#a life of Marshal Berthier

[captainknell]

*BOOK REPORT*

By Command of the Emperor, by SJ Watson

(my copy is plain and blue, but I'm guessing it once had a book jacket like the one on the right)

I initially did not know very much about Marshal Berthier but through @gabrielferaud I began to learn of the abuse he endured from Napoleon and I remembered I had this book.

I was surprised to learn that Berthier was 16 years older than our Emperor, and already had an accomplished life before Napoleon came into the picture.

In 1779,

Alexandre was now twenty-six years old. He had served as a topographical engineer, as a lieutenant in the infantry, and as a cavalry captain; and he was now on the personal staff of an army commander.

By the next year, he was serving overseas under General Rochambeau in the American Revolution alongside Washington and La Fayette! After three years in America, he returned to France.

And so Berthier - a cadet at the age of twelve, a general at thirty-nine and a private at forty - quietly resigned himself to the end of his military career, the more so because he had never held any personal ambitions other than to do his best.

Berthier would have been better off if he had retired at forty and had never met Napoleon Bonaparte. He would have disappeared into obscurity, but fate would have different plans. Alternately, Napoleon was very lucky to have found Berthier. I'm going to go out on a limb and say without Berthier, Napoleon wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful as he was. Yes, he was a great general, a great leader, a genius, but he needed someone who could understand his intentions and make sure his plans were executed with precision. That man was Alexandre Berthier.

For 18 years, Berthier served Napoleon. He was the chief of staff and the first to be made a Marshal of France under Napoleon. He endured Napoleon's temper and unjust scorn. Napoleon called him, "Uninteresting" and "no good" and "in the way". Napoleon hardly ever let Berthier take credit for his success but was quick to blame his own faults on Berthier. But Berthier was loyal through and through. When warned of Napoleon's temper early on, he said, "But remember that one day it will be a fine thing to be second to that man."

It was a very good book with only two things I thought were odd. 1) Napoleon forced Berthier to marry and it was later mentioned that he had two young sons. Nothing was mentioned about his wife being pregnant or the birth of his sons, or even their names. 2) Berthier died from a fall out of a window. The book implied that he was dizzy and fell out or that Caulaincourt (his friend!) had him murdered. I think he either fell or jumped on his own. I don't think anyone - especially Caulaincourt - had anything to do with it.

But all in all, it was a very good and informative book. I learned a lot about Marshal Berthier and saw another side of Napoleon that I am not used to seeing. Like with most books that aren't a general biography of Napoleon, I would definitely suggest having some background knowledge as things that are going on are not always explained fully.

[handfuloftime]

I once read that Napoleon did not allow anyone to know him intimately. Even for those who were around him all the time.

Do you think this applied to Duroc? Why or why not?

That's an interesting question--I suppose it depends on how you want to define 'intimately'!

Certainly the nature of Duroc's job meant that he spent a great deal of time with Napoleon, and was heavily involved in managing his day-to-day life. I've always thought that Philip Mansel's description (in The Court of France 1789-1830 (1988)) is a good succinct summary: in his view, Duroc "organized Napoleon's life, and was one of the most important people in it". Of course there were a huge number of people involved in keeping the imperial household--and the Empire itself--running, many of whom, as you say, were around him all the time. However, Duroc's involvement in Napoleon's life went well beyond his official roles, most notable with his oft-remarked ability to influence Napoleon's opinions and decisions (Louis-François-Joseph de Bausset, who as one of the Prefects of the Palace worked closely with both Duroc and Napoleon, described Duroc as Napoleon's conscience). And he was tasked with activities that were definitely not part of his job description and touched on a more private side of Napoleon's life: carrying notes to Marie Walewska, for example, or retrieving letters Napoleon wrote to another mistress. Bausset claimed that "Napoleon had no secrets from [Duroc], while he had them from everyone else, even the prince of Neufchâtel [Berthier]".

Philippe-Paul de Ségur, who worked for Duroc in the Maison impériale, described him in his memoirs (Histoire et mémoires, 1873) as:

"Napoleon's most intimate confidant, his most devoted servant, his firmest friend; they were so closely associated by nature, by habit, by everything, that we no longer imagined that they could live apart: it appeared to us that fate couldn't tear one away without mutilating the other!"

And while Ségur's description of how inseparable they were is particularly vivid--and serving a literary purpose, as it leads right into his account of Duroc's death--he's far from the only person to remark on their closeness. So by dint of both the nature of the Grand Marshal's job and the trust that Napoleon had in him specifically, he did have an unusually intimate position in Napoleon's life.

This also gets into the question of where Napoleon Bonaparte, the person, stops, and The Emperor Napoleon begins. Emmanuel de Las Cases claimed that "it was to the private man above all that [Duroc] was devoted, far more than the monarch". (And speaking of Las Cases, he also wrote that "the Emperor told me that Duroc alone had his intimacy and possessed his entire confidence"--though as with everything Napoleon said on Saint Helena, when his myth-making was in full swing, that should be taken with a grain of salt.) Writing to Marie Louise after Duroc's death, Napoleon remarked that "he had been my friend for twenty years"--their relationship had begun well before Napoleon seized power. So there's that level of intimacy as well: recognizing and loving the man behind the complicated performance and power of the Emperor.

[phatburd]

A Little Magic Makes the Empire Go ‘Round

(3272 words) by whisper_that_dares Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 19th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF, Napoleonic Era RPF, French History RPF

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Jean Lannes, Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Joachim Murat, Nicolas Oudinot, Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, André Masséna, Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Michel Ney, Louis-Nicolas Davout, Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte, Jean-Andoche Junot, Auguste-Frédéric-Louis Viesse de Marmont Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Letters, Crack, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Historical Figures, Canon-Typical Profanity, Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon’s Marshals, Podfic Welcome

Summary:

Welcome to the a day in the life of Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Chief-of-Staff of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and the most overworked wizard in France. Possibly of all time.

Behold, a peek into Berthier’s daily correspondence. Absurd requests from those drama kings — Napoleon’s marshals? Impossibly insane demands from a boss who doesn’t understand work-life balance? Nothing that a little magic can’t solve.

A “What If”: Louis-Alexandre Berthier is a wizard but still needs to deal with bullshit.

[largecucumber]

19 and 20

19. Adam Zamoyski’s “Chopin: Prince of the Romantics” And I have the signed copy! 😚 I absolutely adore Chopin because I play the piano. The book is so well written, sometimes I forget that I’m reading about an actual real person. But some descriptions, the very gritty and depressing parts of his life, are so raw and emotionalllll gurlll I cried! 😭���

20. Uhmmmmmmm. I have sooo many. Prepare! 🤭💕

The one and only, Johann Sebastian Bach! He’s incredibly talented like omggggg how does he even come up with all these amazing pieces of music?!? 😨😳 His genius is unmatched. There will never be another composer like Bach! I have dozens of portraits and stickers of him and even a t-shirt. Omggggg it’s so embarrassing 🙈

Glenn Gould, the quirky autistic Canadian Bach wizard! He’s so handsome even well into his older years. And he’s soooo eccentric, like you should read about some of his quirks, it’s really out there💀👀 Also, did I mention how talented he is?! He gets criticised a lot for his weird playing style and humming (sometimes singing) during his performances. I love it tho 😘 it really adds something to the records

Louis👏Nicolas👏Davout👏 How can you not like this absolute beast of a man?! Sure, he was a bit rough with his soldiers, but I like a leader who doesn’t fuck around! We need more men like him! I feel for him though. He really was the least liked out of all Napoleon’s marshals, I relate to that because my fam doesn’t like me even though I’m a girl boss 👹 Poor old Davout was just doing his best! Here’s a quote that he wrote to Berthier —

“I cannot help admitting to myself that often my exactingness and my severity alienate good officers from me even before they barely have time to assess my true intentions."

Ommmgggg 😭😢

Ahemmm…. As a student I kinda have a love-hate relationship with this guy. I’ve suffered so many sleepless nights because of him 👩‍💻📚📚📚 But without this guy we’d probably still have our children working 16 hours for absolutely nothing (we still do actually, it’s heartbreaking). His works literally had soooo much impact on history, it’s unbelievable.

And of course, how can we forget our hero!?! I wanna be like him soooo much it aches 😫 My family genuinely don’t understand my obsession with this man, like how could they not?!! His image is literally on the wiki page for the “Great Man Theory” — that individuals with certain traits are able to affect the course of history rather than it being due to some larger force or something I dunno it’s an IR/history thing I’m studying 😢

[trauma-and-truffles]

After the Cake Incident with Marshal Lannes, My assistant, Mlle. Hopster has been telling me to make a blog myself. I finally gave into her pestering.

I'll probably make a better introduction at a later date, as by then I'll have a better gist of Tumblr.

I am Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, Surgeon to Emperor Napoleons Imperial Guard. Feel free to ask whatever you like.

-Larrey

( This blog is run by @hoppityhopster23) (Disclaimers: This blog does not provide professional medical Advice, nor am i a professional historian. I'm just well read about the history of medicine and enjoy reading about Larrey) ------------------

Tags: Responses from the the Baron - answers to any asks.

Conversations with the assistant - Conversations with my time traveler assistant. shes the one who convinced me to create this. shes also young, sometimes foolish, and likes to give people bad ideas.

Portraits of the Doctor - Images of me.

Comments from the Assistant - self explanatory

-------------------

Fellow Soldiers and marshals, etc (personal notes below):

Marshals Other Military Staff Royals Other

@armagnac-army - My Dear Friend Lannes, Marshal of France, Prince of Siewierz, and Duke of Montebello.

@murillo-enthusiast - Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Marshal of France and Duke of Dalmatia. (I'm pretty sure he just tolerates me.)

@le-brave-des-braves - Michel Ney, Marshal of France, Prince de la Moskowa, and Duke of Elchingen. (He's very helpful, And I am grateful.)

@your-dandy-king - Joachim Murat, Marshal of France and King of Naples.

@chicksncash - Andre Massena; Marshal of France,  Duke of Rivoli, and Prince of Essling.

@your-staff-wizard - Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Marshal of France, Prince of Neuchatel, Valangin and Wagram, and technically my boss.

@perdicinae-observer - Louis Nicolas Davout, Prince of Eckmühl, Duke of Auerstadt.

@bow-and-talon - Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, and a man I respect for giving the us Medical staff needed in life.

@general-junot -  Duke of Abrantes, and General of the French army.

@askgeraudduroc - Also My good friend, Grand Marshal of the palace, Duke of Frioul, and head of the Emperors household.

@generaldesaix - One of my closest Friends. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time together in life. nut now we do.

@messenger-of-the-battlefield - Marcellin Marbot, an aide to an assortment of Marshals, and a man I met a few times in life.

@askjackiedavid - Jacques Louis David, neoclassical painter.

@carolinemurat - Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, and sister of the Emperor.

@alexanderfanboy - Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.

@rosie-of-beauharnais - Josephine, the Empress of France.

@the-blessed-emperor - Alexander I, Tsar of Russia.

