Could Napoleon have invaded North America?

If at the heights of his powers Napoleon looked to invade and conquer not just British North American but the fledgling United States as well. Could he have succeeded?
 
No. They couldn't beat the British at sea as it was, trying to conquer North America is outside their grasp. And that's before they even get to the difficulties of fighting once they get there.

If Napoleon has the ability to defeat the British navy and the logistics to transport several armies to North America he'd probably be better off launching a French Operation Sealion or just blockading Britain.
 
No, even if he took the port from either Spain or Bordeaux, the only place he could safely land was French Louisiana or French Haiti, but that’s surrounded by British colonial possessions like the Bahamas, and Haiti was a rebellious colony full of Disease.


But...

If he did make it to Louisiana, he would have to gather and army to invade either British Canada or the USA during the war of 1812
 
Would Napoleon even want to invade the US? Didn't he have a lot of respect for some of the founding fathers, especially Washington? Plus there's the whole war of 1812 business that would likely escalate in this scenario with French assistance.
 
Even if it is just Napoleon vs the USA there is n way France could sustain an invading forces in the USA. St Pierre and Miquelon in the north and Haiti and the Caribbean in the south simply cannot be adequate logistical forward bases (assuming Haiti is even under French control). The French Navy and merchant marine are limited, and the USN while small, can with augmentation by privateers, fight a guerre de course making supplying any troops in the USA a nightmare. Unlike during the American Revolution, where the British had a level of support among the local population, the French will be facing a completely hostile population and that population would make the partisan "problem" in Spain look like a walk in the park. The French connections with the Indians have gone away since Queen Anne's War/French and Indian War, so there won't be a second front like the British had going for them during the War of 1812.

All of this assumes Napoleon has gone totally batshit nuts to even try this.
 
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