What were the greatest battles of the Napoleonic Wars?
In our ranking the greatest battle of the Napoleonic Wars is Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815, which ended Napoleon's rule for good. Austerlitz and Trafalgar, both of 1805, come next, then Leipzig in 1813 and Borodino in 1812. Jena-Auerstedt, the Nile, Valmy, Marengo and Friedland complete the top ten of our fifteen.
For twenty-three years, from the cannonade at Valmy in 1792 to Waterloo in 1815, the wars of the French Revolution and of Napoleon were fought across Europe, at sea and as far away as Egypt. These fifteen battles are the ones that decided the most and are remembered best. They are ranked by score, not by date: we marked every candidate on recognition, decisiveness, consequence, memory and the certainty of the sources, and the totals set the order. Each entry gives its numbers with their sources and says why it stands where it does; see how we chose and ranked them, and which battles came close.1
For the war as a whole, its coalitions, campaigns and outcome, see our guide to the Napoleonic Wars, 1803 to 1815.
1 Waterloo, 1815
- Where
- Ridge of Mont-Saint-Jean, south of Brussels, Belgium
- War
- Napoleonic Wars, the Hundred Days
- Sides
- Wellington's Anglo-allied army and Blücher's Prussians vs Napoleon's French army
- Strength
- 68,000 Anglo-allied troops and 48,000 Prussians vs 72,000 French
- Result
- Allied victory, 18 June 1815; nearly 40,000 French killed, wounded or captured and 22,000 Allied casualties (National Army Museum); Napoleon abdicated
Napoleon escaped from exile and returned to power in March 1815. On 15 June he crossed into Belgium to beat the two armies gathering there one at a time, and the next day he defeated the Prussians at Ligny while Wellington held Quatre Bras. The Prussians, though, were beaten, not broken: 48,000 of them regrouped and marched to join Wellington, who stood on the ridge of Mont-Saint-Jean to wait for them.2
On 18 June Napoleon had 72,000 men and 246 guns against Wellington's 68,000 men and 156 guns. The French attacked the château of Hougoumont at 11:30 a.m., then sent infantry and massed cavalry against squares that would not break, while the Prussians pushed in on their right at Plancenoit. At about 7 p.m. Napoleon sent in the Imperial Guard. It broke under the fire of British guardsmen and light infantry, and the whole French army fled.3
The National Army Museum counts nearly 40,000 French and 22,000 Allied casualties. Napoleon abdicated and died in exile on St Helena. Myth vs fact: “Up, Guards, and at them!” was printed as Wellington's order in 1815, but he later denied saying it, and Brewer's dictionary added that the 52nd Light Infantry, not the Guards, broke the Imperial Guard's column. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards still keep 18 June as Waterloo Day.4
Why it ranks here: The only battle on the list with full marks on all five criteria, which is why it is No. 1: it ended the Hundred Days and Napoleon's rule for good, its name is known far beyond military history, it is still commemorated, and no battle of the age is better documented.
2 Austerlitz, 1805
- Where
- Near Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna), Moravia, Czech Republic
- War
- Napoleonic Wars, War of the Third Coalition
- Sides
- France vs Russia and Austria
- Strength
- About 76,000 French vs about 85,000 to 90,000 Russians and Austrians, by Theodore Ayrault Dodge's count
- Result
- French victory, 2 December 1805; Allied losses at least 25,000 by Dodge's count, French at least 10,000 killed and wounded
After Ulm and the fall of Vienna, Napoleon was deep in enemy country in November 1805, while a Russian and Austrian army of some 90,000 gathered at Olmütz under the eyes of their emperors. The historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge puts the Allies in line on the day at about 85,000 against some 76,000 French. Napoleon set a trap. He offered an armistice, gave up the Pratzen Heights and left his right wing thin, to draw the Allies south against it.5
On 2 December they took the bait. Soult's troops, hidden in the fog that filled the valley, climbed onto the abandoned heights as the famous “sun of Austerlitz” broke through, and cut the Allied army in two. EBSCO's Research Starters give the Russian loss as 27,000 killed and wounded and the French as 1,300 killed, 6,490 wounded and 500 missing; Dodge puts the Allied loss at no fewer than 25,000 and the French at no fewer than 10,000 killed and wounded.6
Myth vs fact: Napoleon's 30th Bulletin put the French loss at 800 killed and 1,500 to 1,600 wounded, a figure Dodge calls a clear fabrication. The Peace of Pressburg on 26 December took Austria out of the war, and in August 1806 Francis laid down the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. A peace monument stands on the Pratzen plateau, and the battle is still re-enacted near its anniversary.7
Why it ranks here: Napoleon's masterpiece takes full marks for recognition, decisiveness, consequence and certainty; memory is 4, because no national day keeps it the way Waterloo is kept. It ties Trafalgar on 48 with the same recognition and goes ahead on consequence, because it knocked Austria out of the war while Trafalgar ended no war.
3 Trafalgar, 1805
- Where
- Off Cape Trafalgar, southwest Spain
- War
- Napoleonic Wars
- Fleets
- British fleet (Nelson) vs combined French and Spanish fleet (Villeneuve)
- Strength
- 27 vs 33 ships of the line; about 18,000 vs nearly 30,000 men
- Result
- British victory, 21 October 1805; 17 enemy ships captured and one burned; Nelson killed
In 1805 Napoleon still meant to invade Britain, and for that he needed control of the Channel. When the plan failed he turned on Austria and ordered Vice-Admiral Villeneuve to take the combined French and Spanish fleet out of Cadiz into the Mediterranean; 33 ships of the line sailed on 19 October. Nelson was waiting with 27. The enemy had nearly 30,000 men and 2,632 guns to his 18,000 men and 2,148 guns.8
On 21 October, off Cape Trafalgar, the British came on in two columns, slowly in the light wind, straight at the enemy line. At 11:45 a.m. Victory flew the signal “England expects that every man will do his duty.” When the firing stopped at 5:30 p.m., 17 enemy ships had been captured and another was a blazing wreck. The British lost 449 killed; the French and Spanish dead numbered about 4,400 to 4,500.9
Nelson was shot on Victory's deck at 1:15 p.m. and died at 4:30. Myth vs fact: “Kiss me, Hardy” is no legend, since the ship's surgeon William Beatty recorded it, but they were not Nelson's last words; Beatty gives those as “Thank God, I have done my duty,” repeated until he could no longer speak. Trafalgar ended Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain and opened a century of British naval supremacy, though the war on land went on for another decade.10
Why it ranks here: The same scores as on our naval list: full marks for recognition, decisiveness, memory and certainty, but consequence 4, because it did not end the war with Napoleon. That leaves it level with Austerlitz on 48 and equal on recognition, so the tie goes to Austerlitz on consequence.
