Continental concentration
The campaigns of Austerlitz, Jena and Auerstedt show the power of an army marching in several corps, fixing the enemy and then striking a separate army.
- Home
- Gunpowder & Empires
- Napoleonic Wars
War
Napoleonic Wars
1803 — 1815
Army corps, speed and coalitions: decision seeks the breaking point
Military history
The strategic problem
The Napoleonic Wars combine new political mobilization, autonomous army corps and artillery able to support concentration. Napoleon often wins by assembling his forces faster than his opponents, but coalitions learn to avoid isolation, multiply theatres and turn European depth into a logistical problem.
Spain and depth
Guerrilla warfare, garrisons and Allied armies immobilize part of French power. In Russia, distance and a policy of retreat prevent the expected decisive battle.
The coalition learns to converge
France retains local victories, but the Allies coordinate their armies, replace losses and refuse to let a single battle settle the conflict.
Explore
9 published battles, in chronological order
WaterlooA battle of coordination, attrition and time before the Prussians arrive.AusterlitzNapoleon lets the right wing appear vulnerable, then strikes the Pratzen Heights once the Allies have committed there.Jena–AuerstedtNapoleon defeats a Prussian force at Jena while Davout, badly outnumbered, repels the main army at Auerstedt.MarengoHow was an almost-lost battle reversed by the arrival of reserves and a concentrated counterattack?TrafalgarHow did two British columns accept fire on the approach to break the opposing line and impose local engagements?EylauHow did snow, visibility and staggered arrivals turn a search for decision into an inconclusive and exceptionally costly battle?WagramThe crossing from Lobau deploys the army along an immense arc; on the 6th, the unsynchronised Austrian offensive threatens Aspern, but the battery covers Masséna, Davout turns Markgrafneusiedl and the general assault compels an orderly withdrawal.BorodinoWhy did the successive capture of Russian positions destroy neither the opposing army nor its ability to retreat?LeipzigHow did a coalition coordinate several armies around Leipzig while avoiding defeat in detail?
Military history
Sources
Contemporary sourcesCorrespondance et bulletins de la Grande Armée
Stated objectives, French decisions and the official language of campaigns, to be checked against opposing archives.
Military historyDavid G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon
Operational chronology, army corps, marches and command decisions.
Specialist studyMichael V. Leggiere, Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany
Coalitions, strategic depth and the limits of French concentration.