[josefavomjaaga]

A Prussian at Napoleon's court

Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Freiherr von Knobelsdorff was a Prussian officer and high-ranking diplomat who had been for some time ambassador in Constantinople. In 1804, he was sent as King Friedrich Wilhelm III’s special envoy from Berlin to Paris for Napoleon’s coronation ceremonies. This is a report he wrote back home, translated from Publicationen aus den k. Preussischen Staatsarchiven, Volume 29. The original is, of course, in French.

Sojourn in Fontainebleau. Knobelsdorff's report. Paris 28 November 1804 I believe it is my duty to report to Your Majesty some details of my stay at Fontainebleau, as the extraordinarily distinguished manner in which I was treated there can only be seen as a public mark that the Emperor of the French wished to bestow on a man who has the honour of being entrusted with a special commission from Your Majesty. On the morning of the 26th I received a letter from Marshal Berthier inviting me, in the name of the Emperor, to go to Fontainebleau the next day to go hunting with the sovereign; I am the only foreigner and member of the diplomatic corps to have received such an invitation.

All the others donated candles in the castle chapel in relief because they did not have to expose themselves to this mortal danger. - Okay, so Knobelsdorff did not write that. But I still bet it’s true.

I arrived at Fontainebleau at eight in the morning on the 27th and was asked to go to the château for breakfast at 9.30. My wife was invited to have breakfast with the Empress. The Grand Marshal showed me the carriage by which I would be taken to the place in the forest where the hunt was to begin, and the Master of the Horse handed me a paper containing the names of five of the Emperor's horses which would be at my disposal.

Caulaincourt also likely warned him that if on Knobelsdorff’s return the slightest harm had come to any of these five horses, Knobelsdorff would regret it for the rest of his life.

My carriage was immediately in front of the Emperor's, and Marshals Soult, Ney and General Duroc were travelling with me.

Ney and Soult together in one carriage, huh?

Knobelsdorff to Duroc: Oh, Your Excellency will also join us in the carriage?

Duroc (patting down both Soult and Ney, confiscating all sharp objects): Yepp. Somebody has to babysit these other two excellencies, you know.

They forced me to take a seat at the back, [...]

Duroc: Sit here. Don’t move. If any of these two as much as twitches, warn me!

[…] while my wife was in the Empress's carriage, who was kind enough to give her a seat between herself and Princess Joseph. On our return from the hunt, Mme de La Rochefoucauld invited us to dine with the Empress; as we sat down for dinner, the Emperor asked me to sit next to the Empress, opposite him. After dinner, two games of whist were arranged; the Emperor, who does not usually play cards, was kind enough to play with my wife, and I had the honour of playing with the Empress.

I hope Josephine was also kind enough to loose to the husband what Napoleon won through cheating from the wife.

After the game, which hardly lasted more than half an hour, the Emperor spoke in a very interesting way about his campaigns in Egypt and spoke more particularly with me about the present situation of the Ottoman Empire; at about ten o'clock in the evening the Emperor and the Empress retired, and I left the same night for Paris...

So, somewhat more seriously: This report was not put in chiffres, so it was part of the official correspondence that could easily be intercepted by the French and read in Lavalette’s Cabinet noir. That alone guaranteed that Knobelsdorff would have nothing but praise for how he was treated by this newly minted emperor and his makeshift court. But it is still interesting how friendly relations between France and Prussia had been ever since Prussia dropped out the coalition against revolutionary France, and how10 years later the Prussians would claim to be France’s arch-nemesis.

But mostly I like to see Soult and Ney in that carriage together, apparently stille quite at ease with each other and maybe even on friendly terms by 1804.

[19th-century-calamity-crew]

Roleplay blog: @le-brave-des-braves

Meta information

Owner: @neylo

First post: 28th February 2024 (https://www.tumblr.com/le-brave-des-braves/743594245757222912/bienvenue-you-have-reached-my-communication)

Current pinned post: https://www.tumblr.com/le-brave-des-braves/747279352345083904/bienvenue-you-have-reached-my-communication

Characters

Main character: Michel Ney

Regular appearances: his aides-de-camp Octave Levavasseur, Pierre-Agathe Heymes (both pictured here) and Antoine-Henri Jomini

Irregular appearances: His family, in the Ney's painted paradise thread

Lore

Supernatural characteristics:

This version of Michel Ney has been granted wings by an anonymous message and still retains them. He also carries marks of his execution in the form of dark spots in place of the original gunshot wounds that occasionally show under stressful conditions. This kind of state can also result in a temporary delay of another bodily death.

As of Ney's Painted Paradise, it has been revealed that this version of Ney is able to manipulate the fabric of the afterworld. He does so on instinct, however, and is unable to consciously control the results.

With the manifestation of these powers, his appearance underwent several major changes.

His blood appears to have a golden sunset colour now, which is also present in golden streaks in his otherwise light blue irises.

When changing his surroundings, his eyes go to full gold and he re-gains his wings, which he no longer has by default. The lighting also takes on a sunset hue in the area.

The colour of his wings has been established as coppery red.

Realm:

An ever-shifting tangle of sceneries. A somewhat stable Chateau Bessonies (currently vacant/undergoing reconstruction)

In Ney's Painted Paradise, his realm starts out as a simulacrum of content family life based on several peaceful memories he has. It also contains places based on his regrets though and is for a long time actively hostile towards intruders, mostly forcing a long-forgotten corporeal form onto them, one so incompatible with the surrounding substances that they are toxic to it.

Stories (not exhaustive, regular size text for longer threads:)

-Assisted marshal Lannes who consumed a dubious brownie

-Received his birthday mail two months late and got covered in glitter

-Levavasseur confessed his feelings for his Marshal with a serenade, was rejected

-The Marshal was granted wings, immediately invented aerial fencing. Meanwhile, Jomini returned.

