Throughout his reign from 1804 to 1815, Napoleon appointed a total of 26 Marshals, although their number never exceeded 20 at any one moment. The initial list of 1804 included 14 names of active generals and four names of retired generals, who were given the "honorary" title of Marshal. Six other promotions ensued, with eight other generals elevated to the Marshalate. The title often ensured a highly privileged social status – four Marshals were created Counts of the Empire and 17 received either the title of Duke or Prince. With two exceptions – Jean-Baptiste Bessières and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier – the Marshals led a sumptuous lifestyle and left behind significant, at times immense, fortunes. Several of them received significant annuities; in addition, a few received financial endowments from the Emperor, with two of them – Louis-Alexandre Berthier and André Masséna – receiving more than one million Francs each. Two Marshals – Joachim Murat and Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte – went on to become kings, with the latter being the direct ancestor of the current Swedish royal family.
Although a purely civil dignity reserved to distinguished generals and not a military rank, a Marshal displayed four stars, while the top military rank of the time, the General of Division displayed three. Contrary to a well-established idea and to the representation on most paintings of the time, the Marshal's four stars were silvered, not gilded. A Marshal was required to wear a standard uniform, which was established through decree on 18 July 1804 and designed by painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey and designer Charles Percier. Nevertheless, the Marshals often chose to wear either variants of the official uniform or costumes of totally different design. The ultimate distinctive sign of a Marshal was his baton. It was cylindrical, 50 centimetres long and 4 centimetres and a half in diameter, made of wood and covered in dark blue velvet, decorated with golden eagles or honey bees, both Imperial symbols.[5]
The creation of the new civil dignity allowed Napoleon to strengthen his newly created regime by rewarding the most valuable of the generals who had served under his command during his campaigns in Italy and Egypt or soldiers who had held significant commands during the French Revolutionary Wars. Subsequently, other senior generals were promoted on six occasions, mainly following major battlefield victories. With hindsight, Napoleon's choices for the Marshalate were not always well inspired.[6]
The first promotion created eighteen new Marshals of the Empire and coincided with the proclamation of the First French Empire and was used as an opportunity for the new Emperor to strengthen the new regime. The list included 14 names of generals who had served in the armies of the Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars: seven of them were generals who had served directly under Napoleon during his campaigns in Italy and Egypt. Moreover, he was also careful to reward several general officers who had acquired considerable fame and political influence while commanding the armies of the Republic, as well as several highly-promising generals who had held significant divisional commands in the Army of the Rhine. The latter were well known for their largely Republican sentiments and had never served under Napoleon's command. By rewarding them for their military accomplishments, Napoleon sought to gain their loyalty and make sure that they would be supporters, rather than opponents of the new Imperial regime.[3] [6]
Overall, the first promotion included 14 names of generals. An initial list was drafted by State Secretary Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke and later altered by the Emperor. Napoleon added in his own handwriting Murat's name, which was conspicuously absent from Clarke's draft. This was possibly an omission, but there seems to be no evidence to that effect. The final list included the following names, in an order which to this day remains unclear:
Four additional names were mentioned on the list: these were former senior generals who had held commands of armies and had been elected senators of the Republic. Their status was honorary due to their age and they weren't set to be given field commands.
Among the men who were offered the Marshalate, there was a mix of famous generals, who had commanded the armies of the Republic (Brune, Jourdan, Kellermann, Lefebvre, Masséna, Moncey), as well as more junior generals, whose command never exceeded division-sized forces (Mortier, Ney, Soult). It even included relatively obscure generals from Napoleon's Italian or Egyptian expeditions, who had recently secured their promotion to the top military rank of General of Division, but had never held significant commands (Bessières, Davout, Lannes). Unsurprisingly, this created a certain degree of discontentment among the more senior commanders. André Masséna was noted for his sardonic remark, "There's fourteen of us...", which he muttered when his friends came to congratulate him for his nomination. Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, then a young general, possibly bitter that he had not been nominated also observed that: "If Bessières is a Marshal, then anyone can be." Ironically, Marmont himself was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1809, though it was said he was awarded the distinction for his close friendship with Napoleon as opposed to any great generalship.