4 Leipzig, 1813
- Where
- Around Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
- War
- Napoleonic Wars, War of the Sixth Coalition
- Sides
- Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden vs Napoleon's France and its allies
- Strength
- Over 320,000 allied soldiers vs about 180,000 under Napoleon, by HISTORY's estimate; 520,000 in all by the Habsburg history site's count
- Result
- Coalition victory, 16 to 19 October 1813; about 38,000 French and 55,000 coalition casualties (HISTORY)
Napoleon came back from Russia at the end of 1812 with his army badly depleted, and he rebuilt it largely with new, inexperienced recruits. Prussia and Sweden joined Russia and Britain, Austria followed in August, and in October the coalition's armies closed on him around Leipzig from the south, the north and the northwest.11
The battle lasted from 16 to 19 October. On the first day Napoleon made Prince Józef Poniatowski, commander of his Polish corps, a Marshal of France. On the 18th the coalition brought up strong reinforcements and Napoleon's German allies took the chance to change sides, the Saxons among them. The retreat turned into disaster when the only bridge over the Elster was blown too early, leaving some 30,000 men to be captured, and Poniatowski drowned trying to cross the river.12
Estimates of the size and the cost differ: HISTORY speaks of more than half a million soldiers and about 38,000 French and 55,000 coalition casualties, the Habsburg history site of 520,000 men and 90,000 dead. It was Europe's largest battle before World War I, and it ended French rule east of the Rhine. On its centenary, 18 October 1913, the 91-meter Monument to the Battle of the Nations was inaugurated at Leipzig.13
Why it ranks here: Full marks for decisiveness and consequence, because it drove Napoleon out of Germany for good; but worldwide the Battle of the Nations is less known than Waterloo, so recognition 4, and its strengths and losses vary from source to source, so certainty 4.
5 Borodino, 1812
- Where
- Near the village of Borodino, on the road to Moscow, Russia
- War
- Napoleonic Wars, French invasion of Russia
- Sides
- Napoleon's Grande Armée vs Kutuzov's Russian army
- Strength
- About 130,000 French and allies vs about 120,000 to 135,000 Russians (EBSCO, the Fondation Napoléon and the Polish agency PAP)
- Result
- French tactical victory, 7 September 1812; the Russians withdrew; over 70,000 casualties (disputed)
Napoleon invaded Russia in June 1812, and as the Russian armies fell back before it, the Grande Armée dwindled through the summer on scanty rations. Kutuzov turned to fight at Borodino, on the road to Moscow. EBSCO gives him perhaps 120,000 effective soldiers; the Fondation Napoléon gives Napoleon 130,000 men and 587 guns and Kutuzov 135,000 men and 624 guns.14
On 7 September Napoleon threw frontal attacks at the Bagration flèches and the Great Redoubt; the Fondation Napoléon says the fighting lasted 15 hours. By evening the Russians had been forced out of both, but they withdrew in good order, because Napoleon kept his Guard in reserve. He went on to occupy Moscow, much of which was burned, and the retreat that followed destroyed his army.15
Myth vs fact: the losses were never firmly counted, and the sources disagree. EBSCO gives about 28,000 French and 47,000 Russian losses; the Fondation Napoléon 10,000 French dead and 20,000 wounded, and 15,000 Russian dead and 35,000 wounded; NPR at least 30,000 French dead and wounded and around 45,000 Russian casualties; and Russian historians, quoted by the Polish agency PAP, 35,000 to 40,000 French and 40,000 to 45,000 Russians. NPR calls it the single bloodiest day of the Napoleonic Wars, and The Moscow Times counts over 70,000 killed or wounded. Tolstoy made it the center of War and Peace, and re-enactors have long refought it there every September.16
Why it ranks here: Full marks for recognition and memory, as the bloodiest day of the wars and the heart of War and Peace; but the Russian army withdrew in order and Napoleon lost the campaign anyway, so decisiveness 3 and consequence 4, and the disputed losses leave certainty at 4. It ties Jena-Auerstedt on 43 and goes ahead on recognition.
6 Jena-Auerstedt, 1806
- Where
- Jena and Auerstedt, Thuringia, Germany
- War
- Napoleonic Wars, War of the Fourth Coalition
- Sides
- France vs Prussia and Saxony
- Strength
- Some 240,000 on both fields (Fondation Napoléon); by Dodge's count about 90,000 French vs no more than 50,000 at Jena, and Davout's 30,000 vs some 50,000 at Auerstedt
- Result
- French victory on both fields, 14 October 1806; 30,000 to 35,000 dead and wounded
Prussia, given Hanover after Austerlitz, soon lost hope of peace, and on 26 August 1806 it demanded that Napoleon pull his troops back behind the Rhine by 8 October. He answered by marching into Thuringia, and on 13 October, reaching Jena, he took the Prussian force in front of him for their main army.17
He was wrong. At Jena on 14 October, attacking out of thick fog, he had fully 90,000 men, by Dodge's count, against no more than 50,000 under Hohenlohe and Rüchel, and Rüchel's 15,000, sent in at about 2 p.m., were beaten in less than half an hour, by the Fondation Napoléon's account. The main Prussian army, some 50,000 men with the king and the Duke of Brunswick, was further north at Auerstedt, where it ran into Marshal Davout's single corps of about 30,000.18
Facing a force Dodge reckons at twice his own, Davout held, then attacked; Brunswick was mortally wounded, and by 5 p.m. the Prussian main army was falling back past Auerstedt. In all, Dodge writes, the French took some 25,000 prisoners and 200 guns that day. Napoleon at first disbelieved the reports, the Fondation Napoléon writes, before giving Davout warm recognition, and Davout was given the honor of entering Berlin first. Blücher, the last Prussian commander still in the field, was forced to surrender near Lübeck on 7 November, Dodge writes. The shock drove the reforms that rebuilt Prussia: in October 1807 Stein's edict freed the Prussian serfs.19
Why it ranks here: Full marks for decisiveness, consequence and certainty: two battles on one day destroyed the Prussian army, and the state collapsed within weeks. But the name is less famous than Austerlitz, so recognition 4, and no great tradition keeps it alive, so memory 3. It ties Borodino on 43 and comes after it on recognition.
