#Édouard Mortier

[meneeddeadmenyaoi]

Expired doodles☝️😮❕️

[flowwochair]

girl mortier

[yaggy031910]

A fun little ask: the Marshalate is informed there is cake in the break room. How do each of them react?

Who ever you are, thank you for this sweet little question and I apologise for my late response. 🙈💕

I have ideas for some of them, however I am **not** aware of the maréchals eating habits so any input is welcome here. Also, I don't know all of the marshals well enough but I will try to include as many as possible. Don’t expect any historical accuracy in this.

See this post as a very big headcanon and as one ongoing story where I am going to try to mimic the marshals characters and miserably fail.

Shall we begin? :D

Les Maréchals and cake

Berthier would hear about it and quietly get excited by the idea of having a nice little piece of cake, just for him to be too busy with everything so that he isn't able to leave his desk. Either this or someone (probably one of his adcs) would be nice enough to get for Berthier his piece of cake.

Murat: You bet he is one of the first ones to look at this cake. His reaction might depend on how the cake looks. If it's a huge cake with a lot of golden details, Murat will carry it around so everyone admires this phenomenal cake because it deserves to be looked at.

Augerau and Masséna wonder why there is such a fancy a cake in the break room in the first place and who might have put it there. Augerau asks Masséna with a low voice: “How much money do you want to bet on the cake being poisoned?” Before Masséna is able to answer, Lannes enters the scene.

Lannes runs after Murat with the cake knife demanding to finally get his damn piece of this cake while Murat can't make himself to cut it because this cake is “so damn beautiful that it would be a waste to eat it.” This little game goes on for a minute or two until the other marshals grow impatient, one of them being Ney.

Ney who is known for his hotheadedness tries to save this cake from a disaster aaaaand fails. :) The three of them dispute over who is the actual culprit of this mess.

L: Murat, what have you done? M: I have done nothing. You followed me with a knife. N: You let the cake fall. M: You intervened in my business with Lannes.

The cake has fallen to the ground as Davout, Suchet and Macdonald watched. “Aaand here goes the cake”, Macdonald says; “At least the floor was able to taste it.” Suchet asks: “What do you think was its flavour?” ”Chocolate vanilla.” Davout answers. After a moment of silence, he adds. “Soult has a good recipe.” Mortier walks in, seeing how Lannes, Murat and Ney are loudly disputing while Masséna and Augerau get themselves black coffee and Davout, Suchet and Macdonald talking. Lefebvre who was walking right behind Mortier gestures him to move away from the door so he can get into the break room: “What is going on?”

Suchet: “We found a cake-“ Davout interrupts him: “We found a chocolate vanilla cake which we don’t know how it got here or if it was poisoned and now it’s inedible because his royal highness, the King of Naples, made it fall.”

Murat shouts from the back: “I didn’t let it fall.” Lannes: “Oh, you did.”

Lefebvre offers a solution like the good fatherly figure he is: “Do you still want cake? We could bake a new cake, messieurs.” Davout replies: “This sounds like a smart idea, Monsieur. Maréchal Soult knows an excellent recipe.”

Lefebvre: “Ahh, excellent. Where is our maréchal?”

Mortier: “He is in his office.”

“Then this where our journey goes next.” Lefebvre slams the door open and accidentally hits Oudinot. “Ah, Monsieur, my apologies. If I had known you were there, I wouldn’t have slammed the door as hard as I did. Are you alright? Yes? Until the next time then.”

Davout walks up to his friend to make sure how Oudinot is doing and explains to him in the meanwhile what is going on and also promises Oudinot to bring him a piece of the cake they are going to bake.

