France Napoleon's Marshals

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Hello,

One of my goals in collecting is to get at least one autograph of Napoleon's Marshals. Napoleon created 26 marshals during his days as emperor of France so the number is reasonable. I'm still missing a bunch but I get closer everyday.

I have the opportunity to get some autographs from the marshals who lived along life from the 1820's onward, but it just doesn't seem the same as the Napoleonic Period. I only look for documents from the French Revolution to around 1816. I do have one from 1817 which is over the my borderline.

I'll also type out Napoleon's comments about his marshals after his fall from power. They are somewhat interesting. They are listed in the book Napoleon's Marshals by Chandler.

I'll try and post a few each day.

Created Marshal by Seniority May 19, 1804

1. Louis Alexandre Berthier

2. Joachim Murat

3. Bon Adrien Jeannot de Moncey

4. Jean Baptiste Jourdan

5. Andre Massena

6. Pierre Francois Charles Augereau

7. Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte

8. Nicolas Soult

9. Guillaume Marie Anne Brune

10.Jean Lannes

11.Edouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier

12.Michel Ney

13.Louis Nicolas Davout

14.Jean Baptiste Bessieres

15.Francois Christophe de Kellermann

16.Francois Joseph Lefebvre

17.Dominique Catherine Perignon

18.Jean Mathieu Philibert Serurier

Created Marshal July 13, 1807

19. Claude Victor Perrin

Created Marshal July 2, 1809

20. Nicolas Charles Oudinot

Created Marshal July 5, 1809

21. Jacques Eitienne Joseph Alexandre Macdonald

Created Marshal July 12, 1809

22. Auguste Frederic Louis Viesse de Marmont

Created Marshal July 8, 1811

23. Louis Gabriel Suchet

Created Marshal August 27, 1812

24. Laurent Gouvion St.Cyr

Created Marshal October, 15, 1813

25. Josef Anton Poniatowski

Created Marshal April 15, 1815

26. Emmanuel Grouchy

thanks,

barry

[Bear]

Pierre Francois Charles Augereau(1757-1816)

Duke of Castiglione

Augereau would be denounced by Napoleon and the King of France. He would die alone at home.

It is a long time since the Marshal was truly a soldier; his courage, his outstanding virtues certainly elevated hime far above the crowd; but honors, titles, and money plunged him back into it. The conqueror of Castiglione could have left a cherished name to France; but she will recall the memory of the deserter of Lyons.

Napoleon

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Paris 6 March 1815

Monsieur the Duke, the advantageous instructions which have been given me regarding the services of Monsieur le Petit of Courville, Adjutant Commandant, retired, at Caen, bind me to beg your Excellency to grant him the decoration of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis. I include with the present letter the circumstances of the services of this superior officer with a copy of a letter addressed to him by Monsieur the Lieutenant General Commandant of the 14th Military Division. Accept Monsieur the Duke, the assurance of my great consideration.

(Signed)

AUGEREAU

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Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte(1763-1844)

Prince of Porte-Corvo

King of Sweden and Norway

Bernadotte would go onto be king of Sweden and he would live a long life and died of old age.

I can only say that Bernadotte let me down. He had become a sort a Swede, but he never promised or declared an intention to stay true. I can therefore accuse him of ingratitude, but not of treason.

Napoleon

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Army of Sambre Meuse

Headquarters of Nasseau

September 1, 1795

In the name of Law and the Loyalty of the French People. It is forbidden to any military man and to any other person to indulge into any excess or violence towards Bailiff Weiss, living at Berg Nasseau. Whoever will dare to make an attempt to the persons or the properties will be indicted to the War Council, and punished exemplarily. Pillage is prohibited; he that will make himself guilty of that, will be considered an enemy of the Republic, and repressed in consequence.

General of Division

(Signed)

BERNADOTTE

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Louis Alexandre Berthier(1753-1815)

Prince of Neuchatel and Wagram

Berthier would not rejoin Napoleon during the Hundred Days and would either commit suicide or be pushed out of a window to the street.

I have been betrayed by Berthier, a true gosling whom I had made into a kind of eagle. There was not in the world a better Chief of Staff; that is where his true talent lay, for he was not capable of commanding 500 men.

Napoleon

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To the Headquarters of Cairo October 12, 1798

Citizen ALEXANDER BERTHIER, General of Division

You citizen General CAFARELLI, that the citizen General in Chief, owing to the need of subjects has authorized Citizen Auger, Sapeur in the 6th Battalion, to keep on exercising in the Military Hospital No.1 the role of nurse, until 14th Brumaire, by which date he?ll be bound to rejoin his post.

(Signed)

ALEX BERTHIER

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Vittoria the 7th November 1808

To his Excellency the Minister of War, Comte d?Hunebourg

I have the honour of sending your Excellency a letter extracted from my Correspondence, the object of which comes with in your responsibilities. I renew your Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration.

The Prince of Neuchatel

Major General

(Signed)

ALEXANDRE

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Aranda the 26th November 1808

Monsieur the Marshal VICTOR

You will order the immediate arrest of Messrs. Casin and Gentil, battalion commanders and Bagnac Lieutenant, all three from the corps of Engineers, for not having executed the order which I gave them to present themselves to General Lery Commander in Chief of the Corps of Engineers. You will give them the enclosed orders, the Emperor bids you to ensure they are executed promptly, which is to say that these three officers will leave in one hour after you have given them the orders that they present themselves to General Lery. Even if these gentlemen had not received my order, they received that of General Lery which they should have obeyed.

