Davout

Victor of Auerstadt, surnamed by his men "iron marshal".

After studying at the military school in Paris Davout was, in 1788, a serious second lieutenant, a passionate reader. This son of an ancient and impoverished family took up revolutionary ideas. In 1792 he commanded a battalion of volunteers from Yonne in the army in Belgium. He took part in the Battle of Neerwinden on March 18, 1793.

When Dumouriez abandoned the French army Davout went to his headquarters to arrest him. Dumouriez succeeded in escaping. Davout was sent to the western army and named brigadier general (June, 1793). He refused to be named a division general, considering that he lacked the experience required by such a position. Whether he was a prisoner in enemy hands, at leisure or in service, Davout constantly pursued his career, to the extent of studying military treaties. He followed an exemplary progression in various parts of the army, becoming a friend of Desaix, who introduced him to Napoleon in 1798. Davout was in the Egyptian expedition, in charge of a cavalry brigade in Desaix's division. He returned to France in May, 1800, the only general who had refused after Bonaparte's departure to sign the surrender to the British.

Named a division general in July, 1800, he took command of the cavalry of the army in Italy, under the direction of General Brune. In 1801 his marriage with Leclerc's sister made him a brother-in-law of Pauline, a sister of the emperor. When the empire came about he was named a marshal.

Sent to Boulogne, he formed the III Corps, the future left wing of the Great Army. During the Austrian Campaign in 1805 he followed precisely the orders of the emperor and made his troops march one hundred forty four kilometers in thirty six hours to take part in the Battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805. Rewards followed: leading colonel of the imperial guard, grand officer, grand eagle of the Legion of Honor...

Always at the head of the III Corps he fought Brunswick's Prussian army at Auerstadt on October 14, 1806, in spite of being outnumbered three to one, while Napoleon was fighting at Jena. That decisive victory, at first undervalued by Napoleon, earned him the honor of being the first to enter Berlin (October 27, 1806) and the title of duke of Auerstadt in 1808.

At Eylau he used his fourteen thousand men to force the Russian retreat on the right wing. From being governor of the Duchy of Warsaw, he became a soldier again, perhaps out of irritation because the emperor thought he aspired to the Polish crown.

At Eckmuehl in April of 1809 Davout's corps found itself alone against the bulk of the Austrian army. He took the initiative, attacking and succeeding in making them retreat. At Wagram on July 6 he directed a decisive attack. On January 1, 1810 he became commander in chief of the army in Germany, a position which led him to denounce the defrauding activities of Bourienne, who was stationed in Hamburg.

Davout was subsequently named governor of the Hanseatic towns, and by this title was charged with supervising the strict application of the continental blockage in north Europe. Above all he had to reorganize the Great Army (600,000 men!) before the Russian campaign. Davout believed that that enterprise was foolish, but for that soldier an order was an order. At the beginning of 1812 he left Hamburg at the head of the I Corps of the Great Army. Throughout the Russian Campaign his corps distinguished itself by the bearing and discipline of its men. In the first weeks of the campaign he was sent toward the south to encircle Bagration's Russian army. In spite of his maneuvers the movement failed because of the slowness of the right wing of the Great Army, under the command of Jerome Bonaparte.

At Borodino Davout's horse was killed under him. He briefly lost consciousness but rapidly recovered command. Although considered to be a man of iron he wept when his faithful division general Gudin was killed at Smolensk. During the retreat his corps was a rear guard and succeeded in restraining the attacks of the enemy.

After that campaign Davout was sent to Germany to subdue the popular uprisings, He did not apply his orders literally, contenting himself with requisitioning the money and manpower required for the defense of the strongholds. In May of 1813 he occupied Hamburg. For a year he defended that besieged city, which did not surrender until expressly ordered to do so by Louis XVIII. He sent the new king a letter to explain his conduct but received no reply.

Thus when Napoleon returned from Elba Davout was the only marshal who has not sworn allegiance to the king. He is one of those rare military men who never knew defeat on the battlefield. He let himself be persuaded to become minister of war. Within a few months he succeeded in reassembling an army. When he learned of the disaster Davout understood that all was lost. The government delegated him to ask the emperor to leave the capital.

On July 3, 1815, he signed the armistice with the allies and left Paris, having evacuated everything of value from the artillery museum. None the less, he returned to defend Ney, who was on trial. Deprived of his income, he had a difficult period before finally recovering his titles in 1817 and being admitted in 1819 to the Chamber of Peers. He died four years later.