Lefebvre takes the lead and walks straight to Soult’s office while Davout and Mortier follow him. Suchet decides to stay behind while Macdonald thinks about it. Lefebvre knocks on Soult’s office door: “Monsieur, le maréchal? Are you here?” *Lefebvre knocks again with his energetic manner.* “Monsieur, le maréchal, it’s me, Lefebvre. Open the door!*

Soult opens the door with his usual unimpressed demeaner: Hm? Lefebvre: “Excusez-moi, mon maréchal, I heard you have a recipe for a delicious cake?” Soult: Cake? What cake? Davout: The chocolate vanilla one… the one you baked for your daughter Hortense’s birthday. The delicious one. Soult: Ah, yeah. That one. What of it? Mortier: We would like to bake this cake, which is why we want to ask if you mind us borrowing the recipe? Soult stares at his co-maréchals for a second, he shuts the door, opens it again with a piece of paper in his hand which he gives to Lefebvre. “Here. Is there anything else you need?” Macdonald who decided to join the baking group walks up to them and asks Soult: “Would you mind to lend us your baking equipment?” - “No. Have a nice day.” Soult shuts his door while Lefebvre shouts: “Thank you for your help, Monsieur Soult.” Macdonald asks: “What are we going to do now?” “We are going to bake the cake now, my good friend”, Davout answers. Mac: “Where? Where do you want us to bake the cake? Do we have the right ingredients?” D: In the kitchen and I don’t see why we shouldn’t have the ingredients. Macdonald looks at Davout with suspicious eyes about the matter if they are going to manage to bake this cake… The group of maréchals appear in the imperial kitchen where they start to gather the right ingredients. While the group is busy with the preparations, les maréchals Pérignon and Sérurier appear, wondering what is going on. As Lefebvre is explaining these two their baking journey up until now, Pérignon and Sérurier decide to join them: “A cake made by maréchals for maréchals.”

What could possibly go wrong with two additional heads in the kitchen? As it turns out: Everything. Pérignon and Sérurier manage to overdo the cake by confusing salt with sugar. The cake tastes salty, the icing itself is fine because it was made by Davout who religiously followed Soult’s directions. In addition to that, monsieur Lefebvre manages to mix up usual paper with baking sheets.

Bernadotte walks into the kitchen as he sees his fellow maréchals working on their baking project. He comments on the scenery: “This is just pure chaos without any discipline, a chaos which can’t possibly create something edible.” Davout replies “Well, have you ever baked anything in your miserable existence which you so call your life?”; to which Bernadotte says: “wELL, no, BUT-“ Davout continues: “Then get out of this room and give me my peace back or shut up.” Bernadotte decides to leave.

As Bernadotte is leaving, Jourdan walks right into the scene with an apple in his hand. A fire starts to break out in the oven and Jourdan, like the team player he is, turns and leaves this mess to his co-maréchals without saying one word.

Nothing is going as Davout had it planned. He sits in a corner, mourning this beautiful chocolate vanilla cake he had in mind. Macdonald sits right next to him with a spoon, telling him: “Well, at least the frosting you made yourself is delicious.” Davout, completely shattered by the fact that he wasn’t able to make his desired chocolate vanilla cake, puts his face into his palms until a surprise visits the kitchen: It’s maréchal Soult. With a cake. A chocolate vanilla cake. A chocolate vanilla cake which is neither burnt nor oversalted. A chocolate vanilla cake according to the recipe. Next to Soult is Oudinot who cuts two pieces of the cake: one for himself and one for his good old friend, Louis Nicolas Davout.

After Soult, Ney and Lannes enter the kitchen. Ney silently takes a piece of Soult’s cake, saying nothing except a simple “thank you”. So do Macdonald and Mortier. Soult tolerates Ney’s presence. Lannes on the other hand goes straight to the oversalted and burnt cake which the older maréchals made and are also eating. Kellermann and Grouchy, as late to the party as ever, also go for Lefebvre’s bad cake while Soult’s good cake is still sitting there. Soult can’t hide his look of disgust.

At some point, Bessières and Murat join or rejoin retrospectively the scene, walking up to Soult’s cake. Bessières, as well mannered as he is, takes one piece of a cake to which Murat comments: “I know how much you like this lovely type of cake, Bessières, take a second piece.” - “No”, Soult replies: “That’s not your cake. Take your piece and leave.” Murat adds: “For whom are the other pieces then? I don’t see anybody who would possibly want to eat this gorgeous baked good. We want to eat your delicious creation of a fabulous cake.” - “One piece each. You can give him your piece if you like to.” Bessières interrupts the two: “I am content with my piece.” Murat doesn’t listen to what Bessières says and continues his conversation with Soult: “My fellow maréchal, I don’t understand, why do you struggle so much with allowing somebody to have one additional piece of cake than the other ones?”

