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 Berthier |
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Louis Alexandre Prince of Wagram and Neufchâtel, Marshal (1804)
(Versailles, 1753 - Bamberg (Bavière), 1815)
The shadow of Napoleon, the most indispensable of the marshals, the most rewarded, also the most reprimanded. Always at the sides of the emperor, Berthier understood, edited and transmitted to the army corps all the orders and all the thoughts of his master.
Berthier, son of an engineer in the king's armies, entered very young into a royal school for military engineers. At the age of thirteen he was already a geographical engineer, at seventeen he was an officer. He served during the American war for independence. Returning in 1789, he was named major general of the national guard at Versailles. In that guise he aided two aunts of Louis XVI to flee and protected the royal family during the eventful days of October. Out of a job after the fall of the monarchy in August of 1792, he was enrolled again three years later as chief of Staff for Kellermann.
Bonaparte, whom he met in March of 1796, appreciated this man who did not hesitate to throw himself into a battle at the head of his men, as at Lodi, 10 May 1796, but also knew how to read a map and to give orders.
Berthier "knew maps well, understood well the use of reconnoitering, himself took care of the execution of orders, had learned to present in simple terms the most complicated movements of an army" said Napoleon in April of 1796, when he took command of the army in Italy. He made him his chief of staff. In 1798 Berthier occupied Rome and announced the birth of the Roman Republic.
Active during the eighteenth of brumaire, he became minister of war from the beginning of the Consulate. He organized the new departements of the Piedmont and negotiated the peace with Spain. With the advent of the Empire in 1804 Napoleon heaped titles and honors on him: marshal, great huntsman, great eagle of the Legion of Honor, major general of the great army, prince of Neufchatel and Vallengin in March of 1806, vice-constable- -
Prince of Wagram in August of 1809, from then on he signed himself simply as Alexander, and had an annual income of one million two hundred fifty thousand livres. Napoleon disregarded his amorous passion for Madame Visconti, whom he had met in Italy, and in 1808 married him to Princess Marie-Elizabeth, niece of the king of Bavaria. They had three children.
Berthier was more to the emperor than a valiant soldier; he was a faithful and obedient friend whose ability to organize was of great value to the emperor. Chief of staff of the great army in Russia, in Germany, in France, it was he who passed on the orders of the emperor, saw to it that they were well executed, oversaw obtaining supplies and the related services, collected intelligence, etc. He entirely reorganized the service of the major staff. Sometimes he commanded the armed forces in a theater of operations, as in Spain in 1808 or in Bavaria in 1809. But these commands were only temporary, and he very rarely took part in conceiving battle plans, awaiting the direction of Napoleon.
His command of the French forces in 1809 at the beginning of the Austrian campaign was even disastrous: sticking to the letter of the directives sent from Paris by the emperor, he did not take any initiative in the field, putting at risk the scattered army corps. He was blasted by Napoleon, but he succeeded, once Napoleon was there, in making up for his errors during the Battle of Wagram (5-6 July 1809).
In every circumstance, even when the emperor summoned him in the middle of the night-- one time even seven times!-- Berthier presented himself impeccably dressed. The emperor considered him, believed him, and judged him to be indispensable. He was the one sent to request the hand of Archduchess Marie Louise in February of 1810. He accompanied her to Paris. But he was reprimanded as well as praised.
During the Russian Campaign in 1812, when the French army was preparing to attack Kutusov's Russians at Borodino, Berthier and Napoleon disagreed in regard to the strategy to follow. Berthier, punished, did not eat again at the table of the emperor until after the entry to Moscow. But when Napoleon left the army to return to Paris Berthier begged him to take him with him. Berthier remained in Germany during the entire campaign of 1813, where he continued in his role as chief of staff. During the campaign in France it was always Berthier who had this position for the emperor.
Two days after the abdication he requested that his master let him go to Paris, promising to return the next day. After he left the room Napoleon remarked, "He won't be back." Berthier had really made his choice; he presented himself to Louis XVIII at Compiegnes to express his submission to the monarchy. He became a peer of France in 1814. When Napoleon informed him of his return he did not answer the letter. He followed the king to Ghent. After the Hundred Days he went to his castle in Bamberg. There he was found dead, beneath a window. Accident? Suicide? Murder? How he met death is not known
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