#giuseppa visconti

[peaceinthestorm]

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

[Source: collections.louvre.fr]

[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

[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

[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]

“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 (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.

[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]