Napoleon's Marshals: Saint-Cyr, Oudinot, Victor, Murat. transcript

“Terror belli… decus pacis.” Terror in war… ornament in peace… The words inscribed on every French Marshal’s baton. In France, the title of Marshal, or Maréchal, goes back at least to the 13th century. It represents the highest possible position of military authority – authority symbolised by a marshal’s baton. The title was abolished during the French Revolution, as incompatible with the egalitarian spirit of the age.

But in 1804, Napoleon founded a new empire, and restored the ancient rank. This is Epic History TV’s guide to Napoleon’s Marshals. All 26 have been ranked according to our own evaluation of their achievements as Marshals, with expert guidance from Lieutenant Colonel Rémy Porte, former chief historian of the French Army. So far we’ve met Marshals Pérignon… Brune. Sérurier. Kellermann. Grouchy. Moncey. Poniatowksi. Jourdan.

Bernadotte. Augereau. Lefebvre. 13. Marshal Saint-Cyr Gouvion Saint-Cyr was a gifted student, who ran away from a miserable childhood to become an artist. A passionate republican, he embraced the French Revolution and later volunteered for military service. Though proud and aloof by nature, his republican politics and sharp intellect ensured he was elected captain of his company. His skill at drawing enemy positions then got him noticed by General Custine, who gave him a job on his staff.

During these turbulent early years of the Revolution, Custine was one of several generals who was punished for his defeats... with a trip to the guillotine. Saint-Cyr’s instinctive grasp of warfare, brilliant planning and tactics, won him promotion from volunteer to general of division in two years – an even more remarkable achievement as he’d had no formal military training. But his cold, analytical approach meant that he was always a respected leader, rather than loved.

After five years’ service with the Army of the Rhine he was sent to Italy. At the disastrous Battle of Novi, he commanded the French right wing, but skilfully extricated his troops from the debacle. The next year he was back on the Rhine, and won a brilliant victory over the Austrians at Biberach. But a bitter dispute with his commander, General Moreau, encouraged rumours that Saint-Cyr was impossible to work with. Saint-Cyr believed soldiers should not meddle in politics, and did not support Napoleon’s seizure of power in 1799.

Nor did he show much enthusiasm for Napoleon’s decision to crown himself Emperor five years later. His political views cost him dearly: Saint-Cyr was side-lined for several years, while less able generals were made Marshals. In 1805 he commanded French forces in central Italy, but when he was made subordinate to Marshal Masséna, a man whom he personally detested, he returned to Paris, even when Napoleon threatened to have him shot for desertion.

In 1808 Saint-Cyr was given command of a corps for the invasion of Spain. But his failure to take Gerona meant he was relieved of command. Leaving in a fury before his replacement Marshal Augereau had arrived, he was nearly court martialled again for desertion. Saint-Cyr’s military talent, however, was not in doubt. In 1812 he was recalled for the Russia campaign, with command of Sixth Bavarian Corps. His role was to support Marshal Oudinot in guarding the northern flank of the French salient.

When Wittgenstein’s Russians attacked at Polotsk, Oudinot was wounded, and Saint-Cyr took over command, turning probable defeat into a brilliant victory. For this achievement, Napoleon awarded Saint-Cyr his Marshal’s baton. But two months later, at a Second Battle of Polotsk, Saint-Cyr was attacked by a larger Russian army, seriously wounded in the foot, and forced to pull back. His injury meant he missed the worst horrors of the Russian retreat, but he contracted typhus early in 1813, and was sick for many months.

Saint-Cyr returned to the Grande Armée in August, taking command of Fourteenth Corps and the defence of Dresden. Incredibly, this was the first and only time that he worked directly alongside the Emperor, and both soon learned new respect for each other’s abilities. Saint-Cyr’s skilled defence of Dresden set the stage for Napoleon’s great victory there later that month. But Saint-Cyr was incredulous when Napoleon later ordered him to remain in Dresden… while other forces concentrated for the decisive Battle of Leipzig, 60 miles to the west.

Napoleon’s defeat at Leipzig meant that Saint-Cyr, and other garrisons in the east, were cut-off, and had to surrender that autumn. Saint-Cyr took no part in the Hundred Days, determined to keep out of France’s political disputes. Under the restored monarchy, he served as Minister of War, and tried but failed to save Marshal Ney from the death penalty. He also struggled to enact military reforms in the face of royalist opposition, eventually resigning in disgust, and retiring to his country estate.

