Dates: 1769-1821

Bonaparte emerged from the turmoil and terror of revolution to become France’s greatest military commander, loved by his loyal troops, demonised by his enemies, feared and respected by all.

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Born into an ancient, if impoverished, line of Corsican gentry, Napoleon was packed off to school in France at the age of eight. Later, he finished his education at the École Militaire in Paris and was commissioned into the artillery. Within 10 years he would be a general and another 10 would see him crowned ‘Emperor of the French’.

Part of this meteoric rise to power can undoubtedly be attributed to the advantages that the turmoil of the French Revolution and the descent into the ‘Terror’ presented to him. But his success is a result of far more than being in the right place at the right time. Napoleon possessed all of the qualities required in a great battlefield commander. He was ruthless, implacable and capable of seemingly endless toil. He had personal charisma by the cartload and inspired an almost religious mania within his troops, both soldiers and commanders, who would brave any danger to win one of his rare, shy smiles and risk destruction to avoid his titanic displeasure.

Wedded to all of this was an almost superhuman ability to ‘read’ a battlefield and the troops moving on it and instantly grasp in real time the cause and effect of any action. For him, the movement of vast battalions and columns of men could be plotted as easily as the pieces on a game board, as was demonstrated so amply at his masterpiece battle, Austerlitz, in December 1805. Finally, he had an unparalleled gift for logistics and man-management. Not for nothing did his soldiers refer to him as the ‘little Corporal’. That he recognised this skill for preparation as vital is evident in his oft-quoted saying: ‘An army marches on its stomach’.

By marrying all of his abilities to a blazing ambition, Napoleon was able to take control of a bankrupt nation, riven by internal dissent and revolution, on the brink of defeat, and within a few scant years drive France to conquer all of the major powers, save one, and establish himself as the master of Europe. Once safe upon his throne he began a systematic reorganisation of the social, legal and political systems of the continent, sweeping away feudalism and establishing a new world order. This ‘Code Napoleon’ is used in France to this day.

Eventually, of course, his enormous ambition outran even his considerable talents. A long drawn-out campaign in Spain against the British and Portuguese (led by the Duke of Wellington) was followed by the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, which left his once unbeatable ‘Grand Armee’ dying in the snow. Both setbacks allowed his enemies to regroup and eventually pull him from the throne in the wake of his defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.

He was deposed and sent to Elba where almost immediately he began plotting an escape. Buoyed by the unpopularity of the newly restored Bourbon monarchy, Napoleon managed to return to France and rapidly recover his crown. However, the great European powers, fearful of another 20 years of conflict, declared war not on the French Empire but on the Emperor himself, despite his protestations of a desire only for peace.

One final throw of the dice, where he came within an ace of succeeding, one last opportunity to win and salvage everything, one final time the armies of France would march into battle roaring out their battle cry: ‘Vive L’Emperor!’ But this time it was not to be. Now exhausted and too sick to carry the day, Napoleon went down to defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, the last great battle of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) and the end of his attempt to dominate Europe. The Allied commander-in-chief at the battle, the Duke of Wellington, called it ‘the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life’, a reference to a victory that was in doubt all day until the arrival of Field Marshal Blucher’s Prussian Army.

Captured and exiled to the South Atlantic, he lived out his days dreaming of past glories before finally succumbing in 1821. Despite his ambition and ruthlessness, his tyranny and his disregard for human suffering on a grand scale, he was one of the greatest commanders the world has ever seen.

Alan Forrest reflects on Napoleon as the enlightened solider and politician. (Excerpt from the talk given at the 'Enemy Commanders: Britain's Greatest Foes' speaker day on 14 April 2012.)

• View a transcript of this audio excerpt