#giuseppa visconti

[josefavomjaaga]

Letter by Berthier, October 15, 1812

And then we have the very private side of Berthier. This is translated from a letter dated »Moscow, 15 October« that was intercepted by the Russians during the War of 1812. A letter from Berthier to the love of his life, Madame Visconti, who lived in a happy ménage à trois with him and with Berthier’s young wife – about whom they apparently had been discussing in previous letters.

After reassuring her about the fate of an officer she had required after, Berthier writes:

Yes, my friend, I shall have great pleasure in finding myself with my wife again [»en ménage«, actually: in my marriage/household, so this expression might actually include Madame Visconti]. A kind woman, as you say, who has the bearing of a 17 year old demoiselle, and who presents you with two pretty children, a girl and a boy. This makes one's mouth water and certainly makes one want to change the bearing of that 17 year old demoiselle.

I enjoy, my friend, the health of our children, what happiness for us, what care, what a charming occupation for you; in our children you find your attachment to me - and you find joy in it. Let us move on, my friend, since you are questioning me, to a painful subject. Poor Madame Sainte-Croix has still to grieve. Her son has had his leg blown off. His life was saved and he is still marching and will recover. One son killed, another maimed. Such is the fate. At least she will keep him. Without this accident he might have been killed. Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. I must believe it, my friend, since the storms of life have led me to the greatest happiness, that of linking my fate to yours. I kiss you, I am quite gallant, I who have only grey hair left. I kiss you, my friend, I love you with all my heart, kiss our children.

Alexandre

[peaceinthestorm]

François Gérard (1770-1837, French) ~ Giuseppa Carcano, marquise de Visconti di Borgorato (1760-1840), 1810

[Source: collections.louvre.fr]

[histoireettralala]

“Never have I seen him so sad”

The body was put on June 5 in the Bamberg Cathedral. His father-in-law, Duke Wilhelm, who loved him very much, organized a grandiose funeral. The burial took place according to a military protocol with a prolonge d'artillerie for the coffin, drums veiled with crepe, and deployment of Russian troops, since only General Sacken's troops were then available! The prince's family, the duke and the king of Bavaria, as well as representatives of the sovereigns of Europe, including that of Louis XVIII, attended this ceremony.

The coffin will remain for nearly six months in the cathedral, before being transported to the castle of Banz, property of his father-in-law. The latter wanted to enhance the splendor of this ceremony by all the honors to which the Prince of Wagram was entitled. Detachments of Russian infantry, cavalry and artillery, which were in the country, escorted the funeral cortege, as well as a large number of officers. Berthier's body remained in this tomb until 1884. At that time, his remains were transported to a vault in the princely residence of Tegernsee, where they still rest alongside the princes and kings of Bavaria.

When she learned of Berthier's death, Giuseppa fainted. Napoleon, for his part, did not hide his grief.

“I was at the Elysee Palace the evening Napoleon learned of the death of the Prince of Neuchâtel, writes Thiébault. No one better than him hid or showed his feelings. But one would have said that he had lost his power to conceal. Never, in fact, have I seen him so sad. He spent, alone with Count Boulay de La Meurthe, a full hour during which his face was contracted, his demeanor gloomy, his words shorter than usual, his haughty head bent down in spite of himself, his gaze had something sinister about it and his gestures expressed all the more pain as his slightest movements had something convulsive. "

On June 18, on the evening of Waterloo, observing his defeat, the Emperor had these famous words: "If Berthier were here, the orders would have arrived and I would not have this misfortune." He thus recalled his major-general's essential role in the transmission and execution of his orders. Soult, who had replaced him in this post, did not have these qualities.

Franck Favier - Berthier, l’ombre de Napoléon

Tegernsee

[joachimnapoleon]

“Berthier’s Folly”

About this time [late 1797] Berthier fell in love.... Unfortunately the lady in question was already married; indeed she was married for the second time. Her name was Josephine, the widow of Madame Bonaparte’s friend Giovanni Sopransi, and now the wife of Francesco Visconti. All her contemporaries praised her beauty of face and figure, and their judgment is vindicated by her portrait, painted by Gerard, which now hangs in the Louvre. It was not her appearance, however, that attracted Berthier so much as the immediate realization of mutual sympathy and understanding which drew them instinctively closer and closer together, until they felt perfectly in tune with one another and utterly oblivious of what anyone else might think or say.

[Madame Visconti, by François Gérard]

In the eyes of other people this affair was rather scandalous, and even a little ridiculous. But when a man’s work has long entailed great concentration, rigid self-discipline and strict impartiality, it is not unlikely that his suppressed emotions will eventually find their outlet in a way that is illogical, impulsive and perhaps imprudent. Berthier was now forty-four years old; he had never yet concerned himself with women, being practically wedded to his profession. Now at last he had fallen; and his fall, having been so long delayed, was all the more serious and all the more complete.

