In training near Toulouse Lannes met another Lieutenant, Pierre Charles Pouzet, who would become perhaps his closest friend and would die minutes before Lannes sustained the wound that eventually killed him. Pouzet's influence over Lannes early military education can be considered formidable and when the Spanish joined the First Coalition the two men marched together to serve in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. Unfortunately most of the generals serving on the Iberian front were unimpressive and forever being harassed by "Representatives on Mission" - the French Revolutionary equivalent of the KGB Political Officer.
1st Lt.
Lannes himself appears not to have suffered greatly as he was promoted to First Lieutenant within a matter of three months. On October 21st, 1793 Lannes was brevetted a Captain of Grenadiers and nine days later suffered the first of many battlefield wounds when he was hit in the left arm at Banyuls. Whilst convalescing in Perpignan Lannes was recalled to fight at Villelongue, receiving his colonecy in the process. He then returned to Perpignan where he met the daughter of a town banker, Paulette Meric whom he was to somewhat rashly married in March 1795.
Returning to the colours Lannes fought with Perignon's Division at Boulou being mentioned in dispatches for bravery. In June of 1794 Lannes fought at Ripoll subsequently being transferred to Augereau's Division where he became firm friends with the man who would one day become a fellow marshal. On June 16th, 1795 the battalions of the Gers were amalgamated into the 53rd Ligne form-ing the 105th Demi-Brigade, to be commanded by Lannes. Following the Treaty of Basel a month later the 105th together with the remainder of Augereau's Division was transferred to the Army of Italy. On November the 22nd at Loano Lannes took over the leaderless brigade of General Banel and seized a line of entrenchments for which he was again mentioned in dispatches.
That winter the 105th were consolidated with another unit placing Lannes in the role of second in command. However with the arrival of the new commander, Bonaparte, in March of the following year Lannes was transferred to Cervoni's Brigade under Massena where he commanded two regiments, the 70th and 79th.
A quiet period ensued until fate took a hand on April 15th, 1796 at Dego when he caught Bonaparte's eye. Leading a charge Lannes was among the first entrants of the town and the future Emperor decided to give him three battalions of grenadiers as part of Dallemagne's advance guard. With these units Lannes spearheaded the advance on the Po in late April storming Fombio and inflicting nearly 1,000 casualties on the shell-shocked Austrians who he pursued to Lodi where he fought on May the 10th. He was involved with Massena leading the famous attack across the bridge and was first man into the Austrian position.
After the capture of Milan the French suffered a period of insurrection and local animosity. Lannes was instrumental, under the watchful eye of Bonaparte, in suppressing these difficulties. Missing Castiglione, where his friend Augereau performed so well, Lannes rejoined the main army in time to fight at Bassano on September 8th, 1796 where he was again wounded commanding a regiment under Massena.
He was yet again mentioned in dispatches and following a recommendation of promotion by Bonaparte, Lannes was again wounded at St. Georges and twice more at Arcola before being made General de Brigade on March 17th, 1797. It was following the third of these wounds that Lannes was carried from the field at Arcola only to return to the field when he learnt of French repulses where he led a counter attack which saved Bonaparte from capture, and cost him his third wound of the engagement.
"Unruly but Brave"
This sort of behaviour greatly impressed Bonaparte and he developed an affection for Lannes which he reserved for a very few people. Following another period of enforced recuperation Lannes was entrusted with political missions to the Papacy in June. This was to be the first of a number of such missions which it must be said were not altogether suitable for a man of Lannes temperament.
In Genoa the French minister Flaypoult complained about his conduct to Bonaparte who described him as "Unruly but brave". He was further described at other times as "unpolished, volatile, ill-educated, stubborn, often tactless, prone to depression and oversensitivity" (source: Napoleon's Marshals). It makes the reader wonder at Bonaparte's motives in sending such an apparent-ly unsuitable man on subtle diplomatic missions. Perhaps his intimidating nature and complete loyalty to Bonaparte himself might have had something to do with it.
In 1798 Lannes was entrusted by Bonaparte with organising troop placements about Lyons prior to the intended invasion of Egypt. He was then attached to army headquarters, a fact which did not please the excessively aggressive Gascon who wanted to be where the fighting was thickest. Landing in Egypt on July 1st Lannes got what he wanted, a brigade under Kleber and a day later he took over the wounded Menou's Division at Alexandria. Following this, Lannes made his biggest personal enemy, one Joachim Murat.
