Napoleonic Wars: Battle for France 1814

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  • Опубліковано 17 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 6 тис.

  • @EpichistoryTv
    @EpichistoryTv  4 роки тому +1223

    Hope you enjoy the latest instalment in our Napoleonic Wars series!
    You can also check out some new Napoleonic merch designs in our shop: teespring.com/en-GB/stores/epic-history-tv-merch-shop

    • @rikelting303
      @rikelting303 4 роки тому +61

      Will you do a video about napoleon's campaigns from 1796-1800 as well in the coming months?

    • @rikelting303
      @rikelting303 4 роки тому +12

      Fantastic series bye the way!

    • @Greyyfr
      @Greyyfr 4 роки тому +39

      @Epic History TV, Do you think you’ll redo your video on the battle of Waterloo? It would be interesting to see how different it’d look compared to your oldest video.

    • @florianthomas1041
      @florianthomas1041 4 роки тому +5

      Congrats for all your work

    • @ritaDas-xl4kz
      @ritaDas-xl4kz 4 роки тому +2

      @@Greyyfr Same question

  • @Skozerny
    @Skozerny 4 роки тому +5109

    The Napoleon series is the best history series I've ever watched. Just brilliant.

  • @pedrodeeg3893
    @pedrodeeg3893 4 роки тому +2482

    WHAT A CHANNEL!!!! the fact that these videos are a thing on a public forum puts history channel and national geographic to shame!!!

    • @ritaDas-xl4kz
      @ritaDas-xl4kz 4 роки тому +19

      You are very true

    • @Paris-xv9sj
      @Paris-xv9sj 4 роки тому +66

      RIP National Geographic
      Rise Epic History TV!

    • @SireJaxs
      @SireJaxs 4 роки тому +25

      Why isn't Epic History as popular as the Armchair Historian by now? The world may never know.

    • @ahmedosama7232
      @ahmedosama7232 4 роки тому +39

      @@SireJaxs because of the upload rate which affects their performance in the UA-cam alogarithm although I prefer it more like that because they are focusing more in quality than quantity

    • @Paris-xv9sj
      @Paris-xv9sj 4 роки тому +24

      @@SireJaxs The Armchair Historian is good too, but after all Epic History TV is the master of The Napoleonic Wars, no one can beat the most qualified channel on Napoleon!

  • @calvinh8755
    @calvinh8755 4 роки тому +1928

    Seeing Napoleon’s banner fall at 29:53 was surprisingly emotional - having watched this series religiously since Austerlitz that banner has always been there...

    • @panzerofthelake506
      @panzerofthelake506 4 роки тому +164

      When the final boss is defeated

    • @colwolfwolf8731
      @colwolfwolf8731 4 роки тому +184

      I felt the same way - amazing what a little animation can deliver. This series is one of the best written, narrated and animated history shows ever.

    • @COYS-o2i
      @COYS-o2i 4 роки тому +4

      Russia rules!

    • @emmanuelfernandez04
      @emmanuelfernandez04 4 роки тому +71

      Have you guys noticed that Napoleon’s Banner is the only personal banner in the whole series to fall

    • @jg9013
      @jg9013 4 роки тому +64

      @@emmanuelfernandez04 He was Emperor. He was Europe

  • @joeynelson9761
    @joeynelson9761 3 роки тому +2768

    Outnumbered 4-1, deserted by essentially all his allies, hugely lacking in cavalry, most of his infantry are just learning how to hold a gun and at points he had to command whilst also manning the artillery.
    The fact that Napoleon made this into any campaign at all is astonishing. The fact he actually scored a series of victories is just ridiculous.

    • @datguy8006
      @datguy8006 3 роки тому +353

      “My downfall raises me to infinite heights.”

    • @derpynerdy6294
      @derpynerdy6294 3 роки тому +231

      thats why out of all military commqnders this man is the most interesting not becaus ehe had no defeats or perfect but because he is flawed and again his story is sad if you think about it

    • @looseunit1615
      @looseunit1615 3 роки тому +62

      Biden's General Milley can learn from Napoleon.

    • @2112jonr
      @2112jonr 3 роки тому +82

      Willing to send good Frenchmen to a young and untimely death more like.
      Let's not honour psychopathy.

    • @tsunayoshisawada8062
      @tsunayoshisawada8062 3 роки тому +228

      ​@@2112jonr I guess some people can't understand history because they are unable to understand the difference between before and now.

  • @BholewalaofTaranto1098
    @BholewalaofTaranto1098 4 роки тому +2287

    A marvelous end to a world class series. What Epic History has done is reconstruct the past in such a way, I dare say, it was as if we were living through it. The charisma and tenacity of Napoleon can be felt through the videos, along with every single soldier who fought in those years. It is such quality content that has and could be set down as a part of history.

    • @andreascovano7742
      @andreascovano7742 4 роки тому +59

      This! I could feel the charm, the horror, the drama, the happiness of the Napoplenic wars in this series!

    • @unteroffitzierschultz4288
      @unteroffitzierschultz4288 4 роки тому +2

      @@andreascovano7742 Agreed!

    • @Conorp77
      @Conorp77 4 роки тому +67

      End? What about the 100 days?

    • @thehoosher9322
      @thehoosher9322 4 роки тому +2

      _yes_

    • @h-a-y-k4149
      @h-a-y-k4149 4 роки тому +1

      Absolutely right!
      I mean, I am myself a fan of epic content. And this is so far the most epic content I have ever seen.

  • @SireJaxs
    @SireJaxs 4 роки тому +924

    We've all been waiting

    • @osi4410
      @osi4410 4 роки тому +4

      You know this

    • @lucinae8512
      @lucinae8512 4 роки тому +5

      Not me, I’m a Patreon supporter.

    • @SireJaxs
      @SireJaxs 4 роки тому

      @@lucinae8512 Can you tell me the topics coming up next because I wish to know what's coming up next.

    • @lucinae8512
      @lucinae8512 4 роки тому +2

      ThatsJustJosh A poll will start to decide the next topic.

    • @user-kg6jo7yb3w
      @user-kg6jo7yb3w 4 роки тому

      22:26

  • @michieldemare6532
    @michieldemare6532 4 роки тому +348

    I never really understood what the hype around Napoleon was. Until I watched this series.
    Great narrator, great visuals, so many emotions and heroic moments.

  • @TomPickford-w2z
    @TomPickford-w2z Рік тому +434

    Napoleon's victories during The Six Day Campaign are probably the greatest examples of "defeat in detail" in military history. Absolutely genius.

    • @avx8703
      @avx8703 Місяць тому

      Pyrrhic victories

  • @bibobooba1144
    @bibobooba1144 4 роки тому +936

    As a french, I must say that even in school we barely study Napoléon. Watching your serie gave me a renew interest for the history of my country

    • @cantbanme8971
      @cantbanme8971 4 роки тому +111

      That's insane

    • @impaugjuldivmax
      @impaugjuldivmax 3 роки тому +247

      they teach you to be proud not about heroic history but about gay parades

    • @weijiewang9844
      @weijiewang9844 3 роки тому +20

      ​@@impaugjuldivmax Are you French? Did Napoleon persecute people based on their sexual orientations too, like your spiritual animal ol Adolf? Many Greek philosophers who laid the early groundwork for modern day democracy (and before that Enlightenment Era and the French Revolution both of which Napoleon was an arduous student)praised the love between two men. But of course a little man still living under an oppressive government in 21st century like you are have no access to that level of decent education.

    • @weijiewang9844
      @weijiewang9844 3 роки тому +36

      @@cantbanme8971 It's not insane considering that the bulk of ideals Napoleon strived for during his lifetime has been achieved by the French people through years of struggle with the rest of slow peoples in Europe. Poorly educated people like the one I just responded to are entertained by the idea of waging wars on others to compensate for their fractured egos, something that Napoleon never had.

    • @baptistebrigand5882
      @baptistebrigand5882 3 роки тому +2

      @@impaugjuldivmax .

  • @deuxpomme9777
    @deuxpomme9777 4 роки тому +1790

    Imagine a marshal of the empire personally showing you how to use a musket now that is something no ordinary soldier can forget.

  • @lykael6833
    @lykael6833 4 роки тому +1162

    You know the party is over when Davout is unable to join in

    • @nickynicky1469
      @nickynicky1469 4 роки тому +94

      Well said. When the coalition troops cross into France I was eagerly waiting to hear about Davout's movement. Unfortunately it seems he was stuck in a siege.

    • @marzbanofmerv2324
      @marzbanofmerv2324 4 роки тому +56

      Why is it always davout that is left behind?

    • @AscentofTrollbane
      @AscentofTrollbane 4 роки тому +106

      Napoleon might have won had Davout led the defense of Paris. There would have been no surrender for the Iron Marshal.

    • @antiparticle1765
      @antiparticle1765 4 роки тому +37

      @@AscentofTrollbane Paris might have been destroyed and sacked if it wasn't surrendered.

    • @AscentofTrollbane
      @AscentofTrollbane 4 роки тому +52

      @@antiparticle1765 That is simply a sacrifice I am willing to make.

  • @muadibadder3345
    @muadibadder3345 3 роки тому +1091

    This campaign is where Napoleon basically went all critical mode. Like when a boss battle phase turns deadliest when the boss's life meter turns red.

    • @nathanseper8738
      @nathanseper8738 3 роки тому +51

      Well said!

    • @piccolo5346
      @piccolo5346 3 роки тому +35

      Ultra instinct?

    • @chrisstucker1813
      @chrisstucker1813 2 роки тому +39

      Napoleon turned feral; man was marching everywhere looking for a fight 😂

    • @strange_gentleman182
      @strange_gentleman182 Рік тому +11

      ​@@chrisstucker1813 he defended france well. He hoped to rout them out of france, but he had no manpower to enforce it anymore.

    • @tyrone4u559
      @tyrone4u559 Рік тому +4

      Terrific series

  • @Rexzilla10
    @Rexzilla10 2 роки тому +373

    You know a general is a REAL badass when he takes on an entire continent of allied armies copying his tactics and strategies and still dishes out the pain train.

    • @3rdsmite766
      @3rdsmite766 11 місяців тому +7

      HAHAHAH he was the genius

    • @cristianheilbrunn5850
      @cristianheilbrunn5850 9 місяців тому +3

      A genius of death and misery.