Marshal | Titles | Birth | Death | Promoted | Battle record | Portrait | Commands held |
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| Duke of Castiglione | October 21, 1757 in Paris | June 12, 1816 in La Houssaye-en-Brie | 1804 | Battle of Loano, Battle of Castiglione, Battle of Arcole, Battle of Ulm, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Eylau, Siege of Girona, Battle of Leipzig | | Divisional Commander in the Pyrenees, Divisional Commander in the army of Italy, VII Corps (Grande Armée) (1803–1811), part of the Rearguard in the Russian campaign, IX Corps (Grande Armée) (1813–1814), Army of Lyon (1814) |
| Prince of Pontecorvo later King of Sweden | January 26, 1763 in Pau | March 8, 1844 in Stockholm | 1804 | Siege of Cuddalore, Battle of Fleurus, Battle of Theiningen, Battle of Ulm, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Auerstedt, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Großbeeren, Battle of Dennewitz, Battle of Leipzig | | 71st Demi Brigade, Command of Division in the army of Sambre-et-Meuse, 4th Division in the Army of Italy, French Ambassador to Vienna, Minister of war (1798), Commander of the Army of the west, Governor of Louisiana (Never took the post as Louisiana was sold to the United States), Governor of Hanover (1804–1805), Army of Northern Germany (1805), I Corps (Grande Armée) (1805–1807), Governor of the Hanseatic Ports (1808), 9th Corps (Saxony) (1809), Walchren Defense Army (Late 1809), As King of Sweden: Army of the North in the War of the Sixth Coalition |
| Prince of Wagram, Sovereign Prince of Neuchâtel | November 20, 1753 in Versailles | June 1, 1815 in Bamberg | 1804 | Battle of Rhode Island, Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Rivoli, Battle of Ulm, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Coruna, Battle of Regensburg, Battle of Eckmühl, Battle of Aspern-Essling, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Znaim, Battle of Smolensk, Battle of Borodino, Battle of the Berezina, Battle of Lützen, Battle of Bautzen, Battle of Dresden, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Hanau, Battle of Brienne, Battle of Champaubert, Battle of Montmirail, Battle of Château-Thierry, Battle of Vauchamps | | Temporary Command of the Army of Italy,(1797–1798) Napoleon's Chief of Staff (1792–1814), Temporary Command of the Army against Austria (1809) |
| Duke of Istria | August 6, 1768 in Prayssac | May 1, 1813 near Lützen | 1804 | Battle of Boulou, Battle of Abukir, Battle of Marengo, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Medina del Rioseco, Battle of Aspern-Essling, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, Battle of Lützen | | Imperial Guard (Napoleon I), Command of Cavalry in the Grande Armée during early 1813 |
| Count of the Empire | March 13, 1763 in Brive-la-Gaillarde | August 2, 1815 in Avignon | 1804 | Battle of Valmy, Battle of Hondschoote, Battle of Fleurus, Battle of Neerwinden, Federalist Revolt, 13 Vendémiaire,Battle of Arcole, Battle of Rivoli, French invasion of Switzerland, Cisalpine Coup, Battle of Castricum, Battle of Monzambanno, Battle of Pollozzo, Siege of Stralsund, Hundred Days | | Division in the Army of the North, Division in the Army of Italy, Army of Switzerland, Army of Holland, Army of Italy, Ambassador to the Ottoman empire, Camp of Boulougne (1806–1807), Governor general of the Hanseatic Ports (1807), Army of Pomerania (1807) Army of the Var 1815 |
| Duke of Auerstaedt, Prince of Eckmühl | May 10, 1770 in Annoux | June 1, 1823 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Neerwinden, Battle of Abukir, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Teugen-Hausen, Battle of Eckmühl, Battle of Aspern-Essling, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Saltanovka, Battle of Borodino, Battle of Vyazma, Battle of Krasnoi, Siege of Hamburg, Battle of Issy | | Volunteer Corp (1792), Command of Division in the Army of Mosselle (1793–1794), III Corps (1804–1810), Governor of the Hanseatic Ports (1810–1812), I Corps (1812–1814), XIII Corps (Grande Armée) (1813–1814), War Minister during the War of the Seventh Coalition, Commanded the Defense of Paris (1815), Mayor of Savigny-sur-Orge (1822–1823) |
