The Fighting Marshals
Marshal Grouchy
by Ian Barstow
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Notice anything in Grouchy's name? How about the sudden absence of the de. Yes, Grouchy was actually an old-time aristocrat - at least by virtue of blood. He was born in Paris herself on October 23rd, 1766, and does not come to further significant notice until being commissioned from the artillery school at Strasbourg in March of 1781 into the Foot Artillery. Three years later he transferred into the cavalry; namely, the Royal Etranger regiment. He was already a captain, and a bold career beckoned. Another move found him in the Scottish Company of the Gardes du Corps. Everything seems normal enough but somewhere along the line Grouchy became something of a revolutionary.
Thus, having been invalided out of the army in 1787, Grouchy rejoined in late 1791 as a lieutenant-colonel in the 12eme Chasseurs a Cheval, rising quickly to full colonel. Then in 1793 he was transferred to Brest under the command of Hoche, who soon took a shine to the noble gunner who had become a cavalryman. Service during the revolt in La Vendee saw Grouchy fight at Nantes against Charette and sustain a wound at Sorinieres. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, but during the days of the Terror, it didn't matter how much you supported the revolution if you had the wrong blood in your veins. Thus Grouchy came under suspicion and on September 30th, 1793 he was obliged to relinquish his commission. It must have been a depressing time.
General de Division
Then on November 29th, 1794, he was reinstated. What is more, by the following June he was a confirmed General de Division. He fought at Quiberon before becoming second-in-command as well as chief of staff during the disastrous 1796 invasion of Ireland. Then in 1797 Grouchy was posted to Italy under Joubert, fighting at Novi, where he performed well enough, taking two thousand prisoners prior to the retreat which saw him sustain an incredible fourteen wounds at Pasturana where he was captured, a confinement which lasted the best part of a year. During this time he vigorously opposed the creation of the Consulate, much to the annoyance of a certain General. Following his release Grouchy joined Moreau's army in Germany, fighting at Hohenlinden in command of an infantry division alongside Ney.
However, at this stage the French army was clearly split, and by virtue of posting and his overly-expressed opinions, Grouchy appeared firmly to be in Moreau's camp. Despite being made inspector general of cavalry in 1801 things went decidedly quiet on the career front - the chap in the other camp having turned out to be the horse to back. Thus it is non surprise that the name of Grouchy was missing from the list of Marshals in 1804.
In the campaign against Austria in 1805 Grouchy served as a divisional commander in Marmont's II Corps, fighting at Ulm. Not doing anything above the norm, Grouchy took a spot of sick leave until September 1806. The rest did him good, and he returned to the post that most of us relate with him - namely, a general of Dragoons. Commanding the 2nd Dragoon Division under Murat, he was heavily involved in the pursuit following Jena-Auerstadt, and established his reputation as an excellent leader of horse, having captured the standard of Queen Louise of Prussia's dragoons, purportedly embroidered by the noble lady herself.
Then on that day of horror in 1807 Grouchy found himself wreathed in fog on the snowy filed of Eylau. During Murat's monolithic cavalry charge to rescue the day Grouchy was wounded, had a horse killed under him and only just avoided capture. Remounting, he was involved in a second charge before Murat arrived in person to lead Grouchy and d'Hautpoul with his cuirassiers against the Russian cavalry, who they trounced. For his part in the battle Grouchy was awarded the Order of Maximilian-Joseph of Bavaria. Oh well, at least it would like nice on his uniform.
Next came Friedland, where, depending on who you believe, Grouchy failed to exploit his opportunities adequately or did so well as to be awarded the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour by the Emperor. Things were looking good, but as regular readers of this series will be aware, the 'S' word always turns up to haunt our characters like a spectre. Yes, Grouchy got posted to Spain.
