Henri-Gatien, comte Bertrand | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byDelaroche, c. 1844 | |
| Born | 22 March 1773 (1773-03-22) |
| Died | 31 January 1844 (1844-02-01) (aged 70) Châteauroux,France |
| Allegiance |  First French Republic First French Empire |
| Years of service | 1793–1815 |
| Rank | Général de Division |
| Commands | IV Corps Grand Marshal of the Palace |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Name engraved on the Arc de Triomphe Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour Count of the Empire |
| Other work | Deputy of Indre Commander of the École Polytechnique |
Henri-Gatien Bertrand (French pronunciation:[ɑ̃ʁiɡasjɛ̃bɛʁtʁɑ̃]; 22 March 1773[1] – 31 January 1844) was aFrench general who served during theFrench Revolutionary Wars and theNapoleonic Wars. Under theEmpire he was the third and lastGrand marshal of the palace, the head of theMilitary Household of emperorNapoleon, whom he followed in both the exiles toElba andSaint Helena.
Bertrand was born atChâteauroux, in the province ofBerry, to a well-to-dobourgeois family.[2]
At the outbreak of theFrench Revolution, he had just finished his studies at thePrytanée National Militaire, and he entered the army as a volunteer. During theexpedition to Egypt, Bonaparte named him colonel (1798), then brigadier-general, and after theBattle of Austerlitz hisaide-de-camp. His life was henceforth closely bound up with that of Napoleon, who had the fullest confidence in him, honoring him in 1808 with the title of count and at the end of 1813, with the title ofGrand Marshal of the Palace.
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In 1808 Bertrand marriedFanny (1785–1836), the daughter of generalArthur Dillon and through her mother a cousin of theEmpress Joséphine. They had six children, with one being born on Elba and another on Saint Helena.
It was Bertrand who in 1809 directed the building of the bridges by which the French army crossed theDanube atWagram. In 1811, the Emperor appointed Bertrand governor of theIllyrian Provinces and during the German campaign of 1813, he commandedIV Corps which he led in the battles ofGroßbeeren,Dennewitz,Wartenburg andLeipzig.[2]
In 1813, after theBattle of Leipzig, it was due to his initiative that the French army was not totally destroyed. He accompanied the Emperor toElba in 1814, returned with him in 1815, held a command in theWaterloo campaign, and then, after the defeat, accompanied Napoleon toSaint Helena. Condemned to death in 1816, he did not return to France until after Napoleon's death, and thenLouis XVIII granted him amnesty allowing him to retain his rank. Bertrand was electeddeputy in 1830 but defeated in 1834. In 1840 he was chosen to accompany thePrince of Joinville to St. Helena to retrieve and bring Napoleon's remains to France, in what became known as theretour des cendres.[2]
During hisexile on St Helena he compiled Napoléon's confidences in a book entitled "Les cahiers de Sainte Hélène". The manuscript was codified and later decodified and commented by Paul Fleuriot de Langle. According to historians, this document is more accurate than Las Cases' "Memorial de Sainte Hélène" which reached a much larger amount of readers in the 19 century as it was designed for propangadistic purposes.[citation needed]
Bertrand's fourth child, Arthur, born on St. Helena, quickly became a favorite of Napoleon's. Arthur is otherwise best known for his affair with French actressMademoiselle Rachel, with which he had a son.
He died at Châteauroux on 31 January 1844 and was buried inLes Invalides.[2]Alexandre Dumas mentions Bertrand in the earlier pages of his well-known novelThe Count of Monte Cristo. He is also mentioned in Book II Chapter 1 ofLes Misérables byVictor Hugo.
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bertrand, Henri Gratien".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 814.