Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era

by George F Nafziger

  Vainly attempting to disguise his vanishing authority, Metternich began taking responsibility for decrees, many of which were extremely unpopular, and for which he had no responsibility. He quickly became the hated symbol of the new, repressive regime. Shortly after the 1848 revolution erupted, on 13 March, Metternich found himself one of its first victims. His resignation was accepted by the Emperor on 18 March 1848 and he and his family immediately left for England. He lived in Brighton and London, in retirement, until October 1849, when he went to Brussels. In May 1851 he went to his estate of Johannesburg and in September 1851 he returned to Vienna.

  In his private life, Metternich was a kindly man, if not always faithful. He was a good father devoted to his children. Sadly, he lost several of his children before his death. Metternich’s first wife had died in 1825. He had remarried Baroness Antoinette Leykam in 1827 and she died in 1829. He was married again in 1831 to Countess Melanie Zichy-Ferraris and she died in 1854. He was survived by three sons. Richard Clemens Lothar, Fürst von Metternich (1829–1895), his son by his second marriage, served as the Austrian ambassador to Paris from 1859 to 1870 and was one of the foremost diplomats of his time. Prince Paul (1834–1906) and Prince Lothar (1837–1904) were by his third marriage.

  MILAN DECREE. Napoleon issued the Milan Decree on 24 December 1807. It was a direct response to the British Orders in Council of 11 November 1807. By its clauses Napoleon decreed that any vessel that submitted to the port call required by these Orders in Council or paid the British tax required by them, were “denationalized,” and in French eyes, lost the protection of their national flag. They were declared lawful prizes, subject to seizure by any French warship or corsair. It went on to declare that the British Isles were under blockade.

  MILORADOVICH, MICHAIL ANDREEVICH, GENERAL OF INFANTRY (1771–1825). General of Infantry Michail Andreevich Miloradovich began his military service under the command of Suvorov. He was one of the young associates of the great Russian general, who included such luminaries as Bagration and Gorchakov.

  Miloradovich took part in Suvorov’s 1799 Italian and Swiss campaigns. In the Italian campaign he distinguished himself in the battle at Novi on 4 August 1799. Miloradovich took part in the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. In the 1806–12 Russian-Turkish War, Miloradovich commanded a corps and on 13 December 1806 he captured Bucharest. In March 1807 he defeated the Turks at Turbat and on 2 July 1807 was victorious at the battle of Obelishty.

  In 1809 Miloradovich was appointed the governor of Kiev. In 1812 he commanded an army of reinforcements that joined the main Russian armies on 15 August 1812. At the battle of Borodino he commanded the right wing of the Russian army. After the battle he commanded the Russian rear guard as it withdrew to Moscow.

  During the winter offensive in 1812 Miloradovich commanded the vanguard of the main army winning the battles of Vyazma and Krasnoe. He participated in the 1813–14 campaigns. At Leipzig he commanded the Russian and Prussian Guards.

  After the war Miloradovich was the governor of St. Petersburg from 1818. In December 1825 a number of Russian officers and their regiments rose in rebellion against the new czar Nicholas I. Known as the Decembrist Revolt, the rebels stood on the Senatskaya Square near the Winter Palace expressing their demands. The czar sent Miloradovich to the rebellious soldiers in an effort to persuade them to go away. Miloradovich came to them unarmed, but was mortally wounded by one of the rebels named Kahovsky.

  MINA, FRANCISCO ESPOZ Y (1781-1836). Mina was born on 17 June 1781 in Ydozin, Navarre, Spain. During the French occupation in 1808 of Spain he organized a band of guerrillas and started a guerrilla war against the French. The junta in Cadiz recognized his exploits and on 7 September 1812 made him commander in chief of Spanish forces in the upper Aragon and on the left bank of the Ebro. Mina claims to have fought 143 engagements with the French, to have taken 13 fortified positions and captured 14,000 prisoners. Mina further claimed to have immobilized 26,000 French troops that might have been used elsewhere.

  In 1813 and 1814 Mina served under Wellington. During the Restoration of Fernando VII he was exiled because his politics were democratic and radical. In the 1820 revolution Mina returned and served in the Liberal Party in Galicia, Leon and Catalonia. On 1 November 1823, Mina was compelled to capitulate to the French supporters of Fernando VII, but escaped to England. In 1830 Mina was again involved in an uprising against the King of Spain. When Fernando VII died Mina was recalled to Spain and Regent Christina gave him command against the Carlists in 1835. Mina fought against Thomas Zumalacarregui, another veteran of the guerrilla wars against France, with no conclusive results. In April 1835, for reasons of health, Mina was compelled to retire. He later held another command in Catalonia and during that time he compelled the regent to grant the 1836 constitution. Mina died in Barcelona on 24 December 1836.

