The Battle of Wagram (1897)

Henri-Georges-Jacques Chartier: The Battle of Wagram

The Battle of Wagram took place in July 1809. It was a decisive victory for Napoleon's forces over an Austrian army. The two-day battle was particularly bloody, mainly due to the use of 1,000 artillery pieces on a flat battlefield packed with some 300,000 men. [Wikipedia]

After the Charge, Hanau (1896)

Henri-Georges-Jacques Chartier: After the Charge, Hanau

The Battle of Hanau took place during the War of the Sixth Coalition and resulted in a tactical victory for the French.

Vive L'Empereur (1891)

Edouard Detaille: Vive L'Empereur. The Charge of the French 4th Hussar 

Regiment at the Battle of Friedland, June 14th 1807

The Battle of Friedland (June 14, 1807) was a major confrontation of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by Count von Bennigsen. Napoleon and the French obtained a decisive victory that routed much of the Russian army, which retreated chaotically over the Alle River by the end of the fighting. The battlefield is located in modern-day Kaliningrad Oblast, near the town of Pravdinsk, Russia.

The engagement at Friedland was a strategic necessity after the Battle of Eylau earlier in 1807 had failed to yield a decisive verdict for either side. The battle began when Bennigsen noticed the seemingly isolated corps of Marshal Lannes at the town of Friedland. Thinking he had a good chance of destroying these isolated French units, Bennigsen ordered his entire army over the Alle River. Lannes held his ground against determined Russian attacks until Napoleon could bring additional forces onto the field. By late afternoon, the French had amassed a force of 80,000 troops on the battlefield. Relying on superior numbers, Napoleon concluded that the moment had come and ordered a massive assault against the Russian left flank. The sustained French attack pushed back the Russian army and pressed them against the river behind. Unable to withstand the pressure, the Russians broke and started escaping across the Alle, where an unknown number of them died from drowning. The Russian army suffered horrific casualties at Friedland–losing over 40% of its soldiers on the battlefield. [Wikipedia]

The Cemetery of Saint-Privat (1881)

Alphonse de Neuville: The Cemetery of Saint-Privat, August 10, 1870

Alphonse de Neuville, like Edouard Detaille, was one of the main artists to paint episodes from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the theme recurs frequently in his prolific production. At the Salon of 1873, where he exhibited The Last Cartridges, an episode in the fighting around Sedan in September, he was a great success and was promoted to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honour.

From then on, he produced monumental paintings of various episodes in which the French troops had distinguished themselves, participating in the idea of revenge while defending and strengthening Republican patriotism. Here he evokes the last moments in the battle in the Cemetery of Saint Privat, near Metz, on 18 August 1870, where Marshal Bazaine's army was fighting the first and second corps of the Prussian army.

After visiting the site to familiarize himself with the lie of the land, de Neuville chose a lateral view which confines the spectator in the foreground slightly below the scene of the fighting, facing the last French defenders who can be recognized by their red trousers. The soldiers, surrounded on all sides, are depicted in theatrical poses. The light filtering through the smoke in the upper part of the painting intensifies the dramatic effect. Exhibited in 1881, this painting was a further triumph for its author who was immediately promoted to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour. [Musée d’Orsay]

Le Four a Chaux (1881)

Alphonse de Neuville: Le Four a Chaux - A Study for the Panorama of the Battle of Champigny

The Defense of Rorke's Drift (1880)

Alphonse de Neuville: The Defense of Rorke's Drift

The so-called Zulu War came at the moment of greatest British imperial presence in South Africa. Though understood differently today, in 1879 - the year of the event depicted in de Neuville's famous canvas - the violent exchange was seen in terms of Britain's rightful defense of its own colonial prestige. Rorke's Drift was a small outpost on the banks of the Buffalo River in Natal Province. A large Zulu force, having slaughtered around 900 troops and native levies at nearby Isandlhwana, set upon the eighty soldiers of the Warwickshire Regiment stationed at Rorke's Drift. The defenders managed to hold off their attackers, usually characterized as an undisciplined horde, in a bloody hand-to-hand battle of Boys' Own proportions. The subsequent awarding of eleven Victoria Crosses confirmed the heroic dimension of the skirmish, though it hardly explains the interest of a Parisian Salon painter in this quintessentially English subject. De Neuville based his pre-cinematic version of events on military reports and survivors' accounts.  [Art Gallery NSW]

