At first glance, the name Brune is not one which readily springs to mind when discussing the Marshalate of Napoleonic France. Nevertheless, he is well worth considering, particularly as his passage through history was by relatively unusual lines. Coming from a middle class background, Brune was born at Brive-la-Gaillarde on May 13th, 1763, the son of a judge. His formative years were spent under the guidance of Benedictine monks learning humanities, before going to Paris to follow in his father's footsteps by studying law. It must be said at this point that whichever Benedictine attempted to teach humanities to the young Brune did an appalling job, as his future record will show. Once in Paris, Brune discovered what the city was really famous for and spent his time carousing instead of studying. Gambling debts obliged him to give up his 'studies' to get work with a printing firm. It is here that he became unaccountably impressed with his own ability within the world of literature. He published an anonymous opus of prose and verse, and considered that he would become a poet. All this day-dreaming was rudely interrupted by the French having a revolution. Luckily for Brune, it became even more compelling than his artistic bent and he threw himself wholeheartedly into the maelstrom which followed. Captain In 1789 Brune soon rose to the rank of Captain in the National Guard, fired by a fine physique and patriotic fervour. Despite this, he had no military background, and it would be for his civil efforts that a baton was awarded. He became closely linked to Danton, and hovered within earshot of much of the intriguing and machinations prior to the collapse of the royal house. Following the demonstrations in the Champ-de-Mars Brune was arrested and spent three week incarcerated, until Danton obtained his release. From that moment on Brune's loyalty to his saviour was unquestionable, and Brune's stature rose proportionate to Danton's. By the end of 1792 he was colonel of a volunteer battalion, and the following year served on Dumouriez's staff in Belgium, coming out of the defeat at Neerwinden with some credit. In September 1793 following the suppression of a Girondin revolt Brune, who had commanded the advanced guard, claimed complete credit and further proposed himself as Minister of War to a bemused Danton. This ridiculous notion seems to come from the Great Poet stable and was plainly dismissed, although Brune did secure promotion to General de Brigade. He then returned to the Army of the North, participating in the witch-hunt which sent several 'politically unsound' officers to their deaths. Such patriotic zeal obviously did not go unnoticed, for when the Gironde again erupted in violence, Brune accompanied members of the Committee of Public Safety to Bordeaux, where as commandant of the city he brutally suppressed the population, returning to Paris before Christmas 1793 to take up a post with the Military Committee of the Convention, at the same time marrying the lowly-born Angelique Pierre. The spring of 1794 saw a vast power struggle in Paris, with Danton going to the guillotine at the hands of Robespierre. Brune sagely attached himself to Barras, who rose to power following Robespierre's own execution. A year later Brune's special talents were again put to use, as he indiscriminately suppressed the 17th Military District food riots. A rather more serious threat, in the shape of a royalist counter-insurrection, emerged in October 1795, and Barras brought out a group of generals known for their thoroughness and efficiency. amongst them were Brune and one Napoleon Bonaparte. Joins Bonaparte In October 1796 Brune joined Massena's Division of the l'Armee d'Italie under the patronage of Bonaparte, and to disapproval from some quarters. He fought bravely at Arcola, San Michele and Rivoli and by the end of 1797 was a General de Division. In January 1798, an opportunity came Brune's way that was far more his cup of tea. About to depart for Naples, Brune was recalled by Barras and tasked with occupying Switzerland in order to free up the vast amount of capital held in the Berne treasury. Deciding to begin by using deceit whilst his troops came up, Brune approached the various cantons with protestations of trust and friendship, whilst Commissioner Mengand, his more than able assistant, intrigued with just about everybody he could, leaving the Swiss in a state of abject bewilderment. Brune only needed to keep this up until February 1798 when the Army of Switzerland officially came on the muster. Marching on Berne, he overcame the Swiss militia with some difficulty at Fribourg. On March 8th Brune was appointed commander of the l'Armee d'Italie in place of Bonaparte, who was planning the foray to Egypt. It was for this that the Swiss money was needed. Brune squeezed 14 million francs out of the state. Typically, following his undoubted, but unavoidable success, Brune got too big for his boots, attempting to impose