THE NAPOLEON´S MARSHALS WITH THE BE

PRINCE DE WAGRAM  LOUIS-ALEXANDRE  BERTHIER
COMTE  HENRI-GRATIEN  BERTRAND
DUC D´ISTRIE  JEAN-BAPTISTE  BESSIÈRES


LOUIS-ALEXANDRE BERTHIER

French soldier and the first of Napoleon´s marshals.

Though not a distinguished commander, Napoleon esteemed him highly as chief os staff of the Grande Armée from 1805.

Responsible for the operation of Napoleon´s armies, he was called by the Emperor "the man who has served me longest and has never failed me".

the son of an ennobled court works surveyor, Berthier gained military experience in the American Revolution, serving with Lafayette, and then in the French Revolution as survey and staff officer and finally as chief of staff (1791-92). Sent to fight the royalists inn western France in March 1793, he was recalled, as a noble, after four months dangerous service and driven underground by the Revolutionary Terror. He reappeared as general of division and chief of staff in the Army of the Alps and of Italy. Commanding in italy, he occupied Rome in February 1798, but laiter joined Napoleon in Egypt.

As chief of staff of the Grande Armée, Berthier directed a staff of six generals and eight colonels. His duties included dispatching direct orders from Napoleon to his marshals. In spite of his professed impersonality in carrying out Napoleon´s orders, a certain amount of friction developed between Berthier and the marshals as the power of the chief of staff grew. Napoleon recognized his loyalty by making him sovereign prince of Neuchâtel in 1806 and gave him the French title of prince de Wagram in 1809.

Berthier remained with Napoleon in Russia to the end of the retreat in 1812 and after the Emperor´s departure, struggled devotedly to preserve order in the army. After Napoleon´s abdication Berthier submitted to Luois XVIII and, as captain of his guards, escorted him out of France when Napoleon returned from Elba.


HENRI-GRATIEN BERTRAND

Military engineer and general who was a friend of Napoleon I and his companion in exile, first at Elba (1814-15), then at St. Helena (1815-21).

His diary is considered invaluable for its frank account of Napoleon´s character and life in exile. (It was decoded, annotated, and published in 1949).

Bertrand entered the army at age 19 as an engineer. After service in Italy in 1797, where he first met Napoleon, he was sent on an expedition to Egypt (1798-99) and directed the fortification of Alexandria.

He was appointed brigadier general in 1880. Named aide-decamp to Napoleon in 1804, he further distinguished himself during the Austrian campaign. The bridges he constructed for the French crossing of the Danube at Wagram in 1809 were described by Napoleon as "the finest since the Romans".

Bertrand was created comte in 1808. Appointed grand marshal of the palace in 1813, he late accompanied Napoleon into exile.

After Napoleon´s death in 1821, Bertrand returned to France, where a death sentence that had been passed on him in absentia (1817) was annulled. He was elected deputy for Château-roux inn 1831, and in 1840, with the Prince de Joinville, he escorted Napoleon´s body from St. Helena to France for final burial.


JEAN-BAPTISTE BESSIÈRES

French soldier and as one of Napoleon´s marshals commander of the imperial guard after 1804; his appointment as marshal indicated Napoleon´s intention to develop the imperial guard. A polished but unpretentious man, he was one of the Emperor´s few intimate friends.

In 1792 Bessières joined Louis XVI´s constitutional guard as a private. After serving in Catalonia as a captain, he was chosen to command Napoleon´s escort in Italy in 1796. He fought bravely at Aboukir in 1798 and two years later commanded 800 men of the consular guard at the Battle of Marengo (June 14). In 1805 with 9,000 guards, he led the charge against the Russian guard cavalry at Austerlitz (December 2).

In Spain Bessières victory at Medina de Rioseco (1808) enabled Napoleon´s brother Joseph to reach Madrid and establish himself as king of Spain.

Commanding the cavalry corps against Austria in 1809, Bessières led charges to cover the retreat in the Battle of Aspern-Essling (May 22) and to gain time at the Battle of Wagram (July 5-6), where he was severely wounded.

Yet he was soon sent to end the British Walcheren expedition in Flanders. Sent back to Spain in command of 50,000 men to hold the north, he was unable to bring more than a few of his cavalry to join André Masséna for the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (May 3, 1811).

In 1812 Bessières led the guard cavalry to Russia and lost them almost without fighting. On the day before the Battle of Lützen (May 2), he was killed in a clash at Rippach while on reconnaissance.