7 The Nile, 1798
- Where
- Aboukir Bay, east of Alexandria, Egypt
- War
- French Revolutionary Wars, Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt
- Fleets
- British fleet (Rear-Admiral Nelson) vs French fleet (Admiral Brueys)
- Strength
- 14 British ships of the line by EBSCO's count vs 13 French, plus 4 French frigates
- Result
- British victory, 1 to 2 August 1798; 11 of 13 French ships of the line taken or destroyed; flagship L'Orient blown up
In May 1798 Bonaparte sailed from Toulon for Egypt, taking Malta on the way; his fleet of 13 ships of the line was led by the flagship L'Orient, a three-decker with a crew of more than a thousand. By the time Nelson found it on 1 August, the army was ashore and Admiral Brueys had anchored his line in Aboukir Bay, too far from the shore and with all his guns pointing out to sea.20
Nelson attacked at once, late in the afternoon. The leading British ship risked the shallows and passed between the French line and the shore, others followed, and the anchored French were bombarded from both sides. Brueys was killed, and at about 10 p.m. L'Orient blew up; the blast was apparently heard in Alexandria, and the fighting stopped for some 15 minutes.21
Of 13 French ships of the line and four frigates, only two of each escaped; of the rest, nine were taken, three burned and one sunk. More than 35,000 French soldiers were cut off in Egypt, and by EBSCO's account the victory's prestige let William Pitt build the Second Coalition. Nelson was made Baron Nelson of the Nile, and in 1806 he was buried in a coffin made from the wood of L'Orient.22
Why it ranks here: The same scores as on our naval list: full marks for decisiveness and certainty, because Nelson destroyed a fleet and stranded an army. But Trafalgar overshadows it, so recognition 4; it did not end the war, so consequence 4; and little beyond Nelson's title recalls it today, so memory 3.
8 Valmy, 1792
- Where
- Valmy, near Sainte-Menehould, northeastern France
- War
- French Revolutionary Wars, War of the First Coalition
- Sides
- French Armies of the Center and the North (Kellermann, Dumouriez) vs the Prussian army (Duke of Brunswick)
- Strength
- A Prussian army of 35,000 against a French army more than twice its size, by EBSCO's count
- Result
- French victory, 20 September 1792; about 300 French and 184 Prussian dead by EBSCO's count; the Prussian army then withdrew from France
In August 1792 a Prussian and Austrian army under the Duke of Brunswick invaded France to restore the authority of Louis XVI. Longwy and Verdun fell by 3 September, two thirds of the French army's officers had quit or deserted, and the Prussians were confident of a quick victory. Dumouriez and Kellermann joined forces at Valmy, where, oddly, the Prussians stood further along the road to Paris than the French.23
On 20 September, a foggy morning, a Prussian barrage opened on the French guns by the windmill of Valmy, and Prussian infantry and cavalry advanced up the heights, but under French fire they stopped and fell back to their camp on La Lune. Losses were small: EBSCO counts 184 Prussian dead left on the field and about 300 French dead, although Creasy, writing in 1851, has the Prussians leave 800 dead.24
Goethe, who rode with the Prussian army as a spectator, recalled telling his companions that evening: “From this place, and from this day forth, commences a new era in the world's history.” The next day the newly met National Convention created the Republic. The demoralized Prussian army, worn down by hunger and disease, limped out of France. Edward Creasy counted Valmy among his Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, and its rebuilt windmill is, in the words of President Chirac's 2005 message, a major place of memory of the Republic.25
Why it ranks here: Full marks for consequence, because it saved the Revolution and the newborn Republic; but it was little more than a cannonade and the war went on for 23 years, so decisiveness 4, the figures vary between accounts, so certainty 4, and outside France the name is known mainly through Goethe and Creasy, so recognition 3.
9 Marengo, 1800
- Where
- Plain of Marengo near Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy
- War
- War of the Second Coalition
- Sides
- First Consul Bonaparte's Army of the Reserve vs Melas's Austrian army
- Strength
- About 28,000 on each side in the field by Dodge's count; at first the French were outnumbered at least two to one, by Don Barry's account
- Result
- French victory; Austria withdrew behind the Mincio; losses disputed
Bonaparte had seized power in Paris only months before, and he needed a quick and decisive victory. In May 1800 he took his new Army of the Reserve over the Great St Bernard Pass into Italy and cut the supply lines of Michael von Melas's Austrian army. Sure the Austrians would slip away rather than fight, he sent General Desaix south with two divisions, and on the morning of 14 June Melas attacked; by Dodge's count each side had about 28,000 men in the field.26
By early afternoon the French were close to collapse. Desaix, called back in haste, arrived at about three o'clock, and a battery of 18 guns under Marmont, a charge by Desaix's division and a charge by 400 horsemen under Kellermann broke the Austrian column; Desaix was killed in the charge. Melas asked for a truce and agreed to evacuate northern Italy as far as the Mincio.27
Myth vs fact: David painted Bonaparte crossing the Alps on a rearing horse, but, as the official Bulletin admitted, he crossed the pass in plain furs on a mule, and fell in the snow at least once. The losses are disputed: Dodge gives the Austrians 1,000 killed, 5,500 wounded and 3,000 captured and the French 1,100 killed, 3,600 wounded and 900 captured, while Don Barry of the Fondation Napoléon gives the Austrians 6,000 dead and 8,000 prisoners. The battle lives on in chicken Marengo, said to have been improvised by his cook that evening, and in Puccini's Tosca, whose plot turns on the news from Marengo.28
Why it ranks here: A well-known name that made Bonaparte's power at home, so recognition 4; but the war went on until Hohenlinden in December, so decisiveness 4 and consequence 4, and because Napoleon had the official account rewritten, certainty is only 3. It ties Friedland and Vitoria on 37 and leads them on recognition.
