Born on April 13, 1764, the first son of Jean and Anne-Marie Gouvion, Laurent was the son of a lowly tanner from Toul, and faced initially the same bleak future as many of his future colleagues. Three years later his already difficult childhood (he lost two infant brothers) was further compounded when his mother appeared to throw a bit of a wobbly on the way to Lyons, joining a group of fellow nutters called the Martinistes who appeared to have been a group of mystics with associations in the freemasons. All this upheaval made the young Laurent a withdrawn and self-sufficient individual, who rapidly came to feel a strong contempt for his family's humble background. Like all loners, he had time to think, and he spent that time wisely, and against his father's wishes, in educating himself to a standard that got him a place in the Toul artillery school.
It was here that Laurent showed a penchant for art, and despite encouragement to join the artillery proper, he decided upon a career as an artist. At 18 he left his despised and brutal father, turning his back on France as he headed for Italy, home of so many great painters. One fateful port of call he did make was to go to Lyons to look up his mother who had taken the name of St-Cyr. He failed to find her, but probably as a kick against his father he adopted the name St-Cyr himself.
Introverted
By this stage St-Cyr had already developed the traits that were to stay with him throughout his life. As already mentioned, he had become introverted and self-sufficient. Add to this the fact that he was extremely self-conscious and sensitive, plus a degree of unsociability which made him uncomfortable in company, and today social services would have a file on him marked 'dysfunctional.'
For the next four years this introverted would-be artist knocked around Italy, doing arty things, before returning to France to study under the artist Brenet. Rather bizarrely, he also tried his hand at acting, but was rapidly dismissed for an excessive shyness which made his delivery too wretched for even children's' television. All-in-all it seemed like St-Cyr was lined up for the period equivalent of the biker's cut-off with 'No Future' written on the back.
For St-Cyr, like so many other French young men (and a few other nationalities besides) war came along at just the right time. On September 1, 1792 he joined the Chasseurs Republicains. This turned out to have been a good move. Army life must have suited him, because within two weeks he had risen from private to sergeant major! It is hard to appreciate today how things must have been back in Republican France, but one thing is certain. They were not slow in rewarding apparent ability. He was vociferous in his anti-monarchist and anti-clerical views, and by the end of the month he had been elected lieutenant. This can be considered pretty good going, I think, and by the beginning of November he had reached the rank of captain.
St-Cyr's unit was posted to Custine's division with the Army of the Rhine, where fate once more took a hand. In his spare moments, St-Cyr liked to sit at his easel and sketch the countryside, and it was during one of these asides that Custine happened to pass by, and saw the high degree of skill in the young captain's work. Recognising a good map maker when he saw one, Custine quickly appointed St-Cyr as a capitaine-adjoint on the staff of the Adjutant General, Gay de Vernon (stop laughing). This was the period when future greats were knocking around together, ignorant of their future impacts on history, and even the oddball St-Cyr made a few friends, notably Davout, Ney and Desaix, although what appeal St-Cyr could have had for firebrands like Ney and Desaix might be the subject of an article in itself.
Lt. Col.
In September of 1793, having been promoted to Lt.. Colonel, St-Cyr was given a short brigade of four battalions of National Guardsmen (half with pikes) and ordered to stop an Austrian breakthrough at Landremont, which he did with distinction. Following this he served with the Army of the Rhine & Moselle under its string of commanders in the series of to-and-fro campaigns which marked the years up until 1800, playing a leading role at the siege of Mainz in '95 and temporarily taking full command following Hoche's death in '97.
Then on September 2 of 1797 he was officially confirmed in the post of General of Division which he had held since June 10. By this time he was a married man, having taken time out in 1795 to marry his first cousin, Anne Gouvion, with whom he was apparently head-over-heels in love. This seems quite believable, and it may have been her sparkling personality which ensnared him, so different was it to his own. The fact that he married someone so close also shows the introverted character, for one cannot imagine St-Cyr striding into a crowded room and making the ladies swoon with a quick heave of his tightly-breeched thighs.
The Army of the Rhine & Moselle well-suited St-Cyr's personality (or lack of one). It lacked the dynamic success of Bonaparte's Army of Italy, crossing and re-crossing the Rhine more often than an EEC boundary official, and never truly achieving very much. Propelled onto the staff ladder as he had been, St-Cyr very quickly forgot his roots (which he of course despised anyway), developing a smug arrogance which irritated his superiors, often causing perfectly good advice to go unheeded. He was also aloof with the troops, having spent such a short time directly amongst them. Indeed, it seems that St-Cyr approached war in much the same way that he had taken Latin or Greek at school. To him it was a science to be studied and mastered, and he took it on as such. Sadly he was completely pooh at dinner parties.
Army of Rome
In March of 1798 St-Cyr returned to Italy, this time with sword rather than brush, succeeding Massena in command of the Army of Rome. This was not a good posting. Morale was low and insubordination high, and St-Cyr showed how far he had matured by sorting the matter out to everyone's satisfaction. What he had not developed was a decent sense of corruption. 'Bring back Massena!' one can hear the civic consuls shout when they were ordered to return looted artefacts to a local prince, who in turn gave them back to the consuls as 'gifts'. This lack of political discernment meant that his stay in Italy was a short one. The consuls wanted him out pronto, and his recall to Paris was engineered within four months.
It was August before another posting came. Back to the Rhine theatre under Jourdan, who immediately hated his new anti-social appendage. The feeling was soon mutual, and it came as no surprise when the army was back on the wrong side of the Rhine once more. One hopes that St-Cyr kept his old drawings. It would have saved valuable time. Things were to get worse, however. In April of 1799 St-Cyr learnt that the ineffective Jourdan was being replaced by the highly effective Massena -whom St-Cyr hated more than life itself. They were poles apart in practically every sense, and of course Massena was an avid collector of other people's property, something which the highly principled St-Cyr found detestable.
Accordingly a period of leave was followed with a transfer back to Italy as commander of the right wing of the army of Italy under Moreau. Indeed it was only St-Cyr's skill which saved his part of the army at Novi on October 16, 1799. However the times were changing and on November 24 St Cyr received the Oath of Allegiance to the new First Consul which he was obliged to elicit from himself and his troops.
It would seem that the men gave their oath with a lot more conviction than their commander, who was his usual resentful self to all things political. Doubtless this was noted at head office, and although Bonaparte subsequently presented him with a sabre of honour, there can be little doubt that even at this early date St-Cyr had damaged his future career.
He damaged it further following yet another transfer back to the Rhine that December, falling out with Moreau, who subsequently accused St-Cyr of failing to support his fellow generals. Ney opposes this theory, as do certain other generals, but it was a taint which would never fully go away and it seems likely, knowing now St-Cyr's background as we do, that he indeed might have been un- supportive to those whom his personality made it difficult to get on with.
To Spain
Following a stint as a councillor of state in the latter half of 1800, St-Cyr was sent to Spain as the French ambassador. It must be said that St-Cyr seems eminently unqualified to have been despatched anywhere as a representative of his country, considering his introverted personality and unconsidered delivery, but nevertheless he held the job down between 1801 and 1803. As if the hotbed of Spanish intrigue and corruption were not enough, Bonaparte then posted him to Naples. Perhaps it was St-Cyr's sheer probity that was the deciding factor in the future emperor's choice. Being as there weren't any major diplomatic incidents during his stay, St-Cyr's administrative duties can be considered successful, although I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when he and Murat crossed paths in southern Italy.
Considering his rapid early promotions, it might have been expected that with the coming of empire, St-Cyr might have been on the first list of marshals. However, this was not to be. Likely the incident over the Oath of Allegiance and another in the March of 1804 when St-Cyr refused to be a signatory to the letter applauding the new Emperor now came back to haunt him. What is clear is that napoleon did not regard him in very high esteem, certainly from the viewpoint of trust, and being appointed Colonel General of Cuirassiers can hardly have made up for the space in his knapsack.
With the coming of war against Austria in 1805, St-Cyr left a neutral Naples to join with Massena in northern Italy, and whilst blockading Venice he soundly thrashed and captured an Austrian corps at Castelfranco. At the end of the campaign, he was sent back to Naples to punish the authorities who had broken their treaty of neutrality by aiding the British. Unfortunately for St-Cyr's increasingly sensitive soul, he was placed under Massena once more. Why this should now trouble him is a good question, but it did, and he returned to France unbidden, having sent Massena his resignation. This did not sit well with the Emperor, who bluntly offered St-Cyr a return trip or a firing squad.
Back in Naples, St-Cyr was unable to get along with the new king, a certain Joseph Bonaparte, and by August 1806 the monarch had had enough, happily granting St-Cyr leave to return to Paris, where he was posted to the great camp at Boulogne where the Emperor was amassing enough troops to cross the channel and give the redcoats a taste of it.
Count of the Empire
With little to do, St-Cyr spent much time with his wife and his pencils, drawing whatever took his fancy, and in the case of the Chateau de Reverseaux, actually buying it as his country estate. In May of 1808, having splashed out awards left, right and centre, Napoleon finally remembered his dysfunctional general, and made him a Count of the Empire. His annual endowment was minuscule when compared to the marshals, however.
Then, like for so many others in this series, Spain beckoned. It was August of 1808, and the newly appointed count was given the Army of Catalonia. Here he managed to relieve Barcelona, accomplish the standard easy wins over the Spanish field armies, but then failed to take Gerona, much to Napoleon's annoyance. After giving St-Cyr what he considered sufficient time, Napoleon coolly informed the general that he was being replaced by Marshal Augereau.
This infuriated the sensitive St-Cyr, who got it into his head that the Emperor had deliberately under-equipped him so that he might fail. Knowing what was in store, Augereau dragged his heels, and St-Cyr pulled his hair out in fury. Not believing the marshal's story of a bout of gout (if such a thing is possible), St-Cyr travelled to Perpignan where the marshal was 'recuperating,' only to find him in good health. Boiling over again, St-Cyr resigned on the spot and departed. This was too much for the Emperor, who had him arrested and subsequently confined to his chateau in disgrace, pending a court martial for desertion. This was November 14, 1809, and only the production of his own dubious sick note, claiming that he had been unfit for duty, saved him from trial.
It was April 1811 before St-Cyr was forgiven, being re-appointed to the council of state, and when the great adventure began in 1812 it was all hands to the pumps, and St-Cyr was given command of the Bavarian Corps. Clearly the Emperor did not yet trust him with too many French lives. Nevertheless, St-Cyr appears to have been overtly grateful, singing the Emperor's praises far more enthusiastically, although once more he got a strop on when placed under Oudinot's command at Polotsk - needless to say they did not like each other. However, this was the army, and St-Cyr's lack of professional co-operation against Wittgenstein showed the sort of failing which made Napoleon's earlier decision not to award a baton a wise one.
Fate then stepped in, and on the evening of the battle (August 18) Oudinot was wounded, leaving St-Cyr in command, from which situation, despite sustaining a wound himself, he contrived to defeat Wittgenstein. Nine days later, the Emperor awarded him his baton.
Remaining at Polotsk until October, St-Cyr was again attacked by Wittgenstein, who outnumbered him 3-1. With the result never in real doubt, St-Cyr took another wound in the foot and was carried from the field, relinquishing his command until the end of December. Thus he missed all the main action of the campaign, and as such cannot be judged against his peers, who probably would have all ignored him anyway.
The spring campaign of 1813 was short lived for St-Cyr,. He contracted typhus in March and was invalided back to France, returning as Governor of Dresden in August. It was at Dresden that St-Cyr probably had his finest hour, holding up Schwarzenberg's lumbering behemoth whilst Napoleon concentrated his forces to counter attack. Following the victory he remained to defend the massive depot, thus missing the cataclysmic defeat at Leipzig. Finally in November, having been blockaded since the Battle of the Nations, St-Cyr was obliged to surrender his garrison. It was the last time he would don Imperial uniform.
Bourbons
St-Cyr returned to France in June of 1814, receiving approaches from the reinstated Bourbons but stalling his decision to be won over. Louis XVIII called him to action in March 1815, sending him to Lyons to organise its defence against Napoleon, but news of the city's defection sped his return to Paris, where he was ordered on a similar task to Orleans. The story was the same, however, and hearing that the king had fled, St-Cyr went back to the Chateau de Reverseaux in disgust. He did not rally to the Emperor, and Napoleon was satisfied to leave him there.
Following Waterloo, St-Cyr went to Paris as an advisor to the provisional government, but his advice to defend Paris against the marauding Allies as usual went unheeded. One would have thought that this might have been the end of St-Cyr's career, but following the Restoration, St-Cyr was appointed Minister of War. Considering that St-Cyr had always claimed a deep detestation of all things politic, this is a bizarre choice. Apparently he was approached by that turncoat, Macdonald, who in retrospect must have regretted the move, for St-Cyr botched the job. The old army was decimated, riddled with useless royalists and re-uniformed.
Ney's Trial
Then came Ney's trial. It may be remembered that Ney was one of St-Cyr's friends, and he had few of those. Accordingly, St-Cyr attempted to create a 'friendly' jury comprising former imperial officers. This all went horribly wrong. Moncey (one of the selected marshals) to his credit refused to even attend the trial, and was promptly disgraced by Louis, and most of the others suddenly discovered important appointments elsewhere. The Ultras sniffed blood, blamed St-Cyr, and had him removed from office.
He went into temporary retirement for two years before the Ultras lost favour and he was once more invited to join the government, first as minister of marine and then in his old post at the war office. Finally, in 1819, he retired. For the next ten years he relaxed in a life of farming, painting and writing. Eventually, on March 17, 1830 he died, five days after suffering a massive heart attack.
So what do we think of St-Cyr? He was certainly odd, and today he would most definitely have been under a psychiatrist. He was a good if impersonal commander, but he managed to miss all the best battles, bar Dresden, which shows a woeful lack of Napoleon's favourite virtue - luck. He also had a terrible reputation for being un-supportive. This has been questioned, but his behaviour prior to Oudinot's wounding at First Polotsk was little short of disgraceful. There have certainly been worse marshals in our series, but when one considers how well his early career flourished, his poor later performance must reflect the huge defects in his personal character.
Gouvion St.-Cyr is one of those Napoleonic generals that you have to think about a bit before remembering. Rarely, when asked to reel off a string of marshals' names will St.-Cyr be near the top of the list. In short, he is widely considered second rate and boring, and this has to a great degree been reflected in the previous writings on him. Since the current writer has rarely been accused of the latter (although the former has been a rather more common slur) this part in the Fighting Marshals series will attempt to brighten your day and think of St-Cyr a little more often.
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