a revolutionary government on the unhappy Swiss. Ordered back to Italy by the Directory, Brune took up the Marshalate tradition of screwing his hosts out of everything he could, to wit, 200,000 francs. Back in Italy, Brune again attempted to intrude on another country's political system, namely the Italian Cispadine Republic. By the time the Directory recalled him in October 1798 Brune had emulated his Swiss robbery, and returned home a wealthy man. In January 1799 Barras, with scant consideration for their feelings, foisted Brune upon the Batavian Republic, commanding 15,000 French troops in Holland. Needless to say, the Batavians were none too pleased to be acquiring someone of Brune's avaricious reputation and revolutionary fervour. Not a combination guaranteed to impress anyone with ideals of independence. Thus, not surprisingly, the Batavian government were most uncooperative towards Brune, and it required Fouche to interject before Brune was given overall command of both French and Batavian troops. A month later Brune was engaged against the Duke of York's Anglo-Russian forces, performing relatively well and beating the British at Castricum to end the campaign. Unfit for Command? In August 1800 Massena was sacked from command in Italy for his innumerable plundering, making the choice of Brune as a replacement an interesting one. However his performance was poor and he was soon replaced himself. Following the action at the River Mincio, Bonaparte is quoted as saying that Brune was unfit for senior command. Returning to Paris, Brune became president of the War Department of the Council of State before being almost immediately sent off as ambassador to Turkey. It was a tricky posting, following Bonaparte's disaster in Egypt, and it may be that he selected Brune because of his nasty reputation in an attempt to keep the Turks onside. arriving in Constantinople with much grandeur and panache, Brune quickly alienated Ruffin, his chargé d'affaires and came up against Italinski, the Russian minister. Having begun well, Brune's natural revolutionary arrogance quickly got up the Turks' nose, effectively driving them towards Italinski's camp. Having been made a Marshal of the newly-created empire in 1804, Brune began insisting that everyone address him as "Marechal d'Empire". However, the Turks refused to recognise the First Empire, and openly spurned him by allowing Russian troop transports access to Corfu. Brune was furious, claiming that the Empire had been insulted, and he packed his bags. Then he unpacked them and packed them again. The bluffing all came to nought, however, and there can be little doubt that the Turks were glad to see the back of Brune, immediately renewing their alliance with Russia. Back in Paris Brune was presented with the new symbols of his station, but it was quite clear that his performance in Turkey had alienated him from Napoleon's inner circle. In 1807, having been given governorship of the Hanseatic towns he independently seized Stralsund and signed a treaty with the Swedes gaining the island of Rugen. Brune may well have thought that Napoleon would be most impressed with this piece of initiative, but the Emperor was less than pleased to see that the French army, rather than himself, was accredited on the treaty. He went ballistic, and dismissed Brune by return of post. The End The next seven years saw Brune totally in the wilderness. In 1814 he deserted to the Bourbons, being made a Chevalier de St. Louis for his decision. Typically, though, the following year he quickly rejoined his former master when he saw how the wind was blowing. He was made governor of Toulon and commander of the 8th Military District, kept well away from the fighting. In a rather surprising diversion from his usual methods, Brune remained loyal to the Emperor after Waterloo, not surrendering until April 16th. Fleeing for Paris, Brune made one final bad judgment call. Leaving his escort with his baggage - containing what only each reader may guess at - he went to change horses at Avignon where his uniform rapidly drew unwanted attention. For some odd reason the locals decided that Brune was the man who had beheaded the Princess of Lamballe twenty years previously. Believing him to be this revolutionary zealot, the mob exacted its revenge. Brune was pistolled and his corpse thrown into the river Rhone. It seems somehow appropriate. What can one say of Brune? There is certainly little to like, and much to despise. He continually appears full of his own importance, keen to impart his own methods upon whosoever was currently under his heel. His avaricious looting is almost 'de rigeur' for Marshals, and his lack of military ability all too obvious. He got his baton due to his revolutionary fervour, and ironically - and fittingly - it was this, albeit mistaken for another, which cost him his life. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #24 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com