For a while Berthier never actually mentioned his love to Madame Visconti nor did she speak of her love to him; but what was left unsaid was taken for granted, and they fondly imagined that it was known only to themselves. But not even Berthier, for all his skill at preserving military secrets, could conceal the light of happiness in his eyes, nor suppress his sudden outbursts of gaiety which could not be explained by the mere joy of military success; so that it was obvious to General Desaix on a visit to the Army of Italy that the chief of staff was ‘short, thick-set, ever laughing, very full of business--and in love with Madame Visconti.’ And inevitably, the young aides-de camp in attendance at official entertainments quickly noted the flashing smiles and devoted glances; and, as is the way of subalterns in every age, they began to vie with one another in exaggerating what was seen in public and imagining what was done in private. Before long Madame Visconti was known throughout the headquarters as ‘Berthier’s Folly’: but this was an affectionate jest in a tolerant age, for the staff became the more endeared to their respected and exacting taskmaster on finding at last that the old man was human after all.

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

[clo-rofilla]

L’espressione del buon Paco è uguale uguale alla mia quando penso di aver visto un parcheggio a strisce bianche al centro e invece appare inesorabile il culo di una Smart.

Consulente d’immagine di Melania Trump l’addolorata anima - apparsale in sogno - di sora Giuseppa al funerale del compianto consorte Antoneddu, pastore sardo venuto a mancare all’affetto dei suoi cari nel lontano 1920.

Seriamente: ma gli americani l’hanno capito che l’Italia si è un pelino evoluta dai tempi de Il Padrino e le ambientazioni neorealistiche di Visconti e Rossellini?

[histoireettralala]

Berthier, Elisabeth, and Giuseppa.

Elisabeth is twenty-four, Giuseppa forty-three, and Berthier fifty-five. One can wonder about this cordial agreement, carried to an unusual degree, between two rival women. Because they will cohabit, Berthier not being able to bring himself to separate from Giuseppa, in the large hotel on the avenue des Capucines, but also in Grosbois where, if the Princess of Neuchâtel had her private apartments, the north pavilion was known to the inhabitants. of the castle under the name "apartment of Mrs. Visconti." Some will be shocked, such Augusta of Bavaria, the happy wife of Eugène de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, but also Elisabeth Berthier's first cousin. In a letter from Hortense de Beauharnais to her brother on August 23, 1809, she evokes the prejudices of Augusta, who has just met Giuseppa in Milan: "I received a letter from my sister-in-law who told me about Mme Visconti . She will no doubt have told you about it too: she cannot believe that her cousin is well with her and that she is even her intimate friend. This made her receive her coldly. The other, who is used to to be spoiled, will have been greatly astonished. I do not know what to answer my sister on that. She has the good fortune of being a princess without knowing a court and it is a great happiness. I was like her, but unfortunately, we learn every day, at our own expense, that we must welcome everyone. "

Hortense de Beauharnais is very severe here on the chapter of morals, she who will give birth two years later to the future Duke of Morny, born of her extramarital love with Charles de Flahaut, aide-de-camp to Marshal Berthier ... In addition, Augusta and Elisabeth were in different situations because if their marriage was organized without their consent, the first found love in Eugène de Beauharnais, the second came too late. Alexandre's heart was taken, and Elisabeth was not compelled to fall in love with a man without particular beauty and of her father's age. Consideration, tenderness, but no love, therefore no jealousy!

Franck Favier - Berthier, l’ombre de Napoléon

[histoireettralala]

L’amour à la Berthier

These terms are from Louis Aragon. What do they mean? The historian can rely on the testimonies of contemporaries. The relationship between Alexandre and Giuseppa was until 1810 a passionate, sensual, even obscene relationship. These revelations are essentially based on the Memoirs of Thiébault who, as we have seen, did not carry Berthier in his heart: obscene letters during the Egyptian campaign, illustrated with scabrous drawings which the English would have seized during their transit to Paris, child made to the maid of honor of the Princess of Neuchâtel, Mme de Sandizelli, the princess' affair with Visconti's son, Sopransi ... The Hôtel des Capucines, the Château de Grosbois seem, if one listen to Thiébault, a vast lupanar! Thiébault embroiders on rumors, gossip that no serious testimony does repeat.

The Prince of Neuchâtel appeared with age, rather than sensual, tender and attentive towards Giuseppa. At fifty, she was still beautiful, having the same success with men and women. She loved the pleasures of the flesh, but also those of the table, which harmed her size more and more, especially because of the very straight dresses of the Empire style. She was often the object of mockery from the Emperor and, to always look beautiful, she had extremely tight corsets made. The frequency of this torture caused circulatory problems to the Marquise and, during the end of the year 1810 celebrations, she suffered a hemiplegic attack which paralyzed her left side. [...]

Faced with this situation, many men would have abandoned their lover. This was not the case with Alexandre, who continued to love Giuseppa, surrounding her with his concern, his tenderness, as much as his obligations allowed him. This touching love struck some contemporary ladies: "The Prince of Neuchâtel takes of Mme Visconti a care which fills me with affection: never have I seen anything so sweet, so perfect. Seeing it, we ask God to to have such a friend at the end of one's life. I defy that one can desire a better one. " *

[...]

More than obscenities, love à la Berthier is defined, we believe, by this passionate attachment between two beings.

Franck Favier - Berthier, l’ombre de Napoléon

* From Madame de Souza to the Countess of Albany, in Jérôme Zieseniss “Berthier, frère d’armes”

[josefavomjaaga]

Ah, Madame Grand! She seems like yet another ill-reputed lady who came to fame under the Directory and that Napoleon barely tolerated at court, if at all. Something else she had in common with Giuseppa Visconti, I guess.