-Discovered Rammstein. This will play a role later.

-Jomini rediscovers the joy of mutual disdain with Berthier, would not apologise properly over his own dead body

-Ney's aides-de-camp are granted wings. Some of them are more happy with them than others.

-Everyone has beef with Napoleon, nobody wants to risk fighting and potentially hurting Lannes, so the Emperor gets out of it this time.

-Soult was turned into a dragon. Berthier's house is flooded by plants. Was it a good idea to start a fire? No.

-Fairy dust can heal burned wings. It also temporarily diminishes the ability to filter your words.

-the twice-heartbroken Levavasseur, after receiving lots of mostly dubious advice, decides to care as he always did. The Marshal does hold him dear.

-Ney is transformed into his 23 year old self

-The wings are healing too slowly, Ney is disheartened

-And gets pep talked by Soult of all people

-Meanwhile, Jomini pockets a potion and makes a bad decision

-Ney and his aides-de-camp move to Soult's domain temporarily. Their host is turned into a cat. Things get very awkward

-The Marshals have a meeting over being turned into female versions of themselves. The workplace violence that follows results in Ney's disappearance.

-To a seemingly idyllic place where all is preserved as it was in days of happiness. But not all is as it seems... - finished

18th of June - that date carries a lot of bad memories. What happens when they come to life?

Upon learning he can accidentally project his trauma into a wide area of the afterlife, Ney decides to find an area that doesn't have people in it. He is stopped in his tracks by a very familiar-looking eight-year-old... (Ongoing)

Drop off a wedding gift and disappear - the plan was simple. But no plan has ever survived first contact with a child... Or Murat, for that matter. (Ongoing)

So Ney is able to shift the fabric of reality. But what exactly do these powers entail? Ney, Soult and their staff officers run some experiments to find out. (Ongoing)

[le-brave-des-braves]

why does jomini hate berthier so much???

Cher anonyme,

since the Marshal is busy yelling at that entitled treacherous idiot, allow me to give you a brief explanation.

The marshal is a good man, a kind-hearted person and always supports those he deems worthy and talented. And that’s why, once in Switzerland, he found this office rat whom Murat rejected before. He has read his essays and got so excited that he even decided to finance his book and took him as voluntary AdC.

I haven’t had so many occasions to get to know him but every time we spoke, he sounded like he thinks he’s superior to anyone else. The way he always said “As I have predicted” always boiled my blood and sometimes even the Marshal seemed to desire nothing more than whacking him.

And he just kept gaining more and more responsibilities, eventually becoming a chief of staff to Ney. He insisted that Jomini is a capable man and I admit he was not bad, not at all. But he was a Swiss, and as you know, he didn’t share the same loyalty to La Patrie as we all did.

When I became an AdC, the animosity between Jomini and Berthier already started. The Emperor was truly impressed with Jomini’s strategic skills and that possibly only fed the jealousy.

Then, according to Jomini, The prince of Moscow recommended him for a promotion, and Berthier just deleted his name. That is not pleasant, but myself I have been waiting for a promotion for years despite multiple requests from my Marshal.

And I did NOT defect to Russians.

What I would like to tell to Jomini: Life is not fair, Jomini, deal with it. I don’t hold any love for Berthier myself, but joking about his death is disgusting. All the admirable skills and you just provided them to the enemy.

You should not have returned.

Cpt Octave Levavasseur

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

i had a crazy idea. you know how people make 'sonas for various fandsoms? like a lotr or star wars character? what if you had to make a napoleonic 'sona like a marshalsona or something

Oh man, I guess I don't operate in that corner of the fandoms I'm in so I've never come across that. I associate 'sonas with fursona and other sex-play related things, not fandom. I also personally don't do self-inserts, they're just not to my taste or my style.

If I had to create a self-insert (I think that's what this would qualify as?) for the Napoleonic world I'd 100% just be a long suffering, over-worked civil servant (...which is what I am in real life) OR I'd be a scheming diplomat. So, a Berthier or a Cambeceres or a Talleyrand. Something in that ballpark.

Hmm, probably scheming diplomat or spy. Since that sounds fun.

I'm not terribly into military things (perhaps a surprise?) so being a marshal or a soldier holds no appeal.

Since my character would operate rather high up in the Napoleonic governance structure, they'd have to be damn good at their job because Napoleon didn't suffer fools. I like to think they'd have a bit of Larrey or Lannes' guts in terms of telling Napoleon facts as they are and confronting him when he is making massive, fucking mistakes. Which as the empire continued on, he made more of and was less receptive to critique.

For sure my character would be buddies with Talleyrand and would have an ongoing letter-friendship(?) with Metternich. They'd hang out with Fouche just to get the gossip on everyone but since we all know Fouche is a snake, they wouldn't trust him an inch.

The more I think about it, the more I'm here for them being a spy or agent of some kind who isup to no good, but on behalf of the Empire. An Antonio Cincinello sort of figure (he was a ruthless diplomat/envoy/spy who worked on behalf of king Ferrante of Naples [yes, the one with the museum of mummies of his enemies]). Hopefully my character won't be hacked to death by an angry mob, unlike Cincinello.

So, a mash-up of Thomas Cromwell, Talleyrand, and Cincinello.

My character and Talleyrand would have wine-and-whine sessions where we bitch about people, mostly the Bonapartes and all the crap we put up with from them and on their behalf.

My character does know some of Talleyrand's less-than-loyal-to-Napoleon's schemes but doesn't tell because they're not some godless narc.

