Timeline of The Napoleonic Era - Early Years

Early Years

1769

• August 15: Napoleon Bonaparte born in Ajaccio, Corsica

1785

• October 28: Graduates from Ecole Militaire with the rank of second lieutenant in the artillery.
• November 3: Stationed in Valence

1793

• December 22: For his courage at an internal French battle at Toulon, Napoleon receives the new rank of brigadier general

1794

• August 9–20: Napoleon is imprisoned under suspicion of being a Jacobin and a supporter of Robespierre.

1795

• October: Royalist 13 Vendémiaire rising put down by Napoleon. Barras helps Napoleon win promotion to Commander of the Interior.
• October 15: At the home of Paul François Barras, a Directory member, Napoleon meets Rose de Beauharnais (Josephine)
• 2 November: Directory established

1796

• March 2: Napoleon is given command of the French army in Italy
• March 11: Italian campaign against Austria begins
• May 10: Napoleon wins the Battle of Lodi
• November 17: Napoleon wins the Battle of Arcole

1797

• January 14: Napoleon wins the Battle of Rivoli
• October 17: Treaty of Campo-Formio with Austria.
• December 5: Napoleon returns to Paris as a hero

1798

• May 19: Napoleon begins his Egyptian campaign with an army of 38,000
• July 21: Wins Battle of the Pyramids against Mamelukes in Egypt
• July 24: Fall of Cairo
• August 1: Under the command of Admiral Nelson, the British fleet destroys the French navy in the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon's army is cut off from supplies and communication.