    • @Freedmoon44
      @Freedmoon44 9 місяців тому +23

      ​@@cristianheilbrunn5850 death and misery mostly provided by the monarchs of Europe, to villify Napoleon without making them out as just as terrible, the only reason they didnt do similarly as the french when they had the chance was because they werent as good as Napoleon at actually winning

    • @noddybebetrain9896
      @noddybebetrain9896 5 місяців тому

      ​@@cristianheilbrunn5850yeah which is why britain is so miserable, a reactionary monarchy run by anti poor nonces

    • @potato88872
      @potato88872 4 місяці тому

      ​@@cristianheilbrunn5850bot

  • @universe1357
    @universe1357 Рік тому +446

    This is the best line ever -
    31:56 " He was the last figure in history to combine total political power with frontline, military genius - in the mould of Alexander, and Caeser"

    • @ddc2957
      @ddc2957 Рік тому +41

      & superior to both.

    • @spencertherren6806
      @spencertherren6806 Рік тому +47

      And then Ridley makes a film about him absolutely desecrating his legacy. Good thing we've got these excellent documentaries on UA-cam.

    • @duolingo0552
      @duolingo0552 Рік тому +2

      Joe Biden tho

    • @ADPax10
      @ADPax10 Рік тому +7

      @user-qy4jl4ov5k Hard to compare. Such different eras and too many criteria to choose from. Alexander may have died somewhere around the peak of his empire while Napoleon saw the end of his, but Napoleon's overall in-the-moment, high mobility strategy was basically perfect (as long as he had good info); just larger than life, all of them.

    • @ADPax10
      @ADPax10 Рік тому

      @@spencertherren6806 Man, was it THAT bad? I haven't watched it yet, but am about to. Should I just go into it without expectations, or skip it altogether?

  • @woodchuckcider1
    @woodchuckcider1 4 роки тому +1668

    French conscripts 1814: "We're not trained!"
    *In combat with cannon and musket fire*
    Napoleon: "This IS your training!"

    • @cristianluna5568
      @cristianluna5568 4 роки тому +75

      Truly epic.

    • @Mustafa-to9si
      @Mustafa-to9si 4 роки тому +67

      and he won ._.

    • @nevermorelilzkie275
      @nevermorelilzkie275 4 роки тому +83

      @@Mustafa-to9si what do you expect? Napoleon is a God of war of his time.

    • @neieduardodepaula4556
      @neieduardodepaula4556 4 роки тому +117

      @@nevermorelilzkie275 Napoleon is not a God of war of his time.
      Napoleon is the god of war of all times

    • @TropicalAsian-1000
      @TropicalAsian-1000 4 роки тому +8

      Nei Eduardo De Paula
      Alexander and Napoleon is something special

  • @lydiasenglung2027
    @lydiasenglung2027 2 роки тому +510

    The fact that in some battle his casualties are 600 and the allies are 3500 is just simply astounding

    • @hanselsihotang
      @hanselsihotang 2 роки тому +151

      and he achieved that feat with a ragtag army consisted of a mix or regulars and barely trained conscripts against seasoned vets, it's just ridiculous.

    • @kogerugaming
      @kogerugaming Рік тому +16

      The fact that it was actually 600 to 6000 as they said in the video. Ridiculus

    • @hashtagrex
      @hashtagrex 3 місяці тому

      sweden achieved grander victories than that 100 years prior

    • @Freedmoon44
      @Freedmoon44 Місяць тому +2

      ​@@hashtagrex this Sweden wasnt at war for 20 years constantly losing then rebuilding the vast majority of the professional and talents within the army to the point where the last few conscripts were litteral teens who knew mostly manoeuvres and thats it.
      Remember this is Napoleon when the country is pretty much too exhausted to continue, and he still gets such results with the bottom of the barrel

  • @napoleoncorneliusscipio5141
    @napoleoncorneliusscipio5141 4 роки тому +198

    When the picture of Napoleon bidding farewell to his wife and son showed up, knowing that he would never see them again, that plucked a string in me. Powerfully evoking. Brilliant.

    • @cheriefsadeksadek2108
      @cheriefsadeksadek2108 3 роки тому +4

      How many Husbands , Fathers , Brothers didn't see their families again just because of him , it's true he was great but all he brought with him is war and destruction to Europe , im glad the allied won against him

    • @saywhatnow2173
      @saywhatnow2173 3 роки тому +16

      @@cheriefsadeksadek2108 yes but most of them are proud what of they are doing. Sacrificing for the country and for their family.

    • @HauteGameFR
      @HauteGameFR 3 роки тому +10

      @@cheriefsadeksadek2108 And this is very easy to say that to people who make war, from our little chair behind our PC. Of course it is horrible, lot of dead and wounded. But Napoleon never declared any war. He was defending France, but his defense tactic was not to wait, but to ATTACK.
      The price we must pay to be part of the epic story of our nation, the best of the world. I'm proud of my ancestors that was fighting there, even if some of them was surely frightned like HELL while fighting. This is HONOR.

    • @Freedmoon44
      @Freedmoon44 2 роки тому +1

      @@HauteGameFR well he did declare 2 wars and it was the 2 bloodiest for the french ^^' ironically.

    • @maxanderson9293
      @maxanderson9293 2 роки тому +3

      @@cheriefsadeksadek2108 the Allies started the war. Napoleon didn't ever since the First Coalition

  • @justinian-the-great
    @justinian-the-great 4 роки тому +688

    And finally, we are at the end. And my God, what a series! Until this very day there is no any other historical series of this format on UA-cam done with such passion and love. You guys completed what could be called the greatest history series ever done on UA-cam! I applaude you! The only thing that I feel is missing from this video is Napoleon's farewell speech to his guard. It went like this:
    "Soldiers of my Old Guard, I bid you farewell. For 20 years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honor and glory.
    In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have invariably been models of courage and fidelity.
    With men such as you our cause could not be lost; but the war would have been interminable; it would have been civil war, and that would have entailed deeper misfortunes on France.
    I have sacrificed all of my interests to those of the country.
    I go, but you, my friends, will continue to serve France.
    Her happiness was my only thought. It will still be the object of my wishes.
    Do not regret my fate; if I have consented to survive, it is to serve your glory.
    I intend to write the history of the great achievements we have performed together.
    Adieu, my friends. Would I could press you all to my heart. I embrace you all in the person of your general. Come, General Petit, that I may press you to my heart!
    Bring me, the eagle that I may embrace it also!
    Adieu, my children! Be always gallant and good.
    Do not forget me"
    - Napoleon Bonaparte
    When I read it the first time (I believe I was 15, maybe 16 or so then), I cried. The Old Guard, those men who withstood the sand of Egypt and ice of Russia. Men who didn't shake for 20 years on battlefield. Men who never complained. Those men now cried for his emperor. British Prussian and Austrian envoys too cried. Everyone cried. Only the Russians seemed untouched by Napoleon's words, although I believe they were.
    Napoleon was beyond doubt a great man, we all know that. But, more importantly, he was, in my humble opinion, a good man. In his early years Napoleon was a stubborn man. And an unforgivable. Once, when he read one novel from Voltaire in which a dying hero forgives his killers, he was angry. He thought that a dying hero shouldn't forgive his enemies, but instead curse them and with his last breath make his friends swear that they'll avenge his death! That's what a real man should do, young Napoleon thought.
    But when it was Napoleon's time to die......well he wrote a last wish. A last wish in which he forgives all his enemies, all those who betrayed him. Talleyrand, Fouche, "Raguser"......all of them were forgiven. Elba changed his views on the world tremendously. When he returned in 1815 in his Hundred days Napoleon was a different man. Much mentally much older, wiser and nicer. And that could be seen through his actions. He established free elections and free press, both somewhat banned during his previous reign. He even banned slave trade, which he himself re-established in 1802. Napoleon of the Hundred days wasn't that young hotheaded Napoleon. If during his first reign Napoleon passionately wanted to fix the world's mistakes, the Hundred days Napoleon wanted to fix mistakes that he himself made. And thus on Saint Hellen died a completely different man than the one who marched into Russia.
    But that isn't the last of Napoleon. No! He still didn't showed us his last triumph! In 1840, during a July monarchy, Napoleon marched for the last time. This time millions of people came to see his remains being brought back to France. And they laid him in a palace of invalids, a place where people pay him respect for already 200 years. Napoleon maybe lost in life, but he beat them all in death!

    • @gunzburg2233
      @gunzburg2233 4 роки тому +49

      Great message ... Totally agree with you, despite what others may think, he is a great man for who i have a lot of admiration

    • @avalle4493
      @avalle4493 4 роки тому +45

      Napoleon failures are more glorious and amazing than his enemies victories.
      Vivee L'emperador!!! Vive Napoleon!!

    • @OSY_PB_ATHEIST_PALKU
      @OSY_PB_ATHEIST_PALKU 4 роки тому +28

      Long ago when I first came to know about Napoleon's last speech to old guard before his exile to Elba, I wept too.
      But this time while I was reading your comment, I wept again, when I got to read - "British, Prussian, and Austrian envoys cried too".
      I had read before that even enemy soldiers respected Napoleon, and saluted him during battle, lying wounded or half dead, when they saw him, but never knew that they cried for him too during his last moments before exile.
      Napoleon was a rare man in deed; if he was able to make even his enemies weep for him, you can perhaps not fully imagine the euphoria of the situation, but only wish for yourself if you could have been present at that moment.

    • @VRichardsn
      @VRichardsn 4 роки тому +19

      Now you made us all cry... :'(

    • @OSY_PB_ATHEIST_PALKU
      @OSY_PB_ATHEIST_PALKU 4 роки тому +5

      Napoleon's young age, hot-headed philosophy as you have mentioned that a dying hero should not forgive his killers and enemies, but instead curse them and with his last breath should make his friends swear that they will avenge his death - reminded me of an incident from the Indian epic MAHABHARATA (originally written in Sanskrit), which is as it follows. -
      DURYODHANA, a king and a great warrior, lying half dead on the battlefield of KURUKSHETRA, was visited by one of his best and only surviving friend - ASHWATTHAMA.
      The latter crying heavily, and being unable to keep his eyes at DURYODHANA's sufferings and pains, asked for his permission to revenge on his killers - the PANDAVAs (5 brothers).
      DURYODHANA being satisfied thinking that the war was not over yet and ASHWATTHAMA was his best friend in deed, permitted the latter's request.
      That very night ASHWATTHAMA walked secretly into the PANDAVAs' shelter and killed all their surviving sons, 5 in number, misidentifying them for PANDAVAs and took their severed heads to show DURYODHANA.
      DURYODHANA wept at the death of these sons looking at their heads as presented by ASHWATTHAMA and died.
      PANDAVAs were alarmed and sought revenge on ASHWATTHAMA, but both were unable to kill each other.
      ASHWATTHAMA, now being unable to kill PANDAVAs, took to end their family line instead.
      Although he had killed the 5 remaining sons of PANDAVAs and they had no grandson except one who was yet to be born.
      He cursed this grandson, who was in the womb of one of PANDAVAs' daughter in law - UTTARA that he would die young and the PANDAVAs line of family would not live happily to enjoy the wealth, the kingdom for which they killed DURYODHANA. Afterward he disappeared in jungles, lived there for all his life without being discovered by others.
      The grandson, later became known as PARIKSHIT died very young due to his ill behavior and temper and thus ASHWATTHAMA's curse was fulfilled.
      Now why did I mention this incident from MAHABHARATA?
      The answer is -
      First the similarity of intentions;
      Secondly in one of the introductory chapters of this epic, in a verse, it is written - "All the possibilities of human relationships you can find here can be found elsewhere too; But those which can not be found here in this epic are nowhere else to be found."
      This epic has thousands of characters, many of them unrelated (but related in a way as all are living and all denote essence of life and existence).
      Among the characters, there are animals and pets as well showing them as emotional as they are and their relationships with humans.
      DURYODHANA and ASHWATTHAMA's seeking for revenge is considered evil by most Indians as India is overall a country of AHIMSA i.e. non - violence, but by a few as greatest bond of friendship and brotherhood.

