'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE NAPOLEONIC WARS group.

Betsy wrote: "That was an interesting article I had nevef heard that about his destroying his mother's letters. Davout is definitely a favorite."

I hadn't heard about that either, always something new to learn!

That seems to be a common problem with e-books when they convert old books into text.

In regards to the articles on Auerstadt, I know how much you like Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout (me too):

https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

Since it's the 14th of October over in the other half of the world, its now the anniversary of the Battle of Auestadt:

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...

Betsy wrote: "Have started Atteridge's book on Ney. For some reason, it keeps referring to him as Michel Bey!"

That's a very bad typo, who published the book?

Although I should have added that engagement as well!

That's true Betsy, Napoleon can't claim that one :)

Talking about anniversaries, today that most famous of Napoleonic victories was fought; the Battle of Jena - 14th October 1806:

https://shannonselin.com/2019/10/batt...

https://www.frenchempire.net/battles/...

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/napo...

Murat had a miserable end! He could have been such a better soldier and leader if it wasn't for his continual grasping for more of everything and anything that took his eye. Caroline didn't help him either but she managed to look after herself after his death.

Caroline Bonaparte Murat:
https://shannonselin.com/2021/03/caro...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - The Trial and execution of Marshal Ney. A sad postscript to Ney's execution:

Among those who deeply regretted his shameful death was the Duchess of Angouleme, the sole survivor of the pitiful family who were imprisoned in the Temple during the Terror. Her father, mother and brother had died during the Revolution and she was understandably frigid towards Bonapartists. When they gave her a copy of Segur's account of the Russian campaign and she read of Ney's example to the rearguard, she put down the put with tears in her eyes. "If only we had known!" she exclaimed.

Marshal Ney's monument and statue by Francois Rude in Paris:
https://www.eutouring.com/images_pari...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - The Trial and execution of Marshal Ney. The author has a visceral dislike for those involved in this episode. He quoted Marshal Moncey's letter of dissent to the King:

Moncey's course was more honourable. He wrote to the King, categorically refusing to sit in judgement over a man he revered and his letter is one of the most moving documents in the history of the period. "Where were those who accuse Ney while he was on the field of battle?" he asked. "At the Beresina it was Ney who saved the remnants of the army. I myself had relatives, friends, soldiers there who loved their leaders and it is I who am called upon to condemn to death a man to whom so many Frenchmen owe their lives, so many families their sons, husbands, fathers! No Sire ... if I am not to be allowed to save either my country or my own life, I will at any rate save my honour!" Moncey concluded: "Forgive Sire, the frankness of an old soldier, who has always avoided intrigue and has only concerned himself with his profession and his country."

This letter enraged the courtiers and after being dismissed from the army the gallant old fellow was hustled into the Castle of Ham and sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

The Trial and Execution of Marshal Michel Ney:
https://www.napoleon-series.org/resea...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - While Napoleon and his rag-tag army are trying to hold back the advancing allies from the borders of France during 1813-1814, in Spain:

"As the long campaign dragged on the two armies developed a great respect for one another's fighting qualities. The savagery of the Peninsula fighting was now a thing of the past. Whenever the French and British met they fought stoutly but entirely without rancour and Soult became a kind of mascot with Wellington's men, particularly among the men of the Light Division. He was judged by them a gallant opponent and a clean fighter, and this opinion was to stand him in good stead in his old age. Of all Napoleon's fighting men Soult alone was to capture the imagination of the British public. Perhaps the most curious feature of the fighting down here was the emergence of Soult as a strategist fit to rank with Massena and Napoleon himself. He lost every battle and was constantly falling back but with each fight his reputation as a general rose a point. When the war ended he found himself a hero."

Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/...

https://www.napoleon-empire.com/perso...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - The situation in Spain prior to the start of Napoleon's Russian campaign:

"Just before the Emperor headed east he altered his policy in the west. He had made Brother Joseph the supreme commander of the French forces in Spain and sent old Jourdan to Madrid to act as Joseph's military adviser.

Jourdan was accustomed to carrying heavy burdens. In his younger days, it will be recalled, he had tramped from fair to fair with a pack of samples on his back but the burden he was now asked to catty was a good deal heavier than anything he had attempted in his youth. Answerable to him, by Imperial decree, was Suchet, who thought himself the cleverest soldier in Spain and probably was, Marmont, who thought the same and certainly was not, Soult who regarded himself as almost a king, and Joseph, who really was a king but prayed each night that he might cease to be one.

Jourdan was an honourable man and he did his very best. He soothed Joseph's fears and sent out streams of orders, all issued in the King's name, to his colleagues in Andalusia, Valencia and Salamanca but neither one of them took the slightest notice of the despatches and edicts. Suchet went on administering Valencia and Catalonia in his own efficient way. Soult continued to comb Seville for old masters and church plate, and Marmont played hide-and-seek with the cautious Wellington in and around the valleys and gorges of the Portuguese frontier."

