Napoleon's Marshals by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
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NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS
[Illustration: MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT FROM THE PAINTING BY YVON AT VERSAILLES]
NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS
BY
R. P. DUNN-PATTISON, M.A.
LATE LIEUTENANT ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AND SOMETIME LECTURER AT MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD
WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON
First Published in 1909
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS xviii
I. LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF NEUCHATEL AND VALANGIN 1
II. JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES 23
III. ANDRE MASSENA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI, PRINCE OF ESSLING 49
IV. JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF SWEDEN 72
V. JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF DALMATIA 93
VI. JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO 117
VII. MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA 141
VIII. LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF AUERSTAeDT, PRINCE OF ECKMUeHL 162
IX. JACQUES ETIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE MACDONALD, MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM 183
X. AUGUSTE FREDERIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA 200
XI. LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ALBUFERA 219
XII. LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL 231
XIII. BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF CONEGLIANO 245
XIV. JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL 251
XV. CHARLES PIERRE FRANCOIS AUGEREAU, MARSHAL, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE 259
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: Napoleon's Marshals by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
- 2: Francois christophe kellermann
- 3: By the destruction of a million human beings
- 4: While on the retired list were Kellermann
- 5: Moreau and Suchet alone had claim to greatness
- 6: Whose Archduke was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
- 7: The storm fell first on Prussia
- 8: Prince of Natural cause
- 9: 1810 Marmont
- 10: Napoleon's marshalsilouis alexandre berthier
- 11: And appointed Berthier assistant quartermaster general
- 12: Illustration ALEXANDRE BERTHIER
- 13: Berthier was Bonaparte's right hand man
- 14: On the establishment of the Empire Berthier
- 15: For with Napoleon commanding and Berthier directing
- 16: And he entirely exonerated Berthier
- 17: And pointed out the dangerous isolation of Davout
- 18: Particularly was this the case with Davout
- 19: Berthier stayed on at Fontainebleau
- 20: It is commonly supposed that Berthier committed suicide
- 21: He allied himself with an adventurer called Landrieux
- 22: Was not yet indispensable to Bonaparte
- 23: The victory is mainly due to General Murat
- 24: So far Murat had always held subordinate commands
- 25: From Wuerzburg Murat travelled hurriedly through Nuremberg
- 26: He gained this honour not as Murat
- 27: While the Grand Duke dreamed of his Polish crown
- 28: Murat showed to the full his indomitable courage
- 29: Joachim was ostentatious and fiery
- 30: From the moment Murat became King
- 31: Nevertheless Murat at bottom was Napoleon's man
- 32: Henceforward Murat had no further hope
- 33: Murat was a cavalry leader pure and simple
- 34: PRINCE OF ESSLING Andre Massena
- 35: Compensated Massena for the change of role
- 36: And well Massena learned his lesson
- 37: While the Aulic Council at Vienna
- 38: But when Massena arrived at Genoa he discovered
- 39: Massena alone of all the greater Marshals held no command
- 40: Standing in the churchyard at Aspern
- 41: Newly created Prince of Essling
- 42: Meanwhile Wellington proceeded to besiege Almeida
- 43: After a vigorous correspondence with Bessieres
- 44: As he said after Wagram of his son Prosper
- 45: Ivjean baptiste jules bernadotte
- 46: Thereon Bernadotte accepted the post
- 47: Illustration JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE
- 48: But Bernadotte refused to leave France
- 49: And himself also hating Bernadotte
- 50: To a born intriguer like Bernadotte
- 51: As Bernadotte himself admitted
- 52: The Crown Prince returned from Aboe full of relief
- 53: An ex Jacobin and erstwhile friend
- 54: He ascended the Swedish throne on February 18
- 55: He had had a Sully he would have governed empires
- 56: The generous Marceau sought out Soult
- 57: Illustration JEAN DE DIEU SOULT
- 58: That Soult was primarily a strategist and no tactician
- 59: And thus he found himself on a par with Bessieres
- 60: The arrival of Sir Arthur Wellesley and the English army
- 61: Refused in future to work in conjunction with Soult
- 62: In the eyes of the Duke of Dalmatia
- 63: Thus Napier describes the battle of Albuera
- 64: Again and again Soult turned at bay
- 65: But Soult was accustomed to think for himself
- 66: Soult is able but too ambitious
- 67: As a politician the Duke of Dalmatia met with little success
- 68: DUKE OF MONTEBELLO Jean Lannes
- 69: But Lannes headed his grenadiers
- 70: He took with him Lannes in command of Menou's division
- 71: Hearing of this from Bessieres
- 72: Meanwhile Auersperg himself arrived
- 73: From Saalfeld the Marshal pushed on towards Jena
- 74: Murat in his despatch never mentioned the name of Lannes
- 75: Bennigsen made desperate efforts to retrieve his mistake
- 76: The battle of Tudela opened the road to Madrid
- 77: Hurrying off with reinforcements for Suchet
- 78: Lannes retreated slowly on Essling
