Description

Napoleon's scream: "FIRE!"

Painted by painter William Turner

"Fire is everything! The rest doesn't matter". Phrase pronounced by Napoleon before the battle of Wagram (5-6 July 1809), one of the largest of the Napoleonic wars which saw 300,000 men opposed and an unprecedented use of artillery fire. For Napoleon it was essential to use artillery fire to support the infantry and win battles. In Wagram the contribution of the artillery was decisive, in fact in a moment of difficulty for the French army Napoleon personally intervened to organize a "grand battery" or the intense fire of one hundred and twelve cannons which favored the offensive resumption of the French infantry and therefore the retreat of the Austrian army.