Strategy and Tactics Press: Briefing Room – ST 293, Napoleon’s Last Campaign

Napoleon’s Last Campaign

By Christopher Perello

Waterloo was one of the most dramatic and decisive battles in history, but like most battles occurred in the midst of a larger campaign. Many events in the days leading up to the battle contributed to its course and outcome. It is tempting to study the campaign only in terms of those contributions, but a battle is a part of the campaign and must be perceived as such. Napoleon lost at Waterloo partly because of decisions made on that battlefield, but in reality the battle was a defeat waiting to happen before it began.

The empire of Napoleon Bonaparte sustained repeated defeats after 1811, finally succumbing to the armies of the Sixth Coalition in the spring of 1814. Napoleon abdicated his throne that April, accepting exile to the tiny island of Elba though he retained the title of Emperor. The Bourbon monarchy ascended once again to the French throne in the person of Louis XVIII and the coalition armies departed. Peace reigned, after a fashion.