The Campaigns of Napoleon

by David G Chandler

  Strategy, Napoleon’s: definition, 161, 178; Napoleon’s views on, 145, 162, 172; careful preparation, 145; links with grand tactics, 154, 158, 178; the “unfolding drama,” 179; basic aims of, 141, 143, 150; Napoleon’s denial of having any system, 134; system of penetration, 162, 175; April 1796, 175; the Niemen line, 1812, 175; system of the central position, 161, 162-63; described, 170-75; advantages, 170, 172, 174; disadvantages, 171, 172, 174; how often used, 172; flexibility, 172; Ligurian Coast, 1796, 174; at Areola, 1796, 172-74; Waterloo campaign, 1815, 174-75; system of envelopment (or manoeuvre sur les derrières), 163; described, 163-69; advantages of, 163; possible answers to, 163, 169; Napoleon’s adaptations, 163, 170; overall flexibility, 163-64; features that made it possible, 146, 147-49, 159, 160, 161, 164; careful coordination of moves, 150, 151-54, 155; centralisation of command vital, 157-58; how often used, 163; list of, see Appendix; origins of, 144, 166, 169; maneuver of Lodi, 1796, 166-67; fails, 167; maneuver of Stradella, 1800, 164; maneuver of Ulm, 1805, 166, 327, 390; maneuver of 1806, 150, 164, 463, 503; maneuver of Smolensk, 783-88; fails, 789; used in 1813 and 1814, 875, 902; becomes over-systematised, 919; Allies eventually discover answer to, 169, 901, 919, 940; Napoleon’s bluff called before Leipzig, 169, 918-19; outside Paris, 169; centers of operations, 145, 164, 171; corps of observation, 166, 171; operational bases (places de campagne), 164; strategic curtains, 163; curtain of maneuver, 163; weather, 220, 241, 525, 858; le bataillon carré, 154, 467, 673, 681; diagrams, 165, 168, 173; Napoleon’s principles for opening a campaign, 162, 433; effects of strategic consumption, 857; combination of systems, 175-78; see also Grand Strategy, Grand Tactics, Tactics and Weather; Other strategies: Allied, see Campaigns, Trachenberg Plan

  Supply, French: problems of, 70, 143fn, 366, 654, 916; Napoleon’s relative disinterest in, 366, 387; except in 1812, 757, 868; “living off the country,” 159-60; its origins, 159; its advantages, 45, 149, 160, 164; becomes systematised, 160; scale of provision of supplies, 160, 366, 387, 757-58; weaknesses of the convoy system, 771, 775, 855; breakdown of forward distribution, 855-56, 916; roads partly to blame, 855; failure to allow for Russian weather conditions, 858; Other armies: effects of depot and convoy systems, 45, 164; Austrian, 45, 677; English, 628, 646, 655; Prussian, 454; Russian, 411; 519, 750; Allied improvements in 1814, 169, 999

  Tactics, French: definition, 178; legacies of Ancien Régime, 66, 136; les grandes querelles, 136fn; the Drill-Book of 1786, 66, 136fn; Guibert’s influence, 136fn, 179; Mesnil-Durand, 136fn; of Revolutionary period, 66; use of skirmishes, 67; column vs. line, 67, 136fn, 344; “horde tactics,” 67; practical compromise, “l’ordre mixte,” 68, 346; Foy’s description, 67-68; inadequacies of cavalry and artillery methods, 69, 70; French Consulate and Empire, 344, 346, 348; Napoleon’s innovations, 178, 223; Napoleon’s relative disinterest in, 346; preference for “l’ordre mixte,” 179, 346; infantry tactics, types, 344-51; fluidity of, 346; Morand’s division at Auerstadt, 346, 353, 494; flexibility of, 346; tradition of attack, 180, 342; Bugeaud’s description of, 348; use of squares, 223, 346fn; cavalry tactics, 355; improvements in, 355; the charge, 355-56; artillery tactics, 294-96, 363, 488, 725, 727, 799, 1065; Sénarmont at Friedland, 363, 579; vital importance of coordination, 363-64; advantages of French methods, 364; their disadvantages, 364-65; fire vs. shock, 136fn, 342-43; tactical diagrams, 343, 345, 347, 349, 351, 353, 358-59; Other armies: Austrian, 45, 86-87; English, 42-43, 620; Moore’s reforms, 43, 627; Wellington’s use of ground and line, 350, 364-65, 1065-66; and skirmishers, 364; their effectiveness, 365; Prussian, 454; 484-85; influence of Frederick the Great, 454; later reforms, 873; Russian, 519, 524; Mameluke and Turkish, 226, 239, 243; Spanish, 617, 638, 640-41