François Gérard (1770-1837, French) ~ Madame Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord, 1804

[Source: metmuseum.org]

[histoireettralala]

“This dear weakness of my heart”

If there was a fire that Berthier could not put out, it was his passion for Giuseppa. Napoleon did not appreciate her, first of all because he did not understand such a long passion, accustomed as he was to quick love affairs, but also because Mme Visconti was married. The Emperor had raised his chief of staff to the highest honors, was now promoting him as sovereign prince; Berthier was consequently to marry a young woman of identical rank, and this implied abandoning his mistress. As usual, the Major General turned a deaf ear, thanking the Emperor for his kindness, but never raising the question of marriage. The incessant campaigns of 1806 and 1807 gave him a respite.

But Napoleon did not renounce his project and intensified his pressure on the prince as soon as the Polish campaign was over. Mlle d'Avrillion relates in her Memoirs: "He had succeeded in evading the Emperor's intentions until the year 1808; but then the will of the master was pronounced in such a way that there was no way to back out [...] I was in the Empress' room when Marshal Berthier came to tell her what the Emperor demanded of him; he was crying like a child, speaking to her of the sacrifice he was making [...] ] it took all the respect, all the attachment that the Marshal had for the Emperor to submit to his will; he had a horrible repugnance for this marriage. "

Or Madame de Rémusat: "Marshal Berthier, tormented by the Emperor, often asked his master, as a reward for his fidelity, not to pursue him in this dear weakness of his heart. Bonaparte was irritated, mocking, returned to the charge, and could not overcome this resistance which lasted several years. However, through prayers and words, he finally won. " The Marchioness herself had to make him understand where his interest lay and that marriage would in no way change the bonds that united them, that it could be purely convenient. Berthier gave in.

Franck Favier - Berthier, l’ombre de Napoléon

[histoireettralala]

Louis Alexandre Berthier & Maria Elisabeth in Bavaria & Giuseppa Carcano (2/2)

“La soumission de Berthier à sa maîtresse vieillissante était la fable des salons et de l’armée. Il la quittait le moins possible et bien des fois il se trouva dans des positions qui n’avaient rien de plaisant [...] Le bon Alexandre était assez mal récompensé de tant de dévouement. Tout Paris savait que la marquise ne laissait jamais attendre bien longtemps ses faveurs aux jouvenceaux qui les demandaient avec grâce. [...]

Le plus cher désir de Berthier était d’associer légitimement son amie à son éclatante carrière. Napoléon peut-être eût cédé. L’obstacle majeur était la présence du discret Visconti qui, pour n’être pas gênant, n’en était pas moins vivant et peu disposé à divorcer. L’Empereur profita de cette circonstance pour essayer d’arracher définitivement son plus intime collaborateur à la vie canaille qui le déconsidérait. Il venait de l’élever au rang de chef d’Etat en lui donnant la principauté de Neuchâtel, et il pensa le décider à changer d’existence en posant le mariage comme une condition à la continuation de ses largesses. C’était en 1806. On connaît la fameuse lettre du 1er avril, par laquelle le maître mi-sévère, mi-familier, exprimait sa volonté: “Votre passion a duré trop longtemps; elle  est devenue ridicule et j’ai droit d’espérer que celui que j’ai nommé mon compagnon d’armes, que la postérité mettra partout à côté de moi, ne restera pas plus longtemps abandonné à une faiblesse sans exemple. Je veux donc que vous vous mariiez; sans cela je ne vous verrai plus. Vous avez cinquante ans, mais vous êtes d’une race où l’on vit quatre-vingts, et ces trente années sont celles où les douceurs du mariage vous sont le plus nécessaires.”

Berthier résista encore pendant de longs mois, puis il dut se rendre aux instances de Napoléon qui faisait miroiter à ses yeux une alliance plus brillante qu’aucune de celles contractées par les hommes de la Révolution. Il s’agissait d’introduire le maréchal dans une véritable famille régnante. Le choix de l’Empereur s’était porté sur une nièce du roi de Bavière, la princesse Marie-Elisabeth de Bavière-Birkenfeld. Pressé de toutes parts, sermonné, tantôt menacé, tantôt couvert de titres et de richesses nouvelles, le malheureux amant de la Visconti donna, le désespoir dans l’âme, son acquiescement à ce projet. La vieille marquise elle-même, convaincue qu’elle garderait sur lui son pouvoir, l’avait engagé à ne pas prolonger une résistance qui pouvait devenir dangereuse.

Napoléon mena les choses rondement. Le 9 mars 1808, la cérémonie nuptiale fut célébrée devant l’impératrice et lui. La jeune femme n’était pas jolie - quoique de belle taille- mais elle possédait des qualités morales qui lui furent utiles dans son triste ménage. Au début, elle trouvait qu’elle avait fait un bon mariage, ce qui était vrai au point de vue matériel. La grande faveur de son époux rejaillissait sur elle. Dès l’abord elle fut à la Cour une très grande dame devant qui la moquerie n’aurait pas osé s’exercer. Son caractère lui fut d’un plus grand secours encore que son rang. Bonne, bienveillante et simple, elle n’eut bientôt que des amis qui admiraient son tact et sa sagesse. Il en fallait certes, dans la situation où elle se trouva dès les premières semaines de sa vie conjugale. Le sort avait été cruel pour Berthier. Quinze jours après le mariage, l’incommode marquis Visconti était mort, laissant, mais un peu tard, la place libre près de sa trop fameuse épouse. Le maréchal ne se gêna pas pour exprimer les regrets que lui causait cet événement; et, pour réparer dans la mesure du possible l’injustice de la destinée, il installa la veuve dans une maison voisine de son palais.

