Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais | |
---|---|
Prince of Venice, Grand Duke of Frankfurt, Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince of Eichstätt | |
Auguste de Beauharnais | |
Born | 3 September 1781 Paris, France |
Died | 21 February 1824 Munich, Bavaria | (aged 42)
Burial | |
Spouse | |
Issue | |
Roman Catholicism | |
Signature | |
Military career | |
Allegiance | French First Republic First French Empire Kingdom of Italy |
Battles/wars | See battles |
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais (
Family
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais was born in Paris on 3 September 1781 as the son of Viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie, both born in the French colony of Martinique. His father served as a general during the early Revolutionary Wars. After losing the Siege of Mainz (1793) he was imprisoned and executed by guillotine on 23 July 1794, a few days before the fall of Maximilien Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror.[2]
Early career
Eugène joined the French Revolutionary Army soon after his father's death, initially serving as an orderly to General Lazare Hoche during the War in the Vendée.[3] However, within a year his mother Joséphine had arranged his return to Paris, after she remarried to Napoleon Bonaparte.[4] After joining the 1st Hussar Regiment as an assistant sub-lieutenant on 30 June 1797, Eugène served as an aide-de-camp to his stepfather in the Italian campaign.[4] After the Treaty of Campo Formio (17 October 1797) he was sent on missions to the Ionian Islands and Rome.[4] In 1798, he followed Napoleon in his campaign in Egypt and Syria, where he took part in the Siege of Jaffa and was wounded during the Siege of Acre.[4]
Eugène returned to France with Napoleon in the autumn of 1799, helping to bring about the reconciliation of the general and his mother, who had become estranged due to their mutual extramarital affairs. During the
After rising through the ranks under the Consulate, Eugène was promoted to
Viceroy of Italy
As commander of the
In 1805, the War of the Third Coalition was to test Eugène's talents as an organizer, if not as a commander.[4] While General André Masséna commanded the Army of Italy, Eugène raised a reserve army to guard the kingdom's southern border, after Naples broke its neutrality agreement with France.[4] After the French victory at Austerlitz, Napoleon sought to strengthen Bavaria's alliance with France and arranged Eugène's marriage to Princess Augusta of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, breaking her engagement to Charles, Hereditary Prince of Baden. On 12 January 1806, Eugène was officially adopted by Napoleon.[4] Though excluded from succession to the French Empire, on 16 February 1806 he was declared heir presumptive to the Italian throne, in the absence of a second son of Napoleon.[4]
Over the following years, Eugène dedicated himself to the management of the Kingdom of Italy, showing himself an astute politician and administrator.
During the
Napoleon considered making Eugène regent of France during the invasion of Russia but ultimately decided against this.[8] During the campaign, Eugène again commanded the Army of Italy (IV Corps), with a total force of 80,000 men. He fought at the battles of Ostrovno, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Borodino, Maloyaroslavets, Krasnoi, and the Berezina.[3] After Napoleon and then Joachim Murat had left the retreating army in December 1812, Eugène took command of the remnants of the Grande Armée at Poznań.[9] He led the retreat to Leipzig from January to May 1813, then served under Napoleon at the Battle of Lützen.[3][4] Eugène then returned to Italy, where he set about reorganizing his troops and preparing the defence against the Austrian Empire.[4]
Despite the
Later life
After the fall of the Kingdom of Italy, Eugène retired to Munich in June 1814 at the behest of his father-in-law.[3] He soon returned to Paris on the death of his mother, where he was honourably received by Louis XVIII and Alexander I of Russia.[4] He immediately renounced his political activity and returned to his wife's family in Bavaria.[4] Accordingly, he remained neutral during Napoleon's return to power in the Hundred Days.[4]
As
Marriage and issue
On 14 January 1806, two days after his adoption by Napoleon, Eugène married Princess Augusta Amalia Ludovika Georgia of Bavaria (1788–1851), eldest daughter of Napoleon's ally, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. Although a diplomatic marriage, this union would turn out to be a happy one. On 14 November 1817, his father-in-law made him Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt, with the style Royal Highness.
