Marshal of the Empire
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Marshal of the Empire (French: Maréchal d'Empire) was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was created by Sénatus-consulte on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent reinstated the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. According to the Sénatus-consulte, a Marshal was a grand officer of the Empire, entitled to a high-standing position at the court and to the presidency of an electoral college.
Although in theory reserved "to the most distinguished generals", in practice
Throughout his reign from 1804 to 1815, Napoleon appointed a total of 26 Marshals, although their number never exceeded 20 at any one moment. The initial list of 1804 included 14 names of active generals and four names of retired generals, who were given the "honorary" title of Marshal. Six other promotions ensued, with eight other generals elevated to the Marshalate. The title often ensured a highly privileged social status – four Marshals were created
Most of the Marshals held significant commands during the
Origins
The French word Maréchal traces its origins back to the
Eleven years later,
Although a purely civil dignity reserved to distinguished generals and not a military rank, a Marshal displayed four stars, while the top military rank of the time, the General of Division displayed three. Contrary to a well-established idea and to the representation on most paintings of the time, the Marshal's four stars were silvered, not gilded. A Marshal was required to wear a standard uniform, which was established through decree on 18 July 1804 and designed by painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey and designer Charles Percier. Nevertheless, the Marshals often chose to wear either variants of the official uniform or costumes of totally different design. The ultimate distinctive sign of a Marshal was his baton. It was cylindrical, 50 centimetres long and 4 centimetres and a half in diameter, made of wood and covered in dark blue velvet, decorated with golden eagles or honey bees, both Imperial symbols.[5]
Promotions
The creation of the new civil dignity allowed Napoleon to strengthen his newly created regime by rewarding the most valuable of the generals who had served under his command during his campaigns in Italy and Egypt or soldiers who had held significant commands during the French Revolutionary Wars. Subsequently, other senior generals were promoted on six occasions, mainly following major battlefield victories. With hindsight, Napoleon's choices for the Marshalate were not always well inspired.[6]
First promotion (1804)
The first promotion created eighteen new Marshals of the Empire and coincided with the proclamation of the
Overall, the first promotion included 14 names of generals. An initial list was drafted by State Secretary Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke and later altered by the Emperor. Napoleon added in his own handwriting Murat's name, which was conspicuously absent from Clarke's draft. This was possibly an omission, but there seems to be no evidence to that effect. The final list included the following names, in an order which to this day remains unclear:
- Ancien Régime, a part of the French Expeditionary Corps during the American Revolutionary War, who had become Napoleon's ‘indispensable’ chief of staff, creating a complex staff system mainly composed of three groups that proved highly effective[7]
- King of Naples.
- Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, a competent if unexceptional soldier, who had been the commander-in-chief of the French army that defeated Spain and forced it out of the First Coalition
- Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, the hero of Fleurus, a staunch Republican, and held significant commands and campaigned on the Rhine
- André Masséna, a dogged and tenacious soldier, one of Napoleon's former senior divisional commanders from the First Italian Campaign and who subsequently acquired considerable reputation as an independent commander of armies
- Pierre Augereau, a skilled tactician, another of Napoleon's senior divisional commanders of the First Italian Campaign
- Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, served as Minister of War and ambassador to Austria under the Directory, he was one of Jourdan's divisional commanders in the Army of the Rhine and himself a Republican, who also fought with Napoleon in Italy as a divisional commander, and commander of the Army of the West during the Consulate
- Guillaume Brune, a fierce Republican, he had been friends with the journalist Jean-Paul Marat and risen to become an influential soldier and diplomat who was the hero of the Battle of Castricum.
