Third Outline

Thesis: Napoleon Bonaparte was the first modern general using a combination of assaults from cavalry and infantry on weak points in the enemy's army rather than traditional maneuvering and frontal assaults.

Definitions: To be named later

1. Fundamentals of his tactics (Primary Sourcebook, Napoleonic Series)
1. Before Napoleon became a general on the battle field, leaders were chosen by birthright instead of on merit
1. These generals outmaneuvered each other until one was pinned down and merely surrendered
2. Battles were never broken down, and thought out. They were all out frontal assaults
2. The infantry was the most important factor in his military strategies
1. The infantry was the larger part of his army, and fought in the thick of all of the action
2. They were kept together by non-commissioned officers who lead from the front
1. They kept a sabre to direct the battle

Ii. They were also responsible for keeping the units together

3. If the battle was going ill, most soldiers to would be looking towards their own safety
1. To prevent this, the men fought shoulder to shoulder two or three ranks deep
2. Also there was a cavalry picket line stationed to the rear to "encourage" fleeing soldiers to return to the battle

3. Napoleon determined his own battlefields to his advantage (Napoleonic Series)
1. He fought in roofs, and city streets, areas where war had not been at the time
2. He tended to avoid unfavorable terrain such as swamp and woods
3. "In a fortnight you have won six victories, taken twenty-one standards, fifty-five pieces

plains in the world. Rich provinces, great of artillery, several strong positions, and conquered the richest part of Piedmont [a region in northern Italy]; you have captured 15,000 prisoners and killed or wounded more than 10,000 men. . . ." (The History Guide)

4. On the battlefield, cavalry and infantry played important roles, but the battle was won with infantry
1. Napoleon employed constant drills to keep them ready for battle at any time
2. They marched in a long, narrow column that could potentially stretch for miles.
1. If ambushed, it was wide open for gun or canon fire.
2. One of his most important drills was changing from a column to a line of battle and vice versa
1. It was very difficult to change from column to a battle line
2. Whenever the move was preformed, they were under fire
3. Any disruption was deadly
1. If there was a natural barrier, the entire line was stopped
2. Infantry was weak against a cavalry charge because their guns were only effective for 50 yards.
4. They had different formations depending on whether they faced cavalry, or infantry

5. Another revolutionary tactic of Napoleon was the use of skirmishers
1. These men would harass the enemy endlessly
1. They would cut, dash, and run
2. Then report what they found to their commander
2. These men would usually be equipped with muskets and bayonets, or they would be grenadiers

6. The cavalry played a lesser role than in earlier times, although it was still important
1. Cavalry was not longer used for heavy engagements
2. They were more of a scouting force
3. If cavalry engaged at all
1. They engaged other cavalry to neutralize it
2. they did a quick charge to pin their enemy in one place
3. Or they were engaged in hopes of a quick victory

2. Napoleonic Wars
1. War of the Third Coalition (internal situation of France)
1. France aimed at invading Briton , but their navy was destroyed
2. France attacked Briton's allies Russia, and Austria
1. Briton's ally Austria surrendered with the treaty of Pressburg, ending the war
2. However Russia had not committed their entire military force
2. War of the Fourth Coalition
1. Russia and Prussia declared war against France
2. Prussia was wiped out before Russia could mobilize its soldiers
3. Russia was defeated trying to retake the Prussian capital
3. War of the Fifth Coalition (Strategy in Peninsular War)
1. A series of naval hit and run battles at the same time as the War of 1812, and the Peninsular war
2. Austria attacked Napoleon as soon as he conquered Spain
1. France defeated Austria at the Battle of Wagram
2. Austria signed the treaty of Schonbrunn, ending the war
3. Upon the end of the war, the French empire was at its height
4. Defeats
1. Invasion of Russia
1. Russia is huge
2. Scorched Earth tactics used by Russians
1. Russia cut off French supplies
2. Napoleon retreated
3. Other effects as to why they lost
2. War of the sixth Coalition
1. Battle of Lepzieg
1. Biggest battle in modern history, not counting both World Wars
2. Over 600,000 combatants
2. Exile (Farewell to Old Guard)
3. "Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell. For twenty years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honor and glory. In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have invariably been models of courage and fidelity. With men such as you our cause could not be lost; but the war would have been interminable; it would have been civil war, and that would have entailed deeper misfortunes on France. " (Farewell to Old Guard)
3. War of the Seventh Coalition/ Hundred Days
1. Escape from exile
2. About 100 days of continuous fighting
3. Finally defeat at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington
4. Exiled at St. Helena

Citations

Strategy in Peninsular War 200. Peninsular War. Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://peninsularwar200.org/strategy.html

(1995). The Napoleon Series. Retrieved March 2, 2011, from http://www.napoleon-series.org/home/c_home.html

Napoleon's Proclamation to His Troops in Italy (March-April 1796). The History Guide. Retrieved March 5, 2011, from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/nap1796.htm

The "Code Napoleon". The History Guide. Retrieved March 5, 2011, from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/code_nap.html

Napoleon's Account of the Internal Situation of France in 1804. Hanover Historical Text Projects. Retrieved March 2, 2011, from http://history.hanover.edu/texts/NAPOLEON.html

Napoleon Bonaparte: Farewell to the Old Guard, April 29, 1814. Modern History Sourcebook. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1814napoleon.html

History of the Modern World. Primary Sourcebook. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from

http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/3333366666/student_view0/chapter10/primary_sources__maps_and_images.html