Marshal Saint-Cyr remains one of the great ‘what-ifs’ of the Napoleonic Wars – an extremely able commander, side-lined for his politics… who might well have proved one of Napoleon’s very best Marshals. 12. Marshal Oudinot Nicolas Oudinot ran away to join the army aged 17, but his father dragged him home 3 years later to help run the family business. When the Revolution began he volunteered for the National Guard and was promoted Major.

In the wars that followed he served with the Army of the Rhine, always in the thick of the fighting, rapidly promoted and frequently wounded – a habit for which he became celebrated. In 1799 he was promoted to General of Division and sent to Switzerland, to serve as General Masséna’s new chief of staff, a role he performed ‘to perfection.’ Serving with General Brune in Italy, he led a cavalry charge against an Austrian battery at the Battle of Monzembano, sabring gunners and capturing one cannon himself, a feat for which Napoleon awarded him a sword of honour.

In 1805, the newly-crowned Emperor Napoleon gave Oudinot command of an elite Grenadier Division, formed from the tallest, strongest soldiers in the army. In December that year, at the Battle of Austerlitz, Oudinot insisted on leading the division in person, despite having been shot in the thigh two weeks earlier. His grenadiers were kept in reserve for most of the battle, but saw heavy fighting in the latter stages, as Napoleon completed the destruction of the Allied left wing.

At the siege of Danzig in 1807, General Oudinot’s division had the unusual distinction of capturing an enemy warship – a British sloop, that had run aground trying to resupply the city. A month later at Friedland, Oudinot and his grenadiers were under Marshal Lannes’ command, and played a crucial role holding up the Russian army… until Napoleon arrived to deal a decisive blow. During the 1809 war with Austria, Oudinot was wounded once more at the Battle of Aspern.

When Marshal Lannes died of his wounds, Napoleon chose Oudinot to succeed him as commander of Second Corps. He led his new corps with such success at Wagram six weeks later, that Napoleon attributed victory to Masséna… and Oudinot. A week later he became one of three new Marshals: ‘one for France, one for the army, one for friendship’. Oudinot: the army’s choice – fearless and much loved, a man whose courage inspired all around him.

He later received an additional reward – the title Duke of Reggio. In 1812 Marshal Oudinot led Second Corps into Russia, but was wounded again at Polotsk, and handed over command to General Saint-Cyr. Ten weeks later he was back with his corps, marching south to join up with Napoleon’s army on its retreat from Moscow. Oudinot’s men were shocked when they saw their old comrades from the main column: they looked more like fugitives than soldiers of the Grande Armée.

Since Oudinot’s Second Corps was in better shape than most, it formed the vanguard for the desperate crossing of the Berezina River. But the next day, in bitter fighting to hold the bridgehead against the Russians, Oudinot was shot from his saddle. He was carried back to a cottage with a serious gunshot wound, but then he and his party became surrounded by Cossacks. Oudinot asked for his pistols and, “from his bed, aiming through an opening opposite, began firing at the Cossacks.” They were rescued by friendly troops just in time.

Oudinot was back with the Grande Armée in Germany in 1813. In August, Napoleon ordered him to lead an advance on Berlin, but he was defeated by Bernadotte’s Army of the North at Grossbeeren. He then retreated in the wrong direction, causing Napoleon to remark, “It’s truly difficult to have less brains than the Duke of Reggio”. In Oudinot’s defence, he’d probably been given an impossible task – insufficient men to take on a strong opponent, bad weather, terrible roads, and he himself unwell - possibly not yet recovered from his ordeal in Russia.

Napoleon put Oudinot back where he was most effective, leading troops in combat under his close supervision. At Leipzig, he commanded two divisions of the Young Guard, engaged in heavy fighting on the southern front for two days. Oudinot continued to serve the Emperor courageously and loyally as a corps commander in the final campaign of 1814 – but in April, he was one of several Marshals to confront Napoleon with the reality of his position, and force his abdication.

When Napoleon returned from exile in 1815, Oudinot refused to break his new oath to the monarchy, but declared neutrality, telling Napoleon, “Since I shall not serve you, Sire, I shall serve no-one.” He continued to hold senior commands under the Bourbons. By one estimate, Oudinot was wounded 36 times in his military career, more than any other Marshal. Here are just 20 that we found details for… A fellow officer, who bathed with him at a spa after the war, saw the scars on his body and observed, “He was little more than a colander.” Ironically, Oudinot was also one of the longest-lived Marshals, dying aged 80, while serving as Governor of Les Invalides. 11.