It so happened that whilst advancing on Cairo, Murat amongst others openly criticised Bonaparte's strategy. Whether or not Lannes was the one who told the future Emperor is debatable, but Murat had no doubt. In Cairo, Lannes played a prominent part in suppressing the revolt in January 1799. He then joined Bonaparte in February before El Arish and then on to Jaffa in March. Lannes was appalled at the behaviour of the enemy who committed all sorts of atrocities against the French wounded whenever they caught any, and when the city was stormed Lannes led his division in an orgy of retribution.
On March 19th the French arrived at Acre and once more began siege works. During several months of vicious siege warfare Lannes was shot in the neck and nearly captured. Operated on by the renowned Baron Larrey, the rambunctious Gascon never completely recovered and subsequently always held his head to one side and had difficulty speaking. All those of you with miniature Lannes in your armies take note and get out the soldering iron!
The siege was eventually abandoned on May the 10th and Lannes was promoted to General de Division in recognition of his heroics. Returning to Cairo to rest, the arrival of a Turkish field army at Aboukir in July forced Bonaparte to reassess his position. He intended to concentrate his forces whilst Lannes Division with Murat's cavalry delayed the Turks. I wonder if Bonaparte took any perverse pleasure in placing the two rivals together, or perhaps he wanted someone reliable to keep a eye on the ephemeral Murat. Together, however they smashed the Turks at Aboukir on July 25th where Lannes was wounded in the leg. Suffering another period off sick Lannes was now to hear the less than welcome news that his wife had just given birth to a child. Somebody else's child!
With the abandonment of the campaign on August 22nd, 1799 Lannes was lucky enough to be amongst the few that returned with Bonaparte to Paris where he supported Bonaparte in his coup and quickly arranged a divorce. Shortly after he was made commander of the Consular Guard as well as the 4th Division of the Army of the Reserve, and when on May 9th, 1800 Bonaparte moved against the Austrians Lannes was assigned the advance guard. He advanced quickly through the Great St. Bernard Pass into Italy, driving the Austrian defenders before him as he advanced towards Piedmont.
Italy
When Bonaparte joined him in Piedmont, Lannes moved on to Pavia encountering O'Reilly who had 6,500 men as he crossed the Po River on June the 6th. O'Reilly fell back on Ott's Corps at Casteggio with Lannes in pursuit. On his arrival the Frenchmen found that his 5,000 men were outnumbered 3-1 and in brutal fighting Lannes was extricated by the arrival of Victor marching to the guns with one of his divisions. Impressively Victor, despite his seniority gave way to allow Lannes to continue the action and he eventually drove the Austrians out. The battle became known to the French as Montebello, and in eight years time Lannes would be made Duc de Montebello in recognition of his victory.
Meanwhile, Ott retired to Melas main army at Alessandria whilst Bonaparte spread out his troops to sniff out Austrian intentions. Lannes found himself among 14,000 men camped at Marengo when on June 14th they were attacked by 35,000 Austrians. Victor and Lannes defended doggedly until Bonaparte and another 10,000 troops arrived but they too were driven back. An arrogant Melas handed field command to General Zach whilst he went to announce his victory. As Melas left, Desaix was preparing to arrive on the field and by midnight victory had swung to defeat for the Austrian who signed an armistice the following day.
At the end of the campaign Bonaparte, accompanied by Lannes amongst others returned in triumph to Paris where both Murat and Lannes were intent on marrying Caroline Bonaparte. Murat was unlucky and he got her, although it has to be said they deserved each other. Lannes instead married Louise Antoinette Gueheneuc on September 15th, 1800. She was to provide him with five offspring during the marriage, the eldest of whom was christened Napoleon and had the great man as his godfather.
Things were not all sunny for the Gascon however, as he got into financial difficulties when fitting out the Consular Guard. 300,000 francs in debt and with Bonaparte threatening court-martial, Lannes was bailed out by his old friend Augereau, allowing him to step down from the Guards with whatever grace could be mustered.
