Louis-Gabriel Suchet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kingdom of France
 French First Republic
 First French Empire
Bourbon Restoration (1814–1815)
Service/branchArmy
Years of service1792–1815
RankMarshal of the Empire
Battles/wars
See list:
AwardsGrand Cross of the Legion of Honour

Louis-Gabriel Suchet, duc d'Albuféra (2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarded as one of the greatest generals of the Napoleonic Wars.

Early life

Suchet's birthplace in Lyon

Suchet was born on 2 March 1770 in

silk merchant, and Suchet originally intended to follow a business career.[1] He received a solid education and joined his father's business in 1787, working as an apprentice for two years.[1]

Upon Jean-Pierre's death in January 1789, Suchet and his brother Gabriel-Catherine took over the family enterprise, which they decided to expand under the name Maison Suchet frères.[1] However, the French Revolution led Suchet to volunteer, in 1791, for the cavalry of the National Guard at Lyon.[2] He displayed abilities which secured rapid military promotions, and by 1792 he was a captain of the volunteers from Ardèche.[2][3]

French Revolutionary Wars

Suchet as a lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Ardèche Battalion in 1792, by Vincent-Nicolas Raverat (1834)

After the

Siege of Toulon, where he captured the British general Charles O'Hara.[3] In May 1794, at the head of 250 soldiers of his battalion, he suppressed a counter-revolutionary uprising in the town of Bédoin in southeastern France.[1] Suchet was then sent to the Army of Italy, where he would serve for most of the next seven years.[3] He fought at the Battle of Loano in November 1795 during the army's first campaign.[3] During the 1796 Italian campaign, he served with distinction at the battles of Lodi, Castiglione, and Bassano.[3] He went to Paris on leave after being severely wounded on 11 October at Cerea, but soon returned to the army.[2][3]

In May 1797, Suchet was one of three

Napoleon Bonaparte's table and said, "Well general, when will you make our friend Suchet a colonel?" Bonaparte tried to brush him off with the reply, "Soon: we will see about it." Thereupon Dupuy took off one of his epaulettes and placed it on Suchet's shoulder, saying, "By my almightiness, I make thee colonel." This clownish action was successful; Bonaparte immediately directed Louis-Alexandre Berthier to write out Suchet's nomination for advancement.[4]

Suchet received the command of the 18th

Battle of Novi, Suchet continued to serve as chief of staff to his successors Moreau and Championnet.[3]

In 1800, Suchet was named second-in-command to General

Peace of Lunéville and the end of the War of the Second Coalition.[3] He was appointed Inspector-General of the Infantry on 24 July 1801.[3]

Napoleonic Wars

Heraldic achievement of Louis-Gabriel Suchet, Duke of Albuféra

Suchet greatly enhanced his reputation during the

Pułtusk, and Ostrolenka.[3]

In the subsequent negotiations of the

Count of the Empire on 24 June 1808.[3] Two months later, Suchet was stationed to Silesia as commander-in-chief of the V Corps.[3]

Peninsular War

Suchet receiving the surrender of Tortosa on 2 January 1811 (detail), by Jean-Charles-Joseph Rémond (c. 1836)
Portrait of Marshal Suchet in Spain by Vicente López Portaña, c. 1813

Suchet was deployed to

Siege of Lérida, then laid siege to Mequinenza in May.[5]

He

region of Valencia, defeated Blake y Joyes at the Battle of Saguntum on 15 October, and received the capitulation of Valencia on 9 January 1812.[3] He was rewarded with the title of duc d'Albuféra (Duke of Albuféra) on 24 January 1812.[5]

After the tide turned against France, Suchet managed to defend his territories in eastern Spain until the French defeat at Vitoria on 21 June 1813, after which he was forced to evacuate Valencia.[3] He withdrew to Catalonia then to the Pyrenees before finally re-entering France, and afterwards took part in the defense of southwestern France until Napoleon's abdication in April 1814.[3]

Hundred Days and later life

Suchet accepted the

peer of France on 4 June 1814 by King Louis XVIII.[3] This was forfeited (effective 24 July 1815) by his support of Napoleon's return during the Hundred Days.[2] During Napoleon's brief restoration, Suchet was given command of the Army of the Alps and led the defensive campaign on the southeastern front.[2] He resisted the Allies' advance for nearly two months before withdrawing to his hometown of Lyon, where he signed an armistice on 12 July.[3]

Suchet was only restored to the Chamber of Peers on 5 March 1819.[3] Unlike other marshals whom Napoleon harshly criticized in Saint Helena, Suchet never lost Napoleon's high esteem.[5] He died on 3 January 1826 at the Château de Saint-Joseph-Montredon, now called Château de Saint-Just, near Marseille.[3][6][2] His son, Louis-Napoléon (1813-1877), succeeded him as Duc d'Albufera.

Legacy

Suchet's grave in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

His memoirs (Mémoires sur Ses Campagnes en Espagne) were published in two volumes from 1829 to 1834.[2]

The chicken dish

poularde à la d'Albuféra
is named after him.

Family

Suchet married Honorine Anthoine de Saint-Joseph (Marseille, 26 February 1790 – Paris, 13 April 1884), a niece of Julie Clary, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, on 16 November 1808.[7][8] They had three children:[9]

  • Louise-Honorine (1811 – 1885)
  • Louis-Napoléon (1813 – 1877)
  • [daughter, unknown name] (1820 – 1835)

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1786250001
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Chisholm 1911, p. 7.
  3. ^ 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 z aa ab ac ad Robert, Adolphe; Cougny, Gaston (1891). Dictionnaire des parlementaires français [Dictionary of French Parliamentarians] (in French). Paris. p. 346.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 215–216.
  5. ^ a b c d "SUCHET, Louis-Gabriel, (1770-1826), duc d'Albufera, maréchal". Napoleon.org.
  6. ^ Castle of Saint-Joseph Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine on Napoleon & Empire website
  7. ^ Brotonne, Léonce de (1895). Les sénateurs du consulat et de l'empire (in French). H. Champion. p. 111.
  8. ^ Rousseau, François (1900). La carrière du Maréchal Suchet duc d'Albufera: documents inédits (in French). Didot. p. 57.
  9. ^ Révérend, vicomte Albert (1906). Titres, anoblissements et pairies de la restauration 1814-1830 (in French). Chez l'auteur et chez H. Champion. pp. 283.

References

Attribution:

Further reading

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