  • @GondorianWarden
    @GondorianWarden 4 роки тому +325

    I have never, ever before come across a series, based on events that we already know what will happen, leave me so angry and sad at the same time about how things turned out for the Emperor, when there could have been so different. I have never, EVER, come across a channel that the quality of its content shames networks that reigned for years, the respect for its viewers humbles us, and its analysis of historical events is done in such an interesting and entertaining way.
    I have nothing more to say, than Thank You. Thank you for this amazing series, and thank you for the company your videos kept me all these days. I hope you continue the amazing job!
    Edit: Some mistakes, I’m sorry, english isn’t my first language!

    • @Mizelei2012
      @Mizelei2012 4 роки тому +6

      Your english is fine, you're just fishing for compliments

    • @ihl0700677525
      @ihl0700677525 4 роки тому +5

      Completely agree about the absolute brilliance of this series, tho I'm rooting for Napoleon's enemies throughout the series. Very satisfying to watch how the coalition finally managed to put the Corsican Ogre in his place.
      Napoleon's unjust and outrageous actions in Spain and Russia finally avenged.

    • @Aester
      @Aester 4 роки тому +1

      @@ihl0700677525 I was rooting for Napoleon but I guess its a matter of perspective

    • @peterthepeter7523
      @peterthepeter7523 4 роки тому

      @@Aester rooting for the underdog is always more interesting.

    • @dyingember8661
      @dyingember8661 4 роки тому +4

      @@ihl0700677525 That's fair enough, what he did in Spain is unforgivable that's for sure.

  • @hmmm9658
    @hmmm9658 3 роки тому +272

    12:32, napoleon himself in the thick of the fighting, fighting for the survival of the French Empire at the gates of paris against the odds with the swelling music literally gives me goosebumps

  • @jangerber2288
    @jangerber2288 4 роки тому +1046

    “We’re in the endgame now” - Napoleon Bonaparte

    • @mariano98ify
      @mariano98ify 4 роки тому +56

      Sad in this endgame Bri-Thanos won.

    • @leonellthelion
      @leonellthelion 4 роки тому +2

      @@mariano98ify Hah! I see what you did there. 🤣

    • @BigBazz-Clips
      @BigBazz-Clips 4 роки тому +4

      @@mariano98ify french mad

    • @siechamontillado
      @siechamontillado 4 роки тому +1

      Damnit, 5 hrs too late!

    • @ColonelZoren
      @ColonelZoren 4 роки тому +2

      "I'll finish this like ant-man... all up in your stinky!" -Coalition

  • @squamish4244
    @squamish4244 4 роки тому +994

    The last verified soldier of the Napoleonic Wars was a Dutch veteran of the Grand Armee, Geert Adriaans Boomgaard, who died aged 110 in 1899. The last claimed soldier was a Polish veteran who fought for Napoleon, Vincent Markiewicz, who died aged ~108 in 1903.

    • @martinmagtagnob771
      @martinmagtagnob771 4 роки тому +76

      ;-; sadly, today, we dont have any Napoleonic veterans in this modern world :( I kinda feel bad for what europe has become 😥

    • @artygunnar
      @artygunnar 3 роки тому +82

      @@martinmagtagnob771 we dont even have ww1 survivors!!!!!

    • @herrklugscheiser2330
      @herrklugscheiser2330 3 роки тому +33

      @@martinmagtagnob771 I don’t know I like that for the last 80 years we didn’t fight in Europe.

    • @MarcusLobenstein
      @MarcusLobenstein 3 роки тому +30

      @@herrklugscheiser2330 we did Yugoslavia...

    • @baptistebrigand5882
      @baptistebrigand5882 3 роки тому

      @@herrklugscheiser2330 .

  • @pablojn4826
    @pablojn4826 4 роки тому +516

    I came here faster than the training of French recruits in 1814

  • @TheColombiano89
    @TheColombiano89 3 роки тому +480

    Napoleon's counter attack against ungodly odds is some thing to be admire.

    • @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators
      @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators 3 роки тому +5

      You do realize Napoleon lost, right? Or was that too hard for you to understand? Napoleon was nothing to be admired at all.

    • @centurymemes1208
      @centurymemes1208 3 роки тому +90

      @@RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators
      lmao you’re still here?

    • @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators
      @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators 3 роки тому +1

      @@centurymemes1208 False narrative + Phony monuments = Fake History. Napoleon was one of the worst rulers in Western History, forever turning France into a second-rate nation. Napoleon was one of the most incompetent, reckless military minds in history, completely destroying the most powerful military force of the day in total defeat, the French military. There was nothing "glorious" or "triumphant" about so many young French conscripts in unmarked graves only to have foreign armies marching down the streets of Paris.

    • @owenmorrison3095
      @owenmorrison3095 3 роки тому +1

      @@RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators of course he worst ruler...because he was train as soldier...and win a lot of battle... as soldier..surender is the the most dishonor thing ever done...but that what make nepoleon great general but worst ruler..

    • @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators
      @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators 3 роки тому +6

      @@owenmorrison3095 The campaign ended in total DEFEAT! Yet people speak as if Napoleon won when he clearly lost. Napoleon went on the offensive in this campaign instead of defending Paris as he should have. He won meaningless battles that were of no consequence, and was completely out of position to defend Paris as it easily fell. So bad was this performance, that Napoleon was fired by his own Marshalls who had enough of his garbage command. And don't forget, the very reason they were fighting on French soil in the first place was because of Napoleon's incompetence, recklessness, and impotence at a commander. The incompetence of the disastrous Russian campaign. The recklessness of the invasion of Spain, the impotence of getting SMASHED at Leipzig, which all destroyed entire massive French armies. So don't give Napoleon any credit when they are fighting on French soil, and when Napoleon took worthless pawns and lost his king Paris by being out of position to defend the capital. Checkmate! Napoleon is fake history, glorifying the meaningless Six Day Campaign when Napoleon was easily defeated on his own soil by failing to protect Paris is further proof of that.

  • @TheWhiteFaction
    @TheWhiteFaction 4 роки тому +1726

    This man has the most epic and tragic story ever.

    • @fredbarker9201
      @fredbarker9201 4 роки тому +221

      Yep but as he said his real legacy is in the civil code. He promoted Reforms that changed the world

    • @annieroseloquinario2044
      @annieroseloquinario2044 4 роки тому +96

      @@fredbarker9201 i cry when his banner was down

    • @Akillesursinne
      @Akillesursinne 4 роки тому +41

      For a Swede, Karl XII fills that roll of tragic hero. Although Karl XII never started a war.

    • @leowilly29
      @leowilly29 4 роки тому +135

      @Robert Cawley a Monster for England, a god for the world

    • @freewal
      @freewal 4 роки тому +91

      Robert Cawley He was a monster for the English Aristocracy only.

  • @gillessalermo6470
    @gillessalermo6470 Рік тому +231

    300 000 against 70000.
    He is not 3 times faster but 6.
    He doesn't kill 2for1 but 4for1
    Enemies are more than 4 times his size, and they flee because they know he is in charge.
    If i read a novel with this kind of character, i would be chastising the writer for his lack of nuance.
    One of the few country elite that deserved such title.

    • @smal750
      @smal750 Рік тому +10

      🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

    • @carkawalakhatulistiwa
      @carkawalakhatulistiwa Рік тому +11

      @@smal750 British say. Napoleon Bonaparte alone is like 40.000 men

    • @Frenchdragoon
      @Frenchdragoon 5 місяців тому

      Best comment so far

    • @ernestoA.1999
      @ernestoA.1999 5 місяців тому +1

      The French stopped beign French after 1815

    • @bretonneux3389
      @bretonneux3389 4 місяці тому

      @@ernestoA.1999 no. What happened is that we (although it actually started in the 1750's, but it accelerated in the 1790's) started to make less children, in order to be sure we could feed them all. Called malthusianism. On the other hand, the other europeans continued to make a lot of children, while the scientific improvements brought by the industrial revolution made the infant mortality decrease.
      So France, slowly but surely, went from "Europe's China" to Europe's empty fields. In 1792, France in current borders was 30 millions populated, when what would become Germany was 20 millions populated.
      In 1914, France was 40 millions vs 60 millions germans.
      In 1940, France was 40 millions vs 80 millions populated Germany (that had annexed Austria and sudetenland).
      Slower growth population in the XIXth century also meant slower industrialization, with less young workforce leaving the villages for the factories in the cities, and although France started its industrial revolution in third after Britain and Belgium, by 1914, it was still a largely rural country, far less industrialized than Germany.

  • @valdonchev7296
    @valdonchev7296 4 роки тому +330

    Infinity War: "Most ambitious crossover"
    6th Coalition: "Hold my musket"

    • @Janoip
      @Janoip 4 роки тому +2

      Even better Boxer Rebellion
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion

  • @duchevet
    @duchevet 3 роки тому +133

    16:43 "Napoleon knew he had to land another decisive blow soon, so turned his attention back to Blucher". Among all the epicness, this sick burn was almost lost.

    • @and_riv7007
      @and_riv7007 Рік тому +2

      Lmfao! I’m so glad someone brought this up😂

    • @jffry890
      @jffry890 Рік тому

      I don't get it.

    • @jean-louislalonde6070
      @jean-louislalonde6070 Рік тому +25

      Blucher hated the French so much, when he entered Paris he learned there was a bridge called Iena recalling the battle that saw the destruction of a major part of the Prussian army, and so he ordered his troops to aim cannons to destroy it. French negociator Talleyrand intervened, telling it was not necessary since they would rename the bridge. Blucher accepted and the bridge was saved. It is still called Iena btw...

