The medal commemorative of the _battle of Marengo_ bears, on one side, a large bunch of keys, environed by two laurel branches; and, on the reverse, Bonaparte, as a winged genius, standing on a dismounted cannon to which four horses are attached upon the summit of Mount St. Bernard, urges their rapid speed, with a laurel branch in one hand, whilst he directs the reins with the other.
That on the _peace of Luneville_ is two inches and a quarter in diameter, with the head of the first consul in uncommonly bold relief; the device, as mentioned in another place, is the sun arising in splendor upon that part of the globe which represents France, and which is overshadowed by laurels, whilst a cloud descends and obscures Great Britain.
The commencement of hostilities by England, after the _peace of Amiens_, is designated by the English leopard tearing a scroll, with the inscription, _Le Traité d'Amiens Rompu par l'Angleterre en Mai de l'An_ 1803; on the reverse, a winged female figure in breathless haste forcing on a horse at full speed, and holding a laurel crown, inscribed, _L'Hanovre occupé var l'Armée Francaise en Juin de l'An_ 1803; and beneath, _Frappée avec l'Argent des Mines d'Hanovre, l'An 4 de Bonaparte_.
His medal, on assuming the purple, has his portrait, _Napoleon Empereur_, by Andrieu, who executed nearly all the portraits on his medals; on the reverse, he is in his imperial robes, elevated by two figures, one armed, inscribed, _Le Senat et le Peuple_.
The _battle of Austerlitz_ has, on the reverse, simply a thunderbolt, with a small figure of Napoleon, enrobed and enthroned on the upper end of the shaft of the thunder.
In 1804, he struck a medal with a Herculean figure on the reverse, confining the head of the English leopard between his knees, whilst preparing a cord to strangle him, inscribed _En l'An XII. 2000 barques sont construites_;--this was in condemnation of the invasion and conquest of England.
The reverse of the medal on the _battle of Jena_ represents Napoleon on an eagle in the clouds, as warring with giants on the earth, whom he blasts with thunderbolts.
The medal on the _Confederation of the Rhine_ has, for its reverse, numerous warriors in ancient armor, swearing with their right hands on an altar, formed of an immense fasces, with the imperial eagle projecting from it.