10 Friedland, 1807
- Where
- Friedland on the Alle River, East Prussia (now Pravdinsk, Russia)
- War
- War of the Fourth Coalition
- Sides
- Napoleon's French and allied army vs Bennigsen's Russian army
- Strength
- About 80,000 French vs about 60,000 Russians in action, by Dodge's count
- Result
- French victory; at least 20,000 Russian losses, and about 12,000 French by some accounts (Dodge)
Eight months after Jena the war was still not over, and Napoleon and the Russian commander Bennigsen faced each other in East Prussia. In the night of 13 June Bennigsen brought most of his army over the Alle at Friedland against Lannes, who had come up ahead of the French army, and drew it up in front of the town with the river and a mill-brook at his back.29
From about 3 a.m. on 14 June Lannes held on while Bennigsen deployed slowly, taking five or six hours. By noon Napoleon had reached the field with some 80,000 men. In the afternoon Ney attacked the Russian left, and when his divisions were thrown back, General Sénarmont galloped up with Victor's 36 guns and fired grape and canister at close range into the Russians packed between the pond and the river.30
The Russians were pressed back into the town, which caught fire, the bridges were burned, and thousands tried to wade or swim the Alle. Dodge puts the Russian loss at no fewer than 20,000 and notes that some authorities give the French 12,000. Bennigsen soon asked for a truce. After Napoleon and Alexander met on a raft on the Niemen, the Peace of Tilsit gave Prussia's lands west of the Elbe to the new kingdom of Westphalia and turned its Polish lands into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.31
Why it ranks here: Full marks for decisiveness and consequence, because it ended the war and redrew the map of Germany and Poland; but few outside military history know the name, so recognition 3 and memory 2, and the sources disagree on the size of both armies, so certainty 4. It ties Marengo and Vitoria on 37, trails Marengo on recognition and stays ahead of Vitoria on consequence.
11 Vitoria, 1813
- Where
- Plain of Vitoria (Vitoria-Gasteiz), Basque Country, northern Spain
- War
- Peninsular War
- Sides
- Wellington's British, Portuguese and Spanish army vs King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan
- Strength
- Wellington's allied army against Joseph's Army of Spain; the numbers vary by source
- Result
- Allied victory; about 5,000 allied killed or wounded, about 5,000 French killed or wounded and 3,000 captured (National Army Museum)
In 1813, after the disaster in Russia, King Joseph was left with poor troops and little money. Wellington advanced with 120,000 British, Spanish and Portuguese soldiers and kept turning the French flank until Joseph and Marshal Jourdan fell back into the basin of Vitoria, one of the worst positions they could have chosen, with their baggage train behind them.32
On 21 June Wellington caught the French at Vitoria and defeated them in an enveloping attack. In Dodge's account, Hill and the Spaniards attacked Subijana, Picton's troops took Arinez, and Graham took Gamarra and sent a force on that cut the direct line of retreat, leaving the French only the road to Pamplona. The pursuit stalled when allied soldiers fell on the French baggage, a train that by Dodge's count included 150 guns and 25 million francs of treasure; Joseph himself narrowly escaped.33
The National Army Museum counts about 5,000 French killed or wounded and 3,000 taken prisoner, and about 5,000 allied killed or wounded; Dodge gives 6,000 French and 5,200 allied losses. The National Army Museum judges that the victory effectively ended French control in Spain. Beethoven celebrated it in Wellington's Victory, or the Battle of Vittoria, first played in December 1813 at the same charity concerts as his Seventh Symphony.34
Why it ranks here: Full marks for decisiveness, since it ended French rule in Spain, but consequence 4, because Napoleon's fate was settled in Germany; it is far less known than Waterloo, so recognition 3 and memory 3, and the sources give different strengths for both armies, so certainty 4. It ties Marengo and Friedland on 37 and comes last of the three: below Marengo on recognition and below Friedland on consequence.
12 Wagram, 1809
- Where
- Marchfeld plain north of the Danube, near Vienna, Austria
- War
- War of the Fifth Coalition
- Sides
- Napoleon's French and allied army vs Archduke Charles's Austrians
- Strength
- Over 200,000 French and allies vs about 140,000 Austrians with 450 guns on the field, by Dodge's count
- Result
- French victory; nearly 25,000 Austrian losses and no fewer French, by Dodge's count
Six weeks after Aspern-Essling, where Archduke Charles had thrown him back over the Danube, Napoleon tried again. He turned the island of Lobau into a fortified base, gathered a force Dodge puts at over 200,000 men, and on the night of 4 July crossed from the island where the Archduke did not expect him. Charles had some 140,000 men and 450 guns on the field.35
The fighting on the Marchfeld lasted two days, 5 and 6 July 1809. On the second day the Austrians pushed as far as Essling, but Davout turned their left at Neusiedl, and at about one o'clock Macdonald's huge column drove into the center, losing 2,000 men within a quarter of an hour. Not long after two Charles ordered the retreat, with Archduke John's corps still ten miles away.36
Dodge puts the Austrian loss at nearly 25,000 men and the French at no less, with each side taking some 7,000 prisoners; the 25th Bulletin valued the French loss at 1,500 killed and 3,000 to 4,000 wounded. After an armistice at Znaim, the Treaty of Schönbrunn, signed on 14 October, gave the Duchy of Warsaw the lands Austria had taken in the Third Partition, Kraków and Lublin among them.37
Why it ranks here: Decisive and well documented, with consequence 4 for a peace that redrew Austria's borders; but it is rarely remembered outside Austria and France, so recognition 3 and memory 2. It ties Somosierra on 36, matches it on recognition and leads on consequence.