    • @Freedmoon44
      @Freedmoon44 Рік тому +15

      ​@@jean-louislalonde6070 i mean, Talleyrand always was a troll

    • @jean-louislalonde6070
      @jean-louislalonde6070 Рік тому +7

      @@Freedmoon44 He played his own game and so survived the revolution, the empire and managed to be accepted by Louis XVIII.

  • @lawsharland7278
    @lawsharland7278 4 роки тому +760

    coalition: we have you 4 to 1 !
    Napoleon: i like those odds.

    • @joseemmanuelosegueracamare4044
      @joseemmanuelosegueracamare4044 4 роки тому +36

      *6 to 1

    • @model-man7802
      @model-man7802 4 роки тому +21

      4 to 1 odds? Napoleon:"Hold my Beer."

    • @BreadWinner330
      @BreadWinner330 4 роки тому +43

      *Then it is an even fight*

    • @mannye21
      @mannye21 4 роки тому +21

      I cant even fathom the level of brilliance this man had

    • @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators
      @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators 4 роки тому +1

      @@mannye21 Um...you do realize Napoleon lost. Napoleon was not a brilliant general at all. A brilliant general is not responsible for so many catastrophic blunders that wastes the best army in the world. When Napoleon seized power, he took the best army in the world. Napoleon took the most men, the most guns, the best horsemen, and that overwhelming force is why he was largely successful in the beginning. France's army could just overwhelm everyone....until Napoleon recklessly and idiotically wasted the Le Grande Armee with multiple disasters (Spain Russia Leipzig Campaign). Napoleon was not a brilliant commander. It is like if someone took over as CEO a powerful corporation like Google and 10 years later it went bankrupt. No one would call that CEO brilliant. That's what Napoleon did to the French military.

  • @athenian9795
    @athenian9795 4 роки тому +526

    Napoleon, right before his departure for Elba:
    "I'll be back."

    • @katethetet2275
      @katethetet2275 4 роки тому +14

      Terminator NB-1769))))

    • @harleyokeefe5193
      @harleyokeefe5193 4 роки тому +50

      athenian warrior
      Napoleon, right before being sent to St Helena:
      “In my defence I didn’t say how long I’d be back for”

    • @sarthakbikrampanta8342
      @sarthakbikrampanta8342 4 роки тому +2

      @@harleyokeefe5193 lol

    • @HoangNguyen-lz9wk
      @HoangNguyen-lz9wk 4 роки тому +17

      Girl: You don't even cry at Billie Eilish song don't you have any emotional?
      Me:

    • @jocelynndotson7273
      @jocelynndotson7273 3 роки тому

      Napoleon when he was on a ship to st Helena: I will not be back

  • @kogerugaming
    @kogerugaming 2 роки тому +239

    Imagine being a soldier in the allied armies. You all know what this man is capable of, and you receive news that he earned 4 victories in 6 days against the odds. Now, that is soldiering.

    • @gwcstudio
      @gwcstudio 3 місяці тому

      Imagine you were playing pickup basketball and your opponent walks in and it's Michael Jordan. Basically, that is the feeling.

  • @arrowshot3000
    @arrowshot3000 4 роки тому +323

    This era is my favorite period of World History

    • @deep9785
      @deep9785 4 роки тому +20

      I never really cared for it before, but now it has also become my favourite.

    • @ricksturgis6403
      @ricksturgis6403 4 роки тому +18

      France an Europe 1789-1815: better than any movie

    • @jayd8091
      @jayd8091 4 роки тому +16

      Well it's so connected to other key events such as the American Revolution, which was a source of the French debt that resulted in the French Revolution, then the rise of Napoleon that it covers all the major western powers and their empires. It's certainly one of the most important periods of history.

    • @user-kg6jo7yb3w
      @user-kg6jo7yb3w 4 роки тому

      22:26

    • @TexasKosmonawt
      @TexasKosmonawt 4 роки тому +1

      It's not my most favorite, but it's up there in the the top 5.

  • @gaiusjuliuscaesar3204
    @gaiusjuliuscaesar3204 4 роки тому +96

    This music and narration is unbelievable. The best thing I've seen in years.

  • @stuart1346
    @stuart1346 4 роки тому +296

    “If other history channels are foolish enough to make napoleonic content,
    I will march to meet them...
    Then you will see the meaning of the word debacle.”
    Epic History Tv to his subscribers
    Britain, May 2020

    • @stuart1346
      @stuart1346 4 роки тому +5

      While giving them a good run for their money but yeah.

    • @angusyang5917
      @angusyang5917 4 роки тому +11

      Oversimplified: Napoleonic Wars

    • @mountaintiger2767
      @mountaintiger2767 4 роки тому +4

      @Kürassier1806 yeah its from someone who lost but left as a legend

    • @derpynerdy6294
      @derpynerdy6294 4 роки тому +1

      @@angusyang5917
      It maybe foreshadowed in his French revolution, But who knows if he ever makes it...

  • @yatsumleung8618
    @yatsumleung8618 Рік тому +192

    BGM:
    0:00 Earthquake -- James Murrey
    2:27 Kilimanjaro -- Seb Jaegar
    5:40 Renegade -- Seb Jaeger
    8:22 General -- Joseph Heath
    11:30 Skynet -- Seb Jaeger
    12:55 Poseidon -- Ben Hayden
    15:00 Agent -- Ben Hayden
    16:08 Major Incursion -- Ben Hayden
    18:22 Warrior -- Goncalo Marquis Ferreira Martins
    20:07 Centurion -- Ben Hayden
    21:42 Renegade -- Seb Jaeger
    24:42 Viking -- Joseph Heath
    27:10 Beoluth -- Seb Jaeger
    30:55 General -- Joseph Heath

  • @ernestoA.1999
    @ernestoA.1999 4 роки тому +1229

    Imagine the morale of seeing your own Emperor sighting the cannons himself, like if he were a simple corporal, Napoleons charisma, courage, personality, is something that we’ll never see in thousands of years. “Imagine a king who fight his own battles, wouldnt that be a sight “ Achilles

    • @bfa9446
      @bfa9446 4 роки тому +187

      I believe that he wanted to die during this campaign.

    • @stevep5408
      @stevep5408 4 роки тому +10

      Yes and thank God!

    • @freewal
      @freewal 4 роки тому +105

      He was looking for death. Die like a warrior and complete his legend.

    • @kooroshrostami27
      @kooroshrostami27 4 роки тому +105

      @@bfa9446 No man is as dangerous as the one who is looking towards his own death.

    • @willspencer8694
      @willspencer8694 4 роки тому +16

      Hitler was a mere 100 years later

  • @abhishekganguly7419
    @abhishekganguly7419 4 роки тому +145

    The endgames of military genius like Napoleon and Hannibal are all depressing and a story of how things could have ended differently.
    Thanks to epic history for such a series never have I loved history so much before.
    You guys made Napoleon an idol for me

    • @h-a-y-k4149
      @h-a-y-k4149 4 роки тому +2

      They really should not be depressing.
      The only depressing thing for me is when the epic part of the video ends soon. This video is spectacular for me, because nearly all the moments are epic.

    • @fabioferrarese5600
      @fabioferrarese5600 4 роки тому +1

      not really depressing but certainly epic

    • @alexeyvankevich7096
      @alexeyvankevich7096 4 роки тому +2

      I am Russian and in my opinion, it was a happy and of the Napoleonic wars!

    • @JohnyG29
      @JohnyG29 4 роки тому

      How can he be considered an idol? What good did he do to the world?

    • @yugatrasclart4439
      @yugatrasclart4439 4 роки тому +8

      @@JohnyG29 bring the ideals of the french revolution to fruition and creating a civil code that still forms the basis of many european civil codes to this day?

  • @Gabiii47
    @Gabiii47 4 роки тому +691

    Seriousy, an HBO show about Napoleon would be the best thing ever.

    • @y.r._
      @y.r._ 4 роки тому +161

      Yeah, but keep D&D away from it please. Otherwise Napoleon will kinda forget about the army of bohemia

    • @finrodbrs
      @finrodbrs 4 роки тому +5

      There was an A&E one in 2003ish. You can find it on youtube.

    • @PoutinePete
      @PoutinePete 4 роки тому +43

      Tom Cruise could play Napoleon.

    • @LAigleOccitan
      @LAigleOccitan 4 роки тому +93

      Yes, if the production do not adopt Anglo-Saxon propaganda as usual...

    • @foysal2150
      @foysal2150 4 роки тому +42

      Stanley Kubrick wanted to make a movie about Napoleon. But he couldnt do because of the lack of funding. :(

  • @Imperium83
    @Imperium83 3 роки тому +375

    The part where Napoleon was helping aim the cannon was a little bit of a tear jerker. The man frantically pushing his men beyond their limits to match his genius in a mad attempt to stave off the inevitable, and still succeeding. It really is awe inspiring what he was able to accomplish.

    • @TheCaptainZodo
      @TheCaptainZodo 3 роки тому +16

      He’s directly responsible for 3 million deaths and he kept Europe in a terrible war for fifteen years. He also betrayed the French Republic by crowning himself Emperor. All this in the name of personal glory.

    • @guts145
      @guts145 3 роки тому +29

      @@TheCaptainZodo Exaggerated numbers, terrible understanding of the geopolitical stage of the time, and null knowledge about the state of the Directory before Brumaire. Congratulations sir, you check all the conditions of a basic bitch contrarian.

    • @TheCaptainZodo
      @TheCaptainZodo 3 роки тому +5

      @@guts145 I've usualy seen the total military and civilian death rate put between 3,500,000 and 6,000,000. So I was actually being incredibly lenient with the 3 million figure. What kind of skewed source are you taking your idea of the deaths from? Furthermore, anyone who becomes an absolute emperor has certainly betrayed the republican values of the revolution which gave him that rise. Congratulations sir, you are a mook.

