Napoleon at War: Sorting Battles Quiz

Answer: Battle of the Pyramids

The town of Embabeh, located in the Nile Delta, has existed for hundreds of years. Originally it was the center of the all-important camel trade in ancient Egypt, and it still functions to some degree in that capacity. Part of the metropolis of Cairo, Embabeh (Imbabah) is listed today as the most heavily populated city subdivision in the world.

Napoleon and his army left France on May 19 and stopped to take over Malta on June 12 before moving on to capture Alexandria on July 2. Their next stop was Embabeh.

Answer: Battle of the Pyramids

Why on earth was Napoleon in Egypt with an army? The government of the Directory approved an Egyptian campaign in 1798, establishing the Armée d'Orient, the first incarnation of the famous unit. Napoleon, already a military hero, was the general chosen to lead the group. His assignment was to establish a French base in Egypt, from which British ships traveling to and from India could be harassed and intercepted.

The Armée d'Orient conquered the Egyptian city of Alexandria on July 2, and then continued east toward Cairo. The Battle of the Pyramids is really a misleading name, as the fighting occurred about nine miles away from Giza Plateau, where the pyramids are located. It has been said that in reality, they were barely visible from the battlefield. After a victory at the Battle of the Pyramids, Napoleon made his way to Cairo, taking the city on July 24, and establishing his own government there.

Answer: Battle of the Pyramids

The Mamluks in Egypt were descended from medieval slave-soldiers. Originally from Eurasia, the members of the group are believed to have been descended from enslaved Christians. Brought to Egypt sometime between 900-1200 AD, by the time of the Crusades the Mamluks were ruling the country.

In 1517, the Mamluks were conquered by the Ottoman Empire, but were allowed to continue to rule Egypt as Ottoman vassals. When the Mamluks tried to revolt against Ottoman rule in 1768, they were been soundly defeated, but continued to retain their status as rulers of Egypt.

About 300 French soldiers died or were wounded at the Battle of the Pyramids, but the Mamluk casualties have been estimated to have been close to 10,000, as they were terribly unprepared to fight a modern battle. Approaching the French army in heavy armor, they expected to fight duels, and were easily shot down.

Answer: Battle of Borodino

The term "pyrrhic victory" is derived from an ancient confrontation that took place between Rome and Pyrrhus, the leader of Epirus, in the 280s BC. Rome had been threatening to take Tarentum, a Greek city in Magna Graecia, as it expanded its empire, and Tarentum asked Pyrrhus for help. He provided 25,000 soldiers and 20 war elephants at Heraclea, and managed to defeat the Romans. His victory, however, was so costly that his army was never able to recover.

While it seemed after the Battle of Borodino that Napoleon had a smooth path to Moscow, nothing was further from the truth. The city had been completely evacuated, and the resources that could not be taken along were destroyed. Most of the city had been razed. Napoleon stayed there for five weeks, waiting for a surrender from the czar that Alexander I had no intention of sending. By the time Napoleon decided to return to France, he found that the Russians had regrouped their army, and were consequently able to inflict terrible damage on the retreating French army. Which Napoleon reached France, his army numbered only about 10,000 soldiers.

Answer: Battle of Borodino

Napoleon and Alexander I had signed the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, but by 1812 it had become more and more apparent that the Russians did not intend to respect the alliance. The trade limitations imposed by Napoleon's use of the continental system, an attempt to severely limit England's trade on the European continent, were being ignored in Russia. Napoleon began to lead his Grande Armée of approximately 500,000 men (some sources say as many as 650,000 men) across the Niemen (Naman) River on July 24 to begin his invasion of Russia.

Even though he won the Battle of Smolensk on August 16-18, the first real confrontation of the invasion, Napoleon's lost of manpower occurred at a staggering rate during this time. Within six weeks he lost an estimated half of his army due to deployment to other areas, starvation, adverse weather conditions, and desertion. Nevertheless, his army prepared to fight against the Russian Imperial Army, which had taken a stand near the village of Borodino, about 75 miles (120 milometers) from Moscow.

Answer: Battle of Borodino

At the time that Napoleon invaded Russia, the Russian Imperial Army was about half the size of his Grande Armée, and in a state of flux with a new leader, Mikhail Kutuzov. Kutuzov's plan was to protect the main road, the New Smolensk Road, that would prevent Napoleon's Grande Armée from making its way to Moscow. It must be noted that Moscow was not Russia's capital at this time - St. Petersburg was - but it was still important; Russians regarded the city as Russia's second capital.

Although historians believe that Kutuzov could have used his army more efficiently at the Battle of Borodino, there is no doubt that his decision to retreat from the field of battle was the right move. The day after the battle his surviving soldiers left in order to regroup, and the Grande Armée made its way to Moscow.

Kutuzov proclaimed that his army had won a great victory at Borodino, which allowed him to stay in command, and eventually redeemed himself with his use of attrition warfare. Today he is considered to be a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812.

Answer: Battle of Borodino

Napoleon was already in the midst of a disaster by the time of the Battle of Borodino. He had started his invasion with an estimated 500,000 men (or more), but by August 1812, he had about 185,000 men left.

An estimated 250,000 troops from both sides fought at the Battle of Borodino. The death toll for the Grande Armée was approximately 28,000, including 49 generals, although the number would eventually go much higher considering that the wounded had little chance of recovery.

