Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era

by George F Nafziger

  Davout served under Napoleon during the Egyptian campaign and departed for France on 3 March 1800. Davout was captured by the British and held prisoner for a month by Admiral Keith. After being released he returned to France and on 3 July 1800 was restored to the rank of général de division. On 19 May 1804 Napoleon made him a maréchal d’Empire. In 1805 Davout served brilliantly at Austerlitz and won eternal fame on 14 October 1806 where with 29,963 men he crushed a force of around 54,000 Prussians at the battle of Auerstädt. Davout was made Duc d’Auerstädt on 28 March 1808. Davout would be one of Napoleon’s principal generals through the remainder of the wars, again serving brilliantly at Eckmühl on 22 April 1809, and became the Prince d’Eckmühl on 15 August 1809.

  Davout did not serve in Spain and marched with Napoleon to Moscow. In the late spring of 1813 Napoleon sent Davout to Hamburg both to recapture the city and to defend it. While Napoleon fought the main allied armies he had Davout defending his rear and holding the important industrial, commercial and financial center of Hamburg for him. Davout continued to defend his post long after he was cut off from France by the advancing allied armies. After Napoleon’s abdication Davout refused to surrender the city until sent an order by Louis XVIII and he only evacuated it on 27 May 1814, nearly a month after the abdication.

  Because Davout was of noble birth but had served the Republic and Empire, he was ordered to stay away from Paris and retired to his estate of Savigny-sur-Orge. During the Hundred Days Davout rejoined Napoleon and served as minister of war and the defense of Paris. On 3 July Davout signed the Convention of Paris by which Paris was occupied by the allied armies. On 5 July he accepted the Bourbons, but on 27 July he was stripped of his honors and exiled to Louviers on 27 December. Davout remained under surveillance by the police until 1817, when he was recalled to service and restored to a peer of France on 5 March 1819. He died in Paris on 1 June 1823.

  Davout was a skillful and capable general, surely one of the most, if not the most, capable and trusted of Napoleon’s officers. Davout was loved by his men because he looked after their needs, but frequently hated by his officers whom he drove mercilessly. The battle of Auerstädt stands as a testimony to his skill as a soldier.

  DENNEWITZ, BATTLE OF. The battle of Dennewitz was fought on 6 September 1813 as Marshal Ney advanced on Berlin with approximately 45,000 men and encountered Generalleutnant von Bülow commanding around 45,000 men. The battle was a bloody frontal engagement in which the Allies struck the weak French left where the Saxons stood. Overwhelming Prussian assaults broke the Saxons and Ney’s position became untenable. He withdrew, leaving the field to Bülow. Ney lost 8,000 casualties and a large number of prisoners. Bülow lost around 6,000 casualties.

  D’ERLON, JEAN-BAPTISTE DROUET, COMTE (1765–1844). Drouet was born in Reims on 29 July 1765. He joined the Royal French Army as a private in 1782. On 1 April 1793 Drouet was elected a captain in his battalion. On 2 May 1794 he was made an aide-de-camp to Lefebvre. On 21 March 1799, as a chef de brigade, Drouet became chief of staff in Lefebvre’s division. Drouet fought in numerous battles during the revolutionary wars and was wounded at Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800. On 27 August 1803 Drouet was promoted to the rank of général de division. Drouet served at Austerlitz and several other battles from 1805–07, and became chief of staff to Lannes on 29 May 1807. On 28 January 1809 he was made Comte d’Erlon and on 5 May was serving Lefebvre again as his chief of staff. Drouet served in Austria in 1809 and Spain from 1811 to 1814. During the Hundred Days he rejoined Napoleon and participated in the Waterloo campaign. Because of confusing and contradictory orders, he failed to intervene in either the battle of Quatre-Bras or Ligny, where his appearance would have been decisive. During the battle of Waterloo Drouet had his division destroyed by a charge of the British Union Brigade. After the war he fled to Munich and remained in Germany until the 1825 amnesty, when Drouet returned to service in the French army. He retired on 2 December 1827, but returned to service on 30 June 1832. He was promoted to marshal on 9 April 1843. Drouet died on 25 January 1844 in Paris.