    • @guts145
      @guts145 3 роки тому +45

      @@TheCaptainZodo You're telling me pop-his may be propagating myths? I never could've guessed (just like I totally didn't guess you took all that from Wikipedia).
      You start off by attributing all deaths of a whole series of wars to one person, quite the dishonest move. Especially when they all stemmed from the end of the Treaty of Amiens, which unless you believe it states that France had no right to start diplomatic relationships with Algeria, Egypt, Russia, Malta and the US, or that nobody has the right to do what nations do except for England, wasn't caused by him.
      Either way, allied figures are the hardest to situate, but they're between 1 and 2,5 million casualties. As for french ones, both the origin of the misconception and its rebuttal are widely known. It comes from Taine (nineteenth century historian for pete's sake, it's time to get new material) which put the deaths of both the Revolution AND the Empire at 3,1 million. The number in itself looks unbelievable, when comparing it to the french demographic growth under that period (and even just under the Empire itself), but other elements completely decridibilize it. First one is the number of people mobilized for the wars, as the Revolution and the Empire each mobilized a batch of 1,4 million people, which would nearly all be dead if we believe these numbers. Second is the number of remaining people that fought the napoleonic wars under Napoleon III (at around 1850) which is known because of a price he wanted to give them, and which stands at 450,000 people. Pretty impressive, especially when considering how far from the wars this was measured. Final one is the equalization of disappearances with deaths, when it is known that much of them were deserters who settled where the campaigns brought them. From all of that historians situate the actual number between 400,000 and 700,000. Sure, it's not a highly precise number either, but it's far lesser and more reliable than what Taine estimated.
      As for the talk on republican ideals, I would except a careful debater to look up a short history of the regime I used as an example (the Directory), but this is apparently not what we have to deal with here. No need to look only at the Directory though, all of the First Republic's history puts the expression "republican ideals" when talking about the Revolution and used to differenciate it with Napoleon. We could talk about how voting was no longer secret since 1792, under the supposedly moderate Girondins-dominated Convention. Or about the coup against the Girondins. Or about how high absention was, showing even citizens didn't believe that these ideals were truly implemented (political inexperience doesn't explain everything, as the number are even smaller than under the constitutional monarchy). Or about how censorship of the press was even harsher than under Napoleon, under whom nobody had ever been executed for mocking someone. Or about how the Revolutionnary Government of 93-94 directly suspended all elections to put an end to the joke. There isn't a shortage of subjects to tackle here.
      Then we can move on to the Directory, which started by the reassuring Décret des deux-tiers (which kept one-third of the Convention intact after Thermidor, with no need for a renewal), and continuated by barring some candidates from presenting themselves, and heavily restricting suffrage. As for repression, even though censorship was not at the level of before or after, it was heavily active, and the Bagne replaced executions. And when all of this wasn't enough, a good coup reminded everybody who the boss was (for example in Floreal or Fructidor, coups that targeted both the neo-jacobins and the moderate monarchists). So you with all of these points, you can imagine how anybody that knows a little about the history of the period would explode of laughter when reminded of the "ideals" Napoleon supposedly ended.

    • @TheCaptainZodo
      @TheCaptainZodo 3 роки тому +1

      @@guts145 You wrote all of that to arrive at the figure of about 1.5-3.2 million? In other words, exactly what I said. Furthermore, you seem to only be talking about military deaths, not including civilians. You have a big mouth but you seem like a bit of an idiot. Secondly, funnily enough I'm actually studying the French Revolution at university right now, so I'm familiar with everything you're saying about pre-Napoleon France. The thing is, this is a UA-cam comments section and you seem to have brought your thesis paper to argue against my very broad and general assertion that Napoleon was one of the people who countered the more democratic aspects of the Revolution even just for the fact that he became an emperor. Please don't rustle your jimmies any further.

  • @themicki8032
    @themicki8032 4 роки тому +124

    Actually sad to see the picture of Napoleon drop to the ground after this long and glorius series. Great job!

  • @TheFiresloth
    @TheFiresloth 4 роки тому +428

    Some interesting factoids :
    -Eugene de Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson, fought well against the Austrians in Northern Italy, but did not came back to the emperor, waiting to see what would happen. After the war, he went to live with his wife's family in Bavaria, a melancholic, regretful man. He still managed to marry his daughters to many great noble families, who were impressed by his figure of hero of war.
    -Alexandre I of Russia was probably the first Ouiboo, showing an absolute fascination with everything Napoleon's related, and frequenting his ex-wife and stepdaughter. He also showed an absolute disdain toward the returning French royalists.
    -Marshal Marmont fought like a beast to defend Paris, ending the day holding his saber with only one arm and three fingers valid. When he heard about the marshal's revolt, he cancelled his order to surrender his corps to the ennemy and joined them to negociate. One disgruntled general surrendered anyway, making him look like an absolute traitor in front of his colleagues and convincing the allies to apply harsh conditions. His title, duke of Raguse, gave the verb "Raguser", to betray. He was the only marshal to meet the son of Napoleon at Vienna, many years later.
    -Marshal Ney and Murat were both executed while leading their firing squad and without blindfold. Marshal Brune was cut to pieces by a royalist mob. Marshal Berthier jumped out his window while seeing Prussian troops parade before his window. Marshal Mortier was ripped to shred by an artisanal gatling gun in an unrelated anarchist plot, many years later.
    -Davout held Hambourg until showed proof Napoleon had capitulated. He ordered to fire on royalist flags put in front of the walls, for wich he was in disgrace, and didn't have to swear allegeance to the king. This allowed to return to the emperor without betraying anyone during the Hundred-Days. His resistance is considered a model of defensive siege-warfare.

    • @vicentgalvan70
      @vicentgalvan70 4 роки тому +67

      No one knows what killed Berthier. Some says it was an accident; other says suicide. If you consider that he was killed in the beginning of the Hundred Days, it is not difficulty to belive he was murderer in order to weaken Napoleon, since he was a master at understanding Napoleon's orders and transmiting it to the other Marshalls.

    • @DarthPlato
      @DarthPlato 4 роки тому +8

      Agreed--I think Berthier was dropped out of that window.

    • @SireJaxs
      @SireJaxs 4 роки тому +58

      Marshal Davout was my favorite Marshal fighting against the Prussians in Jena outnumbered, Helping reclaim a victory against the Austrians at Wagram, and a veteran of the Russian Campaign, let's not forget the sacrifice in Germany. All and all Davout was in my opinion the best Marshal France had.

    • @monkeyman321
      @monkeyman321 4 роки тому +29

      ThatsJustJosh let’s not forget Marshall Lannes. He is the most heroic of all.

    • @symeonvall4940
      @symeonvall4940 4 роки тому +47

      Just to be clear, Berthier’ death is uncertain, but Marmont’s traitory isn’t. He sided with bourbon France after the abdication of Napoleon, and was awarded by the new King of France. Additionally, he voted yes for the execution of his fellow Marshal Ney. No doubt he fought courageously, but he still betrayed.

  • @EvansdiAl
    @EvansdiAl 4 роки тому +133

    The documentary channels are dead, Long Live Epic History TV !

  • @ROCCATEER92
    @ROCCATEER92 7 місяців тому +14

    11:17
    Imagine being an artillery private and seeing your emperor next to you aiming a cannon himself.

  • @Guy-cb1oh
    @Guy-cb1oh 4 роки тому +393

    Epic History: Napoleon lost his empire due to the disastrous Russian Invasion.
    History Channel: It was because of Aliens!

    • @cgt3704
      @cgt3704 4 роки тому +16

      Epic history is the smartest history channel. Hand down

    • @sandrosaladze8095
      @sandrosaladze8095 4 роки тому +24

      "new studies have shown that the british members of parliament had contacted the aliens to ask for aid against napoleon"

    • @TheEmperor0000
      @TheEmperor0000 4 роки тому +4

      Epic history actually does research on his videos, History channel, I’m not so sure the people there are qualified enough. There are some other great history youtubers out there like Simple History!

    • @giacomosaracino6036
      @giacomosaracino6036 3 роки тому +2

      Russia AND Spain

    • @austinkendrixfadera1705
      @austinkendrixfadera1705 3 роки тому

      It's all coz of the British

  • @djoumine3648
    @djoumine3648 4 роки тому +307

    Marshall Marmont is an interesting figure.
    His parents were minor nobility from Burgundy, and he went to a school in Dijon where he met a well-known young Corsican. Then he was accepted at the prestigious artillery school in Châlons, where he had brilliant grades and even met one of his future friends, Géraud Duroc. In 1793, his unit which was in the Army of the Alps, was redirected at Toulon where he fought with Napoleon and another famous man, Jean-Andoche Junot.
    Long story short, his litte gang with Napoleon and Junot lived quite poorly after Robespierre's execution, Napoleon being discharged and without pay. After participating at the siege of Mainz in 1795, he was put in the Army of Italy with Napoleon, where he distinguished himself, notably at Arcole where he supposedly helped Napoleon get out of the mud in which he had fallen. Napoleon sent him to the Directory to deliver the standards of the defeated armies, and was made colonel at age 21 (!).
    He went to Egypt with Napoleon, and followed him in the second Italian campaign where he notably organized the artillery's crossing of the St-Bernard, depicted in the famous painting of David. He was later appointed inspector of the artillery that he organized very effectively.
    Disappointed of not being one of the first marshalls of Napoleon in 1804, he was put at the command of the 2nd Corps in Ostende for the future invasion of England. His corps particpated at the Ulm and Austerlitz campaigns of 1805 but not at the battle of Austerlitz itself. In 1806 he fought the Russians in Dalmatia, and stayed at Ragusa where he modernized the country, building roads, schools, hospitals. He was loved by the trooper and by the locals, but not by his immediade subordinates who found him arrogant and greedy. He was made duke of Ragusa in 1808 and marshall of the empire in 1809 after Wagram, where his corps fought with the Austrians at Znaïm. Napoleon made him governor of the Illyrian provinces, where his lifestyle and appetite for gold was very famous. He had near total power in Illyria, Napoleon nicknamed him "Marmont 1st" in reference of the "court" he had in Ragusa.
    After a short stay in Paris, Napoleon made him commander of the army of Portugal. Considering the lack of ressources, he fought quite well until Salamanca where a cannonball injured his arm. He was made commander of the 6th Corps in Germany and in France, fighting with determination despite the odds.
    But here's the interesting part. After withdrawing from Paris with his corps, he plotted against his old friend and Emperor. He made contact with Schwarzenberg and offered that his corps went in Normandy, in order to have peace. But on the 4th of April, Napoleon decided to abdicate with conditions. He sent MacDonald, Ney and Caulaincourt to Paris. Marmont followed them, but his negociations would be a weakness to Napoleon's conditionnal surrender, because the Emperor's main argument was the unity of the army to his cause. Marmont wanted to abandon his plot, and ordered not to move. But, in Paris, The Tsar dismissed the four emisaries. Why? Because Souham, the man left out to command 6th Corps, actually gave up his corps and marched in direction of Normandy. It's not surprinsing, as Souham was an ex-officer of Moreau, Napoleon's old enemy. At this moment all was lost, Napoleon had been betrayed. He abdicated without condition on the 6th of April.
    Of course, Marmont, seen as the traitor, did not do anything during the Hundred Days. In the Bourbon Restauration years, he was in service of Louis XVIII and Charles X (a friend) and even discovered and neutralized a plot against Louis XVIII. He was persona non grata with the army, but was appreciated for his intelligence in the higher society. He was commander of the Army in Paris during the July Revolution in 1830, and was forced into exile as his troops opened fire on the revolutionnaries. Marmont, being a friend of the king, but in favor of the liberals and an enemy of the ultra-royalists in the government, was in the middle of the fight. He exiled himself to England with Charles X, then to Vienna and Venise.He wrote books on his journey which took him to Egypt (again) and Russia, and on military strategy : his books were best-sellers in Europe at the time. He even met Napoleon II, giving him "lessons" about his father once a week. He never went back to France, as Soult, a marshall with whom he had a terrible relationship since the Peninsula War, was made prime minister. He died in Venise in 1852, being the last marshall of Napoleon to die.
    Why did he betray Napoleon? For the interest of peace, France, for having the luxury to have Napoleon's future in his hands? As the years passed, his relation with the Emperor deteriorated, the greed of Marmont being too strong. He always was in search of recognition from him, but never quite obtained it, and maybe this made him jealous. We'll never know, but I encourage EHTV's viewers to make researchs about the people of this time, as they were fascinating and shaped the world we live in today.
    (PS : sorry for eventual mistakes, English is not my main language, and I'm a bit in a hurry :) )

    • @Delzak1
      @Delzak1 4 роки тому +21

      Thanks for the very interesting write-up. I have to agree now, Marmont is a very interesting figure.