Marshal Jean Baptiste Jourdan:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - Murat again and the French expedition to Sicily in 1810:

"Murat had got his throne but was discovering the truth in Shakespeare's observation touching its disadvantages. He had recently set out on an expedition to conquer Sicily but the bulk of his army refused to advance, its officers having received counter-orders from a somewhat higher level. Furiously Murat tried to combat this unseen influence by making Frenchmen residing in the kingdom of Naples adopt Neapolitan nationality but once again high authority intervened. A letter arrived from Paris signed with a large sprawling 'N', pointing out that 'the Emperor was surprised to learn that Murat no longer regarded himself as a Frenchman and he should try hard not to forget the fact that he had risen from stable to throne on the backs of Frenchmen!' "

https://projectmurat.blog/2021/04/13/...

Very interesting post Scott. I think Murat was happy to give up everything and anything, including his any honour, for a crown.

I'm quite enjoying "The March of the Twenty-Six", its not an in-depth look at the Marshals by any means but more of a 'boys-only' romp through the Napoleonic Wars with the men who made Napoleon's Grande Armee function. Certainly a good primer for further in-depth reading and it does give you a feel for the type of men the individual Marshals were.

The March of the Twenty-Six by R.F. Delderfield

Betsy wrote: "That's probably one of the most famous stories of a Marshal. A man of courage and determination, but then that's probably one of the reasons he was killed in 1809."

So very true Betsy, not many commanders who led from the front survived.

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - Marshal Lannes during the Battle of Ratisbon (Regensburg) in 1809. The first French storming party have been swept away by the defender's fire:

"Lannes called for a second and third group of volunteers but at last no one stepped forward. The men looked at the bodies of their comrades and were silent. 'Very well,' said Lannes, shortly, "I was once a grenadier myself!' and he shouldered a scaling ladder and marched into the open. His staff rushed after him, seizing the ladder and trying to pull it away from him. Lannes held on grimly and the group jostled each other across the open ground, swept by Austrian fire.

The sight of a marshal of France competing with his staff for the possession of a scaling ladder was too much for the infantry. They poured into the open and rushed under the walls, planting a dozen ladders side by side and vying with one another to be first on the ramparts. Two of Lannes' staff were the first on the walls and in ten minutes the storming party poured down the far side and taken the main gate defenders in the rear. Thirty minutes later Ratisbon was in French hands and on May 10th the French were in the suburbs of Vienna. It was twenty-three days since Napoleon had left Paris."

Battle of Ratisbon or Regensburg, 23 April 1809:
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...


Marshal Jean Lannes:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - The author's commentary on the relationships between the Marshals:

"Hatreds, as well as friendships, were beginning to harden among the marshals. Lannes and Augereau, always firm friends, could not bear the sight of Murat or Bessieres. Ney abominated Masséna and Davout loathed Bernadotte. Victor and Soult disliked them all. Davout's best friend in the army was the brewer's son, Oudinot, but even this friendship did not survive the Empire. Soult made no firm friends, although he admired Ney's dash and courage. St. Cyr and Marmont, neither of them marshals as yet, shared with Masséna a steady contempt for almost all the others. The only man among the original creation who seems to have been genuinely liked by every marshal was Mortier, the tall, genial farmer's son. Mortier was also liked by his British opponents. He could not only speak their language but came nearest among the marshals to looking and behaving like an English fox-hunting squire! 'Any officer would be proud to serve under him!' wrote a British contemporary who met him in Paris during the Armistice."

Marshal Adolphe-Édouard-Casimir-Joseph Mortier:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - Napoleon busy as a bee:

"Between 1806 and 1814, when he abdicated for the first time, Napoleon made one marshal a King, two sovereign Princes, three Princes of the Empire, thirteen Dukes and six Counts. The remaining Marshal, Poniatowski, the Pole, was a prince in his own right when he joined the Imperial Army."

Marshal Józef Antoni Poniatowski:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

https://polishhistory.pl/jozef-poniat...

"The March of the Twenty-Six" - Poor old Marshal Lefebvre just wanted to retire and enjoy the fruits if victory:

"The old warrior bought himself a fine house in Paris and a friend was sufficiently ill-advised to congratulate Lefebvre on his extraordinary luck. 'Luck?' exploded the old sergeant-major, 'Come out into the garden and I'll take twenty shots at you at thirty paces. If I miss the house and everything in it is yours!' When the friend began to back away he added, 'I had a thousand shots fired at me at much closer range than ten paces, before I moved into this!' "

Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

https://www.napoleon-empire.com/perso...