The Special Troop Carrier. The Great Raft, built by Napoleon in 1798 to invade Britian. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of French domination over most of continental Europe. The wars stemmed from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and its resultant conflict.