    • @janeghudjars3496
      @janeghudjars3496 4 роки тому +16

      There is used to a synonym in French based on Marmont's treachery. It was to be a "Raguser."
      As Marmont was the Duke of Ragusa. It is the same as being a Quisling.

    • @janeghudjars3496
      @janeghudjars3496 4 роки тому +26

      One can compare Marmont and Bernadotte on the surface.
      I don't blame Bernadotte for he had reasons of State and Napoleon attacked Sweden first. But Marmont? He was a straight up traitor. Politically and personally. Bernadotte and Bonaparte were never friends, and never even friendly. The respected each other but that is it. It was all business for those two. Bernadotte had built a stellar career even before Napoleon. He was Minister of War prior to the Consulate. Napoleon and Bernadotte owed each other nothing.
      But Marmont? He was Napoleon's friend. He achieved his baton due to that friendship. His fortunate was made by Napoleon. His military career made by Napoleon. He owed EVERYTHING to Napoleon. His betrayal was personal. For that he deserved to be damned by Bonapartists and Bourbons both.

    • @jwealleans1
      @jwealleans1 4 роки тому +18

      When your comment is bigger than War and Peace

    • @renzosinche6540
      @renzosinche6540 4 роки тому +15

      I read it all. Very easy to read and interesting.

  • @benjaminvidstein6029
    @benjaminvidstein6029 4 роки тому +141

    Hope you will do a remake of Waterloo, with as much detail as you have done with this one ! Great series !

    • @arismukti2531
      @arismukti2531 4 роки тому +3

      They actually done that ua-cam.com/video/nDZGL1xsqzs/v-deo.html

    • @RoydeanEU
      @RoydeanEU 4 роки тому +12

      I don't think they they need to do a remake of Waterloo they go into quite some depth when it comes to a battle but maybe redo the campaign it self so they can go into more details on the other battles like Ligny

    • @jeanaspirateur2808
      @jeanaspirateur2808 4 роки тому +2

      I think enough have been made about the Waterloo campaign. In this channel and in History Marche. However I hope they will release videos about Napoleon's previous campaign, especially his first Italian campaign, which was a masterpiece

  • @jonshive5482
    @jonshive5482 3 роки тому +41

    This is absolutely marvelous, utterly awe-inspiring, both Napoleon's genius and Epic History's presentation. History doesn't get any better than this.

  • @MCAUK
    @MCAUK 4 роки тому +488

    Everyone gangsta until napoleon sights the cannon himself

    • @denzelgordon3434
      @denzelgordon3434 4 роки тому +15

      Ahlie🤣

    • @wh_kers
      @wh_kers 4 роки тому +17

      point blank hit certainly

    • @couldbeanybody2508
      @couldbeanybody2508 4 роки тому +38

      Everybody holding the village gangsta until Napoleon orders up the old guard

    • @gameoflife9576
      @gameoflife9576 4 роки тому +6

      @@couldbeanybody2508 everybody gangsta till Wellington throws half of his army to deal with them.

    •  4 роки тому +22

      @@gameoflife9576 everybody gangsta till Wellington gets his ass saved by the Prussians.

  • @howardhardardt815
    @howardhardardt815 3 роки тому +69

    According to legend at 12:34, the emperor sighted the French cannons himself. As he had done at Lodi 18 years before

  • @КнязХанибал
    @КнязХанибал 4 роки тому +72

    One of the best stories that history has to offer! Napoleon was truly a military genius and a brilliant innovator. But in the end, hubris was his downfall.

    • @yrsjhydjmdhyt
      @yrsjhydjmdhyt 4 роки тому +12

      Too true...he was so good that the only person that could defeat him was himself.

    • @georgekostaras
      @georgekostaras 4 роки тому +5

      Most of the great men fall once they believe their own press

    • @aaroncabatingan5238
      @aaroncabatingan5238 4 роки тому +4

      No one is immune to hubris

    • @freewal
      @freewal 4 роки тому +7

      He lost because of his bad diplomacy and the underestimation of diseases in the Russian Campaign. These diseases will ruin its Grande Armée.

    • @КнязХанибал
      @КнязХанибал 4 роки тому +1

      @@freewal That too

  • @metaljuan
    @metaljuan 3 роки тому +35

    The music score, the battlefield graphics, this is truly a master piece of story telling. Bravo!

  • @miguelmontenegro3520
    @miguelmontenegro3520 3 роки тому +99

    The opportunity of to spend a single day of talking with Napoleon would be priceless..

    • @impaugjuldivmax
      @impaugjuldivmax Рік тому +1

      Napoleon could have been silent for days as some people mention. Emotionally he was a choleric person.

    • @uffehansen7494
      @uffehansen7494 6 місяців тому

      It Is very interesting to think. Maybe with you imagination you can make a dialog. I have read many books, where people around him explain how he was ! In some way I feel some kind of connection ?

  • @Lunat1K_Fr
    @Lunat1K_Fr 2 роки тому +53

    The 6 days campaign had to be one of the biggest humiliation ever displayed in a battlefield.

  • @sheldon-cooper
    @sheldon-cooper 3 роки тому +165

    "You can't just ride out with 70,000 conscripts, and delay the army of Silesias' advance into France by 6 days!"
    Napoleon: *"Bet"*

    • @generaljeanmoreau6853
      @generaljeanmoreau6853 3 роки тому +29

      While his enemies has the manpower to defeat him in mere day but it took them weeks a month lol
      410,000 against 70k lol

  • @kirkandrew7853
    @kirkandrew7853 Рік тому +26

    I have watched this one 100 times at this point. Your ability to visually tell this story gives me chills on my spine. I know the end of the story but still find myself rooting for Napoleon. MASSIVE KUDOS on your ability to tell this story. I subscribe to maybe 20 or 30 channels, but at the end of the day this is one of my favorites. Keep the amazing content coming!

  • @reginaldmcnab3265
    @reginaldmcnab3265 4 роки тому +51

    The numerical superiority of the enemy Was overwhelming, however the performance and the achievement of Napoleon and the men under his command on the battlefield, can not be denied as history will attest.

  • @compass_Matt
    @compass_Matt 2 роки тому +42

    Just reading about the Napoleonic wars alone is fascinating. Seeing it come alive like this makes it all that much more incredible.

  • @wifiondabus9819
    @wifiondabus9819 4 роки тому +434

    Marvel real quiet after this dropped

    • @oakoakoak2219
      @oakoakoak2219 4 роки тому +29

      imagine we have modern movies in the same scale as Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace

    • @ThaStrum
      @ThaStrum 4 роки тому +5

      @@oakoakoak2219 Uff would be to good

    • @oakoakoak2219
      @oakoakoak2219 4 роки тому +2

      @@ThaStrum We can dream

    • @Meksgehere
      @Meksgehere 4 роки тому +12

      @@oakoakoak2219 I'm rooting for that. A mix between the good of GoT and House of Cards on a massive scale and the point of view of every country and party of the time. With an appropriate budget and excellent realisation it would make the greatest show ever

    • @tygrenvoltaris4782
      @tygrenvoltaris4782 4 роки тому +3

      @@Meksgehere
      And add characters with motivation and Development because historically accurate cannot save a writing style

  • @mdmahbubulalam2170
    @mdmahbubulalam2170 2 роки тому +40

    What a genius man he was! Even though he was outnumbered, outmatched, outresourced, just hearing his arrival could send entire enemy armies in retreat.

  • @MusicSaves89
    @MusicSaves89 4 роки тому +70

    Greatest commander ever - Napoleon. Six days campaign is tactical masterpiece.

  • @hugoalmeida4323
    @hugoalmeida4323 4 роки тому +95

    This channel's quality reaches levels the history channel hasn't seen in years.

  • @TN-xx4ih
    @TN-xx4ih 4 роки тому +32

    You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this

  • @50shekels
    @50shekels 3 роки тому +210

    My heart could scarcely bare to watch this one.
    “My life.. what a novel!” - Napoleon

  • @daiIyclipz
    @daiIyclipz 4 роки тому +53

    I’ve waited for this episode

  • @Nintendo0994
    @Nintendo0994 4 роки тому +70

    Could you imagine what it must have been like, to have the emperor come up to your cannon and sight the gun himself, and then start barking orders directly at you to get the shot and powder etc. How invigorated the soldiers around him must have been. I bet that cannon fired and reloaded so fast after Napoleon left for the remainder of that battle. There must have been some truly incredible, undocumented moments in these final days of the empire.

  • @SaPiNoU
    @SaPiNoU 4 роки тому +39

    I'm sad you didn't mention the battle of Bayonne the 14th of April 1814. The garnison didn't believed that the Emperor had abdicated and, outraged, made a "sortie" to break the siege of the city.

  • @daivietnguyen7289
    @daivietnguyen7289 2 роки тому +22

    The voice that narratives this Napoleon series is just as sensational and powerful like the series itself. My hat off to you, sir whoever you are !!! Your voice just made the entire series came alive in my head. Thank you and for Napoleon, the emperor, you are always in my heart !!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  • @LOLLULZLIL
    @LOLLULZLIL 4 роки тому +33

    Man today I really had a bad day and I was so happy when I got home that you uploaded the next episode of Napoleonic Wars
    Thank you so much for brightening my day with this exquisite beauty of a video :D

    • @Paris-xv9sj
      @Paris-xv9sj 4 роки тому +1

      @Maximus yes me too... :(

    • @reinterpret_cast
      @reinterpret_cast 4 роки тому

      Please try to minimize your being out of home and make sure to follow the social distancing rules when you are.