Champigny, December 1870 (1879)

Édouard Detaille: Champigny, December 1870

In this battle picture, shown in the Salon of 1879, Détaille depicts an incident that he had observed on December 2, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. General Faron's soldiers are shown fortifying their new position at the town of Champigny-sur-Marne, near Paris, and breaking openings in the wall for cannons. General Faron is at the left, talking to an old gardener. The artist returned to the subject for a huge panorama of the battle (now destroyed) that he executed with de Neuville in 1882. [Metropolitan Museum of Art]

Defense of Longboyau's Gate (1879)

Alphonse de Neuville: Defense of Longboyau's Gate, 

Château of Buzenval, on October 21st 1870

The Cuirassiers Before Their Charge at the Battle of Austerlitz (1878)

Ernest Meissonier: The Cuirassiers Before Their Charge at the Battle of Austerlitz, 1805

The Battle of Bender (1877)

Charles Édouard Armand-Dumaresq: The Battle of Bender

The Skirmish at Bender was devised to remove Charles XII of Sweden from the Ottoman Empire after his military defeats in Russia. It took place on 1 February 1713 on Ottoman territory, in what is now the town of Bender, Moldova. After the Swedish defeat at the battle of Poltava on 27 June 1709 and the surrender of most of the Swedish army at Perevolochna three days later, Charles XII of Sweden fled together with a few hundred Swedish soldiers and a large number of Cossacks to the Ottoman Empire, where they spent a total of five years. The events of the Skirmish at Bender officially began on 31 January 1713 with the firing of Turkish artillery on the Swedish camp. On 1 February the Ottoman forces, commanded by the Serasker of Bender, attacked the camp. The fighting lasted for over 7 hours and the Ottomans eventually used both artillery and fire arrows when the initial assaults were beaten back and the later method proved to be effective. The fire arrows caught the building's roof on fire and forced the defenders to abandon it, the fighting then came to an abrupt end when the king tripped on his own spurs while exiting the burning house. He was assaulted by scores of Ottoman soldiers who managed to capture him and the remaining fighters. After some time as a prisoner, Charles XII and his soldiers were released when news about the Swedish victory in the Battle of Gadebusch reached the Ottomans. [Wikipedia]

Friedland (1875)

Ernest Meissonier: 1807, Friedland

This work, the largest and most ambitious painting by an artist renowned for meticulously rendered cabinet pictures, evokes one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s greatest victories. Meissonier made hundreds of preparatory studies for it, including drawings and sculptural models. He conceived the picture as part of a cycle of five key episodes in the life of the Emperor, only one other of which was completed: The Campaign of France—1814, an image of defeat (Musée d'Orsay, Paris). The present work gained notoriety in 1876, when the American department store magnate Alexander T. Stewart purchased it from the artist, sight unseen, for the then astronomical sum of $60,000. [Metropolitan Museum]

The Battle of Waterloo (ca. 1873)

Henri-Félix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux: The Battle of Waterloo - 

The British Squares Receiving the Charge of the French Cuirassiers

This painting is a fine example of Félix Philippoteaux' battle scenes, a genre in which he specialised with success. It shows the Battle of Waterloo between the British army and the French Napoleonic army, which took place on the 18th June 1815. This very accurate representation of warfare tends to re-create the past, mainly the Revolutionary and Empire period. This type of representations draws upon 17th-century Dutch examples such as Philips Wouverman (1619-1668) and differs from the Realist interpretation of the subject. [Victoria and Albert Museum]

The Battle of Fontenoy (1873)

Henri-Félix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux: The Battle of Fontenoy

Felix Philippoteaux (1815-1884) was born in Paris where he trained with Léon Coignet (1794-1880). He soon specialised in history and portrait paintings and started exhibiting at the Salon in 1833. He also produced battle scenes, some of them in a panorama format with the assistance of his son Paul Dominique Philippoteaux (1846-1876), who would be at the forefront of a new generation of panorama painters. Félix Philippoteaux was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1846.

