Hi everyone. I'm new to this site, and so my writings may be a little rough at first, but I hope to improve my skills. I love alternate history and often make up my own little timelines. I hope you will enjoy this Napoleonic timeline starting in 1805 and ending in 1824.
1805-Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Italy but loses French fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. Captures Vienna and destroys 3rd Coalition forces at the Battle of Austerlitz. Later gains control of Austria via Treaty of Pressburg.
1806-POINT OF DIVERGENCE. Napoleon's brother Joseph becomes King of Naples; Holland is becomes a French-influenced constitutional monarchy under Louis Bonaparte and the Dutch people are granted the same freedoms as are in France. Taxes on the working and middle classes are lowered and the working class are given free bread (essentially the first half of "Panem et Circenses). Formation of the 4th Coalition between England, Sweden, Prussia, and Sweden). Napoleon orders a major offensive into the German Confederation and wins the Battles of Jena and Auerstadt, crippling the once-formidable Prussian army. Marches into Berlin. In order to avenge the loss of his fleet at Trafalgar, Napoleon uses the once-great shipyards of Holland to construct a new fleet of 12 80-gun ships of the line, 24 frigates (14 28-gun frigates, 8 38-gun frigates, and 2 experimental frigates based of off the 44-gun USS Constitution), 30 sloops of war, and 16 schooners. He then seeks to match the British naval skills with the development of a naval academy in Marseilles. Napoleon launches an offensive against Poland, conquers Warsaw.
1807-17,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 72 guns head directly to Danzig under the command of Marshal Ney by way of Stettin; march along the coast.
They besiege the city of Danzig on February 28 but are attacked by 13,000 Prussian soldiers led by Prince Augustus two weeks later. Ney baits the Prussians by weakening his right flank, while stationing all of his cavalry and half of his artillery within range. 3,000 Prussians attack his right flank, guarded by only 1,300 French infantry. The French are ordered to retreat in a direction perpendicular to the hidden cavalry and artillery, drawing the Prussians into a deadly firing zone. The Prussians pursue, only to be decimated by six artillery batteries. The retreating French infantry stand and open fire on their pursuers, who are by that time disheveled by the bombardment. The cavalry attack, occupying forcing the Prussians to fight in two directions. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Prussian soldiers rout, with 884 dead and 1,146 wounded. Meanwhile, the rest of the French artillery is ordered to bombard the rest of the Prussian army, which has remained in position. Prince Augustus, having only 21 guns and no cavalry at his disposal, decides to withdraw before the French artillery decimate his entire army. Total losses are about 2,500 killed or wounded on the Prussian side and 950 on the French side, plus 150 Prussians taken prisoner during the counterattack on the right flank.
After the Battle of Danzig and the defeat of Prince Augustus' army, the city surrenders on March 19. In return for the immediate release of the 2,200 man garrison and a pledge banning any and all looting, Danzig promises to shelter Ney's forces and surrenders every single merchant vessel in their harbor, which are later sold as prizes and the proceeds distributed to each of the French troops (after a 20% share for the French Treasury). All of the artillery and heavy weaponry are surrendered, while the Prussian soldiers are only allowed to carry what they could carry (i.e rations, camping equipment, and a musket or two). French diplomats offer a treaty to the Prussian monarch but are rebuked, and the Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm III orders Prince Augustus to reinforce the city of Konigsberg. Ney, in an effort to force the King's hand, arranges for the poisoning of his brother Augustus. Although the assassination attempt fails, Prince Augustus is scared into entering covert negotiations with Ney, seeking to achieve a temporary ceasefire. With Napoleon's tacit approval, Ney agrees to a three month ceasefire between Ney and Augustus. Augustus hurries his army to Konigsberg, where his brother berates him for negotiating a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Napoleon's naval fleet is completed, and the emperor offers a large bounty and an officer's commission to any experienced seaman in return for a five year term of service in the French Navy. The several thousand who signed up supplemented a slightly larger naval officer corps that had been trained at the naval academy in Marseilles. Unfortunately, there were only enough seamen and officers to man about half of the newly constructed vessels, and so most of the sailors went to the frigates and the sloops, with all of the schooners and most of the ships of the line temporarily mothballed.
After the end of the three month armistice, Marshal Ney rests his troops for much of the summer. Finally, at Napoleon's urging, he leaves 2,500 soldiers and 18 guns in Danzig and then marches eastward with the rest of his army in
early August. Later that month, he engages the Prussians under General Friedrich August Peter von Colomb at the Battle of the River Alle. The entire Prussian army, consisting of 15,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 62 guns, marches out to meet Ney's 18,000. Evenly matched in numbers and in experience, the battle hinges on tactics. The Prussians cross the river under fire from the French infantry as Ney's artillery are silenced by the enemy guns. After ferrying across the river, Colomb's forces drive a wedge through Ney's entrenched infantry and establish a foothold on the other side of the river. But they are prevented from making any more headway by a last-minute charge by Ney's cavalry. Halfway into the battle, Colomb orders his light cavalry to outflank the remnants of Ney's artillery corps and then run down the infantry. At first, the light cavalry succeed in overwhelming the French infantry and artillery, but in the midst of the chaos a reserve battalion of Italian grenadiers fixed bayonets and charged into the fray. The cavalry are caught off guard and retreat after taking heavy losses. The next day, the Prussians try to press forward and attack all across the line, but their narrow foothold allowed them to be pinned down by heavy French fire. But the French were unable to press their advantage, as the Prussians were firmly entrenched in their position. That night, the Prussian army crossed the river and withdrew to Konigsberg, having lost nearly 3,500 killed or wounded. The French lost a similar amount, and the battle amounted to nothing more than a draw.
Marshal Ney crossed the River Alle with a diminished but stalwart army of 14,000 and was determined to end the war once and for all. Ney's spies find Colomb's troops camped outside the city of Friedland. Ney positioned his cavalry at Colomb's left flank, preparing to overrun the camp in the evening while the infantry swept in from the west. The Prussians were exhausted after 18 hours of marching, and so they had posted few pickets and scouts. On September 9, Ney launched his attack, surprising Colomb and battering his army. The cavalry overwhelmed any unit that stood in their way and rode right up to Colomb's tent, dragging the bewildered general out of his bed. Within a matter of hours the entire army was destroyed; 2,812 men were killed, 3,882 were wounded, and about 8,000 men were taken prisoner. With his army shattered and one of his best generals taken prisoner, the Prussian King surrendered. On September 29, under the terms of the recently signed Treaty of Breslan, the Prussians ceded Danzig and Stettin to the French and established the Duchy of Warsaw, which encompassed most of their Polish possessions. In return for this and an annual 300,000 guinea tribute, war between France and Prussia ended and Napoleon promised to protect Prussia's remaining territories.