  Telegraph, French military, see Semaphore

  Theseus, H.M.S., and Tigre, H.M.S., 237

  Trachenberg Plan, the Allied, 901

  Training, French: of officers, 335; l’École Militaire, 8, 335; St. Cyr, 335; l’École Polytechnique, 335; ceaseless demands on, 335; premature commissioning of cadets, 670, 868; lack of higher military training, 756, 860, 939; of men, 67; length of conscript training, 517, 559, 670; use of depots, 668; provision of depot battalions, 668; lack of range-firing, 342, 453; other deficiencies of, 341; specialto-arm training, artillery training under l’Ancien Régime, 9, 11, 137; Others: officers, Potsdam Military Academy, 499; R. M. C. Sandhurst, 43, 43fn; English Staff College, 42; Prussian Oberkriegscollegium, 455; Krumpersystem, 872-73; Sir John Moore’s reforms in England, 43, 627; other countries, 226

  Treaties, conventions, armistices, and negotiations: Allessandria, Convention of, 296; Amiens, preliminaries of, 303; Amiens, Peace of, 304, 307; Armistice of 1813, 898; Bailen, Convention of, 617, 623; Bar-surAube, Council of War, 983; Bayonne, Conference of, 607-609, 625; Bucharest, Peace of, 749; Campo Formio, Treaty of, 207; Châtillon, Conferences of, 951, 954; Chaumont, Conference of, 983; Cherasco, Armistice of, 75, 78; Cintra, Convention of, 619, 623; Coalitions, and associated wars: First, 42; Second, 246-48, 303; Third, 327, 331, 439; Fourth, 459-60, 590; Fifth, 664; Sixth, 749, 852; Seventh, 1014; Dresden, Congress of, 767; Erfurt, Congress and Convention of, 624, 668, 742; Fontainebleau, Treaties of, 1002; Kalisch, Treaty of, 514, 873; Leoben, preliminaries of, 125, 302, 330; Luneville, Peace of, 302, 330; Paris, Treaty of, 1003; Potsdam, Treaties of, 403; Pougy, Conference of, 999; Pressburg, Treaty of, 730; Reichenbach, Convention of, 899; Rhine, Confederation Treaty, 449; Schönbrunn, Negotiations of, 438, 730; St. Petersburg, Convention of, 748; Sommagices, Conclave of, 999; Tauroggen, Convention of, 851; Tilsit, Conference and Treaties of, 588-90; Tolentino, Treaty of, 121; Troyes, Council of War and Treaty of, 981; Ulm, Capitulation of, 400; Vienna, Conferences and Peaces of, 446, 1003, 1009

  Tugenbund, the Prussian, 870

  Ukase, Russian, 745

  Vanguard, H.M.S., 215

  Wars, see Campaigns, Treaties (Coalitions)

  War, Peninsular, 747, 852

  Weapons, French: infantry, 341; muskets, 341; types, 341, 344; characteristics, 342; bayonets, 342, 344; swords, 344; cavalry, 352; carbines, 352, 354; pistols, 354; swords, 352; sabres, 354; artillery, 356; heavy (12-pounders), 360; siege, 24; field (8-pounders and 6-inch howitzers), 360; regimental (4-pounders), 360; general artillery characteristics, 357; pictures, 361; diagrams, 358-59 Other armies: British rifled muskets, 344; Prussian muskets, 342, 344; Mameluke and Turkish, 223; British use of rockets, 362; and shrapnel shells, 362

  Weather, effects of, 220, 241, 525, 858; fogs before Austerlitz and Jena, 424-25, 479; at Eylau, 537-38, 540, 555; heat in Russia, 760, 858; heat at Wagram, 729; spates in Danube, 697; late frosts in Russia, 858; severe frosts in Russia, 858; rain at Dresden, 909; in 1814, 969, 971; before Waterloo, 1062; mentioned, 290, 550

  Table of Contents

  PART ONE

  PART TWO

  PART THREE

  PART FOUR

  PART FIVE

  PART SIX

  PART SEVEN

  PART EIGHT

  PART NINE

  PART TEN

  PART ELEVEN

  PART TWELVE

  PART THIRTEEN

  PART FOURTEEN

  PART FIFTEEN

  PART SIXTEEN

  PART SEVENTEEN