Napoleon Bonaparte - Emperor of France and Military Commander

Napoleon Bonaparte is born in Ajaccio, Corsica, to Carlo Buonaparte and Maria Letizia Ramolino, one year after France annexed Corsica from the Republic of Genoa. He is the second of eight surviving children.

At age 10, Napoleon receives a royal bursary to attend the military academy at Brienne-le-Chateau in northern France. He learns French (his native language is Corsican) and excels in mathematics, though he is bullied by classmates for his accent and short stature.

Napoleon is admitted to the elite Ecole Militaire in Paris to train as an artillery officer. He reads widely in military history and geography, and is examined by the scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace. He graduates early in September 1785.

Napoleon becomes the first Corsican to graduate from the Ecole Militaire and is commissioned as a second lieutenant in the French Royal Army's artillery regiment. His father had died in February 1785, forcing him to complete the two-year course in one year.

Napoleon distinguishes himself by planning and directing the artillery that recaptures the port of Toulon from British and royalist forces. He is promoted to brigadier general at age 24, the youngest officer of that rank in the French army.

Napoleon commands the artillery that crushes a royalist uprising in Paris on 13 Vendemiaire (according to the Revolutionary calendar). His decisive action saves the French Directory government and makes him a national hero.

Napoleon marries Josephine de Beauharnais, a widow of a guillotined general and the mother of two children. The marriage provides him important social connections in Parisian political circles.

Napoleon takes command of the poorly supplied Army of Italy and leads a lightning campaign against the Austrians and their Italian allies. He wins a series of stunning victories and forces Austria to sign the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, establishing French dominance in Italy.

Napoleon departs from Toulon with 35,000 troops for Egypt, aiming to disrupt British trade routes to India. The expedition includes 167 scientists and scholars (the savants) who later discover the Rosetta Stone.

Napoleon overthrows the Directory in a bloodless coup, becoming First Consul of France. This event ends the French Revolution and establishes a three-member Consulate with Napoleon as the dominant figure.

Napoleon defeats Austrian forces at the Battle of Marengo, securing French control of Italy and ending the War of the Second Coalition. The victory cements his political power in France.

Napoleon sells the Louisiana Territory (828,000 square miles) to the United States for $15 million, doubling the size of the young nation. The sale funds Napoleon's ongoing war preparations against Britain.

The Napoleonic Code (Code Civil) is officially adopted as the French civil law code. It codifies equality before the law, property rights, secular authority, and religious freedom, becoming the foundation of civil law systems in Europe and around the world.

Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of the French in a grand ceremony at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, taking the crown from Pope Pius VII and placing it on his own head to symbolize that his authority derived from the people, not the Church.

Napoleon achieves his greatest military triumph at the Battle of Austerlitz, defeating the combined armies of Russia and Austria. The victory shatters the Third Coalition and leads to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

Napoleon's Grande Armee destroys the Prussian army in a twin battle. Within weeks, Napoleon marches into Berlin and occupies Prussia. This victory completes the humiliation of Prussia as a major power.

Napoleon issues the Berlin Decree, establishing the Continental System - a blockade of Britain aimed at destroying British trade. The policy ultimately proves unenforceable but triggers the Peninsular War and contributes to Napoleon's downfall.

Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I of Russia sign the Treaty of Tilsit on a raft in the Neman River. The treaty creates an alliance between France and Russia and carves up Europe between them, marking the height of Napoleon's power on the continent.

Napoleon's decision to depose the Spanish Bourbon monarchy and install his brother Joseph as King of Spain provokes widespread Spanish resistance. The Peninsular War becomes a brutal guerrilla conflict that bleeds French resources for six years.

Napoleon defeats the Austrian army at the Battle of Wagram, ending the War of the Fifth Coalition. The Treaty of Schonbrunn forces Austria to cede territory and join the Continental System.

After divorcing Josephine (who had not borne him an heir), Napoleon marries Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, daughter of Emperor Francis I. The marriage produces a son, Napoleon II (King of Rome), in March 1811.

Napoleon leads the Grande Armee (over 600,000 men) across the Neman River into Russia. The invasion is the largest military operation of the Napoleonic Wars and proves catastrophic.

The Grande Armee clashes with the Russian army under General Kutuzov at Borodino in the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars (70,000+ casualties). Napoleon's pyrrhic victory opens the road to Moscow but fails to destroy the Russian army.

After occupying Moscow for a month (and finding it set ablaze by its inhabitants), Napoleon orders the retreat. The catastrophic winter retreat destroys the Grande Armee, with fewer than 40,000 of the original 600,000 men surviving. The disaster marks the turning point of Napoleon's fortunes.

Allied forces of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden decisively defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations), the largest battle in Europe before World War I. Napoleon retreats across the Rhine, and his German Confederation collapses.

After the Coalition captures Paris, Napoleon is forced to abdicate unconditionally. The Treaty of Fontainebleau exiles him to the Mediterranean island of Elba, where he is granted sovereignty and a small guard. The Bourbon monarchy is restored in France under Louis XVIII.

Napoleon escapes Elba with 1,000 men and lands in southern France. His march to Paris attracts massive popular support as troops sent to arrest him instead join him. He re-enters Paris on March 20 as the rightful emperor, beginning the Hundred Days.

Napoleon is decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the combined armies of the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Blucher. The defeat ends Napoleon's final bid to reclaim power.

Napoleon abdicates for the second time in favor of his son (never recognized). He surrenders to the British at Rochefort on July 15 and is exiled to the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, where he remains under British guard.

Napoleon dies at Longwood House on Saint Helena at age 51 after six years in exile. His cause of death is officially listed as stomach cancer, though debate persists. His last words are reported as "France, armee, tete d'armee" (France, army, head of the army).

Napoleon's remains are brought back from Saint Helena aboard the French frigate La Belle Poule. A grand state funeral is held in Paris, and his coffin is interred at the Saint-Jerome Chapel at Les Invalides, where it remains to this day.