, he established the Continental
System which sought to blockade the British
Isles and close the ports of France and its
satellites to ships coming from Britain or its
colonies
• The idea was to ruin Britain’s trade-based
economy by eliminating its chief market
Continental System
(Economics)
• Enforcing the Continental System proved
difficult because:
– Europeans had become reliant on cheap
British goods
– The British worked around the system through
smuggling and bribery
– The system hurt the French too
Peninsular War
(Guerrilla War)
• Napoleon’s efforts to enforce the
Continental System eventually led him into
battle on the Iberian Peninsula and later
Russia
– By the fall of 1807, all the nations of
continental Europe except Portugal and
Sweden had joined the Continental System
– Napoleon arranged with the king of Spain to
attack Portugal through Spain
Peninsular War
(Guerrilla War)
• Napoleon occupied
Portugal easily but he
was also becoming wary
of Spain’s loyalty so he
sent 127,000 troops into
northern Spain and later
forced the king and his
son to abdicate in his
favor
• Napoleon now controlled
almost the entire
European continent
Napoleon made his brother
Joseph the king of Spain
Peninsular War
(Guerrilla War)
• A resistance movement erupted in
Spain and the British also sent an
expeditionary force to Portugal
– Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future
Duke of Wellington)
commanded the British forces
and compelled the French to
evacuate Portugal
– In Spain Napoleon grew
increasingly frustrated why his
traditional methods that had
brought victory elsewhere were
unable to crush what had
become a “people’s war” led by
clerics and minor government
officials
The Duke of Wellington
Peninsular War
(Guerrilla War)
• The guerrilla war in Spain became a “bleeding ulcer” for
Napoleon that eventually claimed the lives of some
300,000 Frenchmen
• Napoleon misunderstood the nature of the war and was
never able to deal with both the guerrillas and Wellesley
simultaneously
• So long as the British remained in Portugal, the Spanish
guerrillas had hope and a source of supplies
• On June 21, 1813 Wellesley finally defeated the French
at Vitoria and forced them out of Spain
• The loss of the Peninsular War was a major factor in the
eventual collapse of Napoleon’s Empire
Aspern-Essling and Wagram
(Napoleon in decline)
• France’s early difficulties in
Spain raised hopes among
Austrians wanting to reverse
their losses
• Napoleon was able to solicit
an agreement with Russian
Tsar Alexander I for support
in a war against Austria but
Britain allied with Austria in
what would become the Fifth
Coalition against Napoleon
Tsar Alexander I
Aspern-Essling and Wagram
(Napoleon in decline)
• The Austrians had improved
their army since Austerlitz but
still maintained a highly
centralized command and
control system that limited
flexibility and mobility
• Napoleon’s army had
deteriorated because of the
guerrilla war in Spain and he
was forced now to increasingly
rely on artillery and massive
assault columns
An Austrian
field artilleryman
Aspern-Essling and Wagram
(Napoleon in decline)
• Napoleon began
crossing the Danube
River on a single bridge
and occupying the
towns of Aspern and
Essling
• The Austrians
interrupted Napoleon’s
concentration of forces
by repeatedly breaking
the bridge
• In the face of repeated
Austrian assaults,
Napoleon was forced to
withdraw
Pontoons of the
type used to make
the bridge across
the Danube
Aspern-Essling and Wagram
(Napoleon in decline)
• Archduke Charles of
Austria was still an 18th
Century general and he
failed to follow up on his
success at AspernEssling
• Charles’s inactivity
allowed Napoleon to
build several bridges
across the Danube and
replenish his logistics
and artillery
• On the night of July 3-4,
1809 Napoleon feigned a
crossing toward AspernEssling and instead
crossed further east
Aspern-Essling and Wagram
(Napoleon in decline)
• After desperate fighting Napoleon finally secured
Wagram but he could not defeat the Austrian
army
• Although the Austrians ultimately signed the
Treaty of Schonbrunn on Oct 14, 1809, ending
the Fifth Coalition, the battle of Wagram marked
a shift in Napoleonic warfare
– Although victorious, the French forces at Wagram
were clearly not of the same caliber as those that had
fought in previous campaigns
Aspern-Essling and Wagram
(Napoleon in decline)
• Rather than an army of
volunteers devoted to
French nationalism,
Napoleon now
commanded many poorly
trained conscripts and
foreign troops