| Count under the Bourbon Restoration | April 29, 1762 in Limoges | November 23, 1833 in Paris | 1804 | Siege of Savannah, Battle of Jemappes, Battle of Hondschoote, Battle of Wattignies, Battle of Lambusart, Battle of Fleurus, Siege of Luxembourg, Battle of Amberg, Battle of Wurzburg, Battle of Limburg, Battle of Ostrach, Battle of Stockach, Battle of Talavera, Battle of Vitoria | | 2nd Haute-Vienne Battalion of Volenteers, Division in the Army of the North, Army of the North (1793–1794), Army of the Moselle, Army of the Rhine, military advisor of King Josef in Spain, Governor of Hotel de Invalides (1830–1833) |
| Duke of Valmy | May 28, 1735 in Strasbourg | September 23, 1820 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Valmy | | Army of Alsace, Army of the Rhine, Command of Training & Reserve forces, President of the Senate |
| Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz | April 10, 1769 in Lectoure | May 31, 1809 in Ebersdorf | 1804 | Battle of Lodi, Battle of Bassano, Battle of Castiglione, Battle of Arcole, Battle of Rivoli, Battle of Montebello, Battle of Abukir, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Tudela, Siege of Zaragoza, Battle of Teugen-Hausen, Siege of Regensburg, Battle of Landshut, Battle of Eckmühl, Battle of Aspern-Essling | | Division in the Pyrenees, Division in the Army of Italy, Brigade in Egypt, Consular Guard, V Corp |
| Duke of Dantzig | October 25, 1755 in Rouffach | September 4, 1820 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Fleurus, Battle of Altenkirchen, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Siege of Danzig, Battle of Burgos, Battle of Eckmühl, Battle of Vilnius, Battle of Champaubert, Battle of Montmirail, Battle of Montereau, Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube | | Sargent in the French Guards, Brigadier General, Commander of the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse, Commander of Vanguard in the Army of the Danube, Coup of 18 Brumaire, Division in the Old Guard, Infantry of the Imperial Guard (1805), X Corps, Army of Bavaria, Old Guard (1812–1814) |
| Duke of Rivoli, Prince of EsslingChief of RivoliPeer of France | May 16, 1758 in Nice | April 3, 1817 in Paris | 1804 | Siege of Toulon, Battle of Loano, Battle of Montenotte, Battle of Dego, Battle of Mondovi, Battle of Castiglione, Battle of Bassano, Battle of Caldiero (1796), Battle of Arcole, Battle of Rivoli, Siege of Mantua, Battle of Zurich, Siege of Genoa, Battle of Verona, Battle of Caldiero (1805), Battle of Campo Tenese, Siege of Maida, Battle of Aspern-Essling, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Bussaco, Lines of Torres Vedras, Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro | | Private in the Royal Italian Regiment, Warrant Officer in the Royal Italian Regiment, Officer of the French Army, Colonel in the Army of Italy, General of Brigade, General of Division, Commander of two Divisions in army of Italy, Command of All French Forces in Italy, Garrison of Genoa, Army of Italy (1804–1806) Invasion force of Naples (1806), IV Corps (1809), Army of Portugal (1810–11), Local Commander at Marseille, Commander of the National Guard (1815) |
| Duke of ConeglianoPeer of France | July 31, 1754 in Moncey | April 20, 1842 in Paris | 1804 | Western Pyrannese Front, Siege of Zaragoza, Siege of Valencia, Battle of Paris, Spanish Intervention | | Captain in the French Army, Battalion in the Pyrenees, Commander of the Western Pyrenees Army, Corps Sized Army in Switzerland, Inspector General of the Gendarmerie, Commander of a Corp in Spain, Head of the National Guard of Paris, Commander of Corp in the Spanish Intervention, Governor of Hotel des Invalides |
| Duke of Treviso | February 13, 1768 in Le Cateau-Cambrésis | July 28, 1835 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Wattignies, Second Battle of Zurich, Battle of Dürenstein, Battle of Lübeck, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Ocana, Battle of Krasnoi, Battle of Lützen, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Paris | | Surrender of Mainz, General of Brigade, General of Division, Occupation of Hanover, A Corp in the Ulm Campaign, VIII Corp (1804–1812), Imperial Guard (1812–1813 &1815), Ambassador to Russia |
| Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg, King of Naples | March 25, 1767 in La Bastide-Fortunière | October 13, 1815 in Pizzo Calabro, Calabria | 1804 | Battle of Abukir, Battle of Marengo, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Smolensk, Battle of Borodino, Battle of the Berezina, Battle of Dresden, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Tolentino | | Constitutional Guard, Corporal of the 12th Chasseurs, Sous-Lieutenant, Colonel, Aide-de-Camp of the Army of Italy, Commander of Cavalry, Army of Madrid, Commander of Cavalry in the Grande Armée (1812–1813), Neapolitan Invasion Force (1815) |
| Duke of Elchingen, Prince of the Moskva, Peer of France | January 10, 1769 in Saarlouis (then France) | December 7, 1815 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Valmy, Battle of Neerwinden, Siege of Mainz, Battle of Neuwied, Battle of Winterthur, Battle of Hohenlinden, Stickrieg, Battle of Elchingen, Battle of Ulm, Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Siege of Magdeburg, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Puerto de Baños, Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, Siege of Almeida, Combat of the Côa, Battle of Bussaco, Battle of Pombal, Battle of Redinha, Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, Battle of Casal Novo, Battle of Foz de Arouce, Battle of Smolensk, Battle of Borodino, Battle of Krasnoi, Battle of the Berezina, Battle of Weissenfels, Battle of Lützen, Battle of Bautzen, Battle of Dennewitz, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Quatre Bras, Battle of Ligny, Battle of Waterloo | | Colonel of the 4th Hussar Regiment, Officer in the Army of the North, Brigadier General, General of Division (1799), Cavalry of Forces in Switzerland, and the Danube, VI Corps (1804–1811), Right Wing of the Grande Armée at Friedland, III Corps (1812–1814), Left Wing of the Army of the North, Mass cavalry Charge at Waterloo |
| Count of the Empire | May 31, 1754 in Grenade-Sur-Garonne | December 25, 1818 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Escola, Battle of Sant Llorenç de la Muga, Second Battle of Boulou, Siege of Roses (1794-1795), Battle of Novi | | Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, Ambassador to Spain, Army of Liguria, Governor of Parma (1806–1808), Governor General of Naples (1808–1814) |
| Count of the Empire,Peer of France | December 8, 1742 in Laon | December 21, 1819 in Paris | 1804 | Battle of Rossbach, Battle of Warburg, Siege of Almieda, First Battle of Saorgio, Second Battle of Saorgio, First Battle of Dego, Battle of Loanno, Battle of Montenotte, Battle of Millesimo, Second Battle of Dego, Battle of Ceva, Battle of Mondovì, Battle of Lodi, Battle of Borghetto, Siege of Mantua, Battle of Valvasone, Battle of Verona, Battle of Magnano, Battle of Cassano, Battle of Paris | | Colonel of the 70th Infantry Regiment, Column from the Army of Italy, General of Brigade, Right Flank of the Army of Italy, Left Flank, General of Division, Inspector General of Troops in France, Command of Tryol Division, Defense of Verderio, Vice President of the Senate, Governor of Les Invalides |
| Duke of Dalmatia, Peer of France | March 29, 1769 in Saint-Ammans-Soult | November 25, 1851 in Saint-Ammans-Soult | 1804 | Battle of Kaiserslautern, Second Battle of Wissembourg, Battle of Arlon, Battle of Fleurus, Battle of Aldenhoven, Siege of Luxembourg, Battle of Altenkirchen, Battle of Friedburg, Battle of Stockach, First Battle of Zurich, Siege of Genoa, Battle of Marengo, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Battle of Eylau, First Battle of Porto, Second Battle of Porto, Battle of Ocaña, Siege of Cadiz, Battle of Albuera, Siege of Burgos, Battle of Lützen, Battle of Bautzen, Battle of San Marcial, Battle of Nivelle, Battle of the Bidassoa, Battle of the Nive, Battle of Orthez, Battle of Toulouse | | Instructor of the First Battalion of Volunteers(Bas-Rhin), Staff of the Army of Moselle, Adjutant General Brigade Chief, Active in the Army of the Rhine, Brigadier General, Deputy and Command of the Right wing in the Army of Italy, Defense of Genoa, Colonel General of Consular Guard, Governor General of Camp Boulogne, Corp in Austria, and Prussia, |