Marshal Victor Claude Victor-Perrin was an experienced soldier by the time of the French Revolution, a sergeant with 8 years’ service in the Grenoble Artillery Regiment. The Revolutionary Wars brought the opportunity for rapid promotion, and by 1793 he was commanding an infantry battalion at the Siege of Toulon. He led a daring night assault on British defences alongside the army’s artillery chief, a young Major Bonaparte.

Both men were wounded, but the attack was a success, and both were quickly promoted to brigadier general. Victor served under General Bonaparte in Italy, and turned out to be a brilliant brigade commander. In 1800, he distinguished himself at the Battle of Marengo, where his command of the left wing won particular praise from Napoleon. But Victor did not hide his disapproval of Napoleon’s quest for political power, and as a result, received relatively minor roles under the new regime.

In 1802 he was earmarked to lead an expedition to recover the French territory of Louisiana, but it was called off when Napoleon decided, instead, to sell Louisiana to the United States. Victor and Marshal Lannes were close friends from their days serving together in Italy. In 1806, Lannes persuaded Napoleon to let him have Victor as his new chief of staff for Fifth Corps. Napoleon agreed, and in October, Victor served as Lannes’ deputy at the Battle of Jena.

Napoleon’s earlier misgivings about Victor were now forgotten, and that winter he was given command of the newly-formed Tenth Corps. But within weeks he was captured by a Prussian patrol, and had to be exchanged for a captured Prussian officer… General von Blücher. His big break came in 1807, stepping in for the wounded Marshal Bernadotte to command First Corps at Friedland, where he successfully led a major attack as the Emperor looked on.

Promotion to Marshal and the title Duke of Bellumo swiftly followed. In 1808, Marshal Victor and First Corps took part in the invasion of Spain, where he’d be posted for the next three years. Victor’s record in Spain was better than most, but like others, he seemed more interested in personal glory and rewards than in co-operating with fellow commanders. In 1809 at Medellín, he inflicted a crushing defeat on General Cuesta’s Spanish army.

Four months later, his bold night attack on the British at Talavera came tantalisingly close to success. He was furious the next day when King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan refused to support fresh attacks, and instead ordered a cautious withdrawal. The next year Victor besieged the Spanish port of Cadiz. It proved a lengthy, futile operation, devoid of glory, and saw his troops defeated by an allied sortie at the Battle of Barrosa.

In 1812 Victor was recalled from Spain for the invasion of Russia. His Ninth Corps was held in reserve for most of the campaign, though his troops were kept busy defending depots and convoys from Cossacks raids. That autumn, his corps attempted to cover the main army’s retreat from Moscow. The greatest crisis of the retreat came at the Berezina River. As the remnants of the Grande Armée began crossing over two improvised bridges, Victor’s Ninth Corps was ordered to form the rearguard.

Though heavily outnumbered, Victor skilfully handled his French and German troops, holding the Russians at bay as the army made its escape. He then marched his surviving troops over the bridges in good order – a courageous performance, in desperate circumstances. In Germany in 1813, Victor commanded Second Corps, and led the attack in Napoleon’s last great victory at Dresden. His corps was in heavy fighting again at Leipzig two months later.

Victor continued to serve at the Emperor’s side in the defence of France in 1814. By now, like many comrades, he must have been close to physical and psychological exhaustion. Regardless, during the Battle of Montereau, Napoleon let fly at him for failing to get his troops into position, and blamed him for the Allies’ escape. Victor was relieved of command. But angry and humiliated at what he considered his unfair dismissal, he told the Emperor: “Marshal Victor has not forgotten his old trade.

I will shoulder a musket and take my place in the Guard.” Moved by this response, Napoleon relented and gave Victor command of a corps of Young Guard. Two weeks later, he was badly wounded at the Battle of Craonne, and took no further part in the war. A month later Napoleon abdicated, and Victor switched his loyalty to the Bourbon monarchy… with surprising zeal. He led an investigation into former comrades who’d supported Napoleon during the Hundred Days, and was one of only two active Marshals to vote for the death penalty for Marshal Ney - a decision he later claimed to regret.