Talleyrand: you can't tell a soul.

My character: I'm offended that you think I'm a snitch, honestly.

Appearance I suppose would be unassuming. Nothing to write home about. Um, yeah, I don't know what I'd go for in terms of appearance. Since this is aself-insert do they have to look like me? Just make me a dude, then. Which means I'd look like my father lol. If I get to choose my appearance uhh brown or black hair? Long features, big eyes, ummmm I don' t know man. Average. lol.

I'm sorry if this isn't the right way to answer this! I've never done this before and haven't really seen this sort of thing, again, outside of sexual fantasy situations! Or fursonas, which runs the gamot from pedestrian to very sexual.

Thank you for the ask! <3 <3

[cadmusfly]

Propaganda for Trobriand, the loyal aide-de-camp of Marshal Davout! @napoleonic-sexyman-tournament

From the memoirs of Davout's daughter the Marquise de Blocqueville, here's a very roughly edited and badly machine translated anecdote (page 433)

The context is that after the battle of Auerstadt, Davout had sent Trobriand to ask Marshal Bernadotte for aid as his corps was getting hammered by most of the Austrian army - but Bernadotte didn't budge. Thus, later, Bernadotte complained about "Davout's insolent envoy", and Trobriand was summoned to give his side of the story to Napoleon:

When Trobriand made his entrance, the half-dressed Napoleon pointed at a map and finished dressing as Trobriand defended Marshal Davout. Trobriand was still speaking as the door was thrown open, giving way to Davout who entered like a whirlwind. Finding his aide-de-camp having come to the Emperor without orders, even before addressing Napoleon, the marshal, with frowning eyebrows, turning towards Trobriand, said to him in an irritated voice: “What are you doing here, sir?… My aides-de-camp belong to me!… Come down and wait for me." Harshly scolded by his superior officer, Trobriand left the room but, for the very first time in his life, put his ear to the door and heard his marshal say, "If your miserable Ponte-Corvo had wanted to unblock the head of a column, I would still have a thousand more devils in the service of France!…" The Emperor fell silent. The aide-de-camp replaced his ear with his eye and saw through the keyhole Napoleon lowering his head - that was history. Reassured and remembering that Berthier had promised him lunch, Trobriand ran like crazy, rubbing his hands and repeating, "It's working! It's working!" Unfortunately, his large saber, trailing randomly on the stairs, came to get caught in the legs of another young officer who fell down the stairs; from this impatience came mutual reproaches, a challenge to a duel and then a lasting friendship between valiant soldiers.

This is very badly machine translated and roughly edited and I do not French at all so I welcome any corrections! I just really wanted to share this loyal aide-de-camp having a meeting with naked Napoleon, eavesdropping on his boss and then crashing into another guy as he's high on vindication and then making lifelong friends with the guy he tripped.

Jacques de Trobriand

“The mustache, the uniform, and looking like Aaron Taylor Johnson in Anna Karenina”

Ekaterina Pavlovna Bagration

“Called «Le bel ange nu», the Naked Angel for her love towards diaphanous muslin gowns and the White Cat for her grace and capriciousness. Her lovers were numerous and grandiose, as were her connections - so much so that during the Congress of Vienna she was said to be a secret agent of the tsar. Gold of hair, with alabaster skin, she magnetised with her blue, sinful eyes. (The secret of her enchanting gaze was actually short-sightedness, but that only shows how you can make advantages out of flaws.)”

[elisabeth515]

Trifecta sailor moon

Tag yourself I am the menacing emojis emitted by Ney

[joachimnapoleon]

Hi there! I've been very interested with Napoleon & his marshals as of late, and when I saw your blog I thought it was a good place to ask about it :) Do you have any Napoleon biographies with reliable source? Oh, and also any good biographies on the marshals? Many thanks! 💛

Hello! I'll try to help as much as I can.

The only Napoleon biographies I've read (so far) are:

-Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts -Napoleon: A Life, by Adam Zamoyski -Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimiate Biography, by Vincent Cronin -Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny//Spirit of the Age 1805-1810//Decline and Fall of an Empire: 1811-1821; a three-volume biography by Michael Broers

So there are still quite a few prominent ones I need to read--and I haven't even attempted to read any of the French ones. But out of the ones I've read, I'd most recommend Cronin and Roberts. Cronin gives a great, humanizing portrait of Napoleon, and Andrew Roberts' book is very nicely balanced and well researched in my opinion. Both are pretty thorough with their sourcing. Cronin's also has a great appendix regarding the reliability of various Napoleonic memoirs. As much as I like Broers' political analyses in his books, he isn't as careful with his fact-checking and I admit I kind of soured on him a bit with the last book.

As far as biographies on the marshals, I have not read many. My primary focus for the past few years has been on Murat. In English, I would not say that there is currently a "definitive" biography on him, though a new English one is currently in the works for which I have very high hopes. But currently the only English biographies on Murat are A. Hilliard Atteridge's Joachim Murat: Marshal of France and King of Naples (1911), and The Betrayers by Hubert Cole, which is a dual biography of both Joachim and Caroline Murat, published in 1972. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Atteridge's book goes into much more detail about Murat's early military career, and about the military campaigns in general. Cole kind of just breezes through Murat's early years and keeps the campaign descriptions fairly brief (which I'm honestly okay with; I find deep analyses of military tactics extremely boring if I'm being honest). Cole's strength, though, is in the number of primary sources he utilizes, and his excellent bibliography has been a goldmine for me in my own research. He also fleshes out Murat's reign in Naples in much better detail than Atteridge. Cole had far more access to Murat's correspondence than Atteridge did--as well as to many memoirs and archives--so Murat's story just feels far more fleshed out in Cole's book. I will add though that Cole, despite the title of the book, is actually very sympathetic to the Murats, and clearly not a fan of Napoleon.

