Fighting Marshals
Nicolas Charles Oudinot
duc de Reggio
by Ian Barstow, UK
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As late 18th century working-class jobs went, being born the son of the local brewer at Bar le Duc can't have been too bad. His childhood seems filled with tales of a loveable rascal, and at seventeen he easily abandoned the family business for the thrills of a military life, signing up with the Medoc Regiment. Why, three years later he was bought out by his father is unclear. What is certain is that he hated the accountancy course which he found himself on. Luckily the little matter of a revolution was on the horizon, etching itself upon Oudinot's fate.
Joining the local volunteer cavalry, Oudinot was rapidly elected Captain, presumably based on his previous experience combined with his warm and roguish personality. By 1790 he was a major in the National Guard and a further year later a lieutenant-colonel in the Meuse volunteers. Already we can see a familiar pattern in the marshals series. The arrival of the revolution and with it sudden and rapid promotions on a regular basis. Serving in the central theatre, Oudinot was involved in the sometimes bizarre backwards-and-forwards fighting which characterised the time.
Lead from the Front
One thing soon became clear. Oudinot believed in leading from the front. In many ways his career is highly comparable to Ney's. Both men were possessed of formidable courage and awesome physical durability. At Bitch in September of 1793 he collected the first of the twenty-two wounds which he was to sustain during his service with Napoleon and France. On this occasion a fleeing Austrian made time to lace his scalp with a sabre. However this did him no harm, for within the month he had been promoted to colonel in command of an infantry Demi-Brigade. Of this promotion he was extremely proud, being quoted in later life as saying "How I loved those men. I loved them so much that I got them all killed!" How he meant this to come across is debatable, but one can assume that it is with an ironic affection.
The same December at Haguenau Oudinot was wounded again, shot in the head, and not for the last time he was obliged to take some unwanted leave to rest and recuperate. Equally regularly, Oudinot was to exhibit incredible powers of recovery. By the June of 1794 he was back in service, performing heroically in the battles around Kaiserslautern, and was promoted to General of Brigade. Then that August he fell from his horse at Treves whilst leading a charge, breaking his leg in the process. Incredibly, six months after his career had been written off, Oudinot was back once more with the colours, participating in Pichegru's effort at breaking the interminable deadlock. Typically, the advancing army soon came up short, and during vicious nigh-fighting around Ulm when the Austrians counter-attacked, Oudinot was wounded six times, and got himself captured into the bargain, in similar circumstances to Ney. This was October, 1795. It was the following January before he was exchanged, and another period of recuperation called for.
In what was rapidly becoming a pattern, Oudinot rejoined as soon as he could, got given another command - with Moreau in Bavaria - and once more got mauled, this time whilst attacking the bridge at Ingolstadt, where he picked up four more sabre cuts about his head and neck and a bullet through the thigh. Nevertheless he continued to serve throughout the campaign, going on to a posting with Massena and the Army of Helvetia, where he once more showed his uncompromising courage, impressing his new commander who bumped him up to General of Division and made him his Chief of Staff within a three month period spanning April to June of 1799. It was now several months since Oudinot had gotten himself wounded, but he corrected that at Zurich, as if to celebrate his appointment, taking a round in the chest. He added to the tally with a shoulder wound that August. That he had survived to this point seems a minor miracle. There must have been standing jokes before battles about where he would get wounded this time. He must certainly have started to feel immortal.
This as probably just as well, because Massena was in bother. The Russians were involved now as well as the Austrians, and with news of disasters in Egypt, Switzerland was a cold and isolated place to be if you were a Frenchman. Commanding an ad-hoc corps of upwards of 15,000 troops, Oudinot performed very well, helping to stem the enemy attacks, and of course being shot again. The winner of the sweep would have drawn the chest area again.
Prisoner Anecdote
This minor inconvenience did not even keep Oudinot out of the action, and soon another strangely parallel incident to Ney's career occurred. A fortnight after his latest wound Oudinot came by 200 émigré prisoners from Condé's forces, who, as per the instructions handed down to the French generals from their ever-present Representatives of the People ( a sort of Revolutionary NKVD) expected to be shot as traitors. Ney had been presented with just such a situation, and like Ney, Oudinot had no stomach for shooting fellow Frenchman, whoever they might feel was worth fighting for. Accordingly, he contrived to provide a wholly inadequate guard detail to escort the prisoners back to Massena. At their final destination the guards had not a single prisoner left.
With Switzerland saved, Massena was quick to praise Oudinot's contribution, both on and off the field. Then at the start of 1800 the two Generals shared the dangers of the defence of Genoa. This was one that the French were never going to win, and when they were finally given the honours of war, Massena's troops were below half strength. Needless to say, more convalescence was required, and it was December of 1800 before Oudinot was back in action with Brune in Lombardy, distinguishing himself at the passage of the Mincio, and being given the honour of returning to Paris with the details of the ensuing armistice. In the capital, Oudinot met his future emperor, and First Consul Bonaparte presented the battle-scarred general with a sword of honour and the cannon which he had personally taken on the Mincio. It was a fitting climax to Oudinot's republican service.
On December 18, 1801 Oudinot was appointed Inspector General of the Cavalry, and two years later he became firm friends with Davout whilst serving under him as a divisional commander. Throughout this time there was peace, and Oudinot's strong physique enabled him to heal well. Not prominent enough at this stage to become one of the first batch of marshals, on February 5, 1805, Oudinot was given the command of the formation with whom he is always most readily identified - the Grenadier Division, the precursor to the Young Guard. Part of Lannes' V Corps, Oudinot fronted the Grand Army alongside Murat's troopers as the Emperor surgically outwitted Mack, playing a prominent part at Wertingen, and then pursued Ferdinand across Bohemia.
Time and again during the early stages of Napoleon's greatest campaign Oudinot's Grenadiers distinguished themselves at the forefront of the fighting. Wounded again at Hollabrunn, it seemed that Oudinot would miss the finale at Austerlitz, but despite Imperial orders to return to France, forty-eight hours before his greatest battle Napoleon returned the grenadiers to their determined commander.
Administrator
Following Austerlitz, Oudinot rested for a few weeks before taking on his first domestic mission, namely the administration of Neufchatel, where he did well enough to be made an honorary burger. However Oudinot craved more action, and having missed the 1806 campaign he was raring to go in 1807. In February his grenadiers performed well at Ostrolenka, as they did at the Siege of Danzig in May, where Oudinot came off again - this time the horse was shot - and again broke his leg. Nevertheless by Friedland in mid-June he was once more at the head of his men, holding the Russians while Napoleon came up. It was a savage battle, fought in the first instance against overwhelming numbers. The grenadiers battled for nine hours, heaping glory on themselves and their commander.
The Peace of Tilsit soon followed, and Oudinot relaxed by getting himself wounded again, once more falling off a horse and breaking his leg. It's encouraging to think that he may have been as bad a rider as me. Then again, probably not. Finally, in July 1808 Oudinot got his first visible reward for his outstanding service. He was made a count of the empire. Had he been around today he would probably also have made some serious money out of sponsorship by pharmaceuticals conglomerates.
1809 was the last great year for Napoleon's France, and in many ways Oudinot's career mirrored this. Presented by his Emperor to the Russian Czar, Napoleon told Alexander that Oudinot was 'the Bayard of the French Army....without fear or reproach'. He was given command of Massena' advance guard, fighting at Landshut, and prominent in the engagements before Aspern-Essling. It was at this terrible battle that Oudinot, albeit not how he would have wanted it, came to command a corps, following Lannes' fatal wounding. On the second day during the withdrawal he was once more wounded - shot in the arm for a change.
Corp Commander
With Lannes death, he was confirmed as commander of II Corps, just in time for Wagram. Having been heavily involved on the first day of Wagram, II Corps were deployed in the centre, with orders not to attack unless first attacked themselves. However, during the fighting, Oudinot saw an opening in front of him, and disobeying Napoleon's orders, he plunged across the Russbach and seized the Wagram Heights, having part of an ear shot off in the process. Finally, in taking Wagram itself, he was shot in the thigh once again (they must have been the most unsightly thighs in France).
Despite all this, the day after the battle Napoleon told him he deserved to be shot! Nevertheless, the Emperor calmed down and on July 12, 1809, Oudinot received the coveted baton, placing him 22nd ion the List. A year later the title Duke of Reggio was added to his honours. Always a big spender, the annuities that these titles came with would have been most welcome. Part of these costs were the massive family which Oudinot's seldom-seen first wife had bred him, and who now practically outnumbered the rest of the Bar le Duc population.
It was whilst delicately enforcing the Continental System in Holland during 1810 that Oudinot received news of his wife's death. Following Louis Bonaparte's enforced abdication and the country being formally incorporated into France, Oudinot returned home and married an 18 year old girl. Mind you, Eugenie de Coussy came from a most noble line, and despite being 26 years Oudinot's junior, she was most happy to share his half-million francs a year lifestyle, particularly as the betrothal was personally blessed by the Emperor himself. Then of course, as always happens, things went horribly wrong.
The day before his wedding, Oudinot was posted back to II Corps, currently waiting for him in Westphalia. Russia for Oudinot was the same story that we have all read a hundred times before. After a couple of indecisive engagements with Russians who were clearly not going to play the game, Oudinot was wounded in the shoulder at the head of his men on the first day of First Polotsk on August 17. He had been doing quite well, but had to turn over command to St Cyr who earned his own baton as a result.
Oudinot was invalided back to Vilna, where he was joined by his new wife. This must have been quite refreshing after the homely old job that had stayed in Bar le Duc. Breaking Imperial orders herself, Eugenie personally crossed the Niemen to nurse her husband, who she found astride a horse on her arrival. Once more his phenomenal recuperative powers had kicked in. It was just as well that he missed Borodino. God alone knows what kind of record for wounds he would have achieved there.
He rejoined his command in October, in time to endure the crossing of he Berezina. Amidst the maelstrom of death it is hardly surprising that Mr Wound himself got hit. This time in the side. Probably about the only place capable of sustaining more scar tissue. Invalided home once more, Oudinot was nearly captured by Cossacks, but rallied a dozen men in a farmhouse to beat them off. Typically, during the fight Oudinot was injured. This time a damaged beam fell on him.
Like many of the others, Russia knocked the stuffing out of Oudinot. He was very poor in 1813, commanding XII Corps at Bautzen, prior to the armistice. After it he co-ordinated with Ney in attacking Berlin, but only succeeded in getting hammered at Gross Beeren by Bernadotte. Following this he was given a Young Guard corps which he led at Wachau and Leipzig.
More Wounds
In 1814 Oudinot was involved in the spectacular but doomed campaign on home soil, and being Oudinot, contrived to get wounded in both legs at Brienne. Following La Rothiere, he sustained his last and ironically what should have been his worst wound at Arcis. He was struck square in the chest by a musket ball, but as luck would have it the missile was deflected by the plaque of his Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour. No, honest. Somehow, to die at the very end would have been highly inappropriate.
Oudinot then participated in the mutiny of the marshals at Fontainebleau, and after Napoleon's abdication he served as a Bourbon commissioner in arranging a general armistice with the Allies. In 1815 he refused to go over to Napoleon, despite an appeal from Davout. He headed home to Bar le Duc instead, remaining loyal to his Bourbon masters. Napoleon, in his final exile, put the change in Oudinot's loyalty squarely down to his aristocratic young wife. He may well have been right, for bit certainly seems that she had Oudinot twisted about her little finger.
This loyalty was rewarded after Waterloo. Oudinot was made commander of the Royal Guard and a member of the Privy Council, and for 11 years headed the Paris National Guard. Then in 1823 he led the I Corps into Spain to rescue the king from his own people. Ironically it was his first trip to the Peninsula with the army, and one can only assume that the lack of fighting accounts for the fact that he returned unwounded. Finally, as he wished, Oudinot ended his time as Governor of Les Invalides, dying at the ripe old age of 81.
Courage More than Brain
So what opinion should one have of Oudinot. Certainly courage rather than brain was his forte. He was definitely a rough diamond, more than once sustaining 'unofficial' wounds in bar-room escapades. As a person he was prone to being spontaneously unjust, having to make things up to those he had injured after the event. Nevertheless he certainly was not malicious. He suffered amongst the marshalate from being in Ney's shadow. As I have said before, in many instances their careers are mirrored, although Ney was never as accident prone. As a general he was extremely aggressive, and popular with his men, in spite of his lack of fairness. Rarely did he command independent troops, and there is no reason to believe that Napoleon missed out on much by denying him such opportunities. As an administrator, Oudinot was remarkably capable, and unlike many of the others, his desertion to the Bourbons is not tinged with betrayal.
What truly stands out is just how much of a head-case he must have been. The sheer number of wounds show that he was always at the front, fearless to the point of foolhardiness, a quality not desirable in a senior commander. Too often Oudinot had to play hurt, as it were, or was carried from the field and replaced. Even so, before 1812, he did pretty well, and nobody but Ney came out of Russia with laurels.
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Oudinot has one unique fact locked up in his little closet of history, namely that he was the most wounded senior commander during the Napoleonic Wars. It is however unlikely that without the aid of a clairvoyant he could have known this when he chose the military life as a fresh-faced teenager from Champagne.