13 Somosierra, 1808
- Where
- Somosierra pass on the road north of Madrid, Spain
- War
- Peninsular War
- Sides
- Napoleon's army, led by the Polish light horse of his Guard, vs General San Juan's Spanish force
- Strength
- One Polish squadron, about 200 riders by Andrzej Ziółkowski's count, with French infantry, vs some 10,000 Spaniards with 16 guns by Dodge's
- Result
- Pass taken; 57 of the squadron killed or wounded by Dodge's count, 18 killed and 33 badly wounded by Ziółkowski's; road to Madrid open
In November 1808 Napoleon was marching on Madrid, and the last barrier was the Somosierra pass. General Benito San Juan held it with some 10,000 men, by Dodge's count, and 16 guns trained down the winding mountain road. On 30 November, impatient with his infantry's slow progress, the Emperor sent the 3rd squadron of the Polish Light Horse of his Guard, under Jan Kozietulski, straight at the guns.38
Andrzej Ziółkowski of the Polish Army Museum puts the squadron at about 200 riders. Their order was to take only the first battery. Kozietulski's horse was killed early on, according to General Józef Załuski's memoir, and Krzyżanowski and Dziewanowski led the squadron on from battery to battery. Lieutenant Andrzej Niegolewski reached the last battery with nine bayonet wounds and two bullet wounds, and lived.39
The charge lasted about eight minutes. Dodge counts 57 of the squadron killed or wounded, Ziółkowski 18 killed and 33 seriously wounded, and by Ziółkowski's account some 3,000 Spaniards were taken prisoner. Myth vs fact: the squadron did not win the pass alone; the French skirmishers on the slopes and the squadrons sent after it completed the rout. Madrid surrendered on 4 December. The charge is ranked in our guide to the greatest cavalry charges.40
Why it ranks here: Memory 5 for a living Polish legend and decisiveness 4 for opening the road to Madrid; but the war in Spain went on (consequence 3), the squadron's strength is uncertain (certainty 3) and few outside Poland and Spain know it (recognition 3). It ties Wagram on 36 with the same recognition and falls behind it on consequence.
14 Berezina, 1812
- Where
- Berezina River at Studzianka, north of Borisov (now Belarus)
- War
- French invasion of Russia, 1812
- Sides
- Napoleon's retreating Grande Armée vs the Russian armies of Chichagov and Wittgenstein
- Strength
- By EBSCO's count, Victor's 6,000 against Wittgenstein's 40,000 on the east bank, and Ney and Oudinot's 8,000 against Chichagov's 27,000 on the west, plus many thousands of stragglers
- Result
- Escape across the river; the Fondation Napoléon counts 25,000 combatants and 30,000 non-combatants killed
By late November 1812 what was left of the Grande Armée was retreating from Moscow, and Russian armies were closing on the road west, which crossed the Berezina at Borisov. Admiral Chichagov took the bridgehead there on 21 November, and when Marshal Oudinot won the town back the Russians destroyed the bridge. A thaw had set in, and the river was full of floating ice.41
Oudinot chose the ford at Studzianka, upstream, and made diversions elsewhere to deceive the Russians. General Eblé's pontonniers built two bridges, which let the major part of the army cross on 27 and 28 November. Victor's 6,000 held off Wittgenstein's 40,000 on the east bank, while Ney and Oudinot with 8,000 held off Chichagov's 27,000 on the west.42
Russian guns fired into the crowds of stragglers, and hundreds fell from the bridges in the crush. On the morning of 29 November the bridges were burned with nearly 10,000 men, women and children still on the far bank. The losses are disputed: the Fondation Napoléon speaks of 25,000 combatants and 30,000 non-combatants killed, while EBSCO says about 60,000 men got across and many thousands of stragglers perished. Napoleon got away, and in French une bérézina still means a total failure.43
Why it ranks here: Memory 5, because the name is still French for a disaster; but it decided an escape, not the campaign, so decisiveness and consequence 3; few outside France and Poland know it, so recognition 3; and the losses are disputed, so certainty 4.
15 The Pyramids, 1798
- Where
- Embabeh, on the west bank of the Nile opposite Cairo, Egypt
- War
- French campaign in Egypt and Syria (War of the Second Coalition)
- Sides
- Bonaparte's French army vs Murad Bey's Mamluks and Egyptian militia
- Strength
- An expedition of 35,000 French (EBSCO) vs some 10,000 Mamluks and 20,000 armed fellahin, by Dodge's count
- Result
- French victory; Cairo occupied on 22 July
Bonaparte landed in Egypt in early July 1798 with an expedition of 35,000 men and plans that reached as far as British India. He took Alexandria and moved up the west bank of the Nile toward Cairo, held by the Mamluk beys Murad and Ibrahim. On 21 July he found Murad's army drawn up at Embabeh, on the west bank opposite Cairo. The line every French schoolchild knows, that forty centuries were looking down on the soldiers from these monuments, is given by Andrew Roberts as part of Bonaparte's pre-battle order of the day.44
Bonaparte formed each division into a square six men deep, with artillery in the angles. The Mamluk cavalry charged and broke on the squares, and Embabeh was stormed, its defenders driven into the Nile. Bonaparte claimed 10,000 enemy dead, 2,000 of them Mamluk warriors, against 40 French killed and 260 wounded. Murad withdrew to Upper Egypt, Ibrahim fled toward Syria, and the French occupied Cairo on 22 July. It was the high point of the expedition: on 1 August Nelson destroyed the French fleet in Aboukir Bay, and the army was cut off from France.45
Why it ranks here: One of the best-known names of the era, kept alive by the forty centuries line, so recognition 4; but eleven days later the Nile stranded the army, so decisiveness and consequence 3. It ties Salamanca on 34 and takes this place on recognition.
