Austerlitz : The Battle Of The Three Emperors

Napoleon made many mistakes in his invasion into Russia. He was a brilliant leader, but in the later years of his life his tactical genius faltered, perhaps due to illness. His invasion was planned with little preparation or focus, and without proper purpose. Napoleon may have been affected by illness, or even arrogance because of his previous victories. He believed that he was infallible, and so he did not assess the situation correctly. His oversights cost him a victory and eventually his title as Emperor of France. The Russian campaign was the greatest catastrophe in his entire career and signalled to those opposing him that he was no longer indestructible. Prior to the defeat, many had believed Napoleon to be an undefeated military genius and because of this few wished to oppose him. The crippling Russian failure exposed a weakness which the enemies of France were quick to exploit. Napoleon himself realised this and hurried home to France in an attempt to stop news of the defeat from spreading, though this was in vain. Britain, Russia, Sweden and Prussia prepared to go to war with Napoleon. In the year following his defeat, Napoleon raised an army of around 400 000 to go to war against the allied powers. However, this army was inexperienced and outnumbered. The defeat of the Grand Army had rid France of its best soldiers, and many in the new army had never fought before. Napoleon’s empire was collapsing on every front.

The year is 1815 June, 18 the balance of Europe hangs on the fate of this battle. As we all know this is one of the most important battles of the war with so much at stake. If Napoleon is victorious, it will greatly injure the resistance. But if the loses the campaign is basically over. Napoleon is a very strong leader, on the battlefield with his men. “His presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.”~Wellington. The battle is taking place near Brussels. If Napoleon can gain this ground it will give him a very good standpoint. Wellington was very smart in his positioning. He knew he was outnumbered so he gave his men good cover (in barns and in corn fields) this made them much harder targets. Wellington also knew if he

Although his armies enjoyed unprecedented successes and expanded the French Empire from Spain to the steppes of Russia, the Napoleonic way of war was fraught with deficiencies. Due to the Napoleon's genius and mastery of this period of military manoeuvres, he was able to forestall the affects of the inherent limitations of his system until the war of the Sixth Coalition (1813) and eventually the fateful battle of Waterloo (1815). One the most significant, intrinsic flaws in Napoleon's system was related to issues of command. During the beginnings of Napoleon's career, he commanded armies of sizes up to 60 000 troops. In Italy in 1796, he commanded a force of just 38 000. With the increasing sizes of forces in the later empire, due to concepts such as levee en masse and recruitment legislation of 1792, the inability of a single commander to control such vast forces was becoming apparent. The sheer immensity of the forces now mustered was unprecedented. In 1812 the Grande Armee, consisted of a staggering 611 000 soldiers. Much to the hindrance of the later empire, few, if any officers in the Grande Armee, besides Napoleon himself, could command forces

Although Napoleon was able to formulate an army large enough to force the Russians to retreat, he did not prepare enough supplies to support all of his soldiers. Lack of food and clothing weaken his army, especially after the scorched earth policy, which was Alexander I’s intent that Napoleon underestimated. During the Battle of Borodino, Alexander I was not able to secure Moscow, the holy city, as he was forced to retreat, which enabled Napoleon to move forward into the city. By the time Napoleon reached the Moscow, the city had been destroyed and burned, having nothing to motivate him in Moscow, he was forced to retreat. Although Napoleon may have won the battle at Borodino, he did not gain anything from it as Czar Alexander I always seemed to always be one step in front of him, Napoleon was unable to outwit Alexander I and his military tactics. His soldiers were not equipped with the necessary items to survive the scorched earth and the harsh Russian winter, thus, the majority of Napoleon's soldiers perished, reducing his army of 420,000 soldiers to 10,000 soldiers when he left Moscow. The dramatic reduction of soldiers made his army vulnerable to later attacks from the Russians, who understood the terrain and was well fed and fully clothed. Due to the Russian tactics that Napoleon overlooked, he

     After battling with Britain, Spain, and Germany, Napoleon invaded Russia. The purpose of this invasion was to enforce the Continental System. In 1812, a Russian winter and the Russian strategy of Scorched Earth defeated Napoleon and his army of 500,000 men. This was Napoleon’s worst defeat. It

4) Admiral Horatio Nelson and Battle of the Nile= Horatio Nelson destroyed the French fleet anchored off the coast of Egypt thus stranding Napoleon's army in Egypt; Napoleon flees his army and goes back to France and denies his loss and flips responsibility to the Directory.

