Napoleonic Wars Timeline

• 18 May 1803
  Britain declares war on France, beginning the Napoleonic Wars.
• Jun 1803 - Aug 1805
  Napoleon gathers a massive army at Boulogne for a planned invasion of England; this is the origin of Napoleon's famous Grande Armée.
• 21 Mar 1804
  The Duke of Enghien is executed after a sham trial; the controversial killing stains the reputation of Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 2 May 1804
  Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French.
• 2 Dec 1804
  Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Joséphine are coronated in a sacred ceremony in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
• 25 Sep 1805 - 20 Oct 1805
  Napoleon's Ulm Campaign results in the elimination of an Austrian army under General Mack.
• 21 Oct 1805
  The Battle of Trafalgar results in a decisive British victory over a Franco-Spanish fleet. It is one of the most famous naval victories in British history.
• 13 Nov 1805
  Napoleon captures Vienna.
• 2 Dec 1805
  Napoleon's Grande Armée smashes an Austro-Russian army at the Battle of Austerlitz.
• 30 Mar 1806
  Joseph Bonaparte is installed as King of Naples.
• 12 Jul 1806
  The Confederation of the Rhine is established under the protection of France; the Holy Roman Empire is dissolved.
• 9 Oct 1806
  Prussia declares war on France, sparking the War of the Fourth Coalition.
• 14 Oct 1806
  The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt result in the complete destruction of the Prussian army.
• 25 Oct 1806
  Napoleon's Grande Armée occupies Berlin, after less than a month of campaigning.
• 21 Nov 1806
  Napoleon issues the Berlin Decree, calling for a wide-scale embargo on British goods.
• 21 Nov 1806 - 11 Apr 1814
  Napoleon's Continental System seeks to deprive Britain from trade with the European continent.
• 19 Dec 1806
  Napoleon enters Warsaw to great fanfare from the local Polish population, who expect him to restore Polish sovereignty.
• 7 Feb 1807 - 8 Feb 1807
  The French and Russian armies fight the bloody, yet inconclusive, Battle of Eylau; both sides subsequently retreat into winter quarters.
• 14 Jun 1807
  Napoleon's Grande Armee decisively beats the Russians at the Battle of Friedland.
• 14 Jun 1807
  Napoleon decisively defeats Bennigsen's Russian army at the Battle of Friedland, leading Bennigsen to ask for an armistice.
• 25 Jun 1807
  Emperor Napoleon I of France and Tsar Alexander I of Russia meet on a raft in the Niemen River to discuss terms of peace.
• 7 Jul 1807 - 9 Jul 1807
  The Treaties of Tilsit end the War of the Fourth Coalition; Prussia is subjugated to France, the Duchy of Warsaw is established in Poland, Russia becomes a French ally.
• 18 Oct 1807
  French General Jean-Andoche Junot leads 25,000 troops toward Portugal, sparking the Peninsular War.
• 6 Jun 1808
  Joseph Bonaparte is coronated as King of Spain.
• 16 Jul 1808 - 19 Jul 1808
  A Spanish army defeats a French force at the Battle of Bailén, France's first major land defeat since the start of the Napoleonic Wars.
• 4 Dec 1808
  Napoleon enters Madrid.
• 10 Apr 1809
  Archduke Charles of Austria invades Bavaria with 200,000 men, sparking the War of the Fifth Coalition.
• 19 Apr 1809 - 23 Apr 1809
  Napoleon defeats Archduke Charles in a string of battles during the Landshut Campaign.
• 13 May 1809
  Napoleon occupies Vienna for the second time.
• 21 May 1809 - 22 May 1809
  Napoleon suffers his first defeat in ten years at the Battle of Aspern-Essling; French Marshal Jean Lannes is mortally wounded.
• 5 Jul 1809 - 6 Jul 1809
  Napoleon defeats Archduke Charles of Austria at the Battle of Wagram.
• 28 Jul 1809 - 29 Jul 1809
  Sir Arthur Wellesley wins the Battle of Talavera, is ennobled as Viscount Wellington.
• 14 Oct 1809
  The Treaty of Schönbrunn is signed between France and Austria; the War of the Fifth Coalition is over.
• 1 Apr 1810
  Emperor Napoleon I is married to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
• 24 Jun 1812
  Napoleon's massive Grande Armée crosses the Niemen River, beginning the Russian campaign.
• 16 Aug 1812 - 18 Aug 1812
  Napoleon fights Barclay de Tolly at the Battle of Smolensk; the French capture the city, but the Russians retreat, continuing their war of attrition.
• 7 Sep 1812
  Napoleon's Grande Armée clashes with the Kutuzov's Russian army at the Battle of Borodino.
• 14 Sep 1812 - 18 Oct 1812
  Napoleon briefly occupies Moscow, which is engulfed in flames. He orders a retreat after failing to secure peace.
• 9 Nov 1812
  Napoleon reaches Smolensk during his retreat from Moscow; his fighting strength has dwindled to 60,000.
• 26 Nov 1812 - 29 Nov 1812
  The Grande Armée completes its dramatic crossing of the Berezina River, narrowly avoiding destruction.
• 31 Dec 1812
  Prussian General Johann von Yorck signs an armistice with the Russians, beginning the defection of Prussia.
• 28 Feb 1813
  Prussia and Russia form an alliance against Napoleon, with the Treaty of Kalisch.
• 2 May 1813
  Napoleon defeats a Russo-Prussian army at the Battle of Lützen, but lack of cavalry prevents him from capitalizing on his victory.
• 20 May 1813 - 21 May 1813
  Napoleon wins the Battle of Bautzen.
• 21 Jun 1813
  A French army under King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan is defeated by Wellington's Allied army at the Battle of Vitoria.
• 26 Jun 1813
  Austria joins the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon.
• 16 Oct 1813 - 19 Oct 1813
  Napoleon suffers a decisive defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.
• 11 Dec 1813
  Abdication of Joseph Bonaparte; Ferdinand VII is restored as King of Spain.
• 6 Apr 1814
  First abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte leading to his exile in Elba.
• 10 Apr 1814
  Wellington and Soult clash at the Battle of Toulouse.
• 11 Apr 1814
  Napoleon abdicates, goes into exile on the island of Elba.
• 3 May 1814 - 26 Feb 1815
  Duration of Napoleon's first exile on Elba.
• 20 May 1814
  The War of the Sixth Coalition is officially ended with the Treaty of Paris.
• Sep 1814
  The Congress of Vienna is convened.
• Sep 1814 - Jun 1815
  The Congress of Vienna meets to redraw the map of Europe in a post-Napoleonic world.
• 1 Mar 1815
  Napoleon lands in southern France with his staff and 1,000 soldiers.
• 13 Mar 1815
  The great powers of Europe declare Napoleon an outlaw; the War of the Seventh Coalition begins.
• 20 Mar 1815
  Napoleon enters Paris and begins his second reign; the official start of the Hundred Days period.
• 18 Jun 1815
  The Battle of Waterloo is fought in Belgium; Napoleon is decisively defeated by the forces of Wellington and Blücher.
• 22 Jun 1815
  Napoleon abdicates his imperial throne for the second time.
• 8 Jul 1815
  King Louis XVIII is restored to the French throne; end of both the Hundred Days period and the Napoleonic Era.
• 15 Jul 1815
  At Rochefort, Napoleon surrenders to British Captain Frederick Maitland of the HMS Bellerophon.
• Oct 1815 - May 1821
  Duration of Napoleon's second and final exile on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
• 5 May 1821
  Death of Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of St. Helena, aged 51.