Marshal Michel Ney

September 7, 1812 · 80,000 total casualties

Though technically a French victory, Borodino was pyrrhic. Napoleon captured Moscow but found it evacuated and burning. Unable to force a decisive peace, he retreated in October, beginning the catastrophic withdrawal that destroyed the Grande Armée.

November 26–29, 1812 · 50,000 total casualties

Though Napoleon escaped with the core of his army — perhaps 40,000 organized troops from an original force of 600,000 — the Berezina became synonymous with catastrophe and the ultimate failure of the Russian campaign. 'Berezina' entered French vocabulary as a synonym for disaster.

June 16, 1815 · 31,500 total casualties

Though a tactical French victory, Ligny's strategic outcome was fatal. The Prussians were shaken but not destroyed, and their northward retreat kept them in contact with Wellington's Anglo-Allied army, enabling their crucial intervention at Waterloo two days later.

June 16, 1815 · 9,000 total casualties

Wellington's ability to hold Quatre Bras preserved the lateral road linking him to Blücher. When Napoleon defeated Blücher at Ligny that same day, Wellington was able to conduct a controlled retreat to Waterloo rather than fleeing in disorder.

June 18, 1815 · 65,000 total casualties

Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule absolutely and permanently. He abdicated four days later and was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. The battle reshaped Europe at the Congress of Vienna and established a century of relative continental peace under the Concert of Europe.