The Fighting Marshals
Louis Alexandre Berthier
by Ian Barstow, UK
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Then in 1781 he was appointed to the staff of Marshal Rochambeau in America whilst serving with the Soissonais Infantry. However, all this moving about should not imply that our man was a dashing firebrand. In fact he saw woefully little action -- even in America -- a gift which he was well able to nurture. Major The next few years were fairly uneventful, at least for Berthier. Promotion to major in '88 followed an attachment to Custine's Prussian Army study project -- calm down now. Actually I've gone off him already, but I had best persevere for the sake of completeness. In 1789 Berthier made Lieutenant Colonel on the staff of General Besenval, whose job was to march around Paris with lots of armed men to put the plebes off revolution. Clearly Berthier failed in this task. With the coming of the Revolution Berthier was involved in the formation of the Versailles National Guard. He was clearly still a royalist sympathiser, and was involved in the escape of Louis XV's sisters, although at minimal risk to himself, it should be pointed out. Promoted to colonel, Berthier then became an infantry instructor (presumably on hiding or something similar) where he did well enough to secure promotion to Brigadier General with Rochambeau. However, if he thought that his dubious royalist sympathies had gone unnoticed, then he was sadly mistaken. On August 21st, 1792 the Assembly ordered that Berthier be made Destitute; that is, fired and stripped of just about everything bar his pants, but they obviously realised what a limp-wrist they were dealing with and reduced this in October to a suspension instead. The get-out clause was that he could serve as a volunteer private, and this appealed to Berthier, who knew quite well how the system worked. Keep his head down for a while and the bosses would soon be hollering for someone who used a book for something other than toilet paper. Accordingly Berthier joined the Army of the West. After a spot of difficulties with one of the dreaded People's Representatives (or forerunners of the NKVD and KGB) Berthier found himself back in Paris on some form of semi-retirement. This was clearly not in the plans, but Berthier was nothing if not opportunistic. In 1795 Carnot began reorganising the army, and he needed administrators. And he knew Berthier. Getting the picture yet? March 2nd saw Berthier get his Brigadier General's uniform back, with a commission as Chief of Staff in the Army of Italy. This was Berthier's first big opportunity to establish himself. He saw himself as a great administrator and wanted to reshape the staff in his image. And he succeeded. Promoted to General of Division in June of 1795, Berthier served under two other commanders before the main man arrived. Chief of Staff Like so many other future marshals, the decisive moment of their life was coming into Napoleon's shadow and taking advantage of it. The future emperor instantly saw that in comparison to so may chiefs of staff, this little fellow actually knew what he was doing. In particular he was impressed with the rapidity of Berthier's dispatch system which got orders quickly to the front in the same wording in which they began. The influence of Bonaparte also appears to have had a worthwhile effect on Berthier's own martial ardour, and during the Italy campaign of 1796-97 Berthier actually saw a degree of action at both Lodi and Rivoli. Not only did Bonaparte effect his military life, but also his personal one. Berthier was never exactly what one would call dashing, and apart from a crush on Elisa Bonaparte, he was not regarded as a ladies man. Napoleon was meanwhile having difficulties ditching a bothersome Italian woman named Giuseppina Visconti, so in cunning style he palmed her off on Berthier, who was almost instantly smitten, as is the way of such fellows. A long term involvement followed, although the commitment seems to have been more his than hers, if you know what I mean. On December 9th, 1797 Berthier was named commander of the army whilst Bonaparte put a few other plans together. This was a short lived and entirely uncomplicated little spell however, consisting of marching to Rome, declaring an Italian Republic and handing the reins to Massena before becoming Chief of Staff to the Army of England. This was one of Napoleon's plans, of course, but when he realised we were just too hard and that a trip to sunnier climes was in order, a quick name change found our hero as Chief of Staff in the Army of the Orient (the region, not the football club). Egypt was hard work for Berthier, and he did his usual capable job, despite the unfortunate result, and he was rewarded by one of the better bunks on Bonaparte's return trip. By this time they were attached at the hip as far as army life was concerned. Minister of War Avoiding any direct involvement in the 1799 coup, Berthier was quickly appointed Minister of War with the onerous task of reorganising the republic's armies. On April 2nd 1800 Berthier packed this job in to become nominal commander of the Army of the Reserve for the Second Italian Campaign. It should be pointed out that Bonaparte as First Consul was technically excluded from army command, but we all know who was running the show. Nevertheless Berthier saw action at Montebello and some Austrian actually had the temerity to shoot him in the arm at Marengo. Following administrative duties in Piedmont Berthier once more took up the mantle of Minister of War in October 1800, holding the job down until August of 1807. Nothing of great significance occurred until May 18th 1804, when Bonaparte officially became Napoleon I. The following day a list of 18 Marshals of the Empire was released, and Berthier's name shone in splendour as Top Banana. Various titular posts followed, such as Grand Officer of the Palace and Grand Master of the Hunt (of which more later) but the one that counted was appointment as Chief of Staff to the newly formed Grand Army. Needless to say that wherever the Grand Amy went, Berthier went. On March 30th 1806 he became Prince of Neufchatel, a position with which he was delighted beyond measure, although it should be pointed out that he never once went there or did anything other than maintain the principalities status quo (I shall resist this gag). What did happen was that Berthier became fantastically rich by laundering the finances of the place, effectively stripping it of 50% of its revenue. Despite his ongoing relationship with the forceful Madame Visconti, she was clearly not suitable as a princely wife, as the Emperor bluntly told Berthier. Instead in 1808 Berthier married Princess Maria Elizabeth of Pfalz-Zweibrucken-Birkenfeld. She appears to have been fully boned up on the Italian connection but was prepared to turn a blind eye to it in return for ditching the hardest surname in Europe to write. Anyway, the old Italian girl was dead within a fortnight of the nuptials anyway. 