This painting is a fine example of Félix Philippoteaux’ battle scenes, a genre in which he specialised with success. It shows the Battle of Fontenoy during the Austrian Succession War between the British, Hanoverians, Austrian and Dutch and the French, which took place on the 11th June 1745 and more specifically Lord Charles Hay of the First Foot Guards challenging the Gardes Francaises. This very accurate representation of warfare tends to re-create the past, drawing upon 17th-century Dutch examples such as Philips Wouverman (1619-1668) and differs from the 19th-century Realist interpretation of the subject. [Victoria and Albert Museum]

Henri IV at the Battle of Arques (1873)

Eugène Lami: Henri IV at the Battle of Arques

In August 1589, following the assassination of Henri III, Henri IV became king of France. One of his first tasks was to bring peace to France. To do so, he lifted the siege of Paris, which was in the hands of the Catholic League, in order to begin a military campaign in Normandy. Henri set up camp near the Chateau d'Arques near Dieppe, and prepared to do battle with the duc de Mayenne. He was outnumbered –pro-Catholic forces numbered between 25,000 and 30,000 soldiers, whereas he had only 8,000 men. (He was eagerly awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from England.) On 21 September 1589, Henri was victorious, particularly thanks to his artillery, which was under the command of the duc de Sully. After this initial success, and that of the Battle of Ivry, not far from Dreux, Normandy rallied to his cause, and Henri could once again turn his attention to Paris.

Eugène Louis Lami was a romantic artist of the 19th century who had made a name for himself as a battle painter, particularly under the July Monarchy. In this work, he has taken great pains to depict not only the two armies but also the landscape, and he has included some picturesque details. In this work, the Leaguers can be identified by their red sashes, but also by the cross of Lorraine. At the centre of the picture, Henri IV leads the charge, holding high his hat with the white plume – which actually would become celebrated later, at the Battle of Ivry. The artist emphasizes the role of the cavalry, suggests the artillery's firepower and shows the arquebusiers in action. This representation of the king is also an idealized one, but it also factors in a certain number of historical details as well. [Henry IV, The Interrupted Reign]

Bivouac after the Battle (1872)

Alphonse de Neuville: Bivouac after the Battle of Le Bourget, 21 December 1870

The Battle of Le Bourget took place during the Franco-Prussian War.

Battle of Quiberon

Jean Sorieul: The Battle of Quiberon in 1795

This battle was part of an attempted counter-revolutionary invasion of France by Royalist forces. Instead, it was a disastrous defeat, resulting in the execution of 750 soldiers of the defeated invasion.

Théodore Gudin

Théodore Gudin: Naval Combat off Cape Lizard in Cornwall, 21 October 1707, won by the French fleet commanded by DuGuay-Trouin and Admiral de Forbin against five English war vessels

Jean Antoine Simeon Fort

Battle of Eylau, Febuary 8, 1807. The Russian army pushed back by the French troops

 Panoramic View of the Battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805

Horace Vernet

These three by Vernet appear to depict different phases of the same engagement, probably during the conquest of Algeria.

 The Enemy Repulsed from the Heights of Coudiat-Ati, October 10, 1837

  

 Assault Columns set in Motion. 13 October 1837

  

Taking the City, 13 October 1837

Carle Vernet

Carle Vernet: His Majesty Giving Orders to 

His Marshals, the Morning of the Battle of Austerlitz

Vernet has been featured here before; he seems to have made a career out of painting Napoleon.