While Murat and Soult continue their dispute which leads to nowhere, one adc enters slowly the kitchen. He looks at Soult who recognises this man as one of Berthier’s adcs. He came to get a piece of cake for his marshal. Soult lets him take one of the few pieces left. All of a sudden, Kellermann seems to be chocking on his salty cake piece. All the maréchals are gathering around him and in the chaos, the last few pieces of Soult’s cake fall to the ground. Soult looks at his cake or what’s left of it. One could argue that everyone who wanted to eat it was able to eat it. One could argue that these fallen pieces can be ignored and Soult could go on with his day never ever thinking about the pieces again. However, we are talking about maréchal Soult here who sees the art in baking. The love, the accuracy of it. Today he didn’t just bring cake to his fellow maréchals. Today he witnessed how some of them have no sense of dignity for what it means to be able to eat good food. Good cake. Soult is leaving the room, not bothered about Kellermann as he wouldn’t be able to help anyway. He is going to his wife, his Louise Berg, who asks him about his day. He tells her the whole of it. How he was surprised by his fellow maréchals who wanted to bake a cake. How he knew that they are going to mess up his recipe. How he baked that cake properly and how a part of it went to waste. “Some of them ate oversalted and burnt cake. Who eats bad cake? Who likes bad cake???”

Davout on the other hand was thankful for Soult. With a smile on his face, Davout enjoyed his so desired chocolate vanilla cake, unbothered by the event surrounding him. The end. :)

[mandatorycommunistbrunchhour]

DRAGON FLUFF FOR THE PEOPLE

The people (aka me) want more dragon fluff fluff puff puff

The Mortier dragon and le soult dragon design by @cadmusfly

[sexyman-de-lempire-tournament]

[hoppityhopster23]

Late to the game but I’m adding because why not.

62. Don’t ask Larrey why he came to the treatment he’s using on the wounded. It’s all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

63. It’s not worth being neutral. Believe me, cities have been bombed horrendously for being neutral. If you do plan on it doing it anyways, just beat the British to it and blow up your own ships.

64. If involved in an affair with the Danish king, don’t bother cheating on him or try to run off. You may get exiled. But why should you? He pays well, and any kids with the guy will live richly.

65. Don’t speak badly of religion or the monarchy in Denmark. You may find yourself permanently exiled.

66. Don’t ask the Danish monarch about the lack of mailboxes in his kingdom. Just don’t.

67. What happens Danish officer parties stays in the Officers parties.

68. Please don't put the French and Russian Peacocks in a room. we don't need to watch that.

69. If Larrey needs something, he will tell you, no matter the time it is or what you are doing.

Napoleonic War Survival Tips for the French Army

1. Don’t refer to Marshal Murat’s uniform as “peacock wear” within earshot of him.

2. When Napoleon pulls out a map, don’t ask, “Are we lost?”

3. If your cannonball doesn’t quite reach the enemy lines, just blame the wind. Or Berthier.

4. Don’t accidentally toast “To King Louis” at an officers’ dinner. Ever.

5. Avoid playing cards with Marshal Lannes – unless you enjoy losing your entire month’s pay.

6. Foraging in enemy territory: Always ask what’s in the stew before you eat it.

7. If you’re sent to negotiate peace, don’t open with, “Our emperor said this would be easy.”

8. During winter campaigns, remember: snowballs do not replace musket balls.

9. Don’t try to outdo Napoleon in recalling historical battles. You’ll lose.

10. If Napoleon is inspecting the troops, resist the urge to ask, “Is it true you’re shorter than Murat?”

11. Never, under any circumstances, suggest that Wellington’s redcoats “don’t look so tough.”

12. If Marshal Ney orders a charge, just assume it’s going to last until nightfall.

13. Do not ask Marshal Davout if his nickname Iron Marshal comes from his cooking.

14. If your bayonet charge fails, remember: retreat is just “advancing in the opposite direction.”

15. If someone says “This mission is simple,” expect nothing but complications.

16. In case of defeat, remember: it’s always the Austrians’ fault. Even if they aren’t there.

17. During peace negotiations, “bombing their latrines” is not considered a formal strategy.

18. If you happen to capture a British officer, refrain from gloating by saying, “See you in Paris!”

19. When bivouacked near rivers, don’t bet on crossing without some form of disaster.

20. Finally, do not point the cannons at the Emperor’s tent, even as a joke. Especially not as a joke.

[cadmusfly]

Tag Yourself: Unabridged Shitty Drawing Marshal of the Empire Edition

Yes All 26 Of Them + Bonus 2

drawn and compiled by yours truly, initial and probably inaccurate research assisted by Chet Jean-Paul Tee, additional research from Napoleon and his Marshals by A G MacDonnell, Swords Around A Throne by John R Elting and a bunch of other books and Wikipedia pages

captions under images

mike (Michel Ney)

- full of every emotion

- always has ur back

joe (Joachim Murat)

- it's called fashion sweetheart

- will not stop flirting

lens (Jean Lannes)

- bestie who will call u out on ur shit

- does not like their photo taken

bessie (Jean-Baptiste Bessieres)

- actually nice under the ice

- was born in the wrong generation

dave (Louis-Nicolas Davout)

- overachiever

- 20 year old boomer

salt (Jean-de-Dieu Soult)

- people think ur up to no good

- doesn’t cope with sudden changes 2 plans

andrew (Andre Massena)

- actually up to no good

- sleepy until special interest is activated

bertie (Louis-Alexandre Berthier)

- carries the group project

- voted most likely to make a stalker shrine

auggie (Pierre Augereau)

- shady past full of batshit stories

- will not stop swearing in the christian minecraft server

lefrank (François Joseph Lefebvre)

- dad friend

- in my day we walked to school uphill both ways

big mac (Étienne Macdonald)

- brutally honest

- won't let you borrow their charger even if they have 100%

gill (Guillaume Brune)

- love-hate relationship with group chats

- pretends not to care, checks social media every 2 minutes

ouchie (Nicholas Oudinot)

- needs to buy bandages in bulk

- a little aggro

pony (Józef Antoni Poniatowski)

- can't swim

- tries 2 hard to fit in, everyone secretly loves them anyway

grumpy (Emmanuel de Grouchy)

- can't find them when u need them

- complains about the music, never suggests alternatives

bernie (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte)

- always talks about their other friendship group

- most successful, nobody knows how

monty (Auguste de Marmont)

- does not save u a seat

- causes drama and then lurks in the background

monch (Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey)

- last to leave the party

- dependable

morty (Édouard Mortier)

- everyone looks up 2 them literally and figuratively

- golden retriever friend

jordan (Jean-Baptiste Jourdan)

- volunteers other people for things

- has 20+ alarms but still oversleeps

kelly (François Christophe de Kellermann)

- old as balls but still got it

- waiting in the wings

gov (Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr)

- infuriatingly modest about their art skills

- thinks too much before they speak

perry (Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon)

- low-key rich, only buys things on sale

- “let’s order pizza” solution to everything

sachet (Louis-Gabriel Suchet)

- dependable friend who always brings snacks

- lowkey keeps the group together

cereal (Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier)

- unnervingly methodical and precise about fun

- will delete your social media after u die

vic (Claude Victor-Perrin)

- loves spicy food but can’t handle it

- says they're fine, not actually fine

Bonus!

june (Jean Andoche Junot)

- chaotic disaster bisexual

- will kill a man 4 their bestie

the rock (Géraud Duroc)

- keeps a tidy house

- mom friend with snacks

[armagnac-army]

OOC: The Napoleonic Askblog/Roleplay Scene Directory

Here's an Out Of Character post listing the blogs I'm aware of in the Napoleonic RPF Roleplay Scene! It's OOC because Lannes would want to make sarcastic remarks with typos.

If you want (or don't want) your blog on this list, message me and whether you want a main/other blog associated with your name or whether you want to be anonymised! Also happy to include non-Frenchmen and Frev folks.

Doubles or multiple versions of people are welcome, this is a varied afterlife. We all have our different ideas for what this afterlife is like as well.

Feel free to reblog or link to this!

And now we have a OOC discord server to chat about all of this! Feel free to join if you'd like!

The Marshalate

armagnac-army - Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello - played by cadmusfly

murillo-enthusiast - Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, and ADCs - played by cadmusfly

@le-brave-des-braves - Michel Ney, Prince of the Moskva, Duke of Elchingen, and ADCs - played by @neylo

@your-dandy-king - Joachim Murat, King of Naples - played by @phatburd

@chicksncash - André Masséna, Prince of Essling, Duke of Rivoli, and others - played by @chickenmadam also playing as his ADC, with appearances from Marshal Augereau, the Cuirassier Generals d'Hautpoul and Nansouty, and the Horse Grenadier General Lepic

@your-staff-wizard - Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram - played by @chickenmadam, as above

@perdicinae-observer - Louis-Nicolas Davout, Prince of Eckmühl, Duke of Auerstaedt - played by @mbenguin

@bow-and-talon - Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr

@france-hater - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, or Karl XIV Johan of Sweden, played by @deathzgf also includes the Duke of Wellington and Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration

@simple-giant-ed - Édouard Mortier, Duke of Treviso, played by @isa-ko

@bayard-de-la-garde - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Duke of Istria

@le-bayard-polonaise - Prince Józef Poniatowski of Poland

@oudinot-still-alive - Nicolas Charles Oudinot duc de Reggio, played by @spaceravioli2

@beausoleil-de-bellune - Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno

@commandant-des-traitres - Auguste de Marmont, Duke of Ragusa

The Grande Armée

@general-junot - Jean-Andoche Junot, Duke of Abrantes - played by @promises-of-paradise

@askgeraudduroc - Géraud Duroc, Duke of Frioul, Grand-Marshal of the Palace - played by @sillybumblebeegirl, also with cameos from Marshal Bessières shared with your-dandy-king

@trauma-and-truffles - Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, Surgeon to Napoleon and the Imperial Guard - played by @hoppityhopster23 who also plays his modern assistant

@generaldesaix - Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux, most likely would have been a marshal if he lived - played by @usergreenpixel

@messenger-of-the-battlefield - Marcellin Marbot, aide-de-camp of maréchal Lannes - played by @a-system-of-nerds (Inactive)

@le-dieu-mars - Jean-Baptiste Kleber, General - played by @chickenmadam

@puddinglesablonniere - Charles-Étienne César Gudin de La Sablonnière, Gemeral of Davout's Corps

@francoislejeunes - Baron Louis-François Lejeune, ADC to Berthier, Artist and Engineer

@troboi1806 - Jacques de Trobriand, ADC to Marshal Davout

@cynics-and-cynology, Captain Elzéar Blaze

@thehussargeneral - General Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle, played by upbeatmeeting

@pondicherry-pie - Charles-Rene Magon de Medine, Rear Admiral of the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar, played by chickenmadam

chanceux-et-perdu - Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve, Vice Admiral of the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar, played by cadmusfly

The Bonaparte Family

@carolinemurat - Caroline Murat née Buonaparte, Queen of Naples - played by @usergreenpixel

@alexanderfanboy - Napoleon Bonaparte, The Big Cheese

@frencheaglet - Napoleon II, also known as Franz, Duke of Reichstadt, played by @usergreenpixel

@rosie-of-beauharnais - Rose Beauharnais, also known as Josephine Bonaparte, once Empress of the French

@le-fils - Eugène Beauharnais, Prince of the Empire, Bonaparte's stepson, played by @josefavomjaaga

@jbonapartes - Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, Prince of Montfort

@napoleon-bonapartee - Napoleon Bonaparte, The Head Honcho

Other Notable Personages

@askjackiedavid - Jacques Louis David, neoclassical painter - played by @sillybumblebeegirl

@lazarecarnot - Lazare Carnot, mathematician, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety

@serpentofotranto - Joseph Fouché, Duc d'Otrante, Comte Fouché, statesman and Minister of Police

@monsieurdetalleyrand - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince of Talleyrand, statesman and diplomat

Not French

Russians

@the-blessed-emperor - Tsar Alexander I (Inactive)

@loyal-without-flattery - General Aleksey Andreevich Arakcheev, who runs His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (Inactive)

@misha-wants-to-go-home - Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich, played by @spaceravioli2

@catherinesucks - Tsar Paul I of Russia, father of Alexander I

@ask-tsaralexander - Tsar Alexander I, played by @goddammitjosef

British

@the1ronduke - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, played by @spaceravioli2

@banasstre - Banastre Tarleton, Major-General

@pakenham-kitty - Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington

@britannias-god-of-war - Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte

@lord-byrons-ghost - some Napoleon fan Lord George Gordon Byron, played by @vesseloftherevolution

Spanish

@headlessgenius - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Painter and proud Spaniard

Prussians

@der-schnapsvater - Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher

Original Characters and Friends

@the-adventures-of-lydia-brown - Lydia Brown, a jack of all trades and problem solver finding herself in this strange realm with all these dead Frenchmen

Hopster, trauma-and-truffles's modern time travelling assistant

Madam DuQuay, ADC who takes no nonsense, helping out chicksncash, your-staff-wizard and le-dieu-mars

[murillo-enthusiast]

Would you go on a date with Mortier ?

I would gladly spend time with my friend and colleague Édouard Mortier, if that is what you are asking.

[meneeddeadmenyaoi]

gift for @isa-ko 🫶❣️

It's our golden retriever boy❕️

[flowwochair]

mortier and mortisoult doodles from yesterday

[ transcript:

Soult: "have you ever had a single bad thought in your life"

Mortier: "no" ]

(btw I do see a couple of asks in my inbox I swear I will get to them, I'm currently getting through the end of finals pls bare with me 😭)

[simple-giant-ed]

Salut and Bonjour to all my old and new comrades!

This is the Marshal Édouard Mortier, Duke of Treviso, 15th Prime Minister of France …but it seems best to forego the celebrations considering my current, ah, state. That is, I am dead! Yet talking? Haha! So then, call me Ed or Morty or that big tall guy, I don’t mind!

With that, you must know I’m a simple and honest man, so I have but a simple and honest response to this change: Joining my fellow dead-ish friends in what is the Internet~! I have not a clue to what this is, so answers may be slow and patience much appreciated. Nevertheless, I’ll happily take in any friendly letters or queries to the best of my ability. I will be good natured, I promise! It is quite lonely here and I have plentiful of dragées to dispense.

Also, goodness! There’s a lot of us here. Hello!

OOC NOTE: 2nd hello! This is a very inaccurate roleplay blog of Napoleonic France’s Marshal Mortier by @isa-ko .

I tend to be a very busy student, so response time can vary😣�� Anyways, Mortier appreciation time!

[yaggy031910]

@flowwochair, @gabrielferaud, @a-system-of-nerds, @captainknell, @patheticnapoleonicfanggirl0521 and I, we came to the conclusion:

The most famous person: Napoléon

The person who absolutely everybody hates: Marmont

The person who everyone decided is a perfect angel: Duroc (and Mortier c:)

The local girlboss: Queen Luise of Prussia

The hoe(s): Metternich (and the Murats and the Junots, oh and Masséna)

The petty bitch: Madame Potocka

The person who is mostly just famous for their death: Desaix, Lannes (we all love him and know that he is so much more than his death but media likes to mention him mostly surrounding his death) OR Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien

The person who had nothing to do with the events but made up some really awful propaganda: Laure Junot (We all know about her memoirs...)

With every single historical era or event you have:

the most famous person

the person who absolutely everyone hates

the person who everyone has decided was a perfect angel

the local girlboss

the hoe(s)

the petty bitch

the person who is mostly just famous for their death

the person who had nothing to do with the events but made up some really awful propaganda

[josefavomjaaga]

Hi!!!!! flower here!!!!! As of late I've been getting increasingly invested in the human golden retriever that was Édouard Mortier and especially in his relationship with Soult. I know the way I portray relationships between marshals through my drawings and designs isn't always the most historically accurate (just look at my BessiMu obsession :sob:), but I am genuinely curious to know what their relationship was like? Do you happen to know anything about it? They seemed to be quite a mismatched pair, Mortier seems to me like quite a happy person who had an easy time befriending others and therefore had a lot of friends who loved and cared for him, while Soult is... Soult, he did have friends who loved and cared for him but he is as friendly as a cold slab of ice :sob: it makes me wonder how they became friends and how their friendship held itself together for seemingly so long. Thank you for any info you can provide on this, love your marshal posts!!! c:

Hi there, petal! Great to hear from you! 💖

And thank you for the question! Though I fear lately I'm getting mostly Asks beyond my competence 😥. I know very little about Mortier, frankly, and have yet to read a biography of his.

But, judging from the little I do know, your golden retriever comparison seems pretty accurate 😁. So far, I have yet to find somebody who did not like Mortier. And yes, even Soult - clearly not somebody to befriend easily - seems to have genuinely cared for him.

From Soult's "Mémoires - Espagne et Portugal", about Mortier leaving Spain in April 1813 (in order to join Napoleon on the Russian campaign - talk about "out of the frying pan and into the fire"):

I was very sorry to see Marshal Mortier go. I made every effort to hold him back. I was with him on the terms of a friendship that dated back a long way. I counted entirely on him. The slight clouds that had accidentally risen between us had long since cleared.

As to the long-standing friendship, it must date back at least as far as Soult's campaign in Switzerland, as I've come across a letter from that time. And as to the "slight clouds" 😁: Mortier was apparently just as eager as any other marshal to obey to Soult's more-or-less superior command. The editors quote excerpts from a long letter Soult wrote to Mortier in 1810, replying to complaints the latter had made, and explaining and justifying pretty much every decision and every order he had dared to give to Mortier. I'm not much acquainted with military matters but I dare assume that this is not the usual way a chain of command works in thy army 😁. It may be evidence that Mortier's opinion did indeed matter a lot to Soult.

Of course, between the rather tense letter of 1810 (at a time when the "roi Nicolas" affair was in everybody's mind) and Soult's sorrowful farewell to Mortier in 1813, a lot had happened. Among other things, the siege of Badajoz, where the two of them had worked very well together and where, according to the memoirs of Auguste Petiet, ...

[...] a cannonball fell between the two marshals, who had jointly decided on the final arrangements. This projectile covered them with earth in full view of our troops, who redoubled their ardour […]

[...] most likely after having had a good laugh at their superior commanders being turned into pillars of mud. In any case, I assume things like almost being hit by the same cannonball would strengthen their connection.

As to the end of the empire, Mortier was a bit wiser than Soult during the Hundred Days; he rallied to Napoleon but took a convenient sick leave for the actual fighting and thus was largely unmolested during the Second Restauration. During the July Monarchy he briefly took over the ministry of War and the presidency of the Council from Soult, but that was clearly not his strong point, and he was probably very relieved to return it.

I also remember that Mortier was mentioned in Davout's correspondence at the beginning of the Empire, when everybody suddenly found himself a marshal and had court duties: Davout asked Soult about the colours the livrées of the servants were supposed to have, and Soult, who apparently did not know either, then asked Bessières and Mortier.

This is probably not really what you wanted to hear but it's the best I can do as of now. I'm still learning, and I wish I would do so faster. As to Soult being

as friendly as a cold slab of ice

I'm not sure if I would fully agree. He was taciturn, rather direct and was in general seen as rude - but he also lived in a society with very refined manners and an elaborate system of courtesies that he may never really have felt comfortable with. While he clearly was not good at showing emotions, I'm not sure he really was "cold". At least when British historian Napier first met him, his first impression was rather that of somebody who hid behind his grim face "an excellent heart".

On a sidenote: As usual, while looking for quotes and more information in order to answer you a little better, I found lots of other stuff. (Did you guys know that Oudinot's oldest son, who accompanied Masséna during the third campaign into Portugal, has left memoirs? Or that Wellingtom claimed to have met Masséna through Soult?) Thank you for that, too! 💖

[hzaidan]

The Battle of Fère-Champenoise (25 March 1814) was fought between two Imperial French corps led by Marshals Auguste de Marmont and Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise and a larger Coalition force composed of cavalry from the Austrian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia, Kingdom of Württemberg, and Russian Empire…

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Zaidan,Paintings,Arthistory,Biography,War,History,fineart,Artists,footnotes,Bogdan Pavlovich Willewalde,

01 Work, The Art of War, Bogdan Willewalde's the battle of Fère-Champenoise, with footnotes

[elisabeth515]

If Napoleonic Figures were cats - part 2

MacDonald (Scottish bois must be Scottish folds)

Poniatowski

Mortier (Mortier is the tallest marshal of the Empire and therefore he shall be a Maine coon)

Moncey

Junot

Caulaincourt (CaulainKitty is a precious boi therefore he deserves 2 pics)

Larrey

Miloradovich

Wittgenstein