1809 did not start auspiciously for Berthier. He was temporarily commander in chief against Austria, and proved he was actually worse at war than they were. Up against the Archduke Charles, Berthier looked what he was in the ring. An amateur. Utterly outmanoeuvred, Berthier was only saved by the arrival of his master who sorted the situation out with the usual bloodshed. However Napoleon was clearly not too displeased as he made Berthier Prince of Wagram following the battle, presumably for lulling the Austrians into a false sense of security. 1810 was peaceful for a change, and napoleon sent Berthier to Vienna to ask for the hand of Marie Louise. Another spot of false security methinks. From that time onwards however, Berthier was fully occupied planning the invasion of Russia. It was of course a monumental task, and for the first time Berthier was stretched beyond his, and undoubtedly anybody else's abilities. Having lived through the disaster, Berthier was somewhat put out to find that napoleon had no intention of making room on the imperial sled for him, and instead he was ordered to work on under Murat. This was a turning point in their relationship, and presumably Berthier felt a sense of betrayal. Faced with no alternative, he remained with Eugene after Murat did a runner, although he was looking increasingly weary. Serving throughout the 1813 and 1814 campaigns, one senses that all Berthier now wanted was to get out, and a lance blow on the head at Brienne would not have helped matters. In the desperate days of 1814 everybody was expected to pull his weight , and with all the years of honours, Berthier was packing a heavy load. When talk of the abdication came around, Berthier supported the mutineers, and he was more than happy to support the Provisional Government on Napoleon's departure. His treachery was well rewarded by the Bourbons, including command of the 5th Company of the Gardes du Corps. This may not seem much, but the symbolism is heavy with disloyalty. Of course Napoleon would go and upset Berthier's apple cart by returning in 1815, but Berthier cast his lot in with the Fat King and fled with him to Ghent, before travelling on to Bavaria. He then refused the Emperor's summons to rejoin the army, thus probably making a significant contribution to future European history. It was from a window of the third floor of Bamberg castle that Berthier left this mortal coil. Allegedly observing Russian cavalry manoeuvring, he inexplicably took a nosedive out of the window and bounced off several parapets on the way to becoming an unpleasant mess in the courtyard. So what do we make of Berthier? As a general he was rubbish, and as such hardly merited being first on the list of marshals. As a chief of staff there was no-one to touch him, and his contribution to Napoleon's success is significant in this respect. He was not a strong person in the mould of Ney or Lannes, but rather was a weedy little fellow prone to bouts of self-pity. In many ways we all know the sort. Handy when you need something they can provide but otherwise shunned and treated as a butt of humour. However this did not stop Berthier from organising all sorts of social does himself. Perhaps it was the only way to get invited, but nevertheless were responsible for two of the best anecdotes of the entire period, both of which I shall regale you with now. Killer Rabbits In his role as Grand Master of the Hunt, Berthier decided to organise a shoot for Napoleon at the Tuileries. Being as the gardens had little in the way of wildlife Berthier came up with the idea of importing 1000 rabbits and letting them loose in the grounds to be shot. Only one error arose in Berthier's plan. Unable to procure any wild rabbits, he imported tame ones, who it seems were used to being fed twice per day. At any rate as the Emperor marched forth, rifle in hand, all 1000 bunnies mistook the Great One for their lettuce man, and enveloped him before the beaters could chase them off. Apparently a hatload of them are still being chucked out of the Imperial carriage as it hammered back to Paris! Eye for an Eye The other story bizarrely shows the relationship which Berthier had with his emperor. At another shooting part, Napoleon inadvertently shot Massena in the eye with a fouling piece (as you do). Not wanting to appear a complete prat the emperor instantly handed his gun to Berthier and said he'd done it! Berthier then admitted that it was all his fault, and Massena, now blind in one eye, agreed that it was all his fault. Good stuff. So, as you can see, technically Berthier was a fighting marshal. Wounded at least twice, he commanded troops in action, although he never actually won anything of significance. As such he is never going to be amongst the most popular of Napoleon's commanders, and his personality is without doubt lacking in several key areas, but at least he has provided us with the biggest question mark of the period. Namely, did he jump, or was he pushed? 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On first examination, Berthier appears an eminently unsuitable candidate to be included in the Fighting Marshals series. After all, he has the reputation of being the Emperor's 'desk jockey', but is this reputation really deserved?
Berthier was born the first son of a colonel in the Topographical Engineers on November 20th, 1753. In comparison to the humble beginnings of so many of his future colleagues, Berthier was relatively comfortable as a child and his future was well mapped out ahead of him. Aged 13, he followed his father's footsteps, being commissioned into the Topographical Engineers. However, with the flowing nature of military service during this period, he did not remain an engineer for long. In 1770 he was a lieutenant in the Legion of Flanders and in 1777 became a captain in the Royal Lorraine Dragoons. Two years later he was in the 2nd Chasseurs. So he got about a bit.