| Duke of BellunoPeer of France | December 7, 1764 in Lamarche | March 1, 1841 in Paris | 1807 | Siege of Toulon, Battle of Marengo, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Talavera, Siege of Cadiz, Battle of Barrosa, Battle of the Berizina, Battle of Dresden, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Brienne, Battle of La Rothière, Battle of Mormant, Battle of Montereau, Battle of Craonne | | Brigadier General (after the Siege of Toulon), General of Division, Fighting in the Vendee, Governor of Louisiana, Army of Holland, Division in V Corps, I Corps, Governor of Berlin, Southern Spain (1808–1812), Corps for the Invasion of Russia, Various Units from 1813 to 1814, War Minister (1821–1823), Major General of the Royal Guard (1830) |
| Duke of TarantoPeer of France | November 17, 1765 in Sedan | September 25, 1840 in Beaulieu-sur-Loire | 1809 | Battle of Jemappes, Battle of Trebbia (1799), Battle of Sacile, Battle of Caldiero (1809), Battle of the Piave River, Battle of Tarvis, Battle of Raab, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Lutzen, Battle of Bautzen, Battle of the Katzbach, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Hanau, Battle of Mormant, Battle of Bar-sur-Aube, Battle of Laubressel, Battle of Saint-Dizier | | Captain in the Dillion's Regiment, Aide-de-Camp of General Dumouriez, Colonel, Brigade in the Netherlands, Governor of Rome, Army of Naples, Governor of Versailles, Army of the Grisons (1800), French Ambassador to Denmark (1805), Military Advisor of Prince Eugène, Left Wing in the Invasion of Russia, German Campaign, Campaign of 1814, Major General of the Royal Bodyguard |
| Duke of Raguse | July 20, 1774 in Châtillon-sur-Seine | | 1809 | | | |
| Duke of Reggio | April 25, 1767 in Bar-le-Duc | September 13, 1847 in Paris | 1809 | Battle of Monzembanno, Battle of Austerlitz, Siege of Danzig, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Aspern-Essling, Battle of Wagram, First Battle of Polotsk, Battle of the Berizina, Battle of Großbeeren, Battle of Dennewitz, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Brienne, Battle of La Rothière, Battle of Mormant, Battle of Bar-sur-Aube, Battle of Laubressel, Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube | | |
| Duke of Albuféra | March 2, 1770 in Lyon | January 3, 1826 near Marseille | 1811 | Siege of Toulon, Battle of Lodi, Battle of Castiglione, Battle of Bozanno, Battle of Arcole, Battle of Rivoli, Battle of the Var, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Poltusk, Siege of Zarragoza, Battle of Alcaniz, Battle of Maria, Battle of Belchite, Siege of Lérida, Siege of Mequinenza, Siege of Tortosa, Siege of Tarragona, Battle of Saguntum, Siege of Valencia Battle of Castalla, Alps Campaign of the 100 days | | |
| Count of the Empire | April 13, 1764 in Toul | March 17, 1830 in Hyeres | 1812 | Battle of Novi, Battle of Biberach, Battle of Castelfranco, Siege of Girona, First Battle of Polotsk, Second Battle of Polotsk, Battle of Dresden, Siege of Dresden | | |
| Prince of Poland and of the Holy Roman Empire | May 7, 1763 in Vienna | October 19, 1813 in Leipzig | 1813 | Battle of Raszyn, Battle of Smolensk, Battle of Borodino, Battle of Maloyaroslavetz, Battle of Vyazma, Battle of the Berezina, Battle of Leipzig | | |
| Count of the Empire | October 23, 1766 in Paris | May 29, 1847 in Saint-Étienne | 1815 | Battle of Novi, Battle of Hohenlinden, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Friedland, Battle of Raab, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Smolensk, Battle of Borodino, Battle of Maloyaroslavetz, Battle of Krasnoi, Battle of Brienne, Battle of La Rothière, Battle of Vauchamps, Battle of Craonne, Battle of Ligny, Battle of Wavre | | |
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