  DESAIX DE VEYGOUX, LOUIS CHARLES ANTOINE (1768–1800). Desaix de Veygoux was born at Saint-Hilaire d’Ayat of a noble family on 17 August 1768. He was born to a military tradition, his cousin by his mother being General Beaufranchet d’Ayat. Desaix was admitted to the Effiat Royal Military School on 18 October 1776 and on 20 October 1783 was appointed a 3rd sous-lieutenant. When the rest of the nobility emigrated to escape the Revolution, Desaix remained in France, declaring for the Revolution. Desaix rose rapidly in rank, despite the prohibitions that came against nobles remaining in the military. On 1 June 1792 he would serve as an aide-de-camp to General Victor de Broglie. At the battle of Lauterbourg Desaix was shot by a musket ball and, on 20 August 1793, named a provisional général de brigade for his bravery and leadership. On 13 November 1793 he was removed from his position because of his noble lineage, but this was shortly later rescinded and he was restored to his duties. In 1794 Desaix was promoted to the rank of général de division. Desaix was always in the thick of battle, a brave and competent leader. Most of his military career was spent on the Rhine, but on 20 April 1797 he was sent south to Italy to join Napoleon. Desaix’s career was from that day forward irrevocably tied to that of Napoleon. Desaix accompanied Napoleon on the Egyptian campaign and under independent command, conquered the upper Nile.

  Desaix returned to France under the Convention of El-Arisch on 24 January 1800. Upon his return he joined Napoleon in Italy and soon commanded the divisions of Boudet and Monnier. Desaix was with Napoleon the morning of 14 June 1800 at Marengo, but before the Austrian attack began, he was dispatched on a separate mission. After Desaix was gone, the battle went badly for Napoleon and was effectively lost by the French before noon.

  Desaix, however, hearing the gunfire of the battle, turned his forces about and marched to the battle, arriving in the late afternoon, in time to permit the remains of Napoleon’s army to reorganize itself behind his formed troops. The battle was resumed and the Austrians were effectively crushed, giving Napoleon an important victory that would propel him to the imperial throne of France. Unfortunately for Desaix, he was shot dead leading his troops forward against the Austrians and unable to realize the glory of the victory that he had brought Napoleon. Had Desaix lived he would have surely been one of Napoleon’s marshals.

  DIEBITSCH, HANS KARL FRIEDRICH ANTON, COUNT VON DIEBITSCH UND NARBEN (1785–1831). Also known by the Russians as Ivan Ivanovich, Field Marshal Count Diebich-Zabalkansky. Diebitsch was born at Großleipe, Silesia, on 13 May 1785 and educated in the Berlin cadet school. In 1801 Diebitsch passed into Russian service and fought at Austerlitz, Eylau and Friedland, where he was promoted to the rank of captain. His distinguished service in the 1812 Russian campaign at the battle of Polotsk caused him to be promoted to major general. During the withdrawal of the Prussian Hilfkorps, part of the French army, Diebitsch approached the Prussian column and entered into negotiations with General Yorck von Wartenberg, negotiating with him the Convention of Tauroggen, which caused the Prussian army to defect from the French to the Russians, effectively forcing the hand of the King of Prussia and resulting in a declaration of war by Prussia against France.

  Diebitsch fought at Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden and Leipzig. In 1814 Diebitsch constantly urged the Allies to march directly on Paris, ignoring Napoleon’s armies. In 1815 Diebitsch attended the Congress of Vienna and was shortly later made adjutant-general to the Czar of Russia. Nicholas I elevated him to baron and later to count. In 1820 Diebitsch became chief of the general staff. From 1828–29 he conducted the Russo-Turkish war, capturing Adrianople and was elevated to the rank of field marshal. In 1830 Diebitsch again commanded an army in the field, crushing the Polish revolt, winning the battle of Grochow on 25 February and Ostrolenka on 26 May. The cause of his death is unknown. Diebitsch is thought to have died either of cholera or by his own hand. Whichever, Diebitsch died at Klecksewo, near Pultusk, on 10 June 1831.

  DRESD
EN, BATTLE OF. The battle of Dresden was fought from 26 to 27 August 1813. The allied Army of Bohemia, 158,000 men under Schwarzenberg, advanced north out of Bohemia and closed on the city of Dresden, Saxony. Napoleon rushed a force of 120,000 men from the east across the Elbe River and pushed out of the city into the plains to the south and west of the city to engage Schwarzenberg. The French advanced with great élan on all fronts, but were most successful on the allied extreme left flank. General Latour-Maubourg launched a massive cavalry attack that crushed the Austrians under Bianchi. The French success on the allied left was matched by an equally successful assault on the extreme right where Mortier and Ney drove Wittgenstein back. With both flanks broken, Schwarzenberg began a frantic withdrawal back through the Saxon mountains into his stronghold in Bohemia. The French lost around 10,000 men, while inflicting 26,000 casualties and taking 16,000 prisoners from the Allies.

