ORIGINAL: Feralkoala
Napoleon did almost win Waterloo--but the reasons he lost were direct consequences of his decisions. In particular, his strategy of the central position lends itself to brilliant operational maneuvering but (as it did in 1813 and 1814) does not lend itself to decisive battles that end the campaign in his favor. Dresden in 1813 for example, was a French victory....but not a decisive one. In fact, given how badly botched the pursuit was (ending with the surrender of Vandamme's corps at Kulm), one could certainly argue that it was at best a draw. In 1814, the continual pressure of the Allied armies meant that Napoleon could not follow-up his battlefield victories. They were glorious fights and reminiscent of Napoleon at his best...but he lost operationally and strategically.
I'd have to bow out about Waterloo - I am not intimately familiar with the tactical proceedings - so I really can't comment.
Other than that you basically agreed with everything I said almost to the letter.
When you say you prefer clear history....but having previously described Borodino as a French strategic victory, one does have to wonder at your bias. Occupying Moscow was an empty triumph--precisely because it did not bring the Russians to the negotiating table. When the French began their retreat, Napoleon even refused battle with Kutosov so instead had to lead his army across the same barren land his army had picked clean in the summer. If Napoleon was not ultimately responsible for the tragedy of his Russian invasion, who was? The same can be said of the campaigns of 1813, 1814, and 1815. He was clearly still respected for his battlefield prowess but, by then, that was simply not enough.
You obviously really didn't bother to read what I wrote.
I wrote that Borodino was a bloody, unimaginative assault for the express purpose of pinning and destroying the Russian army. At the end of the day, the Russians retreated, and abandoned Moscow to Napoleon. So, yes, it was a "strategic victory." Ultimately, only hindsight shows that the failure to bring Russia to peace made Borodino and the resultant occupation of Moscow useless - at the time Napoleon reasonably thought (and there was pressure for the Tsar to make peace) that he had secured a victory. The only reason things went poorly after that was a renegade Russian criminal who burnt down the city (not on the orders of the Government) which made Winter Quarters there untenable.
I never said Napoleon wasn't responsible for the failures - in fact I said the exact opposite.
I agreed with almost everything you said word for word... So if you could please stop putting strange characterizations on my arguments, I would be appreciative of it.
