Greatest Military Commander of All Time

[Conrad_Jalowski]

Hello; thank you for posting this thread as it is more widespread than my time-specific and culture-specific thread.

My choice for this post would be Napoleon Bonaparte. Specifically, I would concentrate upon the Italian theatre of war from 1796-1797 CE and the years from 1798-1802 CE.

The division of the French Republican forces under the Five-Man Directory from 1795-1799 CE consisted of General Jean-Victor Marie Moreau as commander of the Army of the Rhine, General Kellerman as commander of the Army of the Alps and Napoleon I Bonaparte as commander of the Army of Italy. [General Hoche safeguarded the coasts of the First French Republic from invasion by the British]

The main thrust was intended to come from Jean-Victor Marie Moreau and the Army of the Rhine; they were to gain support of minor territorial zones adjacent to the French Republic, and to support the garrisons within the French dominated Batavian Republic and the French dominated Helvetian Confederation. General Kellerman was to support the armies of Italy and the Rhine, and to provide necessary support to the weaker front. This tripartite division had a major flaw; the Clausewitzian maxim of a concentration of force at the decisive point was totally disregarded by the Five-Man Directory.

Napoleon I Bonaparte trapped, encircled and cut of the supply lines of the Piedmontese and Austrian Habsburgs, subdued Milan, Savoy, Nice, Piedmont and most of the Lombardy region in northern Italy. At the battles of Montenotte, Millesimo, San Michele, Ceva, Lodi, Bassano, Rovento, Mondavi, Arcole, Rivoli and Mantua, the Allied Coalition was beaten numerous times and pushed back and forced to accept the treaty of "Campo Formio". The outcome was the creation of French client-republics within northern Italy: the Cisapadane Republic, the Transpadane Republic and the Cisalpine Republic.

The War of the Second Coalition was brought to an end by the victories of Jean-Victor Marie Moreau at Hohenlinden [1800 CE] against Archduke John of Habsburg Austria in the location of Bavaria and Bonaparte's victory at Marengo [1800 CE] in northern Italy.