Ainsi commença une existence à trois dont Paris connut les moindres détails. Faute de pouvoir s’éliminer l’une l’autre, les deux femmes prirent le parti de se supporter, et même, rapprochées par leur commun attachement au prince de Neuchâtel, elles finirent par s’entendre assez bien. La princesse jouait au whist avec la marquise qui avait toujours eu un faible pour le roi de pique, et se faisait raconter les potins dont l’Italienne avait toujours une ample provision. Cette intimité était parfois troublée par des querelles, car, en vieillissant, la Visconti n’avait rien perdu de sa pugnacité. C’était malheureusement tout ce qu’il lui restait [...] Pour dissimuler son excessif embonpoint, elle imagina de se comprimer les cuisses dans des fourreaux serrés “à tour de bras” par des lacets. A ce jeu, elle gagna des troubles de la circulation et une attaque de paralysie qui la rendit entièrement infirme du côté gauche. Dès lors, elle ne fut plus qu’un pitoyable débris sur qui Berthier continua de veiller avec tendresse.

La princesse de Neuchâtel bénéficia dans une bonne mesure de la disparition de sa rivale en tant que maîtresse effective. Berthier avait fini par s’accommoder d’elle et la naissance de trois enfants avait amené dans le ménage un élément de concorde. Lors du retour de Napoléon en 1815, la Visconti resta à Paris dans son fauteuil d’impotente, non sans avoir eu la précaution de remettre à Berthier tous ses diamants en échange d’une rente viagère de quarante mille francs. Quant à la maréchale, elle se retira auprès de son père, à Bamberg, précédant son mari qui n’avait pas eu le courage de prendre parti dans ce grand drame. La mort brutale du maréchal ne la laissa pas inconsolable, car elle se remaria secrètement à un Français, le colonel Lherminier. Elle fut victime de l’épidémie de choléra de 1832. La marquise Visconti lui survécut et mourut dans l’oubli à un âge très avancé.”

Louis Chardigny, Les Maréchaux de Napoléon, Bibliothèque Napoléonienne, P. 227-231.

Le Prince de Wagram et sa fille Malcy by Winterhalter

(Berthier’s son Napoléon Alexandre 1810-1887 and granddaughter Malcy, who would later become Princess Murat by marriage)

                                                      *****

"Berthier's submission to his aging mistress was gloated over in the salons and the army. He left her as little as possible and many times he found himself in positions that were not pleasant [...] The good Alexandre was rather badly rewarded for so much dedication. All Paris knew that the Marquise never let youngsters who gracefully asked for her favors wait long. [...]

Berthier’s dearest wish was to legitimately associate his friend with his brilliant career. Perhaps Napoleon would have given in. The major obstacle was the presence of the discreet Visconti who, although not embarrassing, was none the less alive and unwilling to divorce. The Emperor took advantage of this circumstance to try to permanently tear away his most intimate collaborator from the shady life that discredited him. He had just raised him to the rank of head of state by giving him the principality of Neuchâtel, and he thought he would make him decide to change his life by posing marriage as a condition for the continuation of his largesse. It was in 1806. We know the famous letter of April 1, by which the half-severe, half-familiar master expressed his will: “Your passion has lasted too long; it has become ridiculous and I have the right to hope that the one whom I have named my comrade in arms, whom posterity will put everywhere by my side, will not remain any longer abandoned to an unprecedented weakness. So I want you to get married; otherwise I will not see you again. You’re fifty years old, but you’re from a race that lives eighty, and those thirty years are the years when you need the comfort of marriage most. ”

Berthier still resisted for many months, and then he had to yield to Napoleon's entreaties, who dangled in front of his eyes a more brilliant alliance than any of those contracted by the men of the Revolution. He was about to introduce the marshal into an authentic ruling family. The Emperor’s choice had settled on a niece of the King of Bavaria, Princess Marie-Elisabeth of Bavaria-Birkenfeld. Urged from all sides, lectured, sometimes threatened, sometimes covered with new titles and riches, the Visconti's unfortunate lover gave in despair his assent to this project. The old Marquise herself, convinced that she would keep her power over him, had persuaded him not to draw out a resistance which might become dangerous.

Napoleon efficiently carried things out. On March 9, 1808, the nuptial ceremony was celebrated before him and the Empress. The young woman was not pretty - although of good height - but she had moral qualities which were useful to her in her sad couple. At first, she thought she had made a good marriage, which was true from a material point of view. Her husband's great favor spilled over onto her. From the outset she was at Court a very great lady whom people would not have dared to mock. Her character was even more helpful to her than her rank. Kind, caring and down-to-earth, she soon had only friends who admired her tact and wisdom. It certainly was necessary, in the situation in which she found herself in the first weeks of her married life. Fate had been cruel for Berthier. Fifteen days after the marriage, the inconvenient Marquis Visconti was dead, making way, but a little late, for someone else near his too famous wife. The marshal did not hesitate to express the regrets which this event caused him; and, to repair as far as possible the injustice of destiny, he installed the widow in a house near his palace.