Spain
Taking his dragoons with him, Grouchy did a stint as Governor of Madrid, where on May 2nd, 1808, the locals gave Goya an excellent photo-opportunity. Grouchy's troopers took several goes to successfully ride down the townsfolk, but eventually succeeded. This clearly pleased Napoleon, who transferred him across to Italy and made him a Count of the Empire in January 1809. Of course, Italy in 1809 was home to that most excellent of Napoleonic chaps, Prince Eugene de Beauharnais (hoorah!). So you see, Spain was a bit of a red herring, dear readers, as Grouchy came away quickly and intact. Eugene was also in need of a few decent officers, having been saddled with the likes of Baraguey d'Hilliers (who sounds suspiciously like a Brazilian footballer) and Macdonald (who sounds suspiciously like a Scottish one).
He fought for Eugene in the victories over Prince John on the Piave and at Raab before being posted to Davout for Wagram, where his cavalry did sterling service protecting the Iron Marshal's right flank. Even so it was Macdonald and not Grouchy who picked up the spare baton which Napoleon had in the tent. I still say it should have been Eugene, anyway. As something of an after-thought, Grouchy did pick up another bauble in the shape of Cross of Commander of the Iron Crown and rather more importantly appointment as colonel-general of chasseurs. Nevertheless the lack of a baton did little to inspire Grouchy to greater fervour and he was placed on the semi-active list at his own request and returned to France. Good move. He thus missed Spain getting really out of hand.
Following a rehabilitation stint with the cavalry in Italy during 1811, Grouchy was given command of III Cavalry Corps for the Invasion of Russia, once more under the command of Eugene. He captured Orsha and led the crossing of the Berezina on the way out. He fought at Smolensk and charged the Great Redoubt at Borodino, where he was wounded by canister fire from the Russian artillery. Despite the wound he was able to fight at Maloyaroslavets in October. During the horrors of the retreat from Moscow Grouchy was given command of the Sacred Battalion, composed entirely of officers, and with this ad hoc formation he once more crossed the Berezina.
Grouchy, as we have seen already, was never the hardiest of individuals, and needless to say the retreat had a severe effect on his health. In January of 1813 he requested transfer to command an infantry corps, believing that the rigours would be significantly less than a continued life in the saddle, but Napoleon would not have it. Thoroughly depressed, Grouchy requested permission to retire from the army, which was granted on April 1st.
One might think that this would sere the end of a career which was becoming marked as that of a Nearly man, but fate had further twists to play on Grouchy. He was back in the saddle in 1814, commanding cavalry at Brienne, Vauchamps, Troyes and Craonne, suffering wounds at both the latter engagements. Following the abdication he made his peace with the Bourbons, and surely that was that.
Marshal
Then of course came the 100 Days, and with it the elusive baton. But why now? Many, myself included, are surprised that Grouchy returned to the eagles. He had never been close to Napoleon, and he was in no better health than he had been since Russia, yet when napoleon asked him to command the Army of the Midi against the Duke of Angouleme, Grouchy agreed. No big deal, you might agree, yet when he quickly finished off the rebellious duke Napoleon suddenly presented him with his baton. It crosses my mind that perhaps the reason that Grouchy returned to the eagles was that Napoleon had offered him some sort of bung in the shape of a promised baton. Cynical, I know, but the Emperor was totally strapped for good officers, so who knows. Thus Grouchy became the 26th and last marshal on the list.
If this were Grouchy's high water mark, then he went back down faster than Leonardo di Caprio on the Titanic (he dies, by the way, in case you haven't seen it). What followed and the blame for it was laid firmly at Grouchy's door by the Emperor. First off many have criticised Napoleon for giving Grouchy command of a combined arms force when he was primarily a cavalryman. This fails to take into account his training as a gunner and his posting with Marmont in 1805. However, it must be admitted that it had been a while since he had commanded a large formation of infantry, and this certainly might be described as being thrown in at the deep end. Having been given the right wing of the army, following Ligny Grouchy was ordered to pursue Blucher. An interesting mandate attached to the order was that Grouchy's two corps of infantry should always remain within a mile of each other.