- Jean-de-Dieu Soult, a dependable commander and organizer, who had served under Jourdan and Jean Victor Marie Moreau and became Masséna's right-hand man during the 1799–1800 campaigns
- Jean Lannes, a distinguished soldier who proved courageous in Italy and Egypt, rising to become a General of Division and commandant of the consular guard
- Édouard Mortier, a capable commander who served with great distinction during the War of the Second Coalition at Zurichand Hanover
- Michel Ney, an excellent cavalry officer who distinguished himself in the War of the First Coalition
- Louis-Nicolas Davout, perhaps Napoleon's finest general, a Republican and a commander in the consular guard and already had an impressive record, also serving in the Egyptian Expedition, although there were rumors that Davout had actually risen to the rank of Marshal because of the deaths of two of his patrons (General Desaix; at Marengo, and Charles Leclerc; died of yellow fever in Haiti)
- Jean-Baptiste Bessières, a fine cavalry commander, and one of Napoleon's closest friends
Four additional names were mentioned on the list: these were former senior generals who had held commands of armies and had been elected senators of the Republic. Their status was honorary due to their age and they weren't set to be given field commands.
- François Christophe de Kellermann, the oldest marshal chosen by Napoleon, supposedly honorary but in fact, Kellermann proved one of Napoleons most effective at handling reserve-class forces.
- François Joseph Lefebvre, who continued to serve as field commander
- Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon, who fought in the Pyrenees frontier against Spain, winning several key victories, but retiring from military command shortly before becoming a Marshal, never held active military command again
- Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier, a close friend and supporter of Georges Danton, making him politically useful for Napoleon
Second promotion (1807)
- Claude Victor-Perrin, a skilled commander, who had served under Napoleon in the Siege of Toulon, in which he personally drove the British back into the sea, not to mention for his valor during the Italian Campaign. Made a Marshal for his performance at the Battle of Friedland
Third promotion (1809)
Three new marshals were created in the aftermath of the Battle of Wagram.
- Jacques MacDonald, the only Marshal of the Empire to be promoted on a battlefield, and was Napoleon's choice for “France”
- Nicolas Charles Oudinot, Napoleon's choice for the “Army”
- Auguste de Marmont, was the choice of “friendship,” probably to Napoleon
Fourth promotion (1811)
- Louis-Gabriel Suchet, one of the most prominent and successful marshals of the Napoleonic Wars and the only Marshal to gain his baton in the Peninsular Wars after his Victory at Taragona.[8]
Fifth promotion (1812)
- Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr was made a Marshal after routing a Russian army at Polotsk, defending the French spearhead which was driving towards Moscow. This, in recognition, Napoleon made him a Marshal.
Sixth promotion (1813)
- House of Poniatowski.
Seventh promotion (1815)
- Emmanuel de Grouchy was made a Marshal at the latter stages of Napoleon's military career. A capable cavalry general throughout the Napoleonic wars, Grouchy was made a Marshal before the 100 days. He was widely blamed for not joining with Napoleon for the Battle of Waterloo, getting himself into unnecessary battles with Prussian field commander, Von Blücher.
Controversies
Among the men who were offered the Marshalate, there was a mix of famous generals, who had commanded the armies of the Republic (Brune, Jourdan, Kellermann, Lefebvre, Masséna, Moncey), as well as more junior generals, whose command never exceeded division-sized forces (Mortier, Ney, Soult). It even included relatively obscure generals from Napoleon's Italian or Egyptian expeditions, who had recently secured their promotion to the top military rank of General of Division, but had never held significant commands (Bessières, Davout, Lannes). Unsurprisingly, this created a certain degree of discontentment among the more senior commanders. André Masséna was noted for his sardonic remark, "There's fourteen of us...", which he muttered when his friends came to congratulate him for his nomination. Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, then a young general, possibly bitter that he had not been nominated also observed that: "If Bessières is a Marshal, then anyone can be." Ironically, Marmont himself was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1809, though it was said he was awarded the distinction for his close friendship with Napoleon as opposed to any great generalship.
List of the Marshals of the Empire
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See also
- Grand Marshal of the Palace
- Eugene de Beauharnais
- List of French generals of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
- Marshal of Holland
References
- ^ Banc, p. 13-14.
- ^ Banc, p. 14.
- ^ a b Tulard, vol. 2, p. 268.
- ^ Banc, p. 14-15.
- ^ Banc, p. 15-16.
- ^ a b Banc, p. 19.
- ^ Napoleon's Marshals Part 6, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 27 March 2021 Quick documentary of Marshal Berthier; and two other marshals
- ^ Quick Documentary of Marshal Suchet; and two more Marshals
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