KEY DATES
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
(1769-1821)
Translated by Jonathan House
from the French Magazine
«Les Chroniques de l'Histoire»
Civil Status
Name: Napoléon Bonaparte.
Dates: 1769-1821
Louis Napoleone di Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio in 1769 to a family of the Corsican nobility.
-January 1, 1779: Entered school at Antun.
-May 15, 1779: Entered the College of Brienne.
-October 22, 1784: Gentleman cadet at the Ecole Militaire of Paris.
-September 1, 1785: Second lieutenant in the Artillery Regiment de la Fere at Valence.
-September 1, 1786: Returned to Corsica to support Pascal Paoli.
-April 1, 1791: First lieutenant in the 4th Artillery Regiment.
-July 10, 1792: Promoted to the rank of second captain.
-June 11, 1793: Expelled from Corsica by Paoli.
-September 16, 1793: Assigned to the siege of Toulon.
-December 19, 1793: Toulon recaptured from the British thanks to Napoleon’s actions.
-December 22, 1793: Named brigadier general.
-August 9 to 20, 1794: Imprisoned as a suspected supporter of Robespierre in the Carré d’Antibes fort.
-October 4, 1795: Restored to duty by Barras, named deputy commander of the Interior.
-October 5, 1795: Forcibly repressed the royalist insurrection on the Saint Roch Market at Paris.
-October 16, 1795: General of Division [major general], commander in chief of the Army of the Interior.
-March 2, 1796: Named commander of the Army of Italy.
-March 126, 1796: Arrived at Nice to assume command of the Army of Italy.
-April 12, 1795: Victory of Montenotte.
-April 21, 1796: Victory of Mondovi.
-April 28, 1796: Armistice of Cherasco signed with the King of Sardinia.
-August 5, 1796: Victory of Castiglione.
-November 15 to 17, 1796: Victory of Arcole.
-January 14, 1797: Victory of Rivoli.
-January 16, 1797: Victory of la Favorite, giving Mantua to the French after a three months’ siege.
-October 26, 1797: Treaty of Campo Formio with the Austrians.
-November 21, 1797: Opening of the Congress of Rastadt.
-March 5, 1798: Named commanding general of the Army of the Orient.
-May 19, 1798: Departure from Toulon towards Egypt of the expeditionary corps.
-June 11, 1798: Capture of Malta and embarkation of 2,000 Knights of Malta.
-July 1 to 2, 1798: Debarkation at Alexandria.
-July 21, 1798: Victory of the Pyramids.
-August 1, 1798: British Admiral Nelson destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir Bay.
-August 22, 1798: Napoleon created the Egyptian Institute and named Gaspard Monge as provisional president.
-October 21, 1798: Revolt of Cairo; 800 French soldiers murdered.
-February 10, 1799: Departure of the expedition to Syria.
-March 7, 1799: Capture of Jaffa.
-April 16, 1799: Victory of Mount Thabor.
-July 25, 1799: [?May 20?] Napoleon raised the siege of Acre. First reverse of the Army of Egypt.
-July 25, 1799: Land victory of Aboukir.
-October 16, 1799: Arrived at Paris.
-9 to 11 November, 1799: Participated with Sieyes in the coup d’etat called 18 Brumaire.
-December 13, 1799 (22 Frimaire, Year VIII): Proclamation of a new constitution. Napoléon Bonaparte became First Consul with two other consuls: Cambacéres and Lebrun.
-February 13, 1800: Creation of the Bank of France.
-February 17, 1800: Administration reorganization of France; creation of the corps of prefects.
-February 19, 1800: The First Consul moved into the Tuilleries Palace.
-May 6, 1800: Napoléon departed Paris for the second Italian campaign.
-June 14, 1800: Victory of Marengo. Death of Desaix.
-September 30, 1800: At the instigation of the First Consul, France and the United States signed the Convention of Mortefontaine that stipulated in its first article that: ”There exists a firm peace between the French Republic and the United States of America, as well as between their countries, territories, cities, and places, and between their citizens and inhabitants, without exception . . .”
-December 24, 1800: Napoléon escaped the “Infernal Machine” attack while traveling to the Opera, although the explosion claimed numerous other victims.
-February 9, 1801: Peace of Luneville between France and Austria.
-March 29, 1801: Peace of Florence with Naples.
-July 16, 1801: Signature of the Concordat re-establishing the Catholic religion in France. The First Consul obtained from the Pope the right to name bishops; the state took responsibility for the treatment of clerics.
-October 8, 1801: Signature of the peace treaty with Russia, in Paris.
-March 25, 1802: Signature of the Peace of Amiens with Britain, Spain, and the Netherlands. France was finally at peace after almost ten years of war.
-April 25, 1802: Amnesty of émigrés by “Senatus Consultum.”
-May 8, 1802: By popular vote, Napoléon Bonaparte obtained a second mandate of ten years, which would extend his office until 1819.
-March 19, 1802: Creation of the Legion of Honor by the Legislative Corps as a result of a vote of sixty-six to ten.
-May 20, 1802: Re-establishment of slavery in the colonies.
-June 25, 1802: Peace between France and the Ottoman Empire.
-August 2, 1802: Napoleon named Consul for Life.
-August 4, 1802: Constitution of the Year X.
-December 24, 1802: Creation of the chambers of commerce.
-March 15, 1804: [text said 15 mars 1803, which is incorrect] Suspected of instigating a conspiracy, the Duke d’Enghien, son of the last Prince de Condé, was kidnapped from Ettenheim in Baden.
-March 20, 1804: The Duke d’Enghien was taken to the Fortress of Vincennes, and condemned to death by court-martial. At the conclusion of the trial he was executed in the moat of the fortress.
March 21, 1804: Creation of the Civil Code.
