Timeline: Napoleonic Wars

• 18 May 1803
  Britain declares war on France, beginning the Napoleonic Wars.
• Jun 1803 - Aug 1805
  Napoleon gathers a massive army at Boulogne for a planned invasion of England; this is the origin of Napoleon's famous Grande Armée.
• 21 Mar 1804
  The Duke of Enghien is executed after a sham trial; the controversial killing stains the reputation of Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 2 May 1804
  Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French.
• 2 Dec 1804
  Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Joséphine are coronated in a sacred ceremony in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
• 25 Sep 1805 - 20 Oct 1805
  Napoleon's Ulm Campaign results in the elimination of an Austrian army under General Mack.
• 21 Oct 1805
  The Battle of Trafalgar results in a decisive British victory over a Franco-Spanish fleet. It is one of the most famous naval victories in British history.
• 13 Nov 1805
  Napoleon captures Vienna.
• 2 Dec 1805
  Napoleon's Grande Armée smashes an Austro-Russian army at the Battle of Austerlitz.
• 30 Mar 1806
  Joseph Bonaparte is installed as King of Naples.
• 12 Jul 1806
  The Confederation of the Rhine is established under the protection of France; the Holy Roman Empire is dissolved.
• 9 Oct 1806
  Prussia declares war on France, sparking the War of the Fourth Coalition.
• 14 Oct 1806
  The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt result in the complete destruction of the Prussian army.
• 25 Oct 1806
  Napoleon's Grande Armée occupies Berlin, after less than a month of campaigning.
• 21 Nov 1806
  Napoleon issues the Berlin Decree, calling for a wide-scale embargo on British goods.
• 21 Nov 1806 - 11 Apr 1814
  Napoleon's Continental System seeks to deprive Britain from trade with the European continent.
• 19 Dec 1806
  Napoleon enters Warsaw to great fanfare from the local Polish population, who expect him to restore Polish sovereignty.
• 7 Feb 1807 - 8 Feb 1807
  The French and Russian armies fight the bloody, yet inconclusive, Battle of Eylau; both sides subsequently retreat into winter quarters.
• 14 Jun 1807
  Napoleon's Grande Armee decisively beats the Russians at the Battle of Friedland.
• 14 Jun 1807
  Napoleon decisively defeats Bennigsen's Russian army at the Battle of Friedland, leading Bennigsen to ask for an armistice.
• 25 Jun 1807
  Emperor Napoleon I of France and Tsar Alexander I of Russia meet on a raft in the Niemen River to discuss terms of peace.
• Jul 1807
  According to the memoirs of General Paul Thiebault, published in the 1890’s, Napoleon Bonaparte was chased into his carriage by a mob of rabbits. Napoleon’s Chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, organized a rabbit hunt to celebrate the completion of the Treaty of Tilsit but, accidentally, bought tamed rabbits instead of wild ones and these, used to human contact, converged on Napoleon, driving him to take refuge in his carriage.
• 7 Jul 1807 - 9 Jul 1807
  The Treaties of Tilsit end the War of the Fourth Coalition; Prussia is subjugated to France, the Duchy of Warsaw is established in Poland, Russia becomes a French ally.
• 18 Oct 1807
  French General Jean-Andoche Junot leads 25,000 troops toward Portugal, sparking the Peninsular War.
• 6 Jun 1808
  Joseph Bonaparte is coronated as King of Spain.
• 16 Jul 1808 - 19 Jul 1808
  A Spanish army defeats a French force at the Battle of Bailén, France's first major land defeat since the start of the Napoleonic Wars.
• 4 Dec 1808
  Napoleon enters Madrid.
• 10 Apr 1809
  Archduke Charles of Austria invades Bavaria with 200,000 men, sparking the War of the Fifth Coalition.
• 19 Apr 1809 - 23 Apr 1809
  Napoleon defeats Archduke Charles in a string of battles during the Landshut Campaign.
• 13 May 1809
  Napoleon occupies Vienna for the second time.