For Marshal Lannes, I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend our own @maggiec70's marvelous work, The Emperor's Friend: Marshal Jean Lannes.

For the other marshals, I have all of these but the one on Davout, but I have not yet gotten around to reading them:

-Ney: Marshal Ney, The Bravest of the Brave, also by A. Hilliard Atteridge (1914), Marshal Ney: The Romance and the Real, by Raymond Horricks (1982), alternately titled for the newer edition Military Politics; From Bonaparte to the Bourbons: The Life and Death of Michel Ney 1769-1825 (1995)

-Berthier: By Command of the Emperor: A Life of Marshal Berthier, by S.J. Watson (1988)

-Davout: The Iron Marshal: A Biography of Louis N. Davout, by John G. Gallaher (2018)

-Soult: Napoleon's Maligned Marshal, by Sir Peter Hayman, (1990)

I hope that helps! Thanks for the ask :)

[histoireettralala]

Part 63

Berthier: What's wrong ? You look 10 seconds away from ripping someone's throat out. Ney: Fucking Lannes and Murat were trying to invoke one of the minor gods again last night. I didn't get an ounce of sleep, thanks to their bloody chanting.

**

Moncey- What do you call disobeying the law ? The marshals- A hobby. Moncey crosses his arms The marshals- That we do not engage in.

**

Napoleon- Do you guys ever have a civilized conversation that doesn't require insulting each other every time you get a chance ? Bernadotte- No. Davout- No. Napoleon- Didn't think so.

**

Murat: My life isn't as glamorous as my wanted poster makes it look like.

**

Bessières: Stop buying plastic skeletons for Halloween! It's terrible for the environment! Augereau: Yeah! Locally sourced, all natural skeletons are much more environmentally friendly!

[northernmariette]

Thank you for this. Please allow me to offer a few clarifications, corrections or speculations.

Marshal Poniatowski never married. He might have had illegitimate children, but I don't know . @sollannaart is most likely to know about that.

Other marshals might well have had illegitimate children; nothing would be less surprising, but this might call for much research! Napoléon himself had at least two illegitimate sons.

As a case in point, while Marshal Augereau had no children by either of his two wives, it seems he got in trouble in his youth for impregnating one of the maids in the household where he was himself employed.

I am quite certain the birth year of Marshal Berthier's last child is not 1816. As I recall from one of his biographies, he simultaneously celebrated the birth of his second daughter and Mardi Gras in the late winter or early spring of 1815; this was probably the last of the lavish entertainment he so loved to give at his Parisian home. Napoléon came back from Elba shortly thereafter, and Berthier's life spirales into misery and despair until hé fell from that window on June 1, 1815. All three of his children had been born by then.

Unfortunate Marshal Lefebvre saw all 14 of his children die. His oldest son lived to age 28, I believe, only to die of disease during the Russian campaign. I have read, somewhere, that his last son lived for some years but had some intellectual problems. Madame Lefèbvre would have been in her forties when that last child was born, so it is plausible (I am speculating here) that he might have had Down's Syndrome. Speculating some more, as far as I know the twelve children in between were stillborn or died in infancy. Could this have been due to their mother being Rh negative? I don't know, but it could explain at least some of the deaths, while the last son might have lived on if he were Rh negative himself. This would explain the survival of the eldest child also, since only pregnancies subsequent to the first one will be compromised by the Rh negative factor.

It is true that Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr married his first cousin. I don't think this wasn't unusual at the Time. His one and only child, a son, was born twenty years after his marriage.

Marshal Bessières also married a cousin, but as I recall she wasn't a first cousin. He too only had a single child.

Being a lazy slob, I did not double-check any of this, but I'm pretty sure of my facts. There is a book, in French, about the offspring of the Marshals and whether the male line of succession continues. Marshal Berthier's was extinguished around 1915, for example, while Marshal Masséna continues to this day, and a branch of Marshal Murat's continued for at least some time in the US. I wish I could remember what the book was called or who wrote it. I'm sure I will come across that reference again at some time.

The napoleonic marshal‘s children

After seeing @josefavomjaaga’s and @northernmariette’s marshal calendar, I wanted to do a similar thing for all the marshal’s children! So I did! I hope you like it. c: I listed them in more or less chronological order but categorised them in years (especially because we don‘t know all their birthdays). At the end of this post you are going to find remarks about some of the marshals because not every child is listed! ^^“ To the question about the sources: I mostly googled it and searched their dates in Wikipedia, ahaha. Nevertheless, I also found this website. However, I would be careful with it. We are talking about history and different sources can have different dates. I am always open for corrections. Just correct me in the comments if you find or know a trustful source which would show that one or some of the dates are incorrect. At the end of the day it is harmless fun and research. :) Pre 1790

François Étienne Kellermann (4 August 1770- 2 June 1835) 

Marguerite Cécile (15 March 1773 - 12 August 1850) Ernestine Grouchy (1787–1866)

Mélanie Marie Josèphe de Pérignon (1788 - 1858)

Alphonse Grouchy (1789–1864)

Jean-Baptiste Sophie Pierre de Pérignon (1789- 14 January 1807)

Marie Françoise Germaine de Pérignon (1789 - 15 May 1844)

Angélique Catherine Jourdan (1789/1791 - 7 March 1879)

1790 - 1791

Marie-Louise Oudinot (1790–1832)

Marie-Anne Masséna (8 July 1790 - 1794)