• To make up for his inferior
infantry, Napoleon
increasingly relied on
artillery which marked the
beginning of a more
bloody and difficult era of
fighting
Russia
(Logistics)
• In 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia,
believing that the Russians, who were growing
increasingly frustrated by the Continental
System, were conspiring with the British
• He assembled a massive army of 600,000
soldiers, but this enormous size required supply
trains that limited Napoleon’s mobility
• Napoleon captured Moscow, but the Russians
refused to surrender
– Instead, Russian patriots burned the city, leaving
Napoleon without supplies or shelter
Russia
(Logistics)
• Napoleon was
forced to retreat
– Defeated by “General
Winter”
– Only 30,000 soldiers
made it back to
France
• The defeat in Russia
emboldened a
coalition of British,
Austrian, Prussian,
and Russian armies
to converge on
France
An episode from the retreat from
Russia, by Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet
Defeat and Return
• For the first time
Napoleon faced four
great powers
simultaneously
• The Coalition forced
Napoleon to abdicate
his throne in April 1814,
restored the French
monarchy, and exiled
Napoleon to the island
of Elba, near Corsica
• In March 1815,
Napoleon escaped,
returned to France, and
reconstituted his army
Waterloo
(Reverse Slope)
• On June 18, 1815 Napoleon had 72,000
men and 246 guns facing Wellington’s
force of 68,000 men and 156 guns at
Mount St. Jean, just south of Waterloo
• Wellington positioned many of his soldiers
on the reverse slope of Mount St. Jean
were they were partially hidden and
received some protection from Napoleon’s
artillery
Waterloo
(Reverse Slope)
• The fighting went back
and forth until Napoleon
finally committed his
last reserve– nine
battalions of the Old
Guard
• British infantrymen
halted the Old Guard’s
attack and it broke and
ran
• British and Prussians
pursued the retreating
French and Wellington
gained a decisive
victory
Waterloo
• Napoleon returned to Paris
fully intending to continue
the struggle but the
national legislature refused
to support him
• Napoleon had no choice
but to abdicate the throne
• This time the Allies
banished him to the remote
island of St. Helena in the
south Atlantic
Napoleon was originally interred in St. Helena
• He died in 1821
but in 1840 his remains were moved to Paris
and are now in Les Invalides where many
French military heroes are buried
Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
• Revolutionary ideology marked a rejection
of limited war in favor of total war
– Armies got bigger in order to achieve the
goals of destroying enemies, overthrowing
governments, and annexing territory
– The levee en masse mobilized every aspect
of the country
Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
• The quality of soldiers and officers
improved
– Citizen-soldiers were motivated by patriotism
– Officers corps were opened up to men of
talent
Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
• The techniques of fighting changed
– New emphasis on speed and mobility
– Commanders subdivided armies to facilitate
movement, drawing supplies, and flexibility
– Tactics were simplified and weapons,
especially artillery, were improved
Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
• Helped Mahan formulate his theories on
sea power
– Saw the Navy’s economic strangulation of
France by blockade as the key to Britain’s
defeat of Napoleon
– “It was not by attempting great military
operations on land, but by controlling the sea,
and through the sea the world outside
Europe,” that the British “ensured the triumph
of their country.”
Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
• Problems
– Some areas and conditions did not support
Napoleon’s desire to live off the land
– Mounting casualties among veterans compelled an
increased reliance on poorly trained and less
motivated conscripts and foreigners
– Guerrilla warfare did not facilitate Napoleon’s desire
for decisive victory
– Napoleon’s enemies began partially implementing his
reforms
– The British had a sea power advantage
Influences of Napoleonic Warfare
• Problems
– Napoleon had his own limitations
• Failed to comprehend the new situations in Spain
or Russia
• Overconfident and power-hungry
• Unwilling to compromise at the peak of his power
in 1809 or before in order to achieve a comfortable
peace
• A great campaigner, but not so skilled at grand
strategy or foreign policy
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