  MINCIO, BATTLE OF. The battle of Mincio was fought in northern Italy on 8 February 1814. The Austrian army, which hugely outnumbered the French forces, had steadily driven the Army of Italy, under Eugène de Beauharnais, westward across northern Italy. On 8 February, Field Marshal Bellegarde, commanding some 32,000 to 36,000 men, moved across the Mincio, thinking that Eugène had abandoned the river because of the maneuvers of his force and those of the other Austrian generals. Eugène had taken up positions with his 45,000 men and engaged Bellegarde and bloodied him severely. Eugène held the battlefield long enough to claim victory, but the strategic situation prevented him from pursuing Bellegarde. The Austrians lost 4,000 casualties and from 2,500 to 3,000 prisoners. The French claim to have lost only 2,500 and the Austrians claim to have inflicted 6,000 casualties. The French claim is probably closer to the truth.

  Overall, the battle had little significance, because the strategic situation was overwhelmingly against the French. Only if Eugène had succeeded in totally annihilating Bellegarde’s army would the battle have had any possible effect on the war.

  MOLITOR, GABRIEL JEAN JOSEPH, COMTE DE (1770–1849). Molitor was born on 7 March 1770 in Hayange, France. Molitor joined the army as a volunteer when the Revolution began and was elected a captain on 25 August 1791. He served on the Rhine during the Revolution and on 30 July 1799 he was promoted to général de brigade. On 26 October 1800 Molitor was promoted to général de division. During the 1805–07 campaign he served in Dalmatia. Molitor did not go into Spain in 1808, but stayed in Germany and when the 1809 campaign erupted he found himself in the thick of the war, fighting at Aspern-Essling and Wagram. Molitor did not participate in the invasion of Russia, serving in Holland instead. During the 1814 campaign he was involved in few engagements and did not participate in the 1815 campaign. Molitor served the Bourbons after the Second Restoration. During the 1823 campaign in Spain he captured Malaga, Cartagena and Alicante. Molitor was promoted to maréchal de France on 9 October 1823. He died in Paris on 28 July 1849.

  MONCEY, BON-ADRIEN-JEANNOT, DE, DUC DE CONEGLIANO, MARÉCHAL D’EMPIRE (1754–1842). Moncey was born on 31 July 1754 in Besançon, France, and died in Paris on 20 April 1842. His father was a lawyer, but he enlisted in the army as a volunteer on 15 September 1769. Moncey bought himself out of the service in 1773, joined the Gendarmes anglais on 8 April 1774, quit in August 1776, became a sous-lieutenant on 1 August 1779 and this time stayed in the service. Moncey began a steady climb through the ranks until the Revolution. His career became meteoric and on 18 February 1794 he was made a provisional général de brigade and on 9 June 1794 a général de division. His first major command was as commander of the Army of the Western Pyrenees. On 26 October 1797 Moncey was denounced as a royalist by adjutant général Juncker. As a result, Moncey was dismissed from service. The coup d’État du 18 brumaire restored him to service and he participated in the 1800 campaign leading an army from Switzerland into Italy.

  Moncey was promoted to maréchal d’Empire on 19 May 1804, and made Duc de Conegliano on 25 July 1808. He commanded an army in Spain in 1808 and oversaw the second siege of Saragossa in 1809. Moncey refused to serve i
n Russia, but in 1814 returned to service to defend France. His last battle was before Paris in April. Moncey remained out of politics and the army during the Hundred Days, but was still arrested and imprisoned for refusing to participate in the court-martial of Ney. Moncey commanded a corps in 1823 during the French invasion of Spain.

  MONGE, GASPARD (1746–1818). Monge was born on 9 May 1746 in Beaune, Bourgogne, France. Though not of noble birth, Monge attended the Oratorian College in Beaune, which was intended for the education of young nobles. Though run by priests, it offered a more liberal education than other religious schools, providing instruction not only in the humanities but also in history, mathematics and the natural sciences. It was here that Monge first showed his brilliance. In 1762, at the age of 16, Monge went to Lyon where he continued his education at the Collège de la Trinité.