So, Grouchy obeyed his instructions. Slowly. Actually a check of his pulse might have suggested that Grouchy had lapsed into a coma. Perhaps the weight of his baton was heavy in his knapsack, but for whatever reason Grouchy let Blucher get away. Bad weather ruined the roads and Grouchy lost all sense of urgency, allowing his men to sleep late on the morning of the 18th. He himself had a splendid breakfast before bothering to actually take part in the war. Lunch was being taken at Sart-a-Walhain when cannon could be heard. Gerard, commanding the IV Corps practically demanded that they march to the sound of the guns. This upset a suddenly sensitive Grouchy who slapped Gerard down by quoting his orders verbatim. There are many who think that Gerard would have been a better man for the baton, and I cannot help agreeing.
Defense
The school of thought which defends Grouchy's actions goes thus: Napoleon, by giving Grouchy his orders, and by having the temerity not to have the second sight which all emperors should naturally have, is responsible for the new marshal's sudden complete lack of fire and enthusiasm, not to mention initiative. We are discussing great commanders here, and one of the first rules is march to the sound of the guns and sod the consequences. Dear readers, it is as simple as that. A big stakes game requires big time players, and Grouchy did not, and in my submission never did fit the bill. Napoleon's error was as ever picking the wrong man for the job. Davout and Soult should have commanded the two wings, with my beloved Ney commanding the cavalry reserve. Pooh to those who insist that Davout in particular was needed to hold Paris. Hindsight aside, wasn't it obvious that if the army lost it didn't matter who held Paris. What was needed was the sort of victory which left enough British and Prussian and Dutch widows to go around for a generation.
The blame for defeat at Waterloo does not rest with Grouchy. Napoleon lost it through poor tactics. However Grouchy could have easily won it by simply showing up, and it is his merits which we are judging now. Having given Thielmann's Prussians a bit of a caning at Wavre, Grouchy thought it best to get out of France, and so he emigrated to America, settling in Philadelphia. The Bourbons proscribed him in his absence, but relented in 1819 when they reinstated him with the rank of lieutenant general. Grouchy himself returned to his homeland in 1820, presumably now sounding more like Bruce Springsteen. Formally retiring, on half-pay, the revolution of 1830 saw all his former honours restored. He finally died in St Etienne on May 29th 1847.
Throughout his final years, Grouchy fought to undo the hatchet job which was Napoleon's gift for his lack of initiative. Like everything else, there had to be a fall guy and Napoleon had a ready-made one in his failed marshal. Certainly there is criticism all around, but let us simply judge Grouchy.
Firstly, did he deserve the marshal's baton which he finally got?
No, is my opinion, other than by virtue of survival. Most of those who had deserved a baton - Lasalle, St Hilaire, d'Hautpoul, Nansouty, and many more - were six feet under. If he had really deserved one then it would have arrived before this moment of desperation. In 1815 Napoleon was past it militarily. He still had the political flair and that magic style, but as a soldier his best days were gone. Many praise his skill in extricating his men following Waterloo. Personally I had thought the skill of fleeing to be a secondary one in a great soldier, but there you are.
Basically our man was a pretty good heavy cavalry senior officer who knew which end of a cannon went bang. But he was certainly no Ney or Murat. Flawed though those two worthies might have been, I fancy that at the first whiff of powder on the morning of June 18th and the strawberries would have been strewn across the road in the rush to get to the saddle.
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After an issue's grace we return with that most reviled and criticised of marshals (except Bernadotte, of course). Emmanuel de Grouchy. Hate him or hate him, there is no getting away from the fact that he has become the biggest scapegoat since until David Beckham. Who doesn't blame him for Waterloo - apart from Peter Hofschroer who naturally blames the English! There, nothing if not foolishly brave. Luckily I am nothing if not well below Peter's mighty sights, so I shall proceed regardless.