Charles Oudinot (1791 - 1863)

Aimee-Clementine Grouchy (1791–1826)

Anne-Francoise Moncey (1791–1842)

1792 - 1793

Bon-Louis Moncey (1792–1817)

Victorine Perrin (1792–1822)

Anne-Charlotte Macdonald (1792–1870)

François Henri de Pérignon (23 February 1793 - 19 October 1841)

Jacques Prosper Masséna (25 June 1793 - 13 May 1821)

1794 - 1795

Victoire Thècle Masséna (28 September 1794 - 18 March 1857)

Adele-Elisabeth Macdonald (1794–1822)

Marguerite-Félécité Desprez (1795-1854); adopted by Sérurier

Nicolette Oudinot (1795–1865)

Charles Perrin (1795–15 March 1827)

1796 - 1997

Emilie Oudinot (1796–1805)

Victor Grouchy (1796–1864)

Napoleon-Victor Perrin (24 October 1796 - 2 December 1853)

Jeanne Madeleine Delphine Jourdan (1797-1839)

1799

François Victor Masséna (2 April 1799 - 16 April 1863)

Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte (4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859)

Auguste Oudinot (1799–1835)

Caroline de Pérignon (1799-1819)

Eugene Perrin (1799–1852)

1800

Nina Jourdan (1800-1833)

Caroline Mortier de Trevise (1800–1842)

1801

Achille Charles Louis Napoléon Murat (21 January 1801 - 15 April 1847)

Louis Napoléon Lannes (30 July 1801 – 19 July 1874)

Elise Oudinot (1801–1882)

1802

Marie Letizia Joséphine Annonciade Murat (26 April 1802 - 12 March 1859)

Alfred-Jean Lannes (11 July 1802 – 20 June 1861)

Napoléon Bessière (2 August 1802 - 21 July 1856)

Paul Davout (1802–1803)

Napoléon Soult (1802–1857)

1803

Marie-Agnès Irma de Pérignon (5 April 1803 - 16 December 1849)

Joseph Napoléon Ney (8 May 1803 – 25 July 1857)

Lucien Charles Joseph Napoléon Murat (16 May 1803 - 10 April 1878)

Jean-Ernest Lannes (20 July 1803 – 24 November 1882)

Alexandrine-Aimee Macdonald (1803–1869)

Sophie Malvina Joséphine Mortier de Trévise ( 1803 - ???)

1804

Napoléon Mortier de Trévise (6 August 1804 - 29 December 1869)

Michel Louis Félix Ney (24 August 1804 – 14 July 1854)

Gustave-Olivier Lannes (4 December 1804 – 25 August 1875)

Joséphine Davout (1804–1805)

Hortense Soult (1804–1862)

Octavie de Pérignon (1804-1847)

1805

Louise Julie Caroline Murat (21 March 1805 - 1 December 1889)

Antoinette Joséphine Davout (1805 – 19 August 1821)

Stephanie-Josephine Perrin (1805–1832)

1806

Josephine-Louise Lannes (4 March 1806 – 8 November 1889)

Eugène Michel Ney (12 July 1806 – 25 October 1845)

Edouard Moriter de Trévise (1806–1815)

Léopold de Pérignon (1806-1862)

1807

Adèle Napoleone Davout (June 1807 – 21 January 1885)

Jeanne-Francoise Moncey (1807–1853)

1808: Stephanie Oudinot (1808-1893) 1809: Napoleon Davout (1809–1810)

1810: Napoleon Alexander Berthier (11 September 1810 – 10 February 1887)

1811

Napoleon Louis Davout (6 January 1811 - 13 June 1853)

Louise-Honorine Suchet (1811 – 1885)

Louise Mortier de Trévise (1811–1831)

1812

Edgar Napoléon Henry Ney (12 April 1812 – 4 October 1882)

Caroline-Joséphine Berthier (22 August 1812 – 1905)

Jules Davout (December 1812 - 1813)

1813: Louis-Napoleon Suchet (23 May 1813- 22 July 1867/77)

1814: Eve-Stéphanie Mortier de Trévise (1814–1831) 1815

Adelaide Louise Davout (8 July 1815 – 6 October 1892)

Laurent François or Laurent-Camille Saint-Cyr (I found two almost similar names with the same date so) (30 December 1815 – 30 January 1904)

1816

Marie Anne Berthier (19 February 1816 – 23 July 1878)

Louise-Marie Oudinot (1816–1909)

1817

Caroline Oudinot (1817–1896)

Caroline Soult (1817–1817)

1819: Charles-Joseph Oudinot (1819–1858)

1820: Anne-Marie Suchet (1820 - 27 May 1835) 1822: Henri Oudinot ( 3 February 1822 – 29 July 1891) 1824: Louis Marie Macdonald (11 November 1824 - 6 April 1881.) 1830: Noemie Grouchy (1830–1843) —————— Children without clear birthdays:

Camille Jourdan (died in 1842)

Sophie Jourdan (died in 1820)

Additional remarks: - Marshal Berthier died 8.5 months before his last daughter‘s birth. - Marshal Oudinot had 11 children and the age difference between his first and last child is around 32 years. - The age difference between marshal Grouchy‘s first and last child is around 43 years. - Marshal Lefebvre had fourteen children (12 sons, 2 daughters) but I couldn‘t find anything kind of reliable about them so they are not listed above. I am aware that two sons of him were listed in the link above. Nevertheless, I was uncertain to name them in my list because I thought that his last son died in the Russian campaign while the website writes about the possibility of another son dying in 1817. - Marshal Augerau had no children. - Marshal Brune had apparently adopted two daughters whose names are unknown. - Marshal Pérignon: I couldn‘t find anything about his daughters, Justine, Elisabeth and Adèle, except that they died in infancy. - Marshal Sérurier had no biological children but adopted Marguerite-Félécité Desprez in 1814. - Marshal Marmont had no children. - I found out that marshal Saint-Cyr married his first cousin, lol. - I didn‘t find anything about marshal Poniatowski having children. He was married though.