- 79: Brilliant as were his actions at Montebello
- 80: Lannes was warm hearted and beloved by his family
- 81: This achievement attracted the attention of General Kleber
- 82: The First Consul summoned Ney to Paris
- 83: Friedland was a battle after Ney's own heart
- 84: The Duke of Elchingen boldly told him
- 85: Soon forgave the Duke of Elchingen
- 86: After Oudinot was beaten at Grosbeeren
- 87: And Ney set out for Paris to try and get terms from the Czar
- 88: For if he had been less slothful in the morning
- 89: But Ney would hear of no such excuse
- 90: It is clear that Ney set out in March
- 91: Davout fell entirely beneath his spell
- 92: Davout proved himself an excellent subordinate
- 93: Auerstaedt was a masterpiece of minor tactics
- 94: If Davout had been less obstinate
- 95: By creating him Duke of Auerstaedt
- 96: The result was the three days' fighting at Eckmuehl
- 97: But Davout was for continuing the fight
- 98: Accordingly at the battle of Moskowa
- 99: By the winter of 1813 Davout had made Hamburg impregnable
- 100: For Bluecher had sworn to catch him
- 101: And early in 1793 his friend Beurnonville
- 102: Illustration JACQUES ETIENNE MACDONALD
- 103: And Macdonald was gazetted in his place commander in chief
- 104: The disaster at Sacile had for the time broken his nerve
- 105: Next morning the hero of Wagram
- 106: As Macdonald wrote in his despatch
- 107: After Napoleon started for Elba
- 108: Thus all the proscribed escaped
- 109: The Marshal did not mix much in politics
- 110: Xauguste frederic louis viesse de marmont
- 111: Illustration AUGUSTE DE MARMONT
- 112: Marmont quitted Egypt with joy
- 113: After Marengo he continued his work of reorganisation
- 114: And were threatening to besiege Ragusa
- 115: And Oudinot were all inferior to Lannes
- 116: Wellington threatened Ciudad Rodrigo
- 117: That Marmont should do such a thing
- 118: The Duke of Ragusa owed his marshalate
- 119: DUKE OF ALBUFERA Louis Gabriel Suchet
- 120: Suchet served Massena in a similar capacity
- 121: Illustration LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET
- 122: Meanwhile Suchet spent every hour reorganising his army
- 123: Which command the approaches to Catalonia
- 124: Of the generals of France I give the preference to Suchet
- 125: The Gouvions were classed among the ci devant nobles
- 126: After the treaty of Campo Formio
- 127: On hearing of the victory of Albano
- 128: And Biberach showed his accustomed skill as a tactician
- 129: And it became clear that until Gerona
- 130: And even during the first battle of Polotsk
- 131: Such an one was the Duke of Conegliano
- 132: Moncey drove the flying enemy into Trent
- 133: Moncey invariably spoke his mind
- 134: In 1819 the Marshal was restored to his honours
- 135: Jourdan was fortunate in that Carnot
- 136: Jourdan introduced the law with a flourish of trumpets
- 137: The culminating blow at Vittoria was no fault of his
- 138: Xvcharles pierre francois augereau
- 139: Illustration CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU
- 140: Against which Augereau so wildly protested
- 141: For two years Augereau remained at Perpignan
- 142: And told that he was not the Augereau of Castiglione
- 143: In collaboration with Gauthier
- 144: Brune spent the year 1796 in pacifying the Midi
- 145: Brune had learned his lesson in Italy
- 146: When Bonaparte found it necessary to replace Massena
- 147: The Marshal asked Lord Exmouth
- 148: Xviiadolphe edouard casimir joseph mortier
- 149: So Mortier at once called on Walmoden to resume hostilities
- 150: Illustration ADOLPHE EDOUARD MORTIER
- 151: The wrath of the Emperor for not having aided Vandamme
- 152: But he had other qualities which Davout lacked
- 153: Bessieres accompanied Bonaparte to the East
- 154: Bessieres could effect nothing
- 155: Bessieres was placed in a very awkward position
- 156: Though he lacked the highest moral courage
- 157: Victor Perrin enlisted as a private
- 158: He forced the whole division of General Provera
- 159: After Medellin his successes ended
- 160: The Duke of Belluno still clung to his liberal ideals
- 161: No longer Comte de Grouchy but plain Citizen general Grouchy
- 162: Illustration EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY
- 163: This post admirably suited Grouchy
- 164: Unfortunately for Napoleon and Grouchy
- 165: When his columns were just approaching Wavre
- 166: Xxifrancois christophe kellermann
- 167: The soldiers welcomed Kellermann
- 168: Illustration FRANCOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN
- 169: The Abbe Jean Christophe Lefebvre
- 170: Lefebvre could not resist this appeal
- 171: While Kellermann carried the crown
- 172: Watching over his beloved Emperor
- 173: Two days after that of his old friend Kellermann
- 174: Illustration NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT
- 175: Oudinot wrote to General Ott to explain that
- 176: Fortunately Oudinot possessed great commonsense
- 177: With the inscription To the glory of General Oudinot
- 178: To summon the Duke of Reggio to court
- 179: Xxivdominique catherine de perignon
- 180: But Perignon was not frightened by names
- 181: Xxvjean mathieu philibert serurier
- 182: After enumerating his triumphs from Mondovi to Gradisca
- 183: And a month later presented him with his Marshal's baton
- 184: Merely established a Grand Duchy of Warsaw
- 185: Thus passed away Prince Joseph Poniatowski
- 186: Napoleon's Marshals by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
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- 189: BernadotteCharlotte of Wuertemburg
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- 203: Transcriber's NotesObvious punctuation errors repaired