    • @abusedcheeseburger9240
      @abusedcheeseburger9240 4 роки тому

      I got sad happy then sad realizing this was the end of the series and near the end of napoleon

  • @kostasbaras799
    @kostasbaras799 4 роки тому +402

    Russia: we will keep Europe in peace for 20 years.
    Greeks: revolt
    Russia: 🤷‍♂️

    • @TeutonicEmperor1198
      @TeutonicEmperor1198 4 роки тому +33

      thank God Alexander died amidst the years of Greek revolution and his brother Nicholas took the throne as he was bigger fan of the Greek cause and helped us during the battle of Navarinno and the treaty of Adrianopol!

    • @syed1431
      @syed1431 4 роки тому +12

      @@TeutonicEmperor1198 thank god? The guy basically ensured the end of his dynasty by supporting the Balkan independence movement.

    • @patryk4198
      @patryk4198 4 роки тому +6

      Also November Uprising 1830-1831.

    • @jevinliu4658
      @jevinliu4658 4 роки тому +5

      The Ottoman Empire was just another colonial frontier, clearly not Europe.

    • @TeutonicEmperor1198
      @TeutonicEmperor1198 4 роки тому +6

      @@syed1431 There is no doubt that Alexander the 1st and Nicholas the 1st had the opportunity to reform the Russian empire , but to accuse the latter for the fall of the Romanov is a bit of an overstretching! If Nicholas the Second was a just a little bit less shitty the Empire would have endured for a couple of decades! Nicholas the 1st didn't sentenced the empire to death with his Balkan campaign but his unwillingness to make the vital reforms Russia needed seriously made things way worse for his house! Also Crimean war was a way more catastrophic defeat for the Empire in the long run than the successful Balkan campaign!

  • @Trombosilbo
    @Trombosilbo 4 роки тому +32

    I can't believe this content is free, this channel is amazing

  • @nchafni
    @nchafni Рік тому +2

    Best napoleon series!

  • @costa200
    @costa200 4 роки тому +102

    It's pretty clear that the allied commanders were scared shitless of Napoleon. Napoleon's success here was half military genius half his reputation working for him!

    • @maxolcat1281
      @maxolcat1281 3 роки тому +21

      Have to win first to get a reputation right. Haha

  • @HeyItsJakegaming
    @HeyItsJakegaming 4 роки тому +504

    Britain be like: im gonna pay you 100$ to keep fighting france

    • @datguy8006
      @datguy8006 4 роки тому +218

      Britain be like: I will fight Napoleon until the last Austrian dies

    • @baptistebrigand5882
      @baptistebrigand5882 4 роки тому +3

      lol

    • @markgrehan3726
      @markgrehan3726 4 роки тому +10

      @@datguy8006 To be honest no one forced the Austrian Emperor to take the money.

    • @lo2.220
      @lo2.220 4 роки тому +51

      @@datguy8006 it's remembering me the fact that when the BEF left Dunkirk in 1940, while being protected by french , and then refused to come back for fighting, German Propaganda said "The english will fight to the last french" and it worked on some french soldiers

    • @johndalton3787
      @johndalton3787 3 роки тому +2

      @@datguy8006 and the British army fighting in the Peninsula and Southern France? The Royal Navy checking the French all over the world?

  • @KalebTadele-yn3tt
    @KalebTadele-yn3tt 3 місяці тому +5

    I'm really astonished by ur narration. I'm immersed into napoleon legender history.
    Fan of epic history tv from ethiopia

  • @johns9556
    @johns9556 4 роки тому +25

    The music used here is just so absolutely beautiful and masterfully edited, that even Hans Zimmer would agree!

  • @arche8229
    @arche8229 4 роки тому +124

    _This is beginning to be very_ *serious.*
    _-Napoleon Bonaparte_

    • @COYS-o2i
      @COYS-o2i 4 роки тому +3

      Russia rules!

    • @yrsjhydjmdhyt
      @yrsjhydjmdhyt 4 роки тому +10

      Warrior Monk Russia simply feeds more men into the sausage grinder than other countries; there’s very little strategy other than win by attrition. That’s why Russia suffers the most casualties (military and civilian) in the wars they’ve fought.

    • @fedorevdokimenko3978
      @fedorevdokimenko3978 4 роки тому

      @@yrsjhydjmdhyt France was more populated then Russia in the time. Also look at the campaign in Russia. Russia suffered much less causalties then Grand Army. Same can be said about many other wars. You have no idea what you are talking about.

    • @fredbarker9201
      @fredbarker9201 4 роки тому +1

      @@fedorevdokimenko3978 but in actual battles napoelon beat them (Austerlitz, Friedland) . He lost to climate and disease in 1812 but it was a big sacrifices on the Russians part

    • @fedorevdokimenko3978
      @fedorevdokimenko3978 4 роки тому +1

      @@fredbarker9201 Weather and desease are standart things in any war. Napoleon suffered huge loses and lost because Kutuzov outplayed him on strategic level.

  • @morammofilmsph1540
    @morammofilmsph1540 4 роки тому +92

    I have to admit, I teared a bit when Napoleon's banner went down at 29:52

    • @GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser
      @GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser 4 роки тому +18

      When men cried

    • @arveanturtelcontar6138
      @arveanturtelcontar6138 4 роки тому +13

      @@GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser When legends cried

    • @Mizzurani
      @Mizzurani 4 роки тому +1

      @L'Aigle Non-French People? Who would want to be under French rule?

    • @Gabriel-vt9um
      @Gabriel-vt9um 4 роки тому +5

      @redsaber12 We're very proud of the French Empire and the Napoleonics war, it shows to the world our patriotism and bravery to this shitty monarchs, if Napoleon won the world would be better

    • @mithridates3152
      @mithridates3152 4 роки тому

      @@Gabriel-vt9um Agree

  • @TOMCATnbr
    @TOMCATnbr 4 роки тому +19

    I'm so proud to be born in Château-Thierry, a city with so much history, in the past and more recently with both world war and now live in Laon.
    Thanks for your videos that are really accurate, well explained, clear and enjoyable to watch.
    Keep up your amazing work.

  • @M4lenia
    @M4lenia 3 роки тому +220

    Napoleon even when commanding raw recruits from an exhausted country against an international coalition was able to not only offer battle but destroy them and force them to retreat 🥲 This man is incredible

    • @alexlinn3754
      @alexlinn3754 Рік тому +14

      and chasing down an army 2x their size lmao

  • @VentiVonOsterreich
    @VentiVonOsterreich 4 роки тому +266

    "I sought a glorious death disputing, foot by foot, the soil of the country, the balls flew around me, my clothes were pierced, but none reached me"
    Napoleon is the absolute definition of an anime character with plot armor

    • @dyingember8661
      @dyingember8661 4 роки тому +55

      Even the poison he drink lost its compent, just whoa

    • @annieroseloquinario2044
      @annieroseloquinario2044 4 роки тому +3

      Thats how a warrior sought to die thats why when you pity them for asking to kill them is disrecpectful.

    • @charlesfenwick6554
      @charlesfenwick6554 3 роки тому

      @@dyingember8661 no definitive evidence.

  • @MissesWitch
    @MissesWitch 4 роки тому +977

    Napoleon - When you're the only pro player carrying your team.

    • @easyspanish4894
      @easyspanish4894 4 роки тому +114

      lol exactly what I thought when I saw him marching up and down, east and west 😂😂

    • @TBAYMenace
      @TBAYMenace 4 роки тому +15

      @@easyspanish4894 100%, reminds me of that one kid ( or you those very rare games) trying to carry your team on LoL.

    • @annieroseloquinario2044
      @annieroseloquinario2044 4 роки тому +67

      And whole server is against you.

    • @jiovannisookhai4446
      @jiovannisookhai4446 4 роки тому +15

      You gotta give this marshals credit to

    • @gordonilaoa1275
      @gordonilaoa1275 4 роки тому +5

      BOSS I remember playing a battlefield game, and as soon as it was clear my team would lose... I was shocked when my friend killed me from the enemy team. He had switched sides.

  • @Geradzts
    @Geradzts 2 роки тому +23

    The coalition: "We have you four to one."
    Napoleon: *"I like those odds."*

  • @avseille7643
    @avseille7643 3 роки тому +8

    Just hearing the word *Elite Old Guard* puts up so many chills in your body 9:47

  • @CosmicFaust
    @CosmicFaust 4 роки тому +59

    Will you do any videos on life during Napoleonic France or Napoleon’s campaigns in the First Coalition, Second Coalition and campaign in Egypt?

    • @np2248
      @np2248 4 роки тому +10

      Wait. First the Remake of battle of waterloo

    • @np2248
      @np2248 4 роки тому +1

      Divalvaro in the end of the video they show the most probadly is the video of waterloo

    • @fakechloe207
      @fakechloe207 4 роки тому +17

      @Divalvaro come on we're tired of WW2. There are so many documentaries about it.

    • @yarpen26
      @yarpen26 4 роки тому +2

      @Divalvaro Sigh. And to think how much more interesting content we could be getting instead rather than an upteenth rendition of the battles we can recite from memory. That's the reason they shouldn't have put this one up to a vote and instead gone after their own hunch. People will always flock to the relatable and WWII is fast-paced, and there are machine guns and cars and so on... the trick is to feed them something they don't even know they want. Like some other more obscure conflicts.

  • @nickynicky1469
    @nickynicky1469 4 роки тому +45

    *napoleon's flag falls at 29:53 *
    Me on my one knee : emperor, you gave them hell even when you lost.

  • @SatelliteYL
    @SatelliteYL Рік тому +7

    Just finished this whole series and the Waterloo video. Fantastic. It's no wonder the Napoleonic wars have fascinating so many people

  • @mikexcite6688
    @mikexcite6688 2 роки тому +7

    My complements to the editors on this incredible series. The red quotes are so effective, as are the painting cutouts, and the timing of this one in particular-one of the most complex of all of the Napoleonic ones- is simply incredible, and easy to follow. A tour de forcé.

