Napoleon, greatest general or strategist in history?

Through two major military theorists fascinated by his prowess, his contemporaries Clausewitz and Antoine de Jomini, Napoleon’s military art will influence all the officers of following generations, until the world wars. On a historical scale, “if we add up his victories, he has the most, he wins on points,” laughs Bruno Colson. The figures vary depending on whether we go back to the siege of Toulon in 1793 or to the beginnings of the Empire: 80 victories for 7 defeats, 38 victories for 5 defeats.

As a result, “many generals wanted to do the same thing as him, even though the weapons had changed,” continues the Belgian historian. “Napoleon’s legacy cost the French army and the Americans dearly during the Civil War,” adds Colonel Noulens. “While firearms experienced unprecedented development during the Industrial Revolution, French leaders, like the Americans at Gettysburg, continued to apply Napoleonic schemes without adapting them to the new power of firearms. Hence, in France, the disaster of 1870.”

And during the First World War, “this is the case for all generals, all countries combined,” observes Bruno Colson. Thierry Noulens gives an example: “In August 1914, when he was mistaken about the intentions of Moltke, his German adversary, General Joffre had designed an overall maneuver by applying the pattern of the Battle of Austerlitz. It was bad for him, we were beaten everywhere and our armies were only saved by the Battle of the Marne, in September…”

The moral of history, the generals of following generations understood it: “More than the letter application of its diagrams, it is the application of Napoleon’s principles that we must seek: economy of forces, concentration of efforts, freedom of action, safety/surprise combination, as Foch did later during the First World War,” recounts Colonel Noulens.

According to him, Bonaparte was therefore indeed the greatest general in history: “He had a sense of the terrain and maneuver, he also had an eye. »