Lannes' period in the doghouse came to an end with his appointment as plenipotentiary to the court of Lisbon on November 14th, 1801. Here he was up against Robert Fitzgerald, the British Ambassador who with a head start had the Portuguese prime minister in his pocket. Lannes hated the British - I can't possibly think why - and his natural personality resulted in confrontation and potential disaster. Lannes ended up leaving his post without permission and received a chewing out from Talleyrand for his trouble.
Marshal
Lannes returned to Portugal where he became friendly with the Prince Regent, John. Despite regular clashes over foreign affairs with Talleyrand, he began to improve the French position in Portugal to the point where Bonaparte send him a letter of commendation and an indefinite extension in his appointment. During his stay Lannes was appointed a Marshal on May 19th, 1804, tenth in seniority. That November he returned to Paris for Napoleon's coronation and command of IV Corps in the planned Army of England.
When the invasion of Britain was discarded, Lannes, with his corps now renumbered V, became part of the Grand Army. Once more he set off for war as the advance guard, and once again accompanied by part-time cavalry genius and full-time enemy, Joachim Murat. Following the encirclement and surrender of Mack's Austrian army, Lannes and Murat headed the advance into Austria itself following the retreating Russian army of Kutusov who had been coming to support the Austrians. The advance guard was ordered to seize the bridge over the Danube at Vienna and despite their rivalry, Lannes and Murat combined to take the bridges in an act of outrageous bluff and daring.
The two Marshals strolled onto the bridge pushing an Austrian artillery officer out of the way and began crying "Armistice" at the astounded gunners. Whilst the two entered negotiations Oudinot's grenadiers stormed the bridge with Lannes and Murat preventing the gunners from firing. Thus the vital crossing was taken with-out loss of life.
Following this success, Lannes fought at Hollabrun before commanding the French left wing at the decisive battle of Austerlitz on December 2nd. Following the victory, Lannes had a obscure argument with the Emperor and returned to Paris. However, by October 1806 all was forgiven and Lannes was back with V Corps prior to the war with Prussia. On October the 10th Lannes beat and killed - not personally - Prince Louis of Prussia at Saalfeld causing much distress to the Prussians. Three days later fighting in the centre Lannes' V Corps played a prominent part in the battle of Jena, although he personally felt slighted by the amount of credit given to Murat. During the fighting Lannes suffered yet another wound, this time though only a flesh-wound from grapeshot. Once more he was assigned the pursuit with Murat's cavalry, and once more to two argued bitterly, with Murat complaining to Napoleon about the speed of Lannes' troops.
Once the Prussians were mopped up Lannes moved on Warsaw. On December the 26th his 18,000 man corps attacked 50,000 Russians at Pultusk under Bennigsen. The Russian front line was overrun and Lannes was only stopped by Russian reinforcements who drove him back in turn. The arrival of one of Davout's divisions balanced the fighting again and once more, in the thick of the action Lannes was wounded. Pultusk was effectively a draw and Lannes was taken to Warsaw to recover. He was undoubtedly irked, despite the presence of his wife, to have missed the bloodbath that was Eylau.
Expenses
Whilst recuperating Lannes was accused of stealing 600,000 francs from the magazine at Stettin. Despite the fact that he had used most of it to pay his troops and given the remainder to his chief of staff for campaign expenses Lannes was ordered by Napoleon to pay one month's wages and he received a number of derogatory letters from that well-known battlefield hero, Berthier. It is certain that Lannes was dismayed by what he regarded as improper treatment at the hands of Napoleon.
Furthermore, on his recovery Lannes was only given a reserve formation and packed off to assist Lefebvre besieging Danzig. He was recalled in June 1807 and once more given the advance guard which he took to Friedland. On June 14th his 10,000 troops were attacked by 45,000 Russians commanded by Bennigsen. Fighting defensively along a four mile front Lannes held off the enemy until reinforcements began arriving and when the Emperor appeared on the field the French attacked and wrecked the Russian army. Four weeks later the Treaty of Tilsit had been completed and France and Russia were officially allies.
Following Friedland, Lannes was given the principality of Sievres in the department of Kalish and on March 19th, 1808 he was made Duc de Montebello. It was no more than he deserved. Peace lasted only a matter of months and Lannes found himself in Spain. On the way he had a riding accident near Tolosa and was badly injured. Whilst still not fully fit, Lannes was given 30,000 men and sent to Tudela to sort out Castanos who had gathered together 45,000 troops split between the Armies of Aragon and Andalusia.