[josefavomjaaga]

Soult on several French officers

This is taken from the book »Life of General Sir William Napier«, Volume 1. Soult, while in England for the coronation of Queen Victoria, talk to British historian Napier, who wants to know his opinion on several French officers. As usual, Soult is not very forthcoming, his statements are rather brief. There are longer ones on Hoche, on Napoleon and on Joseph Bonaparte, however, that I might post separately if there’s interest. Or you can just look them up yourself under the above link (page 505, bottom, ff, »Generals of the Revolution«). For once, it’s all in English. So, here are Soult’s verdicts on:

MARCEAU. "Marceau was clever and good, and of great promise, but he had little experience before he fell."

This general I had to look up: He died from his wounds in Austrian captivity in 1796.

MOREAU. "No great things."

AUGEREAU. Ditto.

JUNOT. Ditto.

GOUVION ST. CYR. "A clever man and a good officer, but deficient in enterprise and vigour."

MACDONALD. "Too regular, too methodical; an excellent man, but not a great general.”

NEY. "No extent of capacity: but he was unfortunate; he is dead."

VICTOR. "An old woman, quite incapable."

There are some funny scenes with this marshal that Brun de Villeret describes in his Cahiers. Apparently, Brun needed to go calm down Victor on several occasions.

JOURDAN. "Not capable of leading large armies."

MASSENA. "Excellent in great danger; negligent and of no goodness out of danger. Knew war well."

That’s a little less praise for Masséna than in his memoirs. But Soult is all around bragging a lot in this conversation, though it’s hard to tell how much of it may have been jokingly. (Then again – Soult and joking? Probably not.)

MARMONT. "Understands the theory of war perfectly. History will tell what he did with his knowledge." (This was accompanied with a sardonic smile.)

And of course refers to Marmont’s alleged betrayal of Napoleon in 1814.

REGNIER. "An excellent officer." (I denied this, and gave Soult the history of his operations at Sabugal.) Soult replied that he was considered to be a great officer in France; but if what I said could not be controverted as to fact, he was not a great officer, his reputation was unmerited. (The facts were correctly stated, but Regnier was certainly disaffected to Napoleon at the time; his unskilful conduct might have been intentional.)

DESAIX. "Clever, indefatigable, always improving his mind, full of information about his profession, a great soldier, a noble character in all points of view; perhaps not amongst the greatest of generals by nature, but likely to become so by study and practice, when he was killed."

KLEBER. "Knew him perfectly; colossal in body, colossal in mind. He was the god of war; Mars in human shape. He knew more than Hoche, more than Desaix; he was a greater general, but he was idle, indolent, he would not work."

BERTHIER and CLARKE.

"Old women - Catins. The Emperor knew them and their talents; they were fit for tools, machines, good for writing down his orders and making arrangements according to rule; he employed them for nothing else. Bah! they were very poor. I could do their work as well or better than they could, but the Emperor was too wise to employ a man of my character at a desk; he knew I could control and tame wild men, and he employed me to do so."

You could do Berthier’s and Clarke’s job easily, huh? Well, I could name one battle of Waterloo that says otherwise, Monsieur! (So does Napier, btw.)

I think between Berthier and Soult all bridges were burnt. And it really may have been not only from Soult’s side. I can quite imagine how somebody like Berthier, “l’homme de Versailles”, coming from a noble background and placing great value on politeness and good manners, would react to Soult.

[northernmariette]

A quick biographical sketch of Murat

This is my fifth post regarding the Marshals listed in an article about Napoleon’s ability to spot talent. The article is taken from the September 2019 issue of Historia magazine, bearing on its front page’s the title “Napoleon, les secrets d’un chef de guerre”.

After Berthier, Davout, Lannes, and Masséna, Murat is the next Marshal on the alphabetized list of the eight highlighted Marshals:

Murat, the man of the attack

If there ever was a marshal with a sense of panache, it is Murat, perhaps even too much so. On a battlefield, he was the one to draw all eyes. His garish uniforms even earned him some derision from Napoleon. But when on horseback leading a charge, he earned nothing but admiration. During the Prussian campaign in 1806, he vanquished everything in his path. At Eylau, a year later, at the head of more than 10,000 horsemen, he thwarted a vigorous Russian attack. Eight years earlier at the second battle of Aboukir in Egypt, he had captured the enemy leader almost single-handedly, wielding his sparkling oriental sword. Murat was the leading man, the one born for the first attack. A brilliant cavalryman, he was less adept at politics; he committed himself to a failed alliance with Austria in 1813. He was not at Waterloo. He was executed by firing squad at Pizzo in Italy on 13 October 1815, aged 48.

Murat was one of three Marshals whose absence was deeply detrimental at Waterloo; the other two were Davout and Berthier. Berthier, of course, was already dead; but it was Napoleon’s mistake to exclude Murat and Davout. 

I don’t know enough about Murat to comment on his political abilities; were they lesser than those of his siblings? An aspect of his life I am curious about is how he was perceived by his Neapolitan subjects, and how he is perceived in contemporary Italy.

I do question how Napoleon treated Murat, if he wanted more compliance from his brother-in-law: it seems to me that Murat was more responsive to praise than to the kind of upbraiding he so regularly received from the Emperor.