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Napoleon also enumerated several military principles, such as “Do not make flank marches in front of an army that is in position” and “Preserve your line of operation with care and never abandon it lightheartedly.” (pg. Napoleon recognized this, saying, “If I take so many precautions, it is because my habit is to leave nothing to chance…A plan of campaign must anticipate everything that the enemy can do and contain within it the means of outmaneuvering him.” (pg. If there is a recurrent theme throughout these essays, it is Napoleon’s obsessive focus on organizational details and logistics, for it is his meticulous preparation that often proved decisive in battle. In these essays the reader will find discussions of strategy, tactics, general principles of ground war, and commentary on the “great captains.” (Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, etc.) Luvaas stitches together Napoleon’s writings into ten essays, plus an analysis of the campaigns of Frederick the Great. In Napoleon on the Art of War, Jay Luvaas utilizes personal correspondence to create essays that illuminate the great commander’s thoughts on military philosophy. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died in 1821. Again, Napoleon was exiled, this time to the far distant island of St.

Once again, a powerful coalition was organized against him, and on June 18 he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. Exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba, Napoleon chafed at his separation from power, and in March 1815, escaped to return to France once more, reclaiming the throne.

The disastrous results of that invasion, whereby only 40,000 of approximately 650,000 troops survived the campaign, paved the way for Napoleon’s first abdication in April 1814. As a result, Russia resumed trading with Great Britain in 1812, inducing Napoleon to invade Russia in June of that year. Napoleon spent the next ten years fighting a succession of wars against various allied coalitions, with often brilliant results, such as at Austerlitz in 1805.Īs a part of his unending struggle against Great Britain, Napoleon attempted to impose a continental embargo, but this was ineffective and caused his allies, such as Russia, to suffer immensely. In 1804, after having subdued most of Europe through conquest or alliance, he crowned himself Emperor of France to prevent a restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Napoleon Bonaparte rose to prominence as a general during the French Revolution, becoming ruler of France as First Consul in 1799.