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- Napoleon, one of history's great military commanders, encouraged his officers to study these leaders.
- We've ranked these leaders based on their battlefield achievements.
- You won't find the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, on the French emperor's list.
Napoleon Bonaparte is recognized as one of the greatest military commanders of all time.
He brought Revolutionary France back from the brink of destruction with his Italian campaign in 1796 and 1797. He made a fool of Czar Alexander I at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. He encircled an entire Austrian army and forced them to capitulate at the Battle of Ulm in 1805. And these are just a few of his exploits.