Eugène and Augusta had seven children:
- Princess Joséphine Maximiliane Eugénie Napoléonne de Beauharnais (1807–1876); became the Queen Consort to King Oscar I of Sweden, himself the son of Napoleon's old love, Désirée Clary.
- Princess Eugénie Hortense Auguste de Beauharnais (1808–1847); married Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
- Prince Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg (1810–1835); married Queen Maria II of Portugal. There was no issue from this marriage.
- Princess Amélie Auguste Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais (31 July 1812 – 26 January 1873); was the second wife of Pedro I of Brazil (father of Maria II of Portugal) and became Empress of Brazil.
- Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach.
- Princess Carolina Clotilde de Beauharnais (1816)
- Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia, eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, and received the title of "Prince Romanovsky", addressed as "His Imperial Highness", in 1852.
Roles and titles
On 20 December 1807, he was given the title of Prince de Venise ("Prince of Venice"), a title created on 30 March 1806, when the Venetian Province taken from Austria in 1805 was united to Bonaparte's Kingdom of Italy.
In 1810, Napoleon used his influence over Karl von Dalberg, Archbishop of Regensburg and Grand Duke of Frankfurt, to name Eugène as constitutional heir of the grand duchy. Von Dalberg abdicated on 26 October 1813 due to Frankfurt's imminent conquest by the allied armies, and Eugène became nominal grand duke until Frankfurt was occupied by the allies in December of that same year.
A further imperial sinecure was Archichancelier d'État de l'Empire de France ("Archchancellor of State of the Empire of France").
His name is inscribed on Column 24 of the Southern Pillar of the
Battle record
- Battle of Sacile (1809) - Defeat
- Battle of Caldiero (1809) - Defeat
- Battle of Piave River (1809) - Victory
- Battle of Tarvis (1809) - Victory
- Battle of Raab(1809) - Victory
- Battle of Wagram (1809) - Victory
- Battle of Borodino (1812) - Victory
- Battle of Maloyaroslavets (1812) - Indecisive
- Battle of Lützen (1813) - Victory
- Battle of Caldiero (1813) - Victory
- Battle of the Mincio River (1814) - Victory
Heraldry
-
Monogram of Eugène de Beauharnais
-
Coat of arms as
French Prince -
Coat of arms as
Viceroy of Italy -
Coat of arms as
Duke of Leuchtenberg
References
- Citations
- ^ Caulaincourt 1935, p. 403.
- ^ Tucker 2015, p. 68.
- ^ a b c d e f Six, Georges (1934). "BEAUHARNAIS (Eugène-Rose, prince de)". Dictionnaire biographique des généraux et amiraux français de la Révolution et de l'Empire : 1792-1814 (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Librairie Historique et Nobilaire. p. 66.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Beaucour, Fernand (January 1971). "BEAUHARNAIS, Eugène de". Revue du Souvenir Napoléonien (257). Translated by Hicks, Peter: 41–42. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ Connelly, Napoleon's Satellite Kingdoms, p. 22.
- ^ a b Miller, E.J. (1967). "The Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy". The British Museum Quarterly. 31: 3/4 – via www.jstor.org/stable/4422964.
- ^ )
- OCLC 57382666.
- ^ Korolev, N. (29 May 2014). "A day trip to Zvenigorod". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- Bibliography
- Caulaincourt, Armand-Augustin-Louis (1935). With Napoleon in Russia. Translated by Jean Hanoteau. New York: Morrow.
- Oman, Carola Napoleon's viceroy, Eugène de Beauharnais London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1966.
- ISBN 9781598847581.
External links
- Napoleon & Empire La franc-maçonnerie sous le Consulat et le Premier Empire (in French)
- Genealogy of the Ducal Family of Leuchtenberg at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)
- Heraldica.org - Napoleonic titles outside France
- Rose, John Holland (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). p. 588.
- Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). . . Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.
- "Eugène de Beauharnais" (in German). Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte.