After the rather boring old Brune it was suggested that a Marshal who lived up a bit more to the series title might be chosen, despite the fact that Brune certainly had a fight at the very end! Nevertheless, to comply with the wishes of the masses (very Napoleonic, of course) we decided to present you with Bessières. Not only a better fighter, but arguably a nicer person. That of course, you will have to judge for yourselves. Bessières was born on August 6th, 1768 in Lot. Unlike many of the other Marshals, his family were relatively influential in local circles, his father being a surgeon. Indeed, with the family money behind him, Bessières was sent off to the Royal College of Cahors at 14 with the intent of following in his father’s footsteps. Despite being an exceptional student, Bessières potential career was doomed by financial difficulties, but before he returned home he struck up a friendship with one Joachim Murat, a name not unknown to most of us. National Guard Returning home, Bessières signed up for the National Guard, appreciating the merits of the Revolution like the rest of his countrymen, and in 1792, with his friend Murat, he was chosen by his department for the Constitutional Guard. Nevertheless, he did not wholly approve of the extremism which the new order appeared to be embracing. The Constitutional Guard was disbanded in June of that year, but Bessières remained loyal and took part in the defence of the Tuileries on August 10th, before fleeing south and signing up as a cavalry trooper in the Legion of the Pyrenees. In 1794 he distinguished himself at Boulou against the Spanish, being promoted to Captain. In 1795 the regiment was transferred to Italy, and like many of the other future Marshals, Bessières found himself under the eye of the young Bonaparte. Luckily for Bessières, amongst the future emperor’s staff was his old friend Murat. On May 30th, 1796, Bessières managed to single-handedly take a gun at Borghetto, an act of foolhardy bravery which did not go unnoticed. Six days later he was given command of the newly-formed Guides de l’Armée d’Italie, Bonaparte’s personal bodyguard. Arcola He gained further glory at Arcola, leading an attack on the Austrian rear which contributed to the collapse of their left wing. Like most things of the period, this is disputed, Lacroix claiming that a young officer named Hercule - who none of us have ever heard of again - led the attack. I know who I tend to believe. It certainly wasn’t Lt Hercule who was given the honour of escorting the captured standards to Paris in March of 1797. Returning to Italy, the cavalryman soon became one of Bonaparte’s closest companions, being promoted to colonel for the Egyptian fiasco, where he aggressively supported Napoleon against his rivals. Such loyalty gained Bessières promotion to General de Brigade after Aboukir as well as one of the treasured berths out of the country in August of 1799. Back in France, he supported Bonaparte in the coup of 18 Brumaire and was subsequently appointed to second-in-command of the Consular Guard. In fact, Bonaparte trusted him so much that he was made Prince Eugene’s tutor. Perhaps Napoleon thought that the permanently powdered hair made Bessières look an antiquated academic. Commanding the cavalry of the Guard, Bessières fought at Marengo on June 14th, 1800, first covering Lannes’ retreat and then charging in the final counterattack. He was immediately promoted to General de Division. Furthermore, his position within the Guard was strengthened at the expense of Lannes. That bold gentleman was having an ongoing feud with Murat (what do you mean you didn’t read the issue on Lannes?). Bessières naturally sided with Murat, attempting to influence Bonaparte in his favour. Further, Lannes had been critical of Bessières’ performance at Marengo; something which certainly did not endear him to the cavalryman. It was probably this which made Bessières do what he did next. Lannes had gone over the 1801 budget for the guard by 30,000 francs, and Bessières passed this information to Murat, knowing that it would get to Napoleon. Lannes was dismissed and Bessières promoted to colonel-general of the Guard cavalry. On October 26th, 1801 Bessières married Adele Lapeyriere who was extremely charming and became close to the future empress Josephine. As one of Napoleon’s inner circle he was thus guaranteed of one of the eighteen marshals appointed on May 19th, 1804. He was fourteenth in seniority. Imperial Guard Bessières was given command of the Imperial Guard cavalry for the campaigns of 1805 and 1806, seeing little action as Napoleon carefully husbanded his ‘children’. He rode on the Pratzen heights at Austerlitz, breaking the Russian Imperial Guard, but he saw no action at Jena whatsoever. Finally, on December 13th, 1806 he was promoted to command the 2nd Cavalry Corps. This formation fought a large skirmish at Biezun on December 21st, from which Bessières gained little credit as an independent commander. The corps was soon dissolved and Bessières returned to the Guard. He rescued himself by a good performance at Eylau, covering Murat’s returning cavalry with his own. However at Friedland it was another case of watching the rest of the army gain glory. The lack of popularity felt by the line units for the overdressed guards became evident at the resentment felt when Bessières was selected to accompany him on the raft at Tilsit. Naturally Lannes, not in the party himself, led the uproar. Lannes’ censure was of no concern to the Emperor, who sent Bessières to Wurttemberg to oversee the marriage of Prince Jerome and Princess Catherine. He was also awarded a pay rise and another independent command - back in his happy hunting ground: Spain. On March 9th, 1808 he was given the 19,000 men of the Corps d’Observation, tasked with covering the road between Madrid and France. The uprising of May 1808 caught the Marshal unprepared, with his troops scattered along the highway. He reacted vigorously, winning a number of minor engagements before crushing the Spanish at Medina de Rio Seco on July 14th. Regrettably, the disaster of Baylen occurred only five days later and Madrid was evacuated. Retreating behind the Ebro, the French awaited the arrival of a seething Napoleon. Once more though, as commander of the Emperor’s cavalry reserve, Bessières missed out on all the fun. He was briefly governor of Northern Spain before being recalled for the 1809 campaign, again as commander of the reserve cavalry. He fought at Eckmühl and distinguished himself between Massena and Lannes at Aspern-Essling. Despite fighting alongside each other, Bessières and Lannes had time to fall out that evening and nearly came to blows. Massena intervened, but it would be for the last time. Lannes’ accusations of cowardice died with him the following day, Lannes being mortally wounded. Following Aspern-Essling Napoleon created Bessières Duc d’Istria in recognition of his performance. Bessières soon saw more violent action at Wagram, charging the Austrian centre, where his horse was shot from under him. The rumour that he had been killed caused genuine horror in the Guard, but he scrambled out alive, lightly wounded. Recovering from the wound, Bessières replaced Bernadotte in command of the defence of Walcheren against the British, who were thoughtful enough not to cause him too much exertion. Trouble However, trouble was a-brewing. Napoleon announced in November 1809 that he was divorcing Josephine. This was too much for the honourably Catholic Bessières, who foolishly denounced the idea. Napoleon imaginatively gained retribution by making Bessières governor of Strasbourg. This may not seem like punishment, until you realise that the new Empress, Marie-Louise, would enter France through Strasbourg, having to be greeted by a fuming Bessières! It would be 1811 before Bessières regained the Emperor’s favour. Things were not going well, and Bessières’ experience in Spain got him the l’Armée du Nord, with which he had to keep open communications with Madrid and Portugal, as well as holding Galicia. It was an enormous responsibility, and the impossibility of it led him to tell the Emperor. He got nowhere, but can be praised for having the courage to try. Bessières was further taxed by the arrival of Massena’s defeated forces in March, neither co-operating as fully as might be desired. Massena demanded reinforcements from Bessières who sent 1500 cavalry and six guns - not enough for the arch-looter. Bessières’ decision to accompany the troops also offended Massena, who knew a rival for glory when he saw one. They failed to co-operate at Fuentes de Onoro and Massena managed to leave Bessières with the blame for the defeat, suggesting that he thwarted a huge cavalry charge against the British right. This of course is complete rubbish, although it took another Marshal four years later to prove without a doubt the value of massed cavalry charges on British squares. Returning to his own command, Bessières repulsed a Spanish invasion of Leon, but Massena had done his work well. Bessières was recalled in disgrace, blamed for Fuentes de Onoro. As a result, with the great campaign of 1812 upon them, Bessières was only given command of the Imperial Guard cavalry, rather than the corps which he craved. It may be that this was Napoleon’s greatest single blunder, however, as we shall soon see. Having opposed the advance on Moscow, Marbot credits Bessières with advising Napoleon against committing the guard at Borodino. Assuming this to be correct, it may be the worst piece of advice given to Napoleon during the entire period. I for one hold the opinion that the failure to commit the guard saved the Russians from potential annihilation, and the effect on history can be magnified a thousand times over without much stretch of the imagination. In fact, throughout the 1812 campaign Bessières was a tower of mediocrity, encouraging caution at the drop of a hat. Nevertheless, his personal loyalty to the Emperor survived the debacle of the retreat intact, and he became monumentally depressed, suffering from premonitions of death, and obviously making him great fun to be with in camp. Lutzen On May 1st, 1813, those who mocked Bessières’ doom and gloom were probably all saying ‘I told you so’. On the eve of Lutzen, scouting out the forward positions, the Marshal was hit by a cannon ball, and died instantly. Well, he was certainly more interesting than Brune, and far more engaging. At the time of his death praise was heaped upon him. Looking back with the benefit of time, it can be seen that he was not quite so perfect. His loyalty must be admired. He wasn’t just another court toady; he spoke his mind to Napoleon, even when such might offend the great man. Suggestions that he was of huge moral fibre are tarnished by the knowledge of a mistress revealed to the widow only after his death. Bessières lack of co-operation with first Lannes and then Massena damages his air of nobility as well, and he wasn’t exactly soft on the Spanish population during his time there. His skill as a military administrator and subordinate commander is clear, but like so many of the other Marshals he was incapable of decisive independent action. It is, however, his awful performance in 1812 which marks Bessières. There is little to forgive him for previously, but his caution at Borodino cannot be exculpated. To forgive him that is to castigate Mr and Mrs Buonaparte for their decision to have an early night one evening in Corsica. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #25 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