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

• 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

• 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)

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 Aspern-Essling

• 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 Aspern-Essling 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

• He died in 1821 Napoleon was originally interred in St. Helena 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

Next

• Student Presentations

• Mexican War and Crimean War