Thus began a ménage à trois of which Paris knew the smallest details. Unable to eliminate each other, the two women decided to support each other, and even, brought together by their common attachment to the Prince of Neuchâtel, they ended up getting along fairly well. The princess played whist with the marquise who had always had a soft spot for the king of spades, and was told about the gossip which the Italian always had a large supply of. This intimacy was sometimes disturbed by quarrels, because, as she got older, the Visconti had lost none of her pugnacity. Unfortunately, that was all she had left [...] To hide her excessive overweight, she began compressing her thighs in sheaths "tightly" wrapped with laces. At this game, she gained circulation problems and a paralysis attack which made her entirely disabled on the left side. From then on, she was nothing more than a pitiful wreck Berthier lovingly kept on watching over.

The Princess of Neuchâtel benefited to a large extent from the disappearance of her rival as an effective mistress. Berthier had come to terms with her and the birth of three children had brought an element of harmony into the household. When Napoleon returned in 1815, the Visconti remained in Paris in her chair, not without having taken the precaution of handing over all her diamonds to Berthier in exchange for a life annuity of forty thousand francs. As for the maréchale, she retired to her father's estate in Bamberg, preceding her husband who had not had the courage to take sides in this great drama. The marshal's brutal death did not leave her inconsolable, because she secretly remarried secretly a Frenchman, Colonel Lherminier. She was a victim of the cholera epidemic of 1832. The Marquise Visconti survived her and died in oblivion at a very advanced age. "

[histoireettralala]

Louis Alexandre Berthier & Maria Elisabeth in Bavaria & Giuseppa Carcano (1/2)

“On a pu remarquer que les maréchaux de l’Empire furent en somme heureux en ménage, à l’exception de Marmont. C’est que leur choix, s’il fut généralement guidé, resta pourtant libre. Malgré de grandes différences d’âge et d’éducation, les femmes se montrèrent souvent plus fidèles que les maris. Celles qui restèrent veuves de bonne heure, comme Mmes Ney, Lannes, Bessières, Suchet, refusèrent de se remarier. [..]

Il est pourtant un mariage que Napoléon imposa, qu’il voulut de toute sa volonté de maître tyrannique, et qui se fit contre le gré du principal intéressé. C’est celui de Berthier, et nous terminerons par là cette revue sommaire de la haute société militaire féminine du premier Empire.

La femme de la vie du prince de Neuchâtel, son unique et constant amour, ce ne fut pas sa légitime et tardive épouse, mais sa maîtresse fameuse et volage, la marquise Visconti.

Toujours célibataire à plus de quarante ans, Berthier avait aspiré à la main de l’aînée des soeurs du général en chef de l’armée d’Italie. Elisa avait préféré un prétendant plus obscur et plus jeune, Félix Bacciochi. En guise de consolation, Bonaparte, harcelé par les assiduités d’une Milanaise encore très belle quoique déjà mûre, la jeta dans les bras de son chef d’état-major. Ce fut le début de la plus célèbre liaison du Directoire, du Consulat, et de l’Empire. L’héroïne de cette histoire, Giuseppina Carcano, était veuve du comte Giovanni Sopranzi et remariée au diplomate Francesco Visconti. Elle avait été- elle pouvait encore se dire - une des plus remarquables beautés d’Italie: des traits délicats et réguliers, le plus joli nez du monde, des dents éblouissantes, des cheveux de jais coiffés à la Titus, et, pour parer tout cela, une élégance, une science de la mode tout à fait remarquables. Les seules imperfections de cette Vénus lombarde étaient une différence de longueur assez sensible entre ses deux bras, et une petite voix criarde, en fausset. Berthier n’y regarda pas de si près et brûla soudain d’une flamme qui lui permit de braver intrépidement les plus grands ridicules. Affolé d’amour, “il en perdait le boire, le manger et le dormir”, sans parler de l’esprit. Il eut vite fait, quand Bonaparte regagna Paris avec sa suite, d’obtenir pour le mari de son idole la place d’ambassadeur de la République cisalpine auprès du gouvernement directorial. Sa passion pour cette femme l’emportait sur son attachement à son général. Quand vint l’expédition d’Egypte, il insista vivement pour n’en point être et pour rester ainsi auprès de sa chère Visconti. N’ayant pu fléchir son chef qui se moquait de lui, il s’embarqua, la mort dans l’âme. En mer sur le bateau, comme sous la tente dans le désert, il passa ses heures de loisir en contemplation devant une sorte d’autel qu’il avait dressé en hommage à l’objet de son culte. Sa folie amoureuse se manifestait de manière moins platonique dans une correspondance incandescente. Certaines lettres renfermaient, assure le général Thiébault, des “choses incroyables à force d’être obscènes”. Les Anglais, les ayant interceptées, jouèrent au pauvre Berthier le mauvais tour de les copier et d’en jeter des exemplaires sur les côtes d’Europe où elles ne tombèrent pas toujours en des mains discrètes.