  • @matteowalrath3457
    @matteowalrath3457 4 роки тому +25

    I waited all day for this keep up the good work

  • @mikestauffer7033
    @mikestauffer7033 4 роки тому +74

    imagine how many times the river marne has seen important battles .... some of the most important in history.
    By the way, according to last research in France, he did not take any particular poison, but simply an heavy dose of opium, but was saved by Caulaincourt
    the elite "old guard" they are talking about was one of the most deadly fighting force ever, those soldiers were above average height, 5'10, which would be around 6'3 nowadays, they had to be veteran of at least 3 campaign with Napoleon,rewarded for bravery and have served at least 10 years ... imagine, surviving 10 years of smokes,bayonet etc ... those men were fearless, they had huge beards, and received heavy hand to hand combat training.
    they were kept in reserve most of the time but when unleashed and should the order be given to charge and break the enemy, these men would charge forwards, bayonets in front ( in russia, some of them used their muskets, but their commander told them to stop, cause real men use bayonet) and unleash hell. No regiment would stand a chance against the Old Guards in hand to hand combat. ,just imagine you are a young conscript with little to no experience, you are 19 and standing there against the Grand Armee, smoke, musket fire and shouting, people dying all around you. In the distance you hear a sound, some sort of marching music, and you realize its the marching music of the Old Guard. You see them steadily approaching, these huge men with their bearskin hat and thick mustaches. Men around you start to run at the sight of them. And you decide you'd rather live to fight another day than to face the Old Guard as that meant certain death.
    Even the sight of these soldiers caused bands of enemies to flee. Such is the fighting prowess of the Old Guard. Such is their reputation.

    • @cebonvieuxjack
      @cebonvieuxjack 4 роки тому +16

      my man just wanted to be high and relax after all that bs, smh...

    • @hafeezuddin1367
      @hafeezuddin1367 4 роки тому +5

      Britain : *did someone say Opium?*

  • @thehistoryvideogameandgame4730
    @thehistoryvideogameandgame4730 4 роки тому +20

    I’m so excited to see what your next project is; It’s been absolutely amazing to watch; Toby, Your team should be proud

  • @JFDA5458
    @JFDA5458 7 місяців тому +5

    Even with only conscripts for his army, Napoleon still managed to wipe the floor with many of his opponents. An incredible General.

  • @TerryDuke
    @TerryDuke 2 роки тому +17

    Been reading Andrew Robert's biography of Napoleon. He claims that Napoleon actually wanted to accept the frankfurt proposal, but it was the british who convinced the allies to give up on the proposal. Napoleon wasn't that irrational apparently.

  • @dr.johnwhalen9348
    @dr.johnwhalen9348 3 роки тому +11

    I think these are awesome. I hope they go back and redo the Battle of Waterloo and make it sound as a completion of these are, with more in-depth on Napoleon’s return, his preparation for war, and the campaign in total.

  • @frederickiiprussia7699
    @frederickiiprussia7699 4 роки тому +28

    After waiting for so long, I'm ecstatic to say this video was worth it. The campaign of 1814 goes to show that Napoleon truly was unbeatable in a 1 on 1 battle, his speed and ferocity in attacks were perfect displays of his genius. Alas, he's numbers were just too small to make any difference in the grand scheme of things and should've taken the first peace deal offered in the beginning that allowed him to keep Belgium. In conclusion, I'd have to say Epic History TV has done the best job of presenting the Napoleonic wars in comparison to any other covering the topic.
    Astounding work guys!

    • @frederickiiprussia7699
      @frederickiiprussia7699 4 роки тому +3

      @L'Aigle from heaven

    • @GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser
      @GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser 4 роки тому +1

      @@frederickiiprussia7699 UA-cam Premium prussia edition I bet.

    • @frederickiiprussia7699
      @frederickiiprussia7699 4 роки тому +1

      @L'Aigle yes, we're laughing at russian commies

    • @kevin8712
      @kevin8712 4 роки тому +1

      @@frederickiiprussia7699 What about your sword and sash?

    • @frederickiiprussia7699
      @frederickiiprussia7699 4 роки тому +1

      @@kevin8712 it pains me to see them destroyed but better that than having the Austrians or British take it
      Especially Britain, I think there is already enough stolen artifacts in their museums

  • @shehansenanayaka-n1o
    @shehansenanayaka-n1o Місяць тому +1

    The best napoelonic documentary series I ve ever watched on UA-cam or TV. Great analysis and great narration. And all the surrounding details of the Napoleonic wars. ❤. Huge fan of Epic history tv from Sri Lanka. ❤🇱🇰🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

  • @BrileyBeConsulting
    @BrileyBeConsulting 4 роки тому +23

    This shows the power of leadership even against overwhelming odds.

  • @notmenotme614
    @notmenotme614 4 роки тому +369

    Its one hell of an army who can march a hundred miles in just a few days, win a battle, rout the enemy, then reverse direction and march even more miles to win another battle elsewhere. Then build a few bridges.
    Didn't this French army ever get tired and stop

    • @theodoresmith5272
      @theodoresmith5272 4 роки тому +30

      All these 'won" battles did was kill his army and lose the campaign. He "won" 4 battles in 6 days. Yet the allies were still marching to Paris. Like Lee commented any battle that I dont destroy the northern army is a loss. They can replenish . I can't.
      All there doing is running his army and wearing it down. When he gets near them, they retreat to good positions. They spit the army so Napoleon couldn't fight one big battle a where he picked to fight. They dictated the whole campaign. . It's like before the battle of the nations. They weakened his army before beating him. His 2 wins to open on the road to Leipzig he lost 50,000 to 24000 for the allies. "Wins" just because you hold the field like Napoleon often is credited with are the reason he was only in power about 10 years. Cornwallace in the American Revolution in the Carolinas would agree.

    • @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators
      @RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators 4 роки тому +21

      @@theodoresmith5272 Yes! And the Battle of the Nations campaign actually showed Napoleon at his worse, even worse than Russia, as he was completely outsmarted and outmaneuvered. In the Battle of the Nations campaign, the enemy was controlling Napoleon's movements. They made Napoleon criss-cross Germany, changed his course several times, wearing down his troops, and choosing when and where they will fight. If Napoleon concentrated at Leipzig, it's because the enemy WANTED him to concentrate at Leipzig. They knew that Leipzig would be a death trap for the French, and that is exactly what it was. After the Russian campaign, the enemy actually realized that Napoleon was NOT the brilliant tactician they thought he was, and that he could be manipulated and trapped. Even the cease fire that Austria called for was a trap to give time to set up Wellington's Anglo-Spanish invasion of Southern France. The Leipzig Campaign was like chess as Napoleon got checkmated. Napoleon taking Dresden was like taking a pawn. Why was it a pawn?... because the enemy completely bypassed it on its way to Leipzig (showing how little it mattered). Napoleon mistakenly took that pawn, but lost his queen and rook (the flanks) by doing so as the enemy was closing in on end game. Leipzig would be a checkmate, and the second time in as many years that Napoleon destroyed his own army. Even Napoleon's subordinates were imploring him to fall back, but he would not listen. Furthermore, withdrawing troops from Spain and the National guard for the Battle of the Nations campaign completely exposed Southern France to attack. While Napoleon was being schooled in Germany, enemy troops invaded Southern French turf, bringing the war to an already war-weary country's soil. Napoleon at his worst, the only reason Russia is considered a worst blunder is because there were way more men lost. His 1814 French campaign was very similar.

    • @theodoresmith5272
      @theodoresmith5272 4 роки тому +4

      @@RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictators from early on to his defeat against the Austrians, he had the Premier army and staff of Europe. He liked to form up a very large army quickly and prey on the other army before it could organize. He was known for using cannons a new way by bringing them forward in mass before assaults.
      As long as he went after small countries or just had to win a single battle to get a treaty he was great. But his failure to grasp that Spain wasnt the most centralized government and the mountains of Spain could never really be held, got him into a war he couldnt win . Spain is nothing but mountains.
      As for russia. I think the reason Napoleon sat in moscow so long was a breakdown/ reality check. he had begun to question how am I going to win this war as early as a month before. Over that month as the signs were there he should have abandoned the campaign, he refused to believe it. At moscow it slapped him on the face and he could already foresee the outcome as he marched back to Poland. Oh and borandino the Russians did lose. They left. Napoleons refusal to send in the guard to finish the battle proved he knew he was in trouble. Both armies were there the next day. Then the russians retreated. A great Napoleon win by some accounts. I see it as a draw the Russian could afford but he coundnt. In fact his refusal to want to fight a big battle leaving moscow so the could go a way with more food shows how desperate napoleon was. Before the battle of the nations lets not forget the allies were just declaring war on the French and needed some time to organize, deploy and unite.
      Also i dont think it took much for anyone to figure out Leipzig would be the major battlefield. The river protects your rear. Very few bridges. Leaving would mean leaving Germany altogether. It was the logical place for Napoleon to make a stand.

    • @bigboss2788
      @bigboss2788 4 роки тому +68

      @@theodoresmith5272 The six days' campaign is nothing but brilliant. 30,000 men vs 120,000, and he manages to defeat them inflicting 31,750 casualties while only suffering 3,400 himself. The allies did not have an easy time in 1814, they failed to draw Napoleon into a major battle of their choosing where they could use overwhelming numbers to crush his army. They tried to apply the Trachenberg plan, but failed. Even in the defeats they inflicted on Napoleon, he still managed to ruse Blucher and Schwarzenberg and pull his forces back every time and save his army. The allies did not have infinite numbers, and they were close to retreating, they had suffered huge losses and had not gained an inch of ground, their supply lines were very long and had nowhere to fall back to, as the countryside behind them was in open revolt and there were no supplies to be had. Had Napoleon not been betrayed in Paris, the allies would have had no choice but to pull back, they took a gamble and it paid off, but they were close to defeat. Napoleon still had many garrisons in eastern France and his forces in the Netherlands were attacking Belgium and could very easily link up with him.

    • @theodoresmith5272
      @theodoresmith5272 4 роки тому +6

      @@bigboss2788 objective= hold Paris. He lost.

  • @TheNohen
    @TheNohen 4 роки тому +32

    I love the irony of the outcome of the 1814 campaign. Napoleon loses in part, because the notorious aggressive Blücher manages to win a defensive battle and the cautious Schwarzenberg suddenly seeks a risky offensive encounter. If this wasn't history, I would call the writer out on such a "poetic switch".

    • @Freedmoon44
      @Freedmoon44 Рік тому +1

      Napoleons tale in general is like a Tragic stories of old.
      You could be champions of the God a true god of war.
      But when the whole world challenges you constantly, there is going to be a time where he falls

  • @robertjelinski5113
    @robertjelinski5113 4 роки тому +7

    Absolutely the very best commentator.. I could listen to him reading a cook book and be enthralled! Could never be replaced. Keep up the excellent work please!