Victor later served as Minister of War, but retired from public life in 1830, following the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy. 10. Marshal Murat Joachim Murat, the son of an innkeeper, was destined for a career in the church, but dropped out of college and joined a cavalry regiment instead. To his immense frustration, he saw little action in the early years of the Revolutionary Wars, being stuck with staff and training roles.

But in 1795, while stationed in Paris with the 21st Chasseurs, fate intervened... A young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, had been put in charge of the defence of the National Convention. With a mob poised to storm the building, he ordered Captain Murat to bring him cannons, which he did, racing the guns through the city streets... allowing Napoleon to mow down the mob with a famous ‘whiff of grapeshot’. Napoleon was hailed as the saviour of the government, and rewarded with command of the Army of Italy.

Murat was promoted Colonel and went with him as his new aide-de-camp. He soon made a name for himself as a bold and brilliant leader of cavalry… while his 6 foot height, curly locks and love of women ensured fame as France’s foremost “beau sabreur”. In 1798 Murat joined Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt. At the Battle of Aboukir, his flanking charge broke the enemy, and Murat personally took the Ottoman commander prisoner, despite being shot in the jaw – a wound which, to his immense relief, did not ruin his looks.

Back in Paris, Napoleon launched his coup d’état to seize political power. When he got a hostile reception from the Council of Five Hundred, it was Murat who saved the day, leading troops in to clear the chamber, shouting ‘Citizens, you have been dissolved’… before adding something a bit more coarse. His place at the future Emperor’s side was further assured when he married Napoleon’s youngest sister Caroline in 1800.

Later that year he commanded the French cavalry reserve at Marengo, and helped Napoleon to win a decisive victory over the Austrians. When Napoleon established his empire in 1804, Murat became a Marsal, second in seniority only to Berthier. He’d later also receive the title Prince of the Empire, and rank of Grand Admiral. In the 1805 campaign, he commanded Napoleon’s Cavalry Reserve – his excellent reconnaissance and diversions proving crucial in the encirclement of General Mack’s Austrian army at Ulm.

Three weeks later, Murat and Marshal Lannes, who normally couldn’t stand each other, together bluffed an Austrian commander into surrendering a vital bridge, by persuading him that an armistice had been signed, when it hadn’t. It was a bold stunt, but overall, Napoleon was not impressed by Murat’s pursuit of the enemy: “I cannot approve your manner of march. You go on like a stunned fool taking not the least notice of my orders.” Yet in battle, Murat remained a brilliant and inspiring leader, as demonstrated at Austerlitz, and the next year at Jena, where he led the decisive charge wielding only his riding crop.

The next year at Eylau, with the Russians poised to break through his centre, Napoleon ordered Murat to lead a mass cavalry charge straight at the enemy. Murat’s men succeeded, and saved the army from disaster – though at a terrible price in men and horses. Napoleon had rewarded Murat in 1806 by making him sovereign prince of the Grand Duchy of Berg. In 1808, he sent Murat to Spain to act as his representative. Spain was still a French ally, but in May, Napoleon’s heavy-handed meddling in Spanish affairs triggered a ferocious backlash.

Madrid rose up against the French garrison… and Murat’s troops fought back with brutal force – killing around 200, executing 300 more. When Napoleon deposed Spain’s Bourbon monarchy, Murat hoped he’d be made the new King of Spain, but that title went to Napoleon’s brother Joseph; Murat, instead, received the throne of Naples. If it felt like second prize... it wasn’t bad going for an innkeeper’s son, college dropout, and ex-cavalry trooper.

Napoleon expected Murat to merely represent his interests in Naples, but Murat had other ideas: he reformed the Neapolitan army, equipping it with splendid new uniforms; and turned a blind eye to smuggling, which undermined Napoleon’s economic war against Britain - so-called Continental System. Relations between Murat and the Emperor became strained. But when Napoleon began planning to invade Russia in 1812, only Murat would do to lead his cavalry.

Their differences were put to one side: Murat took command of four cavalry corps, and became Napoleon’s second-in-command. During the advance into Russia, Murat’s cavalry faced a difficult and frustrating task, trying to locate the enemy in a vast landscape. Horses died in their thousands from poor fodder and exhaustion. And they faced a dangerous and wily opponent in Russia’s Cossacks. Murat, always riding with the advance guard, was so fearless and conspicuous in his extravagant uniforms that the Cossacks came to admire him, calling out ‘Oorah!

