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Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French · 1796-1812 primary

passage 85 of 168 · LETTER PAGE > LETTER PAGE (5/44)

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in brief
The timeline runs through late 1813 and into 1814, recording defeats, shifting loyalties, treaties (including Valençay), the Allied advance across the Rhine, and Napoleon’s final abdication act.

October 23rd.--French army reach Erfurt.

October 30th.--Combat of Hanau. Napoleon defeats Wrede with heavy loss.

October 31st.--Combat and capture of Bassano by Eugène. English capture Pampeluna.

November 2nd.--Napoleon arrives at Mayence (where typhus carries off 40,000 French), and is

November 9th.--At St. Cloud.

November 10th.--Wellington defeats Soult at St. Jean de Luz.

November 11th.--Surrender of Dresden by Gouvion St. Cyr; its French soldiers to return under parole to France. Austrians refuse to ratify the convention, and 1700 officers and 23,000 men remain prisoners of war.

November 14th.--Napoleon addresses the Senate: "All Europe marched with us a year ago; all Europe marches against us to-day. That is because the world's opinion is directed either by France or England."

November 15th.--Eugène defeats Austrians at Caldiero. Senatus-Consultus puts 300,000 conscripts at disposal of government.

November 24th.--Capture of Amsterdam by Prussian General Bulow.

December 1st.--Allies declare at Frankfort that they are at war with the Emperor and not with France.

December 2nd.--Bulow occupies Utrecht. Holland secedes from the French Empire.

December 5th.--Capture of Lubeck by the Swedes, and surrender of Stettin (7000 prisoners), Zamosk (December 22nd), Modlin (December 25th), and Torgau (December 26th, with 10,000 men).

December 8th-13th.--Soult defends the passage of the Nive--costly to both sides. Murat (now hostile to Napoleon) enters Ancona.

December 9th-10th.--French evacuate Breda.

December 11th.--Treaty of Valençay between Napoleon and his prisoner Ferdinand VII., who is to reign over Spain, but not to cede Minorca or Ceuta (now in their power} to the English.

December 15th.--Denmark secedes from French alliance.

December 21st.--Allies, 100,000 strong, cross the Rhine in ten divisions (Bâle to Schaffhausen). Jomini is said to have contributed to this violation of Swiss territory.

December 24th.--Final evacuation of Holland by the French.

December 28th.--Austrians capture Ragusa.

December 31st.--Napoleon, having trouble with his Commons, dissolves the Corps Législatif. Austrians capture Geneva. Blucher crosses the Rhine at Mannheim and Coblentz. Exclusive of Landwehr and levies en masse, there are now a million trained men in arms against Napoleon.


"The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of the Peace of Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of life itself, that he will not be ready to make for the sake of France."--(Act of Abdication.)


January 1st.--Capitulation of Danzic, which General Rapp had defended for nearly a year, having lost 20,000 (out of 30,000) men by fever. Russians, who had promised to send the French home, break faith, following the example of Schwartzenberg at Dresden.

January 2nd.--Russians take Fort Louis (Lower Rhine); and

January 3rd.--Austrians Montbéliard; and Bavarians Colmar.

January 6th.--General York occupies Trèves. Convention between Murat and England and (January 11th) with Austria. Murat is to join Allies with 30,000 men.

January 7th.--Austrians occupy Vesoul.

January 8th.--French Rentes 5 per cents. at 47.50. Wurtemberg troops occupy Epinal.

January 10th.--General York reaches Forbach (on the Moselle).

January 15th.--Cossacks occupy Cologne.

January 16th.--Russians occupy Nancy.

January 19th.--Austrians occupy Dijon; Bavarians, Neufchâteau. Murat's troops occupy Rome.

January 20th.--Capture of Toul by the Russians; and of Chambéry by the Austrians.

January 21st.--Austrians occupy Châlons-sur-Saône. General York crosses the Meuse.

January 23rd.--Pope Pius VII. returns to Rome.

January 25th.--General York and Army of Silesia established at St. Dizier and Joinville on the Marne. Austrians occupy Bar-sur-Aube. Napoleon leaves Paris; and

January 26th.--Reaches Châlons-sur-Marne; and

January 27th.--Retakes St. Dizier in person.

January 29th.--Combat of Brienne. Napoleon defeats Blucher.

February 1st.--Battle of La Rothière, six miles north of Brienne. French, 40,000; Allies, 110,000. Drawn battle, but French retreat on Troyes; French evacuate Brussels.

February 4th.--Eugène retires upon the Mincio.

February 5th.--Cortes disavow Napoleon's treaty of Valençay with Ferdinand VII. Opening of Congress of Châtillon. General York occupies Châlons-sur-Marne.

February 7th.--Allies seize Troyes.

February 8th.--Battle of the Mincio. Eugène with 30,000 conscripts defeats Austrians under Bellegarde with 50,000 veterans.

February 10th.--Combat of Champaubert. Napoleon defeats Russians.

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topics: conquest, plunder, and captives · empire and the rule of provinces · forms of government · treaties, truces, and peacemaking

Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 · Napoleon I, Emperor of the French · 1796–1812