This past year I did a list of the Top 10 bloodiest battles of both the First World War and the Second World War. I will now delve into the bloodiest battles of the Napoleonic Wars which, prior to the two world wars, were the bloodiest conflicts in history.

Without further delay, let's get into it:

10. Battle of Berezina - 40,000 total casualties

Waged from November 26-29, 1812, during Napoleon's retreat from Russia, the Battle of the Berezina River was a Russian tactical victory but a strategic French victory as Napoleon was able to save his army to fight another day. With the Berenzina River separating the Grande Armée from relative safety in Poland, Napoleon's soldiers fought a heroic rearguard action to ensure the bulk of the French army got across. However, it cost the French some 30,000 total casualties to just 10,000 Russian.

9. Battle of Eylau - 45,000 total casualties

Fought from February 7-8, 1807 during the War of the Fourth Coalition, this battle pitted Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grande Armée against a combined Russo-Prussian army under the command of Marshal Levin August von Bennigsen. Fought in the middle of a raging snow storm, this battle turned out to be the first Pyrrhic victory of Napoleon's career. While he would control the field at battle's end, Napoleon failed to destroy the Russian army and suffered 25,000 casualties to Russia's 20,000.

8. Battle of Aspern-Essling - 45,500 total casualties

Fought during the War of the Fifth Coalition from May 21-22, 1809, the Battle of Aspern-Essling was the first major defeat ever suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Austrians under the competent leadership of the Archduke Charles were able to use their superior artillery placement to dominate the battlefield and drive the French army from the field. The French lost over 24,000 men in the battle including one of France's ablest commanders: Marshal Jean Lannes.

7. Battle of Dresden - 48,000 total casualties

Waged from August 16-17, 1813 in the early stages of the War of the Sixth Coalition, the army of Napoleon Bonaparte won a stunning victory over the Army of Bohemia under the command of Generalissimo Karl von Schwarzenberg. This despite being outnumbered by odds of more than 2-to-1. Napoleon suffered just 10,000 casualties to the Coalition's 38,000 casualties. However, the victory failed to break the Sixth Coalition with the war continuing on into the autumn of 1813.

6. Battle of Friedland - 50,000 total casualties

The final major battle of the War of the Fourth Coalition saw Napoleon's Grande Armée decisively defeat the Russian army of Marshal Levin August von Bennigsen on June 14, 1807. Benningsen risked it all by placing his army against the Alle River and daring the French to attack him. The result was absolute disaster for the Russians as Napoleon won one of the most spectacular victories of his career. The Russians suffered roughly 40,000 casualties in the battle to Napoleon's 10,000. The defeat forced Tsar Alexander I to sue for peace. The resulting Treaties of Tilsit saw Russia briefly join the fight with the French against Great Britain.

5. Battle of Jena-Auerstedt - 53,600 total casualties

The opening action of the War of the Fourth Coalition saw the Prussian army under the Duke of Brunswick decisively defeated at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt. Taking place on October 14, 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte and the bulk of his Grand Armée defeated elements of the Prussian army under the command of Prince Friedrich Ludwig. Meanwhile, French Marshal Louis-Nicholas Davout defeated the main Prussian force under the Duke of Brunswick at Auerstedt, an action that saw the duke mortally wounded in combat. The Prussians suffered 25,000 casualties at Jena and a further 13,000 men at Auerstedt.

4. Battle of Waterloo - 62,000 combined casualties

Fought on June 18, 1815, the Battle of Waterloo would be the last battle Napoleon Bonaparte ever fought. His army of 73,000 men would face off against the Seventh Coalition armies of Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington from Great Britain and Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher of the Kingdom of Prussia. Napoleon and Wellington would duke it out for much of the afternoon until Blücher's army was able to break the right flank of the French army, routing Napoleon's forces from the field. Napoleon would abdicate the throne for the second and final time less than 10 days later. French losses numbered over 33,000 for the battle while the British, her allies, and the Prussians would suffer over 28,000 combined casualties.

3. Battle of Wagram - 72,000 total casualties

Fought from July 5-6, 1809, the Battle of Wagram was the largest and bloodiest battle ever waged in Europe up to that time. Over 300,000 men took part in the battle between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Austrian army of the Archduke Charles. Getting revenge for his defeat at the Battle of Aspern-Essling just under two months earlier, Napoleon decisively defeated the forces of the archduke and brought to an end the War of the Fifth Coalition.

2. Battle of Borodino - 73,000 combined casualties

Fought over the course of a single day on September 7, 1812, the Battle of Borodino was the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars and the bloodiest day in European history until 1914 and the beginning of the First World War. Waged just outside the city of Moscow, the battle pitted Napoleon's Grande Armée against Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov's Imperialist Russian force. The battle resulted in a French victory with Kutuzov being forced to give up the city of Moscow to Napoleon, but in the end it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory as the Russian government refused to surrender to the French.

1. Battle of Leipzig - 133,000 combined casualties

The largest and bloodiest battle ever fought in European history until the First World War, the Battle of Leipzig was the beginning of the end of Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Empire. Fought from October 16-19, 1813, the battle involved nearly 600,000 soldiers from most of the major countries and kingdoms of Europe. The battle resulted in Napoleon's expulsion from Germany, the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine, and the invasion of France at the beginning of 1814. The latter would result in Napoleon's first abdication in April of that same year.