(Signed)

ALEXANDRE

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Jean Baptiste Bessieres(1768-1813)

Duke of Istria

Bessieres would be killed by a cannon ball on the eve of Lutzen.

If I had had Bessieres at Waterloo, my Guard would have brought me victory

Napoleon

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The document while at Valladolid, Spain and dated the 8th of March 1809. It was written one day before his recall to Paris in order to take part in the Austrian Campaign. During this time he was commander of the northern provinces of Spain, and he writes to warn General Thi?baut of the arrival of Irish Battalions from Flushing.

Edited February 20, 2009 by Bear

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Guillaume Marie Anne Brune(1763-1815)

Brune would be assassinated while traveling to Paris. His body would be thrown into the Rhone.

He was justly proclaimed the saviour of the Batavian Republic. The Romans would have awarded him the honor of a Triumph. By saving Holland he also saved France from invasion.

Napoleon

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Untranslated. Brune's signature is in the upper left corner.

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Louis Nicolas Davout(1770-1823)

Duke of Auerstadt

Davout would die from consumption in Paris.

He will have a place in history because of Auerstadt. He also performed well at Eylau, but, although urged on at Wagram his slowness was the cause of the failure to conclude the battle the first day. He also made mistakes at Borodina.

Napoleon

[Bear]

Nothing Yet :banger:

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Laurent Gouvion St.Cyr(1764-1830)

St.Cyr would die of old age in France.

My mistake was to have employed St.Cyr; he never exposed himself to fire, made no visits, left his comrades to be beaten, and should have been able to Save Vandamme at Kulm.

Napoleon

[Bear]

Maybe Soon :banger:

[Bear]

Emmanuel Grouchy(1766-1847)

Grouchy would die of old age while traveling through Europe.

Marshal Grouchy, with 34,000 men and 108 cannon, solved the apparently undisclosed secret of being, on the morning of the 18th, neither on the battlefield of Mont St. Jean nor on that of Wavre. His conduct was as unforeseeable as if his army, on the march, had undergone an earthquake and been swallowed up.

Napoleon

[Bear]

Nope :banger:

[Bear]

Jean Baptiste Jourdan(1762-1833)

Jourdan would die of old age in Paris.

I certainly used that man very ill; nothing would be more natural than that he should think that he owed me little. Ah well! I have learned with great pleasure that since my fall he invariably acted very well. He has thus afforded an example of that praiseworthy elevation of mind which distinguishes men one from another. Jourdan is a true patriot, and that is the answer to many things that have been said of him.

Napoleon

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This is a document by Jourdan to the Minister of War(Berthier) dated 1802.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Bear

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Francois Christophe Kellermann(1735-1820)

Duke of Valmy

Kellermann would die of old age in Paris.

I think that I was probably the boldest general who ever lived, but I wouldn't have dared to take post there topped by a windmill at Valmy.

Napoleon

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State of the sums paid from the 300,000F and 500,000F funds granted to the representatives anf generals of the Army of the Alps, by the orders of the Committees of Public Salute and of finances, gathered on the dates of Messidor 6th and Fructidor 12th.

(Paid) on orders from Rept (Representative) R?al and Gal (General) Moulin 771,959. 19.6

(Paid) on warrants from General Kellermann 11,040. .

782,999.19.6

Remains available from the abovementionned funds 17, . .6

50,000F funds destined to the secret expenses, granted by order of the Committees of finances and Public salute gathered on the date of Messidor 6th 50,000 F

Out of which has been paid on warrants from General Kellermann 40,000F

Remains available 10,000F

500,000F funds granted by order of the Committees of finances and Public salute gathered on the date of Vendemiaire 7th

Note. Representative Real, in his letter of 7 Frimaire, divided this fund in two equal parts, he put 250,000F at the disposal of the General in Chief and 250,000F, at the disposal of the Chief Ordonnateur (?). The part at the disposal of the General in Chief is whole??250,000F

Certified true copy

The General in Chief of the Army of the Alps

(Signed)

KELLERMANN

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Paris, on the 12th Prairial, An 8 R?p.

G?n?ral Kellermann, Member of the Senate

Conservative

To G?n?ral de Brigade Pouget, Commanding the 8th Division of the Arm?e d?Italie.

I forward you enclosed, my dear G?n?ral, a letter that I have just received from the Minister for War in answer to the last I wrote to ask him your reinstatement in the rank of G?n?ral Divisionnaire. You?ll read there that the Premier Consul has decided to wait for the opinion of G?n?ral en Chef Massena before making a decision.

I renew, my dear G?n?ral, the assurance of my feelings of affection and frienship towards you.

Kellermann

Edited August 26, 2008 by Bear

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Jean Lannes(1769-1809)

Duke of Montebello

Lannes would be killed at Aspern Essling after being his by a cannon ball.

In the case of Lannes, his courage in the first place carried him further than his spirit; but each day his spirit rose to the occasion, and restored the balance. He had truly become a superior being by the time he perished; I found him a pygmy, but I lost a giant.

Napoleon