  In 1765 Monge was appointed to the École royale du génie as a draftsman. He came into contact with Charles Bossut who was the professor of mathematics there. Asked to draw up plans for a fortification that would prevent an enemy from either seeing or firing at a military position no matter what the position of the enemy, Monge devised his own graphical method to construct such a fortification rather than use the complicated methods then available. This method made full use of the geometrical techniques that Monge had developed. His mathematical genius was recognized at the École Royale du Génie and his career began.

  Monge’s mentor, Bossut, was elected to the Académie des Sciences in 1768 and he left the École in Mézières to became professor of hydrodynamics at the Louvre. On 22 January 1769 Monge wrote him explaining that he was writing a work on the evolutes of curves of double curvature. He asked Bossut to give an opinion on the originality and usefulness of the work. Bossut’s response was positive and in June Monge’s article appeared in the Journal Encyclopédique (his first publication) giving a summary of his analyses. The finished study was submitted to the Académie des Sciences in Paris in October 1770 and read before the Académie française in August 1771, though not published by the Académie until 1785.

  Monge succeeded Bossut at the Académie des Sciences in January 1769. In 1770 he received an additional appointment at the École royale du génie as instructor in experimental physics. Somewhat later Monge then presented four memoirs at the Académie des Sciences on a generalization of the calculus of variations, infinitesimal geometry, the theory of partial differential equations and combinatorics. Further papers were submitted as time progressed, including papers on physics and chemistry.

  In 1777 Monge married Catherine Huart, who also happened to own a metal forge. As a result he turned his interests to metallurgy. After three years of dividing his time between Paris and Mézières, Monge was asked to replace Bizout as examiner of naval cadets. Already overloaded Monge resigned his posts in Mézières in December 1784 and took the offered post.

  When the Revolution erupted Monge was one of the leading scientists in the world. Politically Monge was a strong supporter of the Revolution, and he joined various societies supporting the Revolution. By this time he was on the major Academy Commission on Weights and Measures. When the royal government was abolished, Monge was offered the post of minister of the navy in the government by the National Convention. Monge’s service as minister of the navy cannot be viewed as a success. His service lasted only eight months when he gave up the incessant battle with those around him and resigned on 10 April 1793. Monge returned to his work with the Académie des Sciences, but on 8 August 1793 the Académie des Sciences was abolished by the National Convention.

  Still a strong republican and supporter of the Revolution, Monge worked on various military projects relating to arms and explosives. His service on the Commission on Weights and Measures continued. On 11 March 1794 Monge was appointed by the National Convention to the committee established to organize the École centrale des travaux publics, which later became the École polytechnique. Between May 1796 and October 1797, Monge was sent to Italy to select the best art treasures confiscated by Napoleon and bring them to France. During this period he became friends with Napoleon Bonaparte. It was Monge that brought to Paris the text of the Treaty of Campo Formio.

  Monge went with Napoleon on the Egyptian campaign as part of the scientific staff to study the mysteries of Egypt. He was appointed president of the Institut d’Égypte on 21 August. Monge returned to France 16 October 1799 and resumed his position as director of the École Polytechnique. After the coup d’État du 18 brumaire, Napoleon named Monge a senator on the Consulate for life. In 1813 Monge was sent to Liège to organize the defense of the town against an attack.

  During the Hundred Days Monge rallied to Napoleon. After the second abdication he continued to see Napoleon but by October Monge feared for his life and fled from France. He returned to Paris in March 1816 but was expelled from the Institut de France and would be politically harassed for the rest of his life. He died 28 July 1818 in Paris. On his death the students of the École Polytechnique paid tribute to him despite the insistence of the French Government that no tributes should be paid.

  MONSIGNY, PIERRE ALEXANDRE (1729–1817). Monsigny was born on 17 October 1729 at Fauquembergue, France, near Saint-Omer. He received a classical education. Monsigny became the maître d’hôtel to the Duc d’Orléans as a result of family connections, which put him in the financial situation in which he could pursue his interest in music. Monsigny studied under Gianotti and developed his remarkable gift for melody. His first opera, Les aveux indiscrets, was produced in 1759 and was an immediate success. Over the next 18 years Monsigny would write 12 more operas. During the Revolution he lost his employment and his money. Monsigny was, however, given a pension and a post in the Conservatoire, from which he retired in 1802. He died on 14 January 1817.