Murat!’ whenever they saw him, and hoped to capture him alive if possible. Murat was among those who tried to persuade Napoleon to halt the advance at Smolensk, but was ignored. At the great clash between the French and Russian armies at Borodino, Murat was at his best, directing a series of attacks on the Russian earthworks, always were the action was hottest, inspiring all with his courage. Murat remained with the army during the retreat from Moscow, though his magnificent cavalry had virtually ceased to exist.

One eyewitness noted that throughout the ordeal, he never neglected his appearance – even at the Berezina, he looked splendid, in an open-necked shirt, velvet cloak, a white feather in his cap. When Napoleon left the army to return to Paris, he gave command to Marshal Murat. But Murat, now primarily concerned with hanging onto his kingdom, left the army a month later and returned to Naples, where he opened secret negotiations with the Coalition.

He offered to join the war against Napoleon, if the other powers would let him keep his crown. But he received only a lukewarm response. So in 1813, when Napoleon asked Murat to join him in Germany, to fight for their thrones together, he answered the call. Murat had become increasingly difficult to work with: over-sensitive about his royal status, prone to tantrums… but in battle, as fearless as ever. At Dresden, his charge through rain and mud shattered the Austrian left wing and paved the way for victory.

But then at Liebertwolkwitz, he showed his limitations when not under Napoleon’s direct command – getting drawn into a major and unnecessary cavalry battle with Coalition forces, and twice nearly being captured himself. Two days later, at the Battle of Leipzig, he led another of history’s great cavalry charges – coming close to breaking the enemy centre, and even capturing the Allied monarchs. But it was not to be. The Battle of the Nations ended in a disastrous defeat.

As Napoleon retreated to the French frontier, Murat informed the Emperor that he was leaving for Naples, promising to raise fresh troops. Murat and Napoleon would never meet again. Three months later, the King of Naples had cut a deal with the Coalition, and switched sides. “So long as it was possible for me to believe that the Emperor Napoleon was fighting to bring peace and glory to France, I fought loyally at his side,” Murat declared.

“But now… I know that the Emperor’s sole desire is war.” However, Murat’s commitment to the Sixth Coalition was distinctly half-hearted. His army marched against Eugene’s forces in northern Italy, but had done no actual fighting before news arrived of Napoleon’s abdication. Murat then began to suspect what had been obvious to Napoleon, at least: the Coalition was not going to honour its promise, and Murat would be next to lose his throne.

So in 1815, encouraged by news of Napoleon’s return from exile, Murat marched north against the Austrians, proclaiming a war for Italian freedom and independence. Just seven weeks later, his campaign ended in defeat at the Battle of Tolentino. With the British and Austrians closing in, Murat became a hunted fugitive. He sailed to France, but Napoleon had not forgiven his betrayal, and refused to see him. After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, he fled to Corsica, gathered a small band of volunteers and returned to Italy, in a hopelessly doomed attempt to start a revolution and reclaim his throne.

Chased by a mob, and arrested on the beach, Murat was sentenced to death by the restored Bourbon monarchy of Naples. He met his end with his usual courage, telling the firing squad, “If you wish to spare me, aim at the heart!” …then gave the order to fire himself. Murat is rightly remembered as one of the great battlefield cavalry commanders of history – inspirational, fearless, with brilliant tactical instinct. But outside of combat, he was, in Napoleon’s estimation, “… a very poor general.

He always waged war without maps.” Worse, when the conflict turned against France, he allowed self-interest and vanity to prevail over loyalty to the Emperor. As Napoleon’s Chief-of-Staff Marshal Berthier once told him: “You’re only a king by the grace of Napoleon and French blood. It’s black ingratitude that’s blinding you.” Saint-Cyr. Oudinot. Victor. Murat. Seventeen down, nine to go. Join us for Part 4 when we’ll continue the countdown… coming soon.

Thanks again to our video sponsor Blinkist, and don’t forget the first 100 people to use the link in our video description will get a free 7 day trial with no obligation, and 25% off full membership. Thank you most of all to our Patreon supporters for making Epic History TV possible. Visit our Patreon page to find out how you can support the channel, get ad-free early access and help to choose future topics. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for extra epic history content, and regular updates.