Au retour d’Orient, Alexandre put donner libre cours à son amour immodéré, bien que Bonaparte cherchât à l’en détourner. Le Premier Consul appelait cette liaison “la bêtise de Berthier”, et refusa constamment de recevoir la Visconti dans les réunions intimes de La Malmaison, malgré l’intervention de Joséphine, plus indulgente [...]

Louis Chardigny, Les Maréchaux de Napoléon, Bibliothèque Napoléonienne, P. 225-227.

“It has been noticed that the marshals of the Empire were, on the whole, happy with their marriage, except Marmont. This is because their choice, if it was generally guided, remained however free. Despite great differences in age and education, wives were often more loyal than husbands. The early  widows, like Mmes Ney, Lannes, Bessières, Suchet, refused to remarry. [..]

There is, however, a marriage which Napoleon imposed, which he wanted with all his tyrannical master's will, and which was made against the will of the concerned party. This is Berthier’s marriage, and we’re going to end that way this summary review of female military high society in the First Empire.

The woman of the Prince of Neuchâtel's life, his unique and constant love, was not his legitimate and belated wife, but his famous and fickle mistress, the Marquise Visconti.

Still single at over forty, Berthier had longed for the hand of the eldest sister of the General in Chief of the Army of Italy. Elisa had preferred a more obscure and younger pretender, Félix Bacciochi. By way of consolation, Bonaparte, harassed by the attentions of a Milanese woman who was still very beautiful although already mature, threw her into his chief of staff's arms. It was the start of the most famous affair of the Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire. The heroine of this story, Giuseppina Carcano, was the widow of Count Giovanni Sopranzi and remarried to the diplomat Francesco Visconti. She had been - she could still say she was - one of the most remarkable beauties in Italy: delicate and regular features, the prettiest nose in the world, dazzling teeth, jet black hair styled à la Titus, and, to adorn all of this, a quite remarkable elegance, and knowledge of fashion. The only imperfections of this Lombard Venus were a fairly noticeable difference in length between her two arms, and a small, shrill voice, in falsetto. Berthier did not take such a close look at it and suddenly burned with a flame which enabled him to bravely stand up to  ridicule. Crazy with love, "he lost his appetite and sleep" not to mention his mind. When Bonaparte returned to Paris with his entourage, Berthier quickly obtained for his idol's husband the position of ambassador of the Cisalpine Republic to the directorial government. His passion for this woman outweighed his attachment to his general. When the Egyptian expedition came, he insisted strongly on not being part of it and staying with his dear Visconti. Not having been able to sway his chief who made fun of him, he embarked, with a heavy heart. At sea on the boat, as in a tent in the desert, he spent his leisure hours in contemplation in front of a sort of altar that he had erected in homage to the object of his worship. His lovesickness manifested itself in a less platonic way in an red-hot correspondence. Certain letters contained, assures General Thiébault, "incredible things, so obscene they were". The English, having intercepted them, did poor Berthier the ill turn of copying them and throwing copies on the coasts of Europe where they did not always fall into discreet hands.

On his return from Egypt, Alexandre was able to give free rein to his unrestrained love, although Bonaparte sought to divert him from it. The First Consul called this liaison “Berthier's foolishness”, and constantly refused to receive Visconti in the intimate meetings of La Malmaison, despite a more indulgent Josephine's intervention. [...]

[josefavomjaaga]

I had been totally unaware of those before - that's what I dislike so much about the Napoleonic era; many authors write as if events are only important as long as Napoleon is somehow part of it and as if there had been nothing before him and nothing outside his sphere of influence.

But I won't lie: I'm shallow. I mostly read it because I wanted to learn more about Madame Visconti ^_^. And his marriage to the Bavarian princess Marie-Elisabeth, of course.

Considerations on Berthier

It is said that for the basic formation of a person's character, the first three years of life are the most important. Whatever happens later is then a development or logical extrapolation of the formation acquired during that time. There are, of course, no records preserved that would give a hint as to the first three years of Berthier's existence. However, his later actions and reactions to outward influences will allow some sort of appraisal of his personality, which, anyway, must have been deeply marked by his being an engineer by profession.

Berthier's early life seems to have been uneventful, comfortably sheltered in the fold of a well-to-do family. His father knew how to encourage and develop his mathematical talents, his neatness and orderliness; and, having access to the court of Versailles, he was also able to further his early career to a certain extent.

Coming to America (1780-1783) with such a background, the colonials and their army must have appeared to Berthier as utterly backward and undisciplined rabble. The experience was obviously of no help, either in giving him a wider horizon or in enhancing his power of imagination.

This lack of imagination must also have helped Berthier to survive the revolutionary period by always keeping a low profile. Never in the forefront, never active in matters politic, he just adhered to "duty and discipline". It was then that he must have realized that he was not the man to seize and exploit opportunities. With a truly admirable self-discipline, he was to keep this insight to the end of his days.

