Camp of Boulogne


The Boulogne camp refers to two military camps established around Boulogne-sur-Mer in France.

First camp

The first camp was prepared by Julius Caesar in 54 BC to prepare the fleet for his second expedition to Britain. One hypothesis is that Caesar set up his camp at the current location of the old City of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Some historians believe that the Old City was built on the camp; at a vicinity to Itius port which he cites in Chapter IV of its Gallic Wars:

Second camp

The second camp was established by Napoleon in 1803 and continued until 1805. It was here he assembled the Armée des côtes de l'Océan or the Armée d'Angleterre to invade Great Britain. On 18 May 1803, Britain declared war on France. Napoleon proceeded to chose Boulogne-sur-Mer as a base for attacks. The Boulogne camp housed about 60,000 soldiers in 1805, and was divided into two large camps:
  • one on the left bank of the Liana, near d'Outreau
  • another in the area of Vallon Terlincthun and the plateau of the tour d'Order
At the top of the cliff were the command barracks, including that of Napoleon, but the headquarters was located at Castle of Pont-de-Briques.

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