Warfare in the Napoleonic Era
The Gunpowder Revolution
• Early gunpowder weapons were:– Simple in design– Unreliable– Inaccurate
• Why they stuck:– Potential– Shock factor– Used w/ other weapons
Timeline: Build up to Napoleonic Era• 1618-48: The Thirty Years’ War– Gustavus Adolphus develops • the concept of “combined arms”
– Attaching field artillery to cavalry & infantry units
• Idea of spreading out infantrymen over a wider area– Countered older deeper formations (50 ranks)– Reduced cannon’s potential for devastation
• 1700-21: The Great Northern War– Peter the Great modernizes Russian
military– Start of Russia as a Eurasian power
• 1756-63: The Seven Years’ War– Includes French & Indian War fought in N. America– Volleys of flintlock muskets in two ranks led to
carnage– Prussia becomes a power in Europe– Britain’s victory, and war’s costs, led to A. Rev.– France’s loss led to Fr. Rev.
• 1775-83: The American Revolution– Ideals influenced French Revolution– Britain loses dominance in N. America
• Holds on to Canada
• 1792-1802: The French Revolutionary Wars– Overthrew French monarchy– Allowed for the rise of Napoleon
• 1803-15: The Napoleonic Wars– Allowed for Napoleon’s conquest of most of
Europe
The Napoleonic Wars: 1803-1815
• France vs.– Austria– Prussia– Russia– Sweden– Britain– And others…
• Where?– Europe– Russia– Spain– Atlantic– West Indies
• Casualties– Estimated 2.5 million
total war dead
Effect of Napoleonic Wars
• Reshaped Europe• Saw warfare on a massive scale• Word “guerilla” coined for irregularSpaniards who rebelled against French• Napoleonic Code– Basis for
• Most modern western law codes• “innocent until proven guilty”
• Led to nationalist movements
Austerlitz (Sept. 1805)
• Napoleon’s most brilliant tactical victory– French vs. Russians & Austrians– Destroyed Third Coalition
• Let right wing get pushed back– Drew Russians & Austrians from their center– “Feigned retreat” on a larger scale
• French launched massive counterattack at right moment
Any day is fine!
Borodino (Sept. 1812)
• Kutuzov withdrew into Russian interior– Kutuzov adopted a fabian strategy (Punic Wars)– Initially refused to engage Napoleon in decisive battle
• Napoleon wanted decisive victory– Both sides evenly matched– Russians slowly retreated– Napoleon denied decisive victory
• Borodino was largest and bloodiest single-day battle in Napoleonic Wars
Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia 1812
• Grand Army of 600,000* troops (est. vary)• Russians employed a scorched-earth policy– Retreat, use geography to advantage– destroy everything to deny French supplies
• French capture Moscow– Russians set it on fire
• French retreat after spending winter in Moscow– Napoleon leaves troops in Lithuania– Hurries to France
War & Peace
End of Napoleon
• Napoleon defeated and imprisoned• Escapes and returns to France on 3/1/1815• Napoleon fights a coalition of Prussia, GB &
the Netherlands• Defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, end of
Napoleon• Dies in prison in 1821
Technology
• Flintlock Musket– “Brown Bess” musket
• Congreve Rocket• Shrapnel– Developed by British• Lt. Henry Shrapnel
– Hollow shell filled w/musket balls and explosives• Maximized damage
• Man of War
Logistics
• French army lived off land as much as possible– Could move quickly– Did not depend on supply lines as much– Alienated civilians
• Start of canned food