French Imperial Army (1804–1815) in the context of "Marie-Louise (conscript)"

The Grande Armée (pronounced [ɡʁɑ̃d aʁme]; French for 'Grand Army') was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empire to exercise unprecedented control over most of Europe. Widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever assembled, it suffered catastrophic losses during the disastrous French invasion of Russia, after which it never recovered its strategic superiority and ended its military career with a total defeat during the Hundred Days in 1815.

The Grande Armée was formed in 1804 from the Armée des côtes de l'Océan (Army of the Ocean Coasts) more commonly referred to as the Armée d'Angleterre (Army of England), a field army of over 100,000 men assembled for Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. He subsequently led the field army to Central Europe and defeated Austrian and Russian forces as part of the War of the Third Coalition. Thereafter, the Grande Armée was the principal field army deployed in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Peninsular War and War of the Fifth Coalition, where the French army slowly lost a large portion of its veteran soldiers, strength and prestige, and in the invasion of Russia, War of the Sixth Coalition and Hundred Days. The term Grande Armée is often used to refer to multinational armies led by Napoleon in his campaigns; however, during the War of the Fifth Coalition and the Waterloo campaign (part of the Hundred Days), other formations were led by him de facto, namely the Army of Germany and the Army of the North, respectively.

Bonapartist Spain was a Napoleonic client state established in 1808 after Napoleon, who had stationed his Imperial Army in Spain under the pretense of a joint Franco–Spanish invasion of Portugal, forced the ruling Spanish Bourbons to abdicate, and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, which ignited a people's revolt by Spanish citizens and led to the Peninsular War, where France was defeated and forced to retreat from Spain.

The kingdom was officially known as Kingdom of (the) Spain(s) and (the) Indies, with "the Indies" referring to the East and West Indies as well as Spain's colonial possessions more broadly. It never managed to exert control over these territories however, not only did the French invasion weaken Spain's grasp on its overseas empire, kickstarting the Spanish American wars of independence, but even on the Spanish mainland, the House of Bonaparte's grip was tenuous. Large parts of the country came under the control of juntas, which remained loyal to Ferdinand VII and the old Bourbon kingdom, allying with the Coalition forces of Britain and Portugal to undermine the French occupation.

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army under the command of Napoleon I was defeated by two armies of the Seventh Coalition. One was a British-led force with units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of field marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. The other comprised three corps of the Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher. The battle was known contemporaneously as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean in France (after the hamlet of Mont-Saint-Jean) and La Belle Alliance in Prussia ("the Beautiful Alliance"; after the inn of La Belle Alliance).

Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, the beginning of the Hundred Days, many states that had previously opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition to oppose him again, and hurriedly mobilised their armies. Wellington's and Blücher's armies were cantoned close to the northeastern border of France. Napoleon planned to attack them separately, before they could link up and invade France with other members of the coalition. On 16 June, Napoleon successfully attacked the bulk of the Prussian Army at the Battle of Ligny with his main force, while a small portion of the French Imperial Army contested the Battle of Quatre Bras to prevent the Anglo-allied army from reinforcing the Prussians. The Anglo-allied army held their ground at Quatre Bras but were prevented from reinforcing the Prussians, and on the 17th, the Prussians withdrew from Ligny in good order, while Wellington then withdrew in parallel with the Prussians northward to Waterloo on 17 June. Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, which resulted in the separate Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard on 18–19 June and prevented that French force from participating at Waterloo.

Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, a.k.a. El Pacificador (The Pacifier) (5 May 1775 – 27 July 1837) was a Spanish military officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and in the Spanish American Independence Wars. He fought against French forces in the Peninsular War, where he gained fame and rose to the rank of Field Marshall for his valiant actions. After the restoration of the Spanish Monarchy, Morillo, then regarded as one of the Spanish Army's most prestigious officers, was named by King Ferdinand VII as commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme with the goal to restore absolutism in Spain's possessions in the Americas.

Born to a peasant family in Fuentesecas, Spain, at the age of 16 he joined the Spanish Navy as part of the Spanish Marine Infantry, where fought in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar; both times he would be taken prisoner. After the outbreak of the Peninsular War, Morillo left the Spanish Navy and joined the Spanish Army and fought at the Battle of Bailen under the command of General Castaños; he would also be present at the Battle of Vitoria. He rose through the ranks quickly during the war. His actions at the Battle of Puente Sanpayo won him fame, as he commanded an army that defeated Marshal Ney and forced the French army to evacuate Galicia.

A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp, or in quarters. Sutlers sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, traveling with an army or to remote military outposts. Sutler wagons were associated with the military, while chuckwagons served a similar purpose for civilian wagon trains and outposts.

The Grande Armée (pronounced [ɡʁɑ̃d aʁme]; French for 'Great Army') was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empire to exercise unprecedented control over most of Europe. Widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever assembled, it suffered catastrophic losses during the disastrous French invasion of Russia, after which it never recovered its strategic superiority and ended its military career with a total defeat during the Hundred Days in 1815.

The Grande Armée was formed in 1804 from the Armée des côtes de l'Océan (Army of the Ocean Coasts) more commonly referred to as the Armée d'Angleterre (Army of England), a field army of over 100,000 men assembled for Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. He subsequently led the field army to Central Europe and defeated Austrian and Russian forces as part of the War of the Third Coalition. Thereafter, the Grande Armée was the principal field army deployed in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Peninsular War and War of the Fifth Coalition, where the French army slowly lost a large portion of its veteran soldiers, strength and prestige, and in the invasion of Russia, War of the Sixth Coalition and Hundred Days. The term Grande Armée is often used to refer to multinational armies led by Napoleon in his campaigns; however, during the War of the Fifth Coalition and the Waterloo campaign (part of the Hundred Days), other formations were led by him de facto, namely the Army of Germany and the Army of the North, respectively.