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On 1 March 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from his imprisonment on the isle of Elba, and launched a bid to recover his empire. A confederation of European powers pledged to stop him. During the period known as the Hundred Days Napoleon chose to confront the armies of Prince Blücher and the Duke of Wellington in what has become known as the Waterloo Campaign. He was decisively defeated by the two allied armies at the Battle of Waterloo, which then marched on Paris forcing Napoleon to abdicate for the second time. However Russia, Austria and some of the minor German states also fielded armies against him and all of them also invaded France. Of these other armies the ones engaged in the largest campaigns and saw the most fighting were two Austrian armies: The Army of the Upper Rhine and the Army of Italy. The Battle of Waterloo, followed as it was by the advance of the armies of Blücher and Wellington upon Paris, was so decisive in its effects, and so comprehensive in its results, that the great object of the War — the destruction of the power of Napoleon Bonaparte and the restoration of the Bourbon Dynasty under King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815 — was attained while the armies of the Upper Rhine and of Italy were but commencing their invasion of the French territory. Had the successes attendant upon the exertions of Blücher and Wellington assumed a less decisive character, and, more especially, had reverses taken the place of those successes; the operations of the Armies advancing from the Rhine and across the Alps would have acquired an immense importance in the history of the war: but the brilliant course of events in the north of France materially diminished the interest excited by the military transactions in other parts of France. The operations of the Confederation armies which invaded France along her eastern and south eastern frontier; afford a clear proof that amongst the more immediate consequences of the decisive Battle of Waterloo and speedy capture of Paris, was their having been the means of averting the more general and protracted warfare which would probably have taken place on these frontiers, had a different result in Belgium emboldened the French to act with vigour and effect a stronger defence of these parts of France. ==French deployments== (詳細はD'Erlon) cantoned between Lille and Valenciennes. * II Corps (Reille) cantoned between Valenciennes and Avesnes. * III Corps (Vandamme) cantoned around Rocroi. * IV Corps (Gerard ) cantoned at Metz. * VI Corps (Lobau) cantoned at Laon. * Cavalry Reserve (Grouchy) cantoned at Guise. * Imperial Guard (Mortier) at Paris. The preceding corps were to be formed into ''L'Armée du Nord'' (the "Army of the North") and led by Napoleon Bonaparte would participate in the Waterloo Campaign. For the defence of France, Bonaparte deployed his remaining forces within France observing France's enemies, foreign and domestic, intending to delay the former and suppress the latter. By June they were organised as follows: * V Corps – ''Armée du Rhin'' (Rapp); cantoned near Strasbourg, with a strength of 46 guns and 20,000–23,000 men〔''Armée du Rhin'' men * 20,000 * 20,4056 * 23,000. 〕 More troops guarded the south east frontier from Basel to Nice, and covered Lyons: *VII Corps – ''Armée des Alpes'' (Suchet); based at Lyons, this army was charged with the defence of Lyons and to observe the Austro-Sardinian army of Frimont, with a strength of 42–46 guns〔Armée des Alpes guns * 42 * 46 〕 and 13,000–23,500 men〔Armée des Alpes men *13,000–20,000 *23,500 *15,767 〕 *I Corps of Observation – ''Armée du Jura'' (Lecourbe); based at Belfort, this army was to observe any Austrian movement through Switzerland and also observe the Swiss army of General Bachmann. Its composition in June was 38 guns, and 5,392–8,400 men〔''Armée du Jura'': men *5,392 *8,400 〕 *II Corps of Observation – ''Armée du Var'' (Brune): based at Toulon, with a strength of 10,000 men. There were two other major deployments: *8,000 men under Clausel cantoned around Toulouse and under Decaen cantoned around Bordeaux guarding the Pyrenean frontier.〔 for commanders and the number of men.〕〔 for where the armies were cantoned.〕 *Lamarque led 10,000 men into La Vendée to quell a Royalist insurrection in that region. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Minor campaigns of 1815」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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