The 7 best military commanders of all time, according to Napoleon Bonaparte

• Napoleon, one of history's great military commanders, encouraged his officers to study these leaders.

• We've ranked these leaders based on their battlefield achievements.

• You won't find the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, on the French emperor's list.

Napoleon Bonaparte is recognized as one of the greatest military commanders of all time.

He brought Revolutionary France back from the brink of destruction with his Italian campaign in 1796 and 1797. He made a fool of Czar Alexander I at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. He encircled an entire Austrian army and forced them to capitulate at the Battle of Ulm in 1805. And these are just a few of his exploits.

But he was also a student of history and repeatedly instructed his subordinates to pore over the campaigns of seven specific commanders that came before him, arguing that it was the only way to learn the art of war and become a great captain.

"Your own genius will be enlightened and improved by this study, and you will learn to reject all maxims foreign to the principles of these great commanders," Napoleon said.

We've ranked the commanders based on Napoleon's comments and their own achievements:

7. Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736).

Eugene was a field marshal and statesman under the guise of the House of Savoy, which served the Holy Roman Emperor of Austria.

Wounded in battle 13 times during his 39 year career, one of Eugene's greatest conquests was the Siege of Belgrade in 1717 against the Ottoman Empire, in which he led a cavalry attack that helped turn the tide.

"Military science," Napoleon was quoted as saying by Madame de Remusat, "consists in calculating all the chances accurately in the first place, and then in giving accident exactly, almost mathematically, it's place in one's calculations."

"Prince Eugene is one of those who understood [this] best," Napoleon said.

6. Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632).

Gustavus Adolphus was king of Sweden between 1611-1632 and helped put Sweden on the map.

One of his greatest victories was at the Battle of Breitenfeld during the Thirty Years War when his forces, together with the Saxons, flanked both sides of the Catholic army and annihilated the enemy.

He was killed during the same war while leading a cavalry charge at the Battle of Lutzen.

5. Frederick the Great (1712-1786).

Frederick II, or Frederick the Great, was king of Prussia from 1740-1786 and greatly expanded his kingdom's territory through his military victories.

Some of his greatest victories were at the battles of Rossbach and Leuthen during the Seven Years War, where he defeated larger armies with great maneuvering.

But despite being one of Napoleon's seven great commanders, the French commander appeared to consider the next commander even better.

4. Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (1611-1675).

Turenne was a French field marshal who served Louis XIV, also known as The Sun King.

Perhaps his greatest victories came in the winter of 1674 and 1675 during the Franco-Dutch War. In December of 1674, he maneuvered around the German army and surprised them weeks later in early January, hitting the enemy's flanks and driving them away from Alsace.

He was killed later in July 1675, as the Franco-Dutch War was still raging, by a cannonball as he was observing enemy lines.

In 1793, Revolutionary France was bent on erasing anything that had to with royalty and religion, and began destroying royal tombs at St-Denis outside of Paris.

Known as a man of the people, Turenne's body was one of the few left untouched. His remains now reside in the Invalides.

"You seem to admire [Frederick the Great] immensely," Napoleon once told a subordinate, according to his secretary, Bourrienne. "What do you find in him so astonishing? He is not equal to Turenne."