-May 18, 1804: By a “Senatus Consultum,” Napoléon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of the French under the name of Napoléon I. The constitution was modified.
-December 1, 1804: In preparation for the coronation, Cardinal Fesch, Napoléon’s uncle, conducted a religious marriage ceremony between Napoléon and Josephine de Beauharnais.
-December 2, 1804 (a Sunday): In the presence of Pope Pius VII, coronation of Napoléon I in the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris.
-September 9, 1805: Decision to abandon the revolutionary calendar and return to the Gregorian calendar, which remains in use today.
-October 6, 1805: The French Army was re-named the “Grande Armée”
-October 21, 1805: Naval battle of Trafalgar. Destruction of the French fleet. The victorious Admiral Nelson was killed during the battle.
-December 2, 1805 (Monday): Victory of Austerlitz. Napoleon won what is sometimes called the Battle of Three Emperors.
-January 1, 1806: Gregorian calendar returned to service. The Civil Code entered into force in the Kingdom of Italy.
-February 17, 1806: Order for the construction of the Arch of Triumph on the Chaillot hill.
-February 26, 1806: Decree on the construction of another arch of triumph to the glory of the French Army, on the Place du Carrousel.
-March 18, 1806: Creation of the trade councils (councils of wise men.)
-May 10, 1806: Creation of the University of France, which became the Imperial University in 1808.
-October 14, 1806: Victories of Jena and Auerstedt.
-November 21, 1806: From Berlin, the Emperor Napoléon decreed a continental blockade that forbad any country under French influence from trading with Britain.
-December 26, 1806: The victorious Grande Armée was at Soldau (opposite the Prussians), Golymin, and Pultusk (opposite the Russians.) Despite this, Napoleon’s planned encirclement failed and the enemy succeeded in fleeing.
-January 1, 1807: Napoleon met Marie Walewska.
-June 14, 1807: Victory of Friedland over the Russians. The tsar was forced to negotiate.
-August 19, 1807: Suppression of the Tribunate, a forum for discussing legislation.
-September 3, 1807: The Civil Code became the Code Napoléon.
-September 11, 1807: Publication of the Commercial Code.
-September 16, 1807: Creation of the Court of Accounts.
-September 10, 1808: By “Senatus Consultum,” married men and widowers with families were exempted from military service.
-February 28, 1809: The Emperor moved into the Elysée Palace.
-April 13, 1809: Napoléon departed to rejoin the Grande Armée.
-May 15, 1809: Napoléon offered independence to the Hungarians.
-July 5 to 6, 1809: Napoléon’s victory at Wagram.
-July 9-11, 1809: Napoléon’s victory at Znaim.
-December 14, 1809: Dissolution of the marriage of Napoléon and Josephine by mutual consent. Prince Eugene convinced his mother to make this sacrifice.
-March 27, 1810: Napoléon departed to meet Maria Louisa, Archduchess of Austria, his prospective wife. The meeting occurred at Courcelles-sur-Vesles (Aisne.) From there, they traveled to Compiegne where they stayed the night.
-April 1, 1810: Civil marriage in the great gallery of the Palace of Saint-Cloud.
-April 2, 1810: Religious marriage in the square salon of the Louvre, presided over by Cardinal Fesch, Napoléon’s uncle.
-June 3, 1810: Savary replaced Fouché as Minister of the Interior.
-March 20, 1811: Birth of the son of Napoléon and Maria Louisa at the Tuileries Palace. He received the title of King of Rome.
-April 25, 1811: National council at Notre Dame of Paris, to which all the bishops of the Empire were summoned.
-January 9, 1812: Suchet captured Valencia.
-February 23, 1812: Abrogation of the Concordat. The Army of Italy began moving towards Germany and Poland.
-February 24, 1812: Franco-Prussian accord against Russia.
-March 2, 1812: French troops entered Prussia.
-April 3, 1812: Marmont undertook the siege of Almeida in Spain.
-May 9, 1812: Napoléon departed for the Russian campaign.
-June 7, 1812: Napoleon reached Danzig. On the 12th, he was at Konigsberg.
-June 18, 1812: The United States declared war on Britain.
-September 7, 1812: Napoleon achieved the victory of Borodino or the Moskova.
-September 14, 1812: The Emperor entered Moscow.
-September 15 to 19, 1812: The city of Moscow burned. Russians left the city, applying a scorched earth policy. Alexander refused the truce proposed by Napoleon so long as a single French soldier remained on Russian soil.
-October 19, 1812: Napoleon left Moscow. Start of the retreat from Russia.
-November 27-29, 1812: Crossing of the Berezina River.
-December 6, 1812: The cold intensified, reaching minus 36 degrees C. The Grande Armée succumbed and died.
-March 17, 1813: Prussia declared war on France.
-October 16-19, 1813: Battle of Leipzig.
-April 1, 1814: The Imperial Senate named a provisional government headed by Talleyrand.
-June 18, 1815: Battle of Waterloo.
-June 22, 1815 (Thursday): In the Elysée Palace, Napoléon abdicated in favor of his son. The legislative chambers elected a government commission with Fouché presiding.
-June 25, 1815: Napoléon left the Elysée and moved to the Chateau of Malmaison.
-July 6, 1815: The allies entered Paris.
-July 8, 1815: Return of Louis XVIII to Paris.
-July 19, 1815: Napoléon renounced various plans intended to help him reach the United States. Instead, he sought British hospitality under their flag. The British announced that he was a prisoner of war and deported him to the island of Saint Helena.
-October 17, 1815 (Tuesday): Napoléon disembarked at Saint Helena, accompanied by a handful of faithful followers.
-May 5, 1821 (Saturday): Napoléon died at Saint Helena.
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