  MONTMIRAIL, BATTLE OF. The battle of Montmirail was fought on 11 February 1814. Montmirail was the second of four battles in early February that nearly destroyed Blücher’s Army of Silesia (See Champaubert, Château-Thierry and Vauchamps.) Napoleon advanced from Champaubert toward Vauchamps, crushing Blücher’s poorly deployed and unsupported corps one at a time. Commanding 24,200 men he caught Prussian General Yorck with some 32,000 men totally unprepared for battle by Montmirail, outmaneuvered him and savaged him. It is generally accepted that the French lost around 2,100 killed and wounded. The allied losses are very difficult to determine. Between the four battles the Allies lost 28,503. However, for Montmirail, allied casualty figures vary wildly from 1,500 to 3,000 plus 900 prisoners. Between the four battles the allied documents indicate they lost 28,503 men. If one accepts the French casualty figures for these battles, around 22,500 casualties and prisoners, the remaining 6,000 were apparently deserters, stragglers or those euphemistically called “missing.”

  MONTEREAU, BATTLE OF. The battle of Montereau was fought on 17–18 February 1814. After his four stupendous victories earlier in the month, Napoleon continued snapping up small allied forces that were scattered about the French countryside. Napoleon found a force of some 15,000 Austrians and Württembergers, under the Crown Prinz of Württemberg in Montereau with their backs to the Seine River. Napoleon had 25,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry under him and slammed into the allied forces. General Delort, commanding a brigade of cavalry that was 15 days out of the depots and entirely green, launched a brilliant cavalry charge that crashed into the Allies as they attempted to cross the narrow bridge over the Seine. The slaughter was tremendous. The Württembergers lost 2,844 men alone and the Austrians apparently lost another 1,200. Six Württemberger infantry regiments were savaged and had to be almost totally rebuilt. The French lost around 2,500 men.

  Overall it was a smashing French victory, but in light of the strategic considerations, the overwhelming allied strength and the nature of Napoleon’s army, it was not enough to effect any change to the outcome of the campaign.

  MOREAU, JEAN VICTOR MARIE (1763–1813). Moreau was born on 14 February 1763 in Morlaix, France. Moreau was the son of a lawyer and studied law in Ren
nes. In 1789 he formed a company of National Guard gunners and became its captain. His military service during the Revolution was in the Lowlands. Moreau was provisionally named a général de brigade by the representatives of the people Hentz and Florent Guiot on 20 December 1793 and confirmed in the grade on 6 February 1794.

  Moreau served under Pichegru in the Army of the North and took part in the conquest of Holland. On 3 March 1795 he was given command of the Army of the North in place of Pichegru and on 14 March 1796 succeeded Pichegru as commander of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle. After a short break in his service Moreau returned to the Army of the Rhine and Moselle, replacing Desaix, and launched a campaign against Archduke Charles. Moreau won the battle of Rastadt on 5 July 1796 and continued fighting along the Rhine until December 1799 when he assumed command of four divisions of the Army of Italy, under Schérer. Moreau was defeated at Cassano, but victorious at San-Giuliano on 22 June. He returned to command the Army of the Rhine on 4 August. Though there were changes in command, he was back on the Rhine in October and crossed the Rhine on 25 April 1800. Moreau defeated Kray at Engen on 3 May, fighting at Moesskirch, Biberach, Memmingen and Höchstädt. Moreau occupied Bavaria and signed the armistice of Parsdorf with Kray on 15 July. When combat returned he won his greatest victory at Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800 over Archduke Johann.

  Shortly before Hohenlinden, Moreau had returned to Paris and married Mademoiselle Hullot, a Creole of Joséphine’s circle and a very ambitious woman. She gained complete ascendancy over him. She collected around her those who were discontented with Napoleon’s rise to the imperial dignity. Napoleon was well aware of the “club Moreau” and very annoyed by it. However, Napoleon knew that Moreau might be willing to become a military dictator; he also knew Moreau would not support a restoration of Louis XVIII. Irrespective, Moreau represented a threat to Napoleon, so he was arrested, tried and his sentence of imprisonment was commuted by Napoleon as a sign of leniency to banishment. Moreau moved to Morrisville, New Jersey, and lived there until 1812 when he learned of the disasters met by the Grande Armée in Russia. No doubt at the instigation of his wife, he opened up negotiations with Bernadotte, who introduced him to Czar Alexander.