The 10 Key Battles That Made Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte. One of history’s greatest commanders or a bit overrated?

In this video, Dan Snow breaks down the pivotal battles that shaped the legendary commander’s legacy and left an indelible mark on the pages of history. From his sweeping victories at the Battle of Marengo and the Battles of Austerliz to the disastrous Russian campaign and the iconic Battle of Waterloo, Dan revisits the epic clashes, analyses the strategies, and witnesses the drama and chaos of the biggest battles that shaped Napoleon's rise and fall.

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00:00 Introduction
00:45 Siege of Toulon (1793)
04:29 Battle of the Pyramids (1798)
06:40 Battle of Marengo (1800)
08:56 Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
13:59 Battle of Austerlitz (1805)
17:12 Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (1806)
20:27 Battle of Borodino (1812)
23:43 Battle of Leipzig (1813)
26:18 Battle of Ligny (1815)
28:11 Battle of Waterloo (1815)
30:04 Conclusion
31:03 Watch Napoleon in Cinemas November 22

[hanstun]

No one ever mentions that most of the army he defeated was headed by people who got that position due to a noble birth. Napoleon got there on merit.

[zakluck]

For those questioning about battles not mentioned it's almost like this video is clearly sponsored by and done to promote the new Napoleon movie and these are the battles shown in the movie, hence why they use so many clips from the movie.

[Wonderwall]

I would put both Rivoli and Arcole as two of his greatest victories. Not having the Italian campaign in his top ten is a big miss. Egypt is a footnote next to those.

[Steven-jncw]

He was brilliant in every way, but in the end he had too many enemies.

[anonnymousperson]

Funny how this video talks more about Trafalgar than any other battle, the one battle that Napoleon was not actually in charge of.

[davidhollins]

This is a slightly odd video:

1) Why no mention of the First Italian Campaign? It was N's first time as a commanding general and he raced across Italy to Rivoli - where he had the Austrian plans. That victory was what made his name, far more than Toulon, and it ended five years of war.
2) Napoleon did not devise divisional squares in Egypt - the Russians used them in their 18th century wars against the Turks; the Austrians also copied the tactic in the 1788-91 war with the Turks. The Egyptian campaign was a disaster and by the time Napoleon returned, Massena had saved the Republic at Second Zurich. N then stopped in Ajaccio and planted news of his land victory at Aboukir. He was propelled to the top of French politics by Sieyes, who thought he would be a sword in his overthrow of the Directory and Lucien ran the coup (this is done particularly well in the Scott film).
3) On the day of Trafalgar, Napoleon was at Ulm in Germany, which he secured using the German road system. His "peace envoy" Savary was probably trying to make contact with Rulzki, ADC to Kienmayer, who commanded the Allied advance-guard at Austerlitz.
4) Jena was just luck - it showed the shortcomings of the French system. N's plan was to attack Prussian forces around Gera - his intelligence system was failing and told him they were the main Prussian force. Then two flanking columns under Bernadotte and Davout were supposed to encircle the Prussian left. Davout ran into the main prussian army and bernadotte was left hanging as his orders were vaguely and badly set out.
5) You missed out Friedland, which secured the Peace of Tilsit with Russia and Aspern, where Napoleon was defeated for the first time.
6) Once his intelligence failed, Napoleon resorts to these frontal assaults starting at Wagram in 1809, not Borodino.
8) Leipzig was THE largest battle in the Napoleonic wars and history in general prior to WW1.

[williamrobinson]

Really good. I realise, as some have said, that there were other battles, but this is a wonderfully done precis of N's rise & fall. Pacy and full of detail, one to revisit. I like the way that the role of the navy is contextualised.
Brilliantly compiled, edited and presented. Impressive. ⭐👍

[taivo]

The grand strategic maneuver at Ulm should have been included. It wasn't a tactical victory, but a major strategic one and was directly the result of Napoleon's grand plan of deception and rapid movement into the enemy's rear.

[osscouter]

If Napoleon understood the effect that the Tambora eruption would have on global climate, he might have changed his strategy or his tactics. oceans of mud had an extreme negative effect on cavalry and artillery. 1815 was, after all, the "year without a summer".

[dennisjk]

The title is incorrect. True title is: "The Battles that made Napoleon that are featured in the Ridley Scott movie"

[Jayjay-qeum]

The French dish chicken Marengo was named in honour of Napoleon's victory of the Battle of Morengo.

A minor planet 3455 Borodino, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1977, was named after the village of Borodino.

[TheHistoryUnderground]

Great video that will help fill in a lot of gaps that may have been left by the movie.

[MTGeomancer]

When you do a sponsored video you really should disclose that upfront.

[thebiglebowski]

Great episode..loved it. What about the Peninsula Wars...

[jackleonard]

Super video Dan. Watched the film it last night and it has inspired me to learn more about the man and his campaign record. Thanks for the insight!

[vansnyder]

Thanks, Dan. Great prelude to the movie for me. I also hope you got PAID, brother. I can't think of many content providers who deserve to get paid as much as you.

[davidsullivan]

I've recently seen Ridley Scott's Napoleon and masterful is hardly the word I would use to describe his depiction of the battles. In fact I would say his Waterloo was risible. Yes it was visceral but you could film Agincourt for example with machine guns & tanks and that would be visceral as well. It would be ludicrous too. Scott's Waterloo had little touches that showed he had done some research i.e. the elm tree, Wellington denying permission to shoot at Napoleon ( switching it to a rifleman was a nice nod to Rifleman Plunkett) & the images of the infantry squares were obviously influenced by the painting of the 28th at Quatre Bras.
However he completely ignores virtually every single key aspect of the battle. He has Wellington commanding an English army when it was an allied army comprising British, Dutch/Bellgian and German troops. He totally erases Hougoumont, La Haye, Papelotte and Plancenoit. He has British advancing downhill towards the French cavalry when famously it was a reverse slope defence. He then has Blucher arriving fron the west when in fact he came from the opposite direction and most ridiculously of all he has French infantry being ordered out of their trenches & told to " go over the top "!
I don't think I've seen a worse depiction of a famous battle since Mel Gibson's Braveheart with his version of Stirling Bridge that had neither river or even a bridge

[pierpiero]

"You british think you are better just bc you had boats"

[kevindarke]

Toulon, Rivoli, Pyramids, Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and Auerstedt, Friedland, Wagram, Borodino, Leipzig, Waterloo

[brianwagner]

This video is way better than the one Ridley Scott did.