How we chose and ranked these Napoleonic battles
We counted every land or sea battle of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, from Valmy in 1792 to Waterloo in 1815, whether Napoleon commanded or not, and we ranked it above all on how famous it is and whether it decided a campaign or the course of the war. A long campaign counts through its decisive battle, so Ligny and Quatre Bras are told inside Waterloo. Sieges such as Toulon, Acre and Zaragoza are compared in the greatest sieges in history, sea battles of every age in the greatest naval battles, and single charges such as Murat's at Eylau in the greatest cavalry charges.46 › Battle of Valmy, 1792
We considered 28 candidates and scored each one from 1 to 5 on five criteria. Recognition counts three times, because this page answers the question of which battles of the Napoleonic Wars are the greatest and best known; decisiveness, consequence and memory count twice, and certainty once:
- Recognition (×3). 5 if the name is known far beyond military history and appears on most published lists of its kind, 1 if only specialists know it.
- Decisiveness (×2). 5 if it decided a campaign or the course of the war, 1 if the war went on as if it had not been fought.
- Consequence (×2). 5 if it changed the map, the fate of a state or the way wars are fought, 1 if its effects stayed local.
- Memory (×2). 5 if it is still a living tradition (a national day, a great memorial, a famous book, poem or film), 1 if it is forgotten.
- Certainty (×1). 5 if the numbers and events are confirmed by independent sources, 1 if they rest on one source or are disputed.
The list is ranked by total score, not by date. Ties go to the better-known battle, then to the one with the greater consequence, then to the older one. The scores are our editorial judgment, made on the evidence in the sources below, and the table shows every one of them. It explains, for example, why Borodino, the bloodiest day of the wars, is only fifth: the Russian army withdrew in order, Napoleon entered an empty Moscow and lost the campaign anyway, so the battle decided less than Leipzig did a year later.
| Rank | Name | Recognition ×3 | Decisiveness ×2 | Consequence ×2 | Memory ×2 | Certainty ×1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterloo | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 50 |
| 2 | Austerlitz | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 48 |
| 3 | Trafalgar | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 48 |
| 4 | Leipzig | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 44 |
| 5 | Borodino | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 43 |
| 6 | Jena-Auerstedt | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 43 |
| 7 | The Nile | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 41 |
| 8 | Valmy | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 39 |
| 9 | Marengo | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 37 |
| 10 | Friedland | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 37 |
| 11 | Vitoria | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 37 |
| 12 | Wagram | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 36 |
| 13 | Somosierra | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 36 |
| 14 | Berezina | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 35 |
| 15 | The Pyramids | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 34 |
Close calls
Five battles came close and did not make the fifteen:
Salamanca, 1812. One of Wellington's finest victories, by the National Army Museum's judgment: on 22 July 1812 he broke Marmont's army, inflicting around 14,000 casualties, and on 12 August the allies entered Madrid. It ties the Pyramids on 34 and loses on recognition.47
Copenhagen, 1801. On 2 April 1801 Nelson attacked the Danish line anchored before the city and, when Admiral Parker signaled him to break off, fought on. “I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes,” he is quoted as saying; the telescope he is said to have put to that eye is, in Royal Museums Greenwich’s own word, alleged. The Danes agreed to an armistice, but the League of Armed Neutrality was already breaking up: Tsar Paul of Russia had been assassinated shortly before the battle. So decisiveness 3.48
Hohenlinden, 1800. General Moreau's victory over Archduke John near Munich on 3 December 1800 cost the Austrians some 18,000 men against about 5,000 French, and brought an armistice on 25 December and the Peace of Lunéville in February 1801. It was Hohenlinden, not Marengo, that ended the war, yet few remember the name, so recognition 2.49
Ulm, 1805. Napoleon marched the Grande Armée around the flank of General Mack's Austrian army and trapped it at Ulm; on 20 October 1805 Mack surrendered. Dodge puts his force in the town at nearly 30,000 men, and EBSCO counts more than 50,000 Austrians killed or captured in the campaign. A model of strategy, but a capitulation that opened the campaign rather than a battle that decided it: Austerlitz finished the work.50
Aspern-Essling, 1809. On 21 and 22 May 1809 Archduke Charles threw Napoleon back over the Danube outside Vienna; Dodge notes that the Austrians there scented victory against him for the first time since the early hours of Marengo. Marshal Lannes, struck in both knees by a cannonball, died on 31 May. The losses are uncertain: Dodge rejects Berndt's figure of 42,000 French killed and wounded and cites hospital counts of 12,000 to 15,000 French wounded. But Napoleon recovered and won at Wagram six weeks later, so decisiveness 2.51
See these battles set beside every other era in Battles That Changed the World.
Why the Napoleonic Wars reshaped Europe
For twenty years Napoleon's campaigns set the standard for the art of war: fast-marching corps, massed artillery and the hunt for one decisive battle. His victories at Austerlitz and Jena and his defeats at Leipzig and Waterloo redrew the map of Europe. › Napoleon Bonaparte
Which was Napoleon's greatest victory?
The usual answer is Austerlitz, fought on 2 December 1805 and also called the Battle of the Three Emperors, No. 2 on our list. With about 76,000 men, by Theodore Ayrault Dodge's count, Napoleon beat some 85,000 Austrians and Russians by luring them against his thin right wing, then seizing the Pratzen Heights in the center and cutting their army in two. Within weeks the Peace of Pressburg took Austria out of the war. Waterloo ranks higher on our list, but Waterloo was his defeat. Follow the whole day hour by hour in our account of the Battle of Austerlitz.52
Which battles did Napoleon lose?