The Russian Imperial Army estimated about 44,000 casualties, including 22 generals who were either dead or wounded. As it turned out, it was much easier for the Russian army to recoup its losses after that day, as Russia had a much greater population than France.

The Battle of Borodino has the terrible distinction as being the single bloodiest day of fighting until the Battle of the Marne in 1914. Both sides lost an estimated third of their army.

Answer: Battle of Waterloo

After his disastrous invasion of Russia, Napoleon was exiled to Elba, where he stayed about nine months. After his escape, he returned to France and was able to rally his supporters who had mutinied after the Battle of Paris. The French generals who had taken an oath of loyalty to Louis XVIII, the restored Bourbon king, quickly forgot their vow; as Napoleon and his entourage from Elba marched toward Paris they were joined by a growing army.

Napoleon ruled France once again during the Hundred Days. During this time he prepared for war, but while the French army continued to grow in numbers, so did the army of the opposition.

Answer: Battle of Waterloo

Many people may ask what Napoleon was doing in Belgium, but the simple fact is that Belgium was where he had taken his army. When he learned that the opposition planned to invade France on July 1, he had two choices - he could either stay there and defend the land or take the battle elsewhere.

He led his Armée du Nord to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, hoping that he would be able to prevent the unification of the opposition armies - one was led by the Duke of Wellington from Britain and the other was led by Prince Blücher from Prussia. The place where all the armies met in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands is located in modern-day Belgium.

Answer: Battle of Waterloo

The Treaty of the Seventh Coalition formed a new military alliance after Napoleon's enemies heard that he escaped from Elba. He had interrupted them at an important time; the members of the Sixth Coalition that had defeated Napoleon during his German Campaign were participating at the Congress of Vienna and attempting to make decisions that would restore the peace of Europe.

The Seventh Coalition consisted mostly of all the European nations that were not either France or Naples, which was ruled by Napoleon's brother in law. This included England, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, Holland, Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, and Switzerland. Vowing to refuse any negotiation with Napoleon, they were quite a formidable force.

Answer: Battle of Waterloo

The Waterloo Campaign began on June 15, 1815, when Napoleon began attacking some Prussian units in order to position his army in the most favorable place - in the center between the Duke of Wellington's forces and Prince Blücher army. The Armée du Nord was able to take position that day, and held out on June 16 against both opposing armies at the Battle of Quatre Bras against the British and the Battle of Ligny against the Prussians.

The Allied army took a position near the village of Waterloo on the night of June 17, and the battle the following day was a stalemate until more Prussian forces arrived at the scene in the early evening. The Waterloo Campaign officially ended on July 8, however, Napoleon was finished by the end of the day on June 15.

Answer: Battle of Leipzig

With the tremendous loss in Russia in 1812 that could not be propagandized into a victory, and the subsequent loss in 1813 during the German Campaign, Napoleon had nowhere to go but away from France. His army was so soundly defeated at the Battle of Leipzig that they could not defend Paris from an attack on the city by the enemy army.

Napoleon abdicated after the Battle of Paris on March 30-31, 1814, and was exiled to the island of Elba, according to the Treaty of Fontainebleau. The Allies would quickly discover that this wasn't their best plan. Even though Napoleon retained the title Emperor and was allowed to "rule" the island, he wasn't going to remain there very long. The island was too close to the mainland, and escape was relatively easy. Napoleon spent about nine months on Elba, trying to improve life there and plotting his escape.

Answer: Battle of Leipzig

Throughout the German Campaign, Napoleon's army of French, Italian, Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine, and Polish soldiers fought against a coalition led by Russia (Czar Alexander I) and Austria (Karl von Schwarzenberg) that included troops from Russia, Austria, Prussia and Sweden, the most powerful countries on the continent at the time. And don't forget - at the same time forces from Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal were on their way to France.

The Battle of Leipzig was the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, and held the distinction of being the largest battle fought in Europe until World War I. On both sides there was a total of approximately 560,000 soldiers, with an estimated 133,000 casualties.

Answer: Battle of Leipzig

After a cease-fire with the Russians had been arranged at the end of 1812, Napoleon embarked on what is called his German Campaign the following year. As early as 1806, the French had occupied much of Germany; it was, however, very unpopular with the local people and the French army had many uprisings and rebellions to deal with there.

After the disastrous Russian invasion, Napoleon had returned to France and began rebuilding his seriously depleted army. He knew that it was time to turn his attention back to Germany, and when Frederick William III of Prussia declared war on France on March 17, 1813, Napoleon's forces were ready.

There were battles in the summer of 1813, the Battle of Lützen and Battle of Bautzen, that were counted as French victories and led to a six week truce. The French, however, didn't fare as well during the autumn campaigns.

Answer: Battle of the Pyramids

After taking Alexandria, Napoleon's Armée d'Orient marched two weeks across the desert toward Cairo. When they finally gained sight of the pyramids, they also saw that about 10,000 Mamluk cavalrymen were lined up and waiting for them. His men rested for an hour and then engaged in the Battle of the Pyramids, which lasted for about an hour and was a victory for Napoleon.

Although some historians say that Napoleon's words came at the time the French first landed in Egypt, most believe that his pre-battle address before the Battle of the Pyramids included strategies regarding fighting the anticipated battle and this insight: "Soldiers, from the height of these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you".