This attitude was to serve him well in the years with Napoleon Bonaparte. Berthier never pretended to be anything else but Napoleon's servant. Meanwhile, their relationship had its ups and downs. This went from "Berthier: talents, energy, courage, character. Has everything" to "I have been betrayed by Berthier, just a gosling transmuted by me into some sort of eagle", with in between a series of sarcastic, ironic, and often downright offensive observations that, however, reflect more on Napoleon's character than on Berthier's.

Berthier never seems to have criticized his superior, but he often pitied himself. On several occasions he was on the verge of throwing in the sponge, clamoring to be left in peace, that he wanted to retire to his estates, and that any private soldier was better off than himself.

Considering the preceding, a slightly masochistic trend in Berthier's character is not to be excluded. Indeed, an appraisal of his infatuation and excessive adoration, love and loyalty for Madame Visconti seems to bear out this suspicion.

Berthier is described as small and stout, with a disproportionately big head and unsightly hands. However, this disproportional head also contained a disproportionate amount of knowledge and information, and, small as he was, his work capacity was extraordinary. When scolded or humiliated by Napoleon, Berthier took refuge in his work, redoubling his activity- the workaholic ante littera!

Although good-natured, if somewhat uncouth, Berthier knew how to drive his subordinates. There was no love lost. He demanded, and obtained, that everybody work according to the rules he had set himself. It is said that he never conceded anything with grace, but that what he refused was refused with harshness.

But there is also another side to Berthier: the good-humored man, more often than not laughing off any adversity. He just loved to give sumptuous receptions and fancy dress balls and to organize hunting parties [..]

Berthier left no memoirs. Short of being able to conduct a full-scale research project, one is entirely dependant on hearsay, often to be taken with more than a grain of salt. But when all is said and done, Berthier remains the outstanding chief-of-staff of modern and contemporary times, a professional of the very first order, a highly talented executive, and a powerful worker, endowed with an exceptional sense for grasping the essentials in any given situation.

Charles Raeuber, in David Chandler's Napoleon's marshals.

[joachimnapoleon]

Berthier Appreciation Post

Today (20 November) is Berthier's birthday, so a little tribute to my favorite under-appreciated Administrative Cyborg is in order.

So in no particular order whatsoever, here is a list of reasons why I have such a soft spot for Louis-Alexandre Berthier.

-He was something of a child prodigy and was formally appointed a topographical engineer in the army on 1 January 1766. Berthier was born in 1753. He wasn't yet thirteen when he became an engineer. His military service couldn't be considered "official" until his sixteenth birthday, which was when he received his lieutenant's commission. By the age of 26 he had served not only as an engineer, but as an infantry lieutenant, a cavalry captain, and then as a staff officer.

-In 1780 he went to America with his brother Charles to participate in the American war for independence. This was not only his first real experience with upper-echelon staff work (under General Rochambeau), but also his first combat experience (a skirmish with English dragoons on 19 July 1781; Berthier's horse was killed from under him, but Berthier killed his assailant and was cited afterwards by his commander for distinguishing himself).

-His god-tier organizing capabilities. His staff, one biographer writes, "ran with the precision of a Neuchâtel pendulum clock." He was able, at any given moment, to provide Napoleon with up-to-date figures for any division, brigade, or regiment in the Grande Armée. He created an elaborate filing system that was capable of fitting in a single coach, which biographer Andrew Roberts describes as "one of the edifices upon which the [Austerlitz] campaign was based." He perfected a personal cabinet system initially invented by Desaix, to which Napoleon would frequently go in order to view the maps with which troop positions were displayed with colored pins. Berthier mastered the maps of every theater of war, coordinating the movements of the various corps of the Grande Armée in such a manner as to ensure against potential logjams on the same road. Writes Las Cases, "The Emperor, on his campaigns, had Berthier in his car. It was during the journey that the Emperor, going through the order books and status reports, decided on his plans and ordered his maneuvers. Berthier carried out the orders and the various details with admirable regularity, precision and promptness."

-Though most known for his work as chief-of-staff, he still displayed courage on the battlefield when the time came. He led a cavalry charge at Rivoli on 14 January 1797, and also distinguished himself at Montebello; his biographer Rauber writes that Montebello was "his battle as much as Lannes's." He also suffered a wound to the arm at Marengo.

-His almost superhuman indefatigability. He could stay awake for days at a time if need be, when his work was particularly pressing. "Berthier could keep his head clear after twelve hours of taking dictation," writes Andrew Roberts, "on one occasion in 1809 he was summoned no fewer than seventeen times in a single night." (Keep in mind he was well into middle age by this point.) He worked tirelessly and without complaint, and expected the same of all his staff. Another biographer writes, "He demanded, and obtained, that everybody work according to the rules he had set himself. It is said that he never conceded anything with grace, but that what he refused was refused with harshness. But there is another side to the Berthier: the good-humored man, more often than not laughing off any adversity."

-He endured the Russian campaign and its brutal retreat at the age of fifty-nine, and still held up better than men who were decades younger than himself. To his wife, he wrote on 21 December 1812 that "I have rheumatic pains in my right arm for the first time. My gout is still leaving me alone. I suffer a lot from the excessive cold, but I am still the one who puts up with things best in the army." It was only around January of 1813 that his health finally began to dwindle to the point where Napoleon finally gave him permission to return to Paris. He had written to his wife on New Year's Eve in Königsberg that "I am very weary, to tell you the truth: but I still keep up my morale and my energy.... You have expressed your views on my remaining with the army: as for me, mon amie, my health needs a rest.... I want to get to know my children, and make them love me. For the sweetest joy of life, especially when one grows old, is to be loved. Today, I enter my sixtieth year: you see what a dashing husband you have!"