• 21 May 1809 - 22 May 1809
  Napoleon suffers his first defeat in ten years at the Battle of Aspern-Essling; French Marshal Jean Lannes is mortally wounded.
• 5 Jul 1809 - 6 Jul 1809
  Napoleon defeats Archduke Charles of Austria at the Battle of Wagram.
• 28 Jul 1809 - 29 Jul 1809
  Sir Arthur Wellesley wins the Battle of Talavera, is ennobled as Viscount Wellington.
• 14 Oct 1809
  The Treaty of Schönbrunn is signed between France and Austria; the War of the Fifth Coalition is over.
• 1 Apr 1810
  Emperor Napoleon I is married to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
• 24 Jun 1812
  Napoleon's massive Grande Armée crosses the Niemen River, beginning the Russian campaign.
• 16 Aug 1812 - 18 Aug 1812
  Napoleon fights Barclay de Tolly at the Battle of Smolensk; the French capture the city, but the Russians retreat, continuing their war of attrition.
• 7 Sep 1812
  Napoleon's Grande Armée clashes with the Kutuzov's Russian army at the Battle of Borodino.
• 14 Sep 1812 - 18 Oct 1812
  Napoleon briefly occupies Moscow, which is engulfed in flames. He orders a retreat after failing to secure peace.
• 9 Nov 1812
  Napoleon reaches Smolensk during his retreat from Moscow; his fighting strength has dwindled to 60,000.
• 26 Nov 1812 - 29 Nov 1812
  The Grande Armée completes its dramatic crossing of the Berezina River, narrowly avoiding destruction.
• 31 Dec 1812
  Prussian General Johann von Yorck signs an armistice with the Russians, beginning the defection of Prussia.
• 28 Feb 1813
  Prussia and Russia form an alliance against Napoleon, with the Treaty of Kalisch.
• 2 May 1813
  Napoleon defeats a Russo-Prussian army at the Battle of Lützen, but lack of cavalry prevents him from capitalizing on his victory.
• 20 May 1813 - 21 May 1813
  Napoleon wins the Battle of Bautzen.
• 21 Jun 1813
  A French army under King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan is defeated by Wellington's Allied army at the Battle of Vitoria.
• 26 Jun 1813
  Austria joins the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon.
• 16 Oct 1813 - 19 Oct 1813
  Napoleon suffers a decisive defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.
• 11 Dec 1813
  Abdication of Joseph Bonaparte; Ferdinand VII is restored as King of Spain.
• 6 Apr 1814
  First abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte leading to his exile in Elba.
• 10 Apr 1814
  Wellington and Soult clash at the Battle of Toulouse.
• 11 Apr 1814
  Napoleon abdicates, goes into exile on the island of Elba.
• 3 May 1814 - 26 Feb 1815
  Duration of Napoleon's first exile on Elba.
• 20 May 1814
  The War of the Sixth Coalition is officially ended with the Treaty of Paris.
• Sep 1814
  The Congress of Vienna is convened.
• Sep 1814 - Jun 1815
  The Congress of Vienna meets to redraw the map of Europe in a post-Napoleonic world.
• 1 Mar 1815
  Napoleon lands in southern France with his staff and 1,000 soldiers.
• 13 Mar 1815
  The great powers of Europe declare Napoleon an outlaw; the War of the Seventh Coalition begins.
• 20 Mar 1815
  Napoleon enters Paris and begins his second reign; the official start of the Hundred Days period.
• 18 Jun 1815
  The Battle of Waterloo is fought in Belgium; Napoleon is decisively defeated by the forces of Wellington and Blücher.
• 22 Jun 1815
  Napoleon abdicates his imperial throne for the second time.
• 8 Jul 1815
  King Louis XVIII is restored to the French throne; end of both the Hundred Days period and the Napoleonic Era.
• 15 Jul 1815
  At Rochefort, Napoleon surrenders to British Captain Frederick Maitland of the HMS Bellerophon.
• Oct 1815 - May 1821
  Duration of Napoleon's second and final exile on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
• 5 May 1821
  Death of Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of St. Helena, aged 51.