Lannes fell on the Army of Aragon and promptly crushed it whilst the Army of Andalusia failed to intervene. After driving out Sir John Moore's British army Napoleon sent Lannes to take over the siege of Saragossa which had been dragging out for two months. The 40,000 garrison under Palafox had already lost all its outer fortifications by his arrival, so Lannes began a general bombardment of the walls lasting five days. With three satisfactory breaches the French stormed in and began nearly a month of pro-tracted and very nasty street fighting. With typhus gutting the population the valiant Spanish surrendered on February 19th, 1809.
As ever, Lannes was to get little peace as in April the Austrians invaded Bavaria and Lannes was called to the Army of Germany. On April the 20th Lannes fought at Abensberg and then at Landshut and Eckmuhl on the following days. On April 23rd Lannes was called upon to storm Ratisbon through a partial breach. The first fifty strong Forlorn Hope were decimated as were the second fifty who volunteered.
"...I was a Grenadier"
No further victims were forthcoming, so declaring that "before I was a Marshal I was a grenadier" Lannes took up a ladder and headed for the breach. A number of his ADCs took up the ladder and captured the breach, followed by the rest of the assault troops. This was too much for the garrison who decided it was time to surrender.
Following this victory Lannes moved his Corps into Austria where on May 21-22 at Essling he finally met the cannonball which had his name on it. With a newly constituted II Corps Lannes marched on Vienna. It was apparent that to bring the Austrians to battle the Danube would have to be forced. Near Aspern and Essling four bridges were constructed across the river spanning the island of Lobau. Molitor's Division crossed first and seized Aspern sup-ported by Lasalle's light cavalry. Boudet's Division then seized Essling with d'Espagne's cavalry supporting them. Napoleon then personally assigned Essling's defence to Lannes. Over 80,000 Austrian infantry and 14,000 cavalry were meanwhile closing on the bridgehead. Napoleon considered withdrawal but decided to stand and fight. It was to prove a costly decision in more ways than one. Massena in Aspern was hit first and the battle had been raging 6 hours before Lannes' position was attacked. Dedowich's column was balked by d'Espagne's Cuirassiers and Rosenberg's Corps was repulsed at Essling itself.
Lannes then repulsed three night attacks unsupported due to the collapse of the bridge to Lobau Island. Finally, with the bridges repaired, Lannes' Corps crossed into Essling in the early hours of May 22nd. Lannes was ordered to break out that morning and the operation began at 3:30 a.m. By 9:00 a.m. the bridges were broken again by debris sent down the river by the Austrians halting Davout's reinforcements from crossing. Lannes was ordered to withdraw back to Essling where further assaults could be expected. The fighting in Essling soon became general and the Austrians were only finally repulsed with the arrival of two battalions of the Old Guard.
The Austrians then decided to stand back and use their artillery. Lannes' own headquarters came under fire and a number of his ADCs were killed. He was in discussion with the General Pouzet who had once been Lieutenant Pouzet, Lannes' first mentor, when the enduring general was decapitated by a cannonball.
Initially, things looked encouraging but then gangrene set in and on May 31st he became delirious. Hours later he was dead. Napoleon mourned him greatly although being Napoleon he recovered soon enough. The real effect of Lannes' death would become apparent on subsequent Napoleonic battlefields. It may be coincidence that after 1809 French fortunes deteriorated, yet there can be few subsequent battles in the period where one might not pause and think, "But what if Lannes had been available to Napoleon?"
Jean Lannes was one of six children born to his Gascon parents on April the 10th, 1769. Born in Lectoure as the second son Lannes received what little education was available from his elder brother, who was a priest. Little is known of Lannes formative years but it is safe to assume an early leaning to the military, as on the outbreak of war in April 1792 he immediately enlisted on the 20th of June in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Gers being elected Second Lieutenant the same day.
A grief-stricken Lannes sat down in a trench cross-legged to seek a moment's solace. Shortly after a 3-pounder cannonball struck him across both knees smashing his left knee-cap and right thigh. Despite proclaiming the wound as minor he was taken to Baron Larrey who amputated his left leg.
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