-He was one of the least ambitious of the marshals. Though Napoleon heaped honors and titles on him, Berthier never actively sought any of them. He was generally apolitical throughout his life; his primary driving factor was a sense of duty. His biographer Charles Raeuber writes that Berthier "never pretended to be anything else but Napoleon's servant."

-He put up with so much abuse from Napoleon it's not even funny. He was essentially the primary scapegoat for everything that went wrong on a campaign. Most of the time, Berthier was able to shrug off Napoleon's cutting remarks, often burying himself in his work as a coping mechanism. But eventually the abuse took its toll. As Napoleon's moods grew ever more sour over the years, Berthier came in for increasingly cruel treatment; his relationship with Napoleon eventually became so bad during the 1812 campaign that Berthier stopped taking his meals with the Emperor when he could. At one point, Napoleon's secretary Méneval found Berthier "alone at his table with his head buried in his hands. On being asked what distressed him, he burst out with quite unusual vehemence: 'What is the good of giving me an income of 1,500,000 francs, a fine house in Paris, and a magnificent estate, to inflict on me the tortures of Tantalus? I am being killed with hard work. An ordinary soldier is happier than I.'"

-He had a certain talent for diplomacy and a wonderful knack for "softening the blow," so to speak, when it came to relaying Napoleon's displeasure towards unruly subordinates. His missive to Bernadotte in the aftermath of the latter's failure to support Davout at Auerstadt is a perfect example: "However upset the Emperor might be, he did not want to speak to you because, recalling your long services [to him], he was worried he might torment you, and the consideration he has for you, has decided him to keep silent." This particular talent of Berthier's was especially useful with some of the more sensitive marshals (like Murat), with whom Napoleon's harsher remarks were often counterproductive.

-His legendary ménage à trois. He fell head over heels in love while in Italy with a married woman, Giuseppa Carcona, the Marchioness of Visconti. During the following campaign in Egypt, he carried her portrait with him, and would erect a separate tent in which he would set up the portrait surrounded by candles; this tent was off-limits to everyone except the one person whom Berthier couldn't stop from entering it: Napoleon, who delighted in violating the sanctity of Berthier's shrine to Mme Visconti. Later on, Napoleon strong-armed Berthier into marrying; shortly after the marriage, Mme Visconti's husband died, and Berthier mourned what might have been. But he wasn't to be deterred. Somehow he managed to persuade both his wife and Mme Visconti to share a home together with him. And the two women actually became good friends.

More praise for Berthier:

"When all is said and done, Berthier remains the outstanding chief of staff of modern and contemporary times, a professional of the very first order, a highly talented executive, and a powerful worker, endowed with an exceptional sense for grasping the essentials in any given situation."--Biographer Charles Raeuber

"The man who should surely be studied, if not emulated, by every aspiring staff officer."--Biographer S.J. Watson

"No one else could have replaced him." --Napoleon

Works cited:

Raeuber, Charles. Duty and Discipline: Berthier, in Napoleon’s Marshals, edited by David Chandler.

Roberts, Andrews. Napoleon: A Life

Watson, S.J. By Command of the Emperor: A Life of Marshal Berthier

[histoireettralala]

Beyond the public figure

Beyond the public figure, his rather cold relations with other marshals and general officers, Berthier, the man, shows "very human qualities": first of all, that of continuing the social rise of his family, which began with his father. He did this by protecting his loved ones, brothers and sisters. Seemingly little moved by all the honors the Emperor covered him with, except the charge of grand veneur which brought him back to his passion for hunting, he was interested in the accumulation of income with a primary goal, the maintenance and extension of his Grosbois estate. The meticulousness of his management, with his steward Ravenel, shows that, for him, the constitution of a land fortune could only be a guarantee of a future for his descendants.

Other qualities of his were stated by his old friend Mathieu Dumas, in a notice about him which he wrote later: [..] " May friendship and fraternity of arms be allowed to recall the social qualities which won him the esteem of all good people; the ardent love of his country which in other circumstances was the prime motive of his actions; his humanity, which the sight of the bloody scenes which he constantly had before his eyes only made more active and more touching; his noble disinterestedness, his moderation in high fortune, his sweet affection for his family and his constant loyalty to his friends. "

Finally, how can we forget the Berthier in love, the passionate Berthier, who dedicated Giuseppa Visconti a real cult for nearly eighteen years! What was the object of smiles, mockery, scandal, even imperial reprimands, is today, certainly in an anachronistic way, a fact inspiring sympathy and compassion.

Torn between the lights of the Empire and the shadow of his office with Napoleon, between his "loyalty" to a man and his love for a woman in 1808, between his love for the country and his oath to a regime in 1814 , Berthier, prince of Wagram and Neuchâtel, Marshal of the Empire, grand veneur, courageous and brave soldier, intelligent, passionate, appears as a true Cornelian hero, exemplifying the meanders of the human soul.

Franck Favier - Berthier, l’ombre de Napoléon