Napoleon's best-known defeats are Aspern-Essling in 1809, his first serious loss in the field; Leipzig in 1813, the Battle of the Nations; and Waterloo in 1815, which ended his rule for good. Aspern-Essling was a check he recovered from within weeks. Leipzig and Waterloo were the defeats that cost him his empire.53
Aspern-Essling was fought on 21 and 22 May 1809, just outside Vienna. Napoleon tried to cross the Danube by way of the large island of Lobau and was thrown back by Archduke Charles of Austria. Marshal Lannes, one of his best commanders, was struck in both knees by a cannonball and died on 31 May. Napoleon withdrew into Lobau, prepared a better crossing, and won at Wagram on 5 and 6 July.54
Leipzig, in October 1813, was a different matter. Austrians, Prussians, Russians and Swedes, more than 320,000 men by HISTORY's estimate, closed in on him from several sides. He led the remains of his army back across the Rhine, and his aura of invincibility was gone for good. He abdicated in 1814, escaped from exile the next year, and on 18 June 1815 was beaten at Waterloo by Wellington's army and Blücher's Prussians. He spent the rest of his life in exile on St Helena in the South Atlantic. For the full story of the October battle, read the Battle of Leipzig.55
Where we have a full account of a battle, its entry above links to it. Meet the men who fought them in the greatest military commanders in history.
Test yourself on these battles in the Napoleonic battles quiz, put them in order in Put the Battles in Order, or play today's Battle of the Day.
Notes
A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.
- National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”; Michigan Public, “We'll be “up and at 'em,” once you tell us who 'em are”; E. Cobham Brewer, “Up”; The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, “Waterloo Day”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Austerlitz”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”; Fondation Napoléon, “Austerlitz”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Austerlitz”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”; Fondation Napoléon, “Austerlitz”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Austerlitz”; HISTORY.com Editors, “Napoleon Bonaparte”; Projekt Austerlitz, “Austerlitz.org”. ↩
- National Museum of the Royal Navy, “Trafalgar Day”; Royal Museums Greenwich, “The background to Trafalgar”; Royal Museums Greenwich, “Battle of Trafalgar timeline”. ↩
- National Museum of the Royal Navy, “Trafalgar Day”; Royal Museums Greenwich, “Battle of Trafalgar timeline”; Fondation Napoléon, “A close-up on”. ↩
- National Museum of the Royal Navy, “Trafalgar Day”; Royal Museums Greenwich, “Battle of Trafalgar timeline”; Fondation Napoléon, “A close-up on”; William Beatty, Project Gutenberg; National Geographic, “Britain's greatest naval hero left a riddle with his 'final' words”. ↩
- HISTORY, “Battle of Leipzig”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Leipzig”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “PONIATOWSKI, Józef”; Deutschlandmuseum, “Battle of Leipzig”; HISTORY, “Battle of Leipzig”; Polish History Museum, “Józef Poniatowski”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 4”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Leipzig”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “PONIATOWSKI, Józef”; Deutschlandmuseum, “Battle of Leipzig”; HISTORY, “Battle of Leipzig”; Polish History Museum, “Józef Poniatowski”; Die Welt der Habsburger, “Battles between ‘emperors’ and ‘peoples’”; Stiftung Völkerschlachtdenkmal Leipzig, “Home”; City of Leipzig, “Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal)”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Borodino”; Fondation Napoléon, “Borodino (La Moskowa)”; dzieje.pl, “Rosja uczciła 200. rocznicę zwycięstwa nad Wielką Armią Napoleona”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Borodino”; Fondation Napoléon, “Borodino (La Moskowa)”; NPR, “In Russia, 200-Year-Old Battle A Day To Remember”; The Moscow Times, “Come See the Biggest Battle of 1812”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Borodino”; Fondation Napoléon, “Borodino (La Moskowa)”; NPR, “In Russia, 200-Year-Old Battle A Day To Remember”; dzieje.pl, “Rosja uczciła 200. rocznicę zwycięstwa nad Wielką Armią Napoleona”; The Moscow Times, “Come See the Biggest Battle of 1812”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “Jena-Auerstedt 14 October, 1806”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “Jena-Auerstedt 14 October, 1806”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “Jena-Auerstedt 14 October, 1806”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Freiherr vom Stein”; University of California, “Lecture 5”. ↩
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “The Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of the Nile”; Fondation Napoléon, “The destruction of l'Orient during the Battle of the Nile (Aboukir)”. ↩
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “The Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of the Nile”; Fondation Napoléon, “The destruction of l'Orient during the Battle of the Nile (Aboukir)”. ↩
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “The Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of the Nile”; Royal Museums Greenwich, “Research guide N1”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Valmy”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Valmy”; Edward S. Creasy, Project Gutenberg. ↩
- Edward S. Creasy, Project Gutenberg; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Valmy”; Élysée, “Message de M. Jacques Chirac sur l'importance symbolique de la bataille de Valmy”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “Monumental Meaning at Marengo 1800”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “Monumental Meaning at Marengo 1800”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “Monumental Meaning at Marengo 1800”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”; National Army Museum, “Peninsular War”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Peninsular War”; Beethoven-Haus Bonn, “Wellington's Victory or the Battle of Vittoria, op. 91”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Peninsular War”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”; Beethoven-Haus Bonn, “Wellington's Victory or the Battle of Vittoria, op. 91”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”; Zintegrowana Platforma Edukacyjna, “Wojna w obronie Księstwa Warszawskiego”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”; Museum of Polish History, “Szarża polskich szwoleżerów pod Somosierrą”; Polskie Radio 24, “Zwycięstwo pod Somosierrą, szarża, która przeszła do legendy”. ↩
- Polskie Radio 24, “Zwycięstwo pod Somosierrą, szarża, która przeszła do legendy”; Museum of Polish History, “Szarża polskich szwoleżerów pod Somosierrą”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “Szarża polskich szwoleżerów pod Somosierrą”; Polskie Radio 24, “Zwycięstwo pod Somosierrą, szarża, która przeszła do legendy”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “The French Army crossing the Berezina on 28 November 1812”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”; Fondation Napoléon, “The French Army crossing the Berezina on 28 November 1812”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Berezina River”. ↩