  DRESDEN, CONFERENCE OF. Prior to launching his invasion of Russia Napoleon brought together his allied states in an attempt to solidify the support of his allies for the approaching attack on Russia. It was held from 17–28 May 1812.

  DROUET, JEAN-BAPTISTE, COMTE D’ERLON. See d’Erlon, Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte.

  DU PONT DE NEMOURS, PIERRE SAMUEL (1739–1817). Du Pont was born in Paris on 14 September 1739. He was an economist who took up a political career. In 1789 Du Pont was a member of the États-généraux, served in the Constituent Assembly and became its president on 16 October 1790. After opposing the execution of the king, on 10 August 1792 Du Pont went into hiding. Du Pont was arrested and imprisoned in La Force, but the death of Robespierre saved him from the guillotine. Du Pont returned to politics and served in the Council of Five Hundred as leader of the reaction. On 4 September 1797 his house was sacked by a Parisian mob. In 1799 Du Pont emigrated to the United States. At Jefferson’s request, he prepared a scheme for national education, but it was never implemented. In 1802 Du Pont returned to France and joined the Institut de France. In 1814 Du Pont served as secretary to the provisional government, but in 1815 he returned to the United States, dying at Eleutherian Mills, near Wilmington, Delaware, on 6 August 1817.

  His family would grow to great prominence. In 1802 his son, Eleuthère, had built a powder mill near Wilmington that would be the origin of the modern chemical firm E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company.

  DUROC, GÉRAUD CHRISTOPHE MICHEL, DUC DE FRIOUL (1772–1813). Duroc was born at Pont-à-Mousson on 25 October 1772. He died of wounds received at Niedermackersdorf, near Görlitz in Silesia on 23 May 1813. Duroc entered the military school at Pont-à-Mousson in February 1789 and on 1 March 1792 became a sous-lieutenant of artillery at the École de Châlons. On 22 July 1792 Duroc resigned his commission and emigrated. However, on 1 March 1793 he returned, completed his studies and joined the army on 1 June 1793. Duroc served at the siege of Toulon where he met Napoleon and started what would be a very long friendship.

  By 26 October 1796 Duroc was serving Napoleon as an aide-de-camp and stood by Napoleon’s side through the 1796 campaign. Duroc participated in the 1799 Egyptian campaign and was grievously wounded at Aboukir on 25 July 1799. Duroc returned to France with Napoleon and on 14 March 1800 was promoted to the rank of chef de brigade (colonel). Duroc served at Marengo and at the end of the campaign was sent by Napoleon to Vienna with an ultimatum demanding peace. On 13 October 1801 he was promoted to the rank of général de brigade and on 27 August 1803 général de division.

  On 2 February 1805 Duroc became grand marshal of the palace. When war resumed in 1805 he served by Napoleon’s side yet again, fighting at Austerlitz and most of the other battles until 1807. In May 1808 Duroc was made Duc de Frioul. On 5 May 1808 he served as a witness, signing the abdication of Charles IV at Bayonne. Duroc accompanied Napoleon during his Spanish campaign, and again in the 1809, 1812 and 1813 campaigns. Duroc’s death was a tremendous personal blow to Napoleon, hitting him as hard as the loss of Lannes had during the battle of Essling. Indeed, Napoleon was so distressed that he called off the battle then under way.

  DUSSEK, JAN LADISLAV (1761–1812). Dussek was born on 9 February 1761 in Caslar, Bohemia, the modern Czech Republic. He was a musician and first played in public at age six. Dussek became a choir boy at the age of six and studied theology in his youth. However, his musical skills came to the attention of Count Männer, who took him to Belgium where he served as the organist in Bergen-op-Zoom. Dussek’s skill at keyboards grew and he attained a great reputation as a pianist, playing in Amsterdam and The Hague. Though already composing and having produced a series of piano sonatas, Dussek went to Hamburg where he studied under C.P.E. Bach. His next patron was Prinz Radziwill and later in Paris, Marie-Antoinette. From 1792 onward Dussek lived in London, marrying the daughter of Domenico Corri. Dussek and his father-in-law jointly ran a music shop in London until 1800, when he left for Hamburg, finding patronage successively under Prinz Ludwig Ferdinand von Preussen, the Prinz of Ysenburg and finally Talleyrand. Dussek lived in Talleyrand’s household in Saint-Germain-en-Laye from 1809 until his death on 20 November 1812.

