Three Wars That Led To The Defeat

Of Napoleon Essay, Research Paper

Three wars that led to the defeat of Napoleon

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Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most powerful men ever to walk the face of the

earth. Many believe him to be the first anti-christ, just as Nostradamus predicted. To

the troops he commanded, he was known as the “friendly little corporal” , and to the

monarchs and kings that he overthrew, he was the “Corsican Ogre” (”Napoleon

Bonaparte” ). Some thought him to be a great reformer. Others thought that he was a

monster. However, friend and foe alike could both agree on one thing; Napoleon I,

Emperor of France and leader of most of Europe for sixteen years, was one of the

greatest and boldest military geniuses of all time(”Napoleon Bonaparte”). However, like

every great leader, Napoleon too had his downfall. Napoleon participated in three wars

that led to his downfall: “The Attack on Russia”, “The War of Nations”, and “Waterloo”.

Napoleon was once quoted as saying,

“A battle is a dramatic action which has a beginning,

a middle, and an end. The order of battle which

the two armies take, the first movements to come

to blows- this is the exposition; the counter-

movement of the army under attack form the

complication, which requires dispositions and

and brings on crisis from which springs the

result or Denouement (Gray 6)”.

Napoleon thought himself to be invincible and God-like. He felt that he had a destiny to

be one of the greatest military leaders to ever live. The man thought that he could not

be killed on the battle field, he was right. He went from a soldier to the Emperor of

France in just ten short years; he fell in less than three.

Napoleon led an army of six-hundred-thousand men into Russia (Reihn 159). Napoleon

was always very concerned about his soldiers and made sure that they were well taken

care of (Segur 58 ). Napoleon attacked Russia from the Neims River on June 24, 1812.

As soon as they crossed the Neims, a Cossack surprised them and questioned them.

They said they were French and that they had come to make war with Russia. Some of

the soldiers chased the Cossack into the forest and fired at him (Segur 68). This made

Napoleon very angry. They slept on the bank of the Neims with their weapons in hand.

Napoleon also issued a fire ban so that they would be undetected by their enemy.

There was a great thunder-storm and they took shelter. From there he traveled to

Kovno. From Kovno they pushed the Russians further into Russia. They kept on the

Russians trail for a month (Segur 74). The Russians kept retreating back into the

country, burning all supplies that Napoleon could use, be!

cause the Russians knew that Napoleon’s supplies would not last very long (Reihn 159).

After about a month they saw the enemy and immediately started firing their cannons

at the enemy.

The French won the first battle at Ostrovna. Napoleon’s brother-in-law Murat drove the

remaining Russians into the woods. The Russians took new positions. The Russians

came out of the woods yelling and screaming. The French beat them down, and the

Russians retreated back into the woods. Napoleon ordered the fighting to stop so he

could survey the land and plan the next battle (Segur 89).

By mid-summer the soldiers began to get worn out and the supplies broke down. The

oxen and horses died and the soldiers had to marsh through the waterlogged soil. The

Russians kept retreating and after a while one-hundred and fifty-thousand French

soldiers had died. He attacked a walled city called Smolensk, hoping to force the

Russians to fight there, but his army was beaten down. Napoleon had trouble sleeping

and he tried to devise a plan to defeat the Russians. The Russians lost a third of their

men. When Napoleon finally reached Moscow, it was on fire. All supplies and shelter

were gone and he had no choice but to return back home with his remaining 100,000

men (Reihn 229). The attack on Russia had failed.

Once Napoleon knew that he had lost in Russia he went back to France to raise a new

army. He arrived before Christmas in 1812. He knew that Alexander would try to crush

him

(Corley 117). Alexander wanted to settle the score with France. In the spring of 1813

the fighting began. Napoleon and the Tsar reached a breathing point allowing both to

build up their armies. Napoleon’s army grew to four-hundred-fifty-thousand. He said he

would lead as General, not a Emperor. Disease dealt a great deal of damage to

Napoleons army, Ninty thousand French soldiers were out at once due to sickness. “The

Battle of Nations” began at Leipzig with 190,000 French soldiers against 300,000 allies.

On the third day, Napoleon started a retreat. Sixty thousand French soldiers fell or

were captured in the retreat. All of his armies broke up, and he returned to Paris in

hopes of getting more men and funds, but the

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