Battle of Marengo 14 June 1800

Napoleon Bonaparte is, almost always, in the “Mt. Rushmore” greatest military commanders of all time conversation, and rightfully so. That being said, he wasn’t without a great many flaws, and long before Waterloo, Napoleon suffered his fair share of defeats. Marengo doesn’t fall into the loss column for Bonaparte, but it came pretty damn close. A poor French tactical choice, a drastic French inferiority in artillery, and a ferocious Austrian assault all led to Marengo being a "close run thing" for the First Consul. But as the First Consul said “The fate of a battle is a single moment…the decisive moment arrives, the moral spark is kindled and the smallest reserve force settles the issue.”