Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a Corsican-born French general and politician who reigned as Emperor of the French with the regnal name Napoleon I from 1804 to 1814 and then again briefly in 1815. He established the largest continental European empire since Charlemagne and brought liberal reforms to the lands he conquered at the cost of the destructive Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).
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Timeline
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1769Following the French victory at the Battle of Ponte Novu, Corsica is annexed by France.
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15 Aug 1769Napoleon Bonaparte is born in Ajaccio, Corsica.
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1779At the age of 10, Napoleon Bonaparte begins his education in Brienne, northern France. Here, he learns French and excels in mathematics.
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1784Napoleon Bonaparte is admitted into the École Militaire, where he trains to become an artillery officer.
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Jan 1790The National Assembly passes a decree making Corsica a department of France; Corsican hero Pasquale Paoli is invited back from exile after 22 years.
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Mar 1792Napoleon Bonaparte is elected lieutenant colonel of the Corsican National Guard; weeks later, he suppresses an Easter Sunday uprising in Ajaccio.
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Jul 1793Napoleon publishes his pro-Jacobin pamphlet Le Souper de Beaucaire, gaining the notice of Jacobin leader Augustin Robespierre.
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11 Jul 1793After falling out with Corsican politician Pasquale Paoli, the Bonaparte family flees Corsica, landing in Toulon 2 days later.
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29 Aug 1793 - 19 Dec 1793Siege of Toulon.
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22 Dec 1793Napoleon Bonaparte is promoted to brigadier-general following the Siege of Toulon; he is just 24 years old.
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9 Aug 1794 - 20 Aug 1794Following the Thermidorian Reaction, Napoleon Bonaparte is arrested in connection to the Robespierres; he is eventually released.
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5 Oct 1795During the French Revolution, the royalist revolt of 13 Vendemiaire is crushed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
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27 Feb 1796General Bonaparte closes the Pantheon Club.
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11 Mar 1796Napoleon leaves Paris to take command of the Army of Italy.
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27 Mar 1796General Napoleon Bonaparte takes command of the Army of Italy.
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10 Apr 1796 - 2 Apr 1797Napoleon Bonaparte's Italian Campaign.
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19 May 1798The French fleet carrying Napoleon Bonaparte and the Armée d'Orient sets out for Egypt.
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7 Mar 1799Napoleon Bonaparte captures the city of Jaffa, ending the siege that began on 3 March and launching his infamous massacre of between 2,000-4,000 prisoners that he could not guard or feed.
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20 Mar 1799 - 21 May 1799The French unsuccessfully lay siege to Acre, and are forced to retreat; Napoleon Bonaparte's Syrian campaign is ended.
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15 Jul 1799The Rosetta Stone is found near Rashid (Rosetta) Egypt by French Lieutenant Pierre-Francois Bouchard, an engineer in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. The stone, inscribed in Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek, allowed for the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics and opened up the history of ancient Egypt to the modern age.
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23 Aug 1799Napoleon Bonaparte leaves Egypt for France, abandoning his army in Alexandria.
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9 Nov 1799Napoleon Bonaparte takes control of the government in the Coup of 18 Brumaire; both the Directory and the French Revolution are ended.
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14 Jun 1800First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte narrowly defeats an Austrian army at the Battle of Marengo.
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17 Aug 1801 - 2 Sep 1801The Siege of Alexandria results in a French defeat and an inglorious end to Napoleon's Campaign in Egypt and Syria.
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21 Mar 1804The Code Napoleon is officially adopted as the French Civil Code, laying the foundation for French civil law, including religious freedoms and property rights, observed today.
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2 May 1804Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French.
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2 Dec 1804Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Joséphine are coronated in a sacred ceremony in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
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25 Jun 1807Emperor Napoleon I of France and Tsar Alexander I of Russia meet on a raft in the Niemen River to discuss terms of peace.
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7 Jul 1807The first of the Treaties of Tilsit is signed by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and Russian Emperor Alexander I on a raft in the Neman River, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.
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28 Jul 1809 - 29 Jul 1809The French suffer a major defeat at the Battle of Talavera.
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1 Apr 1810Emperor Napoleon I is married to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
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1812Napoleon Bonaparte takes up residence in the Kremlin and then destroys it when he leaves.
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7 Sep 1812Napoleon's Grande Armée clashes with the Kutuzov's Russian army at the Battle of Borodino.
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14 Sep 1812The Great Fire of Moscow begins as Russian citizens set the blaze to prevent its capture by Napoleon Bonaparte, whose troops had just entered the city. After setting the fire, the citizens fled, and Napoleon was forced to abandon his plans and retreat. The fire, which burned until 18 September, destroyed 75% of the city which took over 20 years to rebuild.
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5 Dec 1812Napoleon heads to Paris, gives control of the Grande Armée to Joachim Murat; the disastrous Russian campaign is over.
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16 Oct 1813 - 19 Oct 1813Napoleon suffers a decisive defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.
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19 Oct 1813The Battle of Leipzig, fought between the French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and the Coalition Armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia ends in a Coalition victory, ending Napoleon's German Campaign of 1813 and leading to his abdication the next year.
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6 Apr 1814First abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte leading to his exile in Elba.
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11 Apr 1814Napoleon abdicates, goes into exile on the island of Elba.
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20 Apr 1814Napoleon leaves Fontainebleau for his exile on the island of Elba.
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3 May 1814 - 26 Feb 1815Duration of Napoleon's first exile on Elba.
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29 May 1814Joséphine de Beauharnais dies at the Château de Malmaison, age 50.
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26 Feb 1815Napoleon escapes from exile on the island of Elba, taking advantage of the absence of British and French ships which had stood guard, as well as a carnival party taking place in the town of Portoferraio, from which he sailed aboard the brig Inconstant with approximately 1,000 soldiers. He landed at Golfe-Juan, southern France, on 1 March to begin his "Hundred Days" campaign to retake France.
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1 Mar 1815Napoleon lands in southern France with his staff and 1,000 soldiers.
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13 Mar 1815The great powers of Europe declare Napoleon an outlaw; the War of the Seventh Coalition begins.
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20 Mar 1815Napoleon enters Paris and begins his second reign; the official start of the Hundred Days period.
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18 Jun 1815The Battle of Waterloo is fought in Belgium; Napoleon is decisively defeated by the forces of Wellington and Blücher.
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22 Jun 1815Napoleon abdicates his imperial throne for the second time.
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8 Jul 1815King Louis XVIII is restored to the French throne; end of both the Hundred Days period and the Napoleonic Era.
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15 Jul 1815At Rochefort, Napoleon surrenders to British Captain Frederick Maitland of the HMS Bellerophon.
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Oct 1815 - May 1821Duration of Napoleon's second and final exile on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
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5 May 1821Death of Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of St. Helena, aged 51.
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5 May 1821Napoleon Bonaparte dies at Longwood House on the Island of Saint Helena at the age of 51. His cause of death is still debated but was initially listed as stomach cancer.
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29 Jul 1836The famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris is inaugurated, dedicated to the armies of the Revolution and Empire, completing a project commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. The date of 28 July often cited is inaccurate.
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15 Dec 1840The grand state funeral for Napoleon Bonaparte is held in Paris, France, and his coffin interred at the Saint-Jerome Chapel at Les Invalides. Napoleon had died on St. Helena in November 1821, but his remains were brought back to Paris for a formal interment.
