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PREMIER EMPIRE NAPOLEON

Biography

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Bessières

Jean-Baptiste Bessieres, Duke of Istria, Marshal (1804),
Prayssac (Lot) 1768 Rippach (Saxe) 1813
augereau

Bessieres took part in all the campaigns. When he died on the field of battle, Napoleon wrote to his widow, "The loss you have suffered, and that of your children, is no doubt great, but mine is even greater. The Duke of Istria died the most beautiful death and without suffering. He leaves a spotless reputation; that is the most beautiful inheritance he could have left to his children.

Except for the revolution Bessieres would certainly have been a physician like his father. When it came he joined the national guard and the constitutional guard of the king in 1792. Later his corps, the twenty second chasseurs, became part of the army in Italy. Promoted corps chief of the guides by Napoleon, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Rivoli (14 January, 1797).

During the Egyptian campaign he distinguished himself at the siege of Acre (19 March-20 May, 1799) and at the Battle of Aboukir (25 July 1799). Having become close to Bonaparte, he was one of those who accompanied him to France and took part in the coup d'etat of 18 brumaire. In payment he was named second in command of the consular guard, the future imperial guard.

On June 14, 1800, at Marengo his conduct during the cavalry charge won him the grade of brigadier general. Two years later he became the general of a division (13 September 1802). When the empire came, in 1804, he was on the list of marshals, rightly so; his name is the last. When the Austrian campaign began in the following year Bessieres commanded the guard. At Austerlitz (2 December 1805) his cavalry whipped the imperial Russian guard. That was the beginning of the reputation for invincibility of that famous group.

Bessieres was present at Jena (14 October 1806) and at Eylau (8 February 1807), where his cavalry and that of Murat succeeded in stopping the Russian attack at a critical moment. In Poland he managed the newly formed cavalry reserve.

In 1808 Bessieres was sent to Spain to direct the army corps which occupied Salamanca. He marched to meet General Cuestra, who threatened to cut his communications with France. With 14,000 men against 40,000 he was victorious at Medina del Rio Seco (14 July 1808). When Napoleon learned of that, he exclaimed, "Bessieres has put my brother on the Spanish throne!"

The following year Bessieres was named Duke of Istria and again commanded the cavalry of the guard for the 1809 campaign against Austria. At Wagram a bullet killed his horse and made him lose consciousness. The guard, which adores him and believed him dead, grieved. Napoleon said to him, "That was a fine bullet! It made my guard cry.

In 1811, while governor in Spain, he demonstrated great honesty and great concern for the civilians. The following year he resumed command as head of the guard for the Russian campaign. In October he rescued the emperor from a critical situation: six thousand cossacks suddenly fell on headquarters in the village of Shorodina. Bessieres rushed up with his men and repelled the attack. For the campaign in Saxony in 1813 he received the command of all the cavalry.

On the evening of the Battle of Lützen, 1 May 1813, he was reconnoitering when a cannon ball hit him squarely on the chest. His body is at rest in the Invalides. Vie

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