The Napoleonic Wars

Europe 1793 - 1815

Europe, during 1793 - 1815 was ridden with wars and colonization. The great European powers, concerned with the revolution in France, sent armies to stem the uprising, which only ended in 1815. However, these wars made a lot of changes in the society of Europe. Monarchy was threatened by these wars, led by France. It's leader - Napoleon Bonaparte led it's country through a great series of crushing victories against his enemies until 1812. But from there, the Allied powers starting pushing him back and France lost all it's colonies it had conquered under Napoleon.

Early life of Napoleon

Let me first give a brief description on Napoleon. Napoleon was born 15 August 1769, in Corsica. When he turned 9 years old, he moved to the French mainland and enrolled at a religious school in Autun in January 1779. In May, he transferred with a scholarship to a military academy at Brienne-le-Château. He suffered a lot during his days there due to the poverty. In his youth he was an outspoken Corsican nationalist and supported the state's independence from France.

Napoleon was routinely bullied by his peers for his accent, birthplace, short stature, mannerisms and inability to speak French quickly. On completion of his studies at Brienne in 1784, Napoleon was admitted to the École Militaire in Paris. He trained to become an artillery officer and, when his father's death reduced his income, was forced to complete the two-year course in one year. He was the first Corsican to graduate from the École Militaire.

Upon graduating in September 1785, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in La Fère artillery regiment. He was given command over a battalion of volunteers and was promoted to captain in the regular army in July 1792, despite exceeding his leave of absence and leading a riot against French troops. He put many false sick leaves because he wanted to be with his family. However, he didn't waste a second during his leaves. He was a voracious reader and read many books on history, geography and military doctrines of various people.

The Siege of Toulon

As fate decided, I would now have to accompany with Napoleon throughout his career. And we had our first moment as the Siege of Toulon. Corsica demanded independence from France. They asked the British troops to help them. The British agreed and started the invasion of France by invading Toulon. The British had to be ousted from Toulon. On the night of August 27-28 1793, Toulon raised the standard of revolt and admitted an Anglo-Spanish fleet. This was a most serious matter for Republican France; Toulon was not only the most important naval arsenal of the country, it was also the key to French control of the Mediterranean, and its loss through treachery represented a most damaging blow to the Republic’s reputation, both at home and abroad.

The French government upgraded General Carteaux's (who was commanding the siege) army strength to 17,000. The Allied forces strength was 4000 initially, but brought up to 15000, as reinforcements came by. However, the French effort faced a significant setback as Captain Dommartin, commander of the artillery attached to Carteaux’s army, received a serious wound. Dommartin’s incapacitation meant that Carteaux was faced with the prospect of conducting a vital siege without the services of any experienced regular artillery

officer.

Fate finally started playing, this time with Napoleon. We were on a consignment to procure gunpowder, from Marseille to Nice, when Napoleon dropped by to see his friend Saliceti. He said the General Carteaux's headquarters is nearby. A few hours later he found himself appointed to command Carteaux’s artillery. Saliceti, no doubt mindful of his compatriot’s sterling services in Corsica and of the valuable impact of Le Souper de Beaucaire, felt certain he had found the right man for the task and Napoleon was nominated to fill Dommartin's vacancy.

He was probably the first to realize that French possession of the promontory dominated by Mount Caire and ending in Point l’Eguillette would compel the Allied fleet to evacuate the Petite Rade and the quay sides of Toulon; the path to victory lay in isolating Toulon from the seaward as well as the landward sides. Carteaux and Lapoype had other ideas, and no doubt they soon became heartily sick of the young “know-it-all” planted in their midst. However, they couldn't reject his ideas because of Various reasons.

Napoleon started by shelling the Royal Navy from the western shores of Petite Rade. This made Admiral Lord Hood make his shipping closer to Toulon. He fell right into his trap. He attacked the British from Le Caire. However, the British had numerical superiority and repelled his attack. The British understood the importance of the Point l’Eguillette. They occupied the area and made a large fort (Fort Mulgrave) — on the height overlooking the point, arming it with twenty heavy cannon and four mortars. This made sieging Toulon even more tough on losing the strategical point.

Napoleon was dogged by administrative difficulties and confusions; ten-inch mortars arrived with twelve-inch ammunition; Marseilles produced six eight-inch mortars but not a single bomb. Also, his generals were not co-operative with him and made premature and costly attack on Toulon. Months passed but no action took place. Finally on November 25 General Dugommier summoned a council of war—at which Napoleon served as secretary—and it was decided to implement the scheme Napoleon had always had in mind: namely, a massive bombardment against the defenses of the promontory, followed by a dawn attack against Fort Mulgrave supported by a feint attack against Mount Faron, and lastly, the establishment of a battery on Point l’Eguilette which could drive the British out.

The British attacked first, on the left lines of French. The ensuing battle resulted in the capturing of commanding officer General O'Hara. Their attack was repulsed successfully. The siege continued until 17 December, when General Murion captured Fort Mulgrave. Brigadier General Andrea Massena captured Fort d’Artigues; within a few hours Napoleon captured Point l’Eguilette. The British, realizing their horrible position, abandoned Petite Rade and blowed up their arsenal, indicating that the siege was finally over.

For this, Napoleon was made a Brigadier-General and will have a new assignment soon.