Napoleon’s self-defeating actions were more important for his defeat. Napoleon lost because: (1) he relentlessly pursued a flawed campaign of economic warfare against Great Britain; (2) he refused to acknowledge strategic overreach during the Peninsular War; and (3) he failed to accept culmination during the invasion of Russia in 1812. These actions served to thwart Napoleon’s interests and did not achieve their intended results. More importantly, it will be seen that they combined to create a momentum against France that Napoleon could not overcome.

Napoleon’s goal was to easily win this war. An ironic and tragic foreshadowing of the horror to come, an electrical storm pouring down freezing rain, hail and sleet killed a ton of troops and horses the night the Grande Armee soldiers went to capture the city of Vilna . To top off the cake ,these soldiers were already deserting in search of food and plunder. Despite it all, Napoleon remained horrifyingly confident. The climate changing of this long battle became too much for the soldiers, the hot summer days made the soldiers come down with insect borne and waterborne diseases. Many men have already been lost soon afterwards,” Grande Armee entered Moscow Only to see it in flames. Most people had already fled the city, leaving behind vast quantities of hard liquor but little food. French troops drank and pillaged while Napoleon waited for Alexander to sue for peace. No offer ever

7000 men, from Australia, Britain, and America came together as an allied force to stop the invasion of Northern France. Two Australians were put at the helm, and led the combined forces against German units in Le Hamel. For the allies to lose this battle meant that they would give vital positions which would help construct each steps of the German force invasion into France. Amiens, which was 17km away from Le Hamel, was the German unit’s next objective. The commanders, Ewen Sinclair Maclagan and John Monash led the troops with cunning tactics, such as combined arms, to penetrate through German frontiers.

Amid this battle the French acknowledged how savvy he was Napoleon (Emerson, 2015). He added to a strategy that worked proficiently. The adversary armed force into two sections would be diminished, then toss his entire existence on one side before the other side could meet them (Emerson,

From the start, their strategic errors put them at a disadvantage. As shown in passage thirty-two, the enemy was aware of their departure from their camp. In the moments leading up to the battle, it is clear that the enemy had a strategy and were prepared for almost anything.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia was a major factor in his downfall. In 1812, Napoleon, whose alliance with Alexander I had disintegrated, launched an invasion into Russia that ended in a disastrous retreat from Moscow. Thereafter, all of Europe, including his own allies, Austria and Prussia, united against him. Although he continued to fight, the odds he faced were impossible. In April 1814, Napoleon’s own marshals refused to continue the struggle and stepped down from their positions. During the actual Russian campaign, there were many key factors that greatly impacted his downfall.

It is my intent to prove that the poor C2, IPB and a lack of military professionalism caused the defeat of the combined Russian/Austrian forces. I also intend to prove that if the Russian/Austrian forces had taken the initiative when attacking the French right flank that the Russian/Austrian forces could have collapsed the French right flank and forced Napoleon to change his plans to attack the Russian/Austrian center in order to defend his flank. Thus, allowing the Russian/Austrian Forces to take the initiative against the French Grande Armee and change the outcome of this battle.

Everyone knows that Napoleon was a great leader and commander but it is not as cut and dry as popular history makes it out to be. His great victory at Austerlitz cemented him as one of the greatest commanders in history. This battle is was a tactical masterpiece up there with Gaugamela and Cannae. However, there is more to analyze here than just the battle itself. Many aspects of war include mobilization, supply, training, moral, army structure etc. and all play a part in Napoleon’s victories and the creation of the French Empire. Another variable to consider is the quality of the armies led by Tsar Alexander I of Russia and the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II of Austria. The focus here is to look at how these aspects played a role in

Napoleon seemed to have been seen as a man chosen and destined by god to find victory, though in reality he was a workaholic, and spent long nights carefully drafting his plans for battle. He was careful to maximize his manpower where it counted most. That said, Napoleon saw a value in remaining unpredictable, always maintaining an aggressive stance to force his opponent to respond to his moves. He often determined that the “moment” was more important than manpower. Often, after maneuvering for some time, Napoleon would order his men to charge towards the enemy’s approximate location. Sometimes he himself recalls that the approximation was weak, but it was more important to move quickly and definitely, than to wait for complete intelligence to reveal the true nature of the enemy’s whereabouts. Napoleon did not hold many rules on his troops when on the march, only that they move at a steady pace and stay close together so that they could get into formation quickly. Ultimately, it is clear that Napoleon had a natural gift for choosing the right moves, and furthermore seemed to be at his best when under the pressure of an intense battle, while the commanders of other armies tended to mishap.