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  ECKMÜHL, BATTLE OF. The battle of Eckmühl was part of a larger engagement that also included an engagement at Abensburg. These two engagements occurred between 20 and 22 April 1809 in Austria along the Danube River. Napoleon with 170,000 men engaged Archduke Charles with 209,000 men. The main French line was centered on Abensberg and extended from the vicinity of Neustadt toward Ratisbon, with Masséna and Oudinot’s corps, some distance south near the Isar River. On the French left Marshal Davout’s III Corps, 28,000 men, engaged the corps of Liechtenstein, Hohenzollern and Rosenberg. These three Austrian corps were slow in launching their attack, which allowed Lefebvre’s VII Corps to drive back those Austrian forces in front of him and swing to the left, enveloping the left of the Austrian forces facing Davout. Heavily outnumbered, Davout held his opponents in place long enough to allow Vandamme’s enveloping movement to progress. When Archduke Charles recognized the precarious nature of his position he ordered a withdrawal. The Austrians lost around 10,000 men and much of their baggage train. The French lost around 3,500. For his action, Davout was made the Prince d’Eckmühl. In addition, Napoleon went to the 13th Légère Regiment, which had performed admirably in this engagement, and asked the colonel to name the bravest man in the regiment. The response was the “drum major.” Napoleon turned to the drum major and said, “They say that you are the bravest man in this regiment. I appoint you a Knight of the Legion of Honor, Baron of the Empire and award you a pension of 4,000 francs.” The effect was, of course, electrifying on the French army.

  EGYPT. Part of the Ottoman Empire, its government was dominated by the Mamelukes, a group formed of military slaves imported from the eastern borders of the Black Sea. It had been a difficult province, repeatedly breaking away from the Porte. In 1786 a successful expedition had been dispatched to Egypt to restore Ottoman supremacy. Ismail Bey was restored as Sheikh al-Balad and a new governor was installed. In January 1791 a plague swept Egypt and Ismail Bey died. Upon his death the Mamelukes Ibrahim and Murad Bey were reinstated in a dual government. They ruled Egypt as their own kingdom, with little regard to the Porte, until 1 July 1798 when a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte landed. In theory the French expedition was to reinstate the authority of the Sublime Porte. The forces of Ibrahim and Murad Bey were crushed at the battle of the Pyramids. The French did not return occupied Egypt to the Porte, but established a French government to rule the conquered province, while Murad Bey held the region of the upper Nile and prosecuted a guerrilla war.

  Before this, however, on 1 August 1798 a British fleet under Nelson had arrived and destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir Bay. In July 1799 a Turkish army arrived at Aboukir Bay, supported by a British fleet under Sir Sidney Smith, and was quickly destroyed by Napoleon. Following this, Napoleon launched an unsuccessful invasion of Palestine, to be defeated before the walls of Acre by Sir Sidney Smith.

  With Napoleon’s plans for an or
iental empire ended, he turned command of Egypt over to Kléber and returned to France with many of his generals and aides. Kléber was assassinated in June by the fanatic Suleiman of Aleppo and the incompetent General J. F. de Menou assumed command. In March 1801 the British landed an army and after a number of battles forced the French to surrender. As part of their surrender on 30 August, the French negotiated terms fundamentally identical to the abrogated Convention of El-Arisch signed in January 1800. The French returned to France.

  Troubles returned to Egypt, but the Turks attempted to restore their control over Egypt, despite promises made to the British. Husain Pasha, the Turkish high admiral, invited the principal Mameluke beys of Egypt to an entertainment and killed or captured them all. At the same time Yusuf Pasha arrested all the beys in Cairo. The British general, then commanding the British army in Egypt responded to this with great hostility. Those beys taken prisoner in Cairo were released and a disastrous war between the Mameluke beys and the Turks began.

  The British left Egypt in May 1803, leaving behind them a raging war where the Mamelukes under Mehemet Ali would eventually emerge victorious and rule Egypt for the next 40 years.

  EL-ARISCH, CONVENTION OF. The convention was signed on 24 January 1800 by the French and Turks, with the support of British admiral Sir Sidney Smith. By its terms the French were to quit Egypt and return to France. However, the British government ordered Smith not to carry out the terms of this agreement and that the French were to be treated as prisoners of war. When these orders were communicated to Kléber, commander of French troops in Egypt, he responded by preparing his forces for battle, but was assassinated and command fell to General J. F. de Menou. The convention was not implemented, but a parallel convention was negotiated with the British by General Menou after the British conquest of Egypt in 1801.