#to be fair napoleon really loved to exclude clarke from all things important

[josefavomjaaga]

Major général des armées d’Espagne

On September 16, 1809, while Napoleon was negotiating the peace treaty with the Austrians after the Fifth Coalition War, in Spain one marshal Soult had briefly been declared major général des armées d’Espagne, i.e., the guy in charge for all things military in Spain. Presumably because he was already doing the job anyway. On December 1, 1810, however, that title was taken away from him and given to – one Louis Alexandre Berthier. So Berthier was in Spain at the time? No, of course not, he was in Paris and would soon set out on his journey to Vienna, in order to bring home a bride for Napoleon.

To say Soult was hurt by this would be somewhat of an understatement. He felt disconcerted enough to send one of his aides to Paris in order to see Napoleon. And Napoleon, while mostly concerned with getting his first marriage annulled and his second on the way, felt obliged to write an answer.

Paris, 14 January 1810

I receive your letter brought to me by your aide-de-camp. This aide-de-camp tells me that Berthier's nomination caused some uncertainty as to the confidence I have in you. I have full confidence in you. I named the prince of Neuchâtel because I wanted the correspondence to pass through him to be quicker than through the channel of the Minister of War and because there are a great many accounts to make and he is used to them. You must take the same title as Jourdan took, all the time I was in Spain. I am very upset, because of the pain this may have caused you and especially because of the influence it may have had on my affairs, that there was any uncertainty about this.

Napoleon: Oh, nono, it’s not that I distrust you, I distrust, uhm, Clarke, and Berthier is really good with the numbers and he can tell me stuff over dinner, also, you can have Jourdan’s title, that one was pretty, too, right, and … listen, just don’t go all Roi Nicolas on my brother now, okay? Joseph is very able to loose a kingdom on his own.

So, from then on there were two commanders for Spain: Soult on the ground, and, superior to him, Berthier in Paris. Plus one king Joseph, officially the political head of the country, always trying to meddle with military affairs as much as he could.

Fun. Not.