- Fondation Napoléon, “The French Army crossing the Berezina on 28 November 1812”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Berezina River”; Larousse, “bérézina”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of the Pyramids”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 1”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 1”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of the Pyramids”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of the Nile”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Peninsular War”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Salamanca”. ↩
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “Research guide N1”; Royal Museums Greenwich, “The Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Hohenlinden”; Fondation Napoléon, “Monumental Meaning at Marengo 1800”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Ulm”; Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Austerlitz”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 2”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Austerlitz”; Fondation Napoléon, “Austerlitz”. ↩
- National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”. ↩
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Napoleon, vol. 3”. ↩
- HISTORY, “Battle of Leipzig”; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Leipzig”; National Army Museum, “Battle of Waterloo”. ↩
Sources
- National Army Museum, London, “Battle of Waterloo”
- Michigan Public, That's What They Say (Anne Curzan), “We'll be “up and at 'em,” once you tell us who 'em are”
- E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1895 revision), via words.fromoldbooks.org, “Up”
- The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, “Waterloo Day”
- EBSCO Research Starters (John G. Gallaher and J. W. Thacker), “Battle of Austerlitz”
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Napoleon: A History of the Art of War, vol. 2 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1904), pages 57-58, 73-75, 210, 256-257, 261, 265-266, 282-294, 305-306, 381-406, 423, 526-540, Internet Archive, “Napoleon, vol. 2”
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org, “Austerlitz”
- HISTORY.com Editors, “Napoleon Bonaparte”
- Projekt Austerlitz, austerlitz.org, “Austerlitz.org”
- National Museum of the Royal Navy, “Trafalgar Day: The Battle of Trafalgar”
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “The background to Trafalgar”
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “Battle of Trafalgar timeline”
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org, “A close-up on: Trafalgar, 21 October, 1805”
- William Beatty, Authentic Narrative of the Death of Lord Nelson (London, 1807), Project Gutenberg
- National Geographic (Kelly Faircloth), “Britain's greatest naval hero left a riddle with his 'final' words”
- HISTORY (A&E Television Networks), “Battle of Leipzig”
- EBSCO Research Starters (John G. Gallaher and Michael Witkoski), “Battle of Leipzig”
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org, “PONIATOWSKI, Józef”
- Deutschlandmuseum, Berlin, “Battle of Leipzig”
- Polish History Museum, polishhistory.pl, “Józef Poniatowski: ‘Greater than the king, this prince’”
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Napoleon: A History of the Art of War, vol. 4 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907), pages 245-246, Internet Archive, “Napoleon, vol. 4”
- Die Welt der Habsburger, “Battles between ‘emperors’ and ‘peoples’”
- Stiftung Völkerschlachtdenkmal Leipzig, “Home: Monument to the Battle of the Nations”
- City of Leipzig, “Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal)”
- EBSCO Research Starters (Kevin B. Reid), “Battle of Borodino”
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org (Karine Huguenaud, trans. Peter Hicks), “Borodino (La Moskowa)”
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP, Jerzy Malczyk), “Rosja uczciła 200. rocznicę zwycięstwa nad Wielką Armią Napoleona” (in Polish)
- NPR (Corey Flintoff), via KCUR, “In Russia, 200-Year-Old Battle A Day To Remember”
- The Moscow Times (Michele A. Berdy), “Come See the Biggest Battle of 1812”
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org, “Jena-Auerstedt 14 October, 1806”
- EBSCO Research Starters (Paul Madden), “Freiherr vom Stein”
- University of California, Santa Barbara, History 133A (Prof. Harold Marcuse), “Lecture 5: Prussian Reforms and Wars of Liberation, 1806-1815”
- Royal Museums Greenwich, collections, “The Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798: End of the Action”
- EBSCO Research Starters (John G. Gallaher and Larry Schweikart), “Battle of the Nile”
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org (Karine Huguenaud), “The destruction of l'Orient during the Battle of the Nile (Aboukir)”
- Royal Museums Greenwich, “Research guide N1: Horatio Nelson”
- EBSCO Research Starters (Irwin Halfond), “Battle of Valmy”
- Edward S. Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo, chapter on Valmy, Project Gutenberg
- Élysée (message of President Jacques Chirac, read by Michèle Alliot-Marie, 20 September 2005), “Message de M. Jacques Chirac sur l'importance symbolique de la bataille de Valmy” (in French)
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org (Don Barry), “Monumental Meaning at Marengo 1800”
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Napoleon: A History of the Art of War, vol. 3 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907), pages 85-88, 270-279, 296-327, 672-686, 735-743, Internet Archive, “Napoleon, vol. 3”
- National Army Museum, “Peninsular War”
- Beethoven-Haus Bonn, “Wellington's Victory or the Battle of Vittoria, op. 91”
- Zintegrowana Platforma Edukacyjna (Polish Ministry of Education), “Wojna w obronie Księstwa Warszawskiego” (in Polish)
- Museum of Polish History (Paweł Cichocki), “Szarża polskich szwoleżerów pod Somosierrą” (in Polish)
- Polskie Radio 24, “Zwycięstwo pod Somosierrą, szarża, która przeszła do legendy” (in Polish)
- Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org, “The French Army crossing the Berezina on 28 November 1812”
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Berezina River”
- Larousse, Dictionnaire de français, “bérézina” (in French)
- EBSCO Research Starters (Michael J. Fontenot), “Battle of the Pyramids”
- Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Napoleon: A History of the Art of War, vol. 1 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1904), pages 479-489, Internet Archive, “Napoleon, vol. 1”
- EBSCO Research Starters (Debra D. Andrist), “Battle of Salamanca”
- Royal Museums Greenwich, collections, “The Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801”
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Hohenlinden”
- EBSCO Research Starters (Janine Ungvarsky), “Battle of Ulm”
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