Louis-Alexandre Berthier Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byJacques Pajou, 1808 | |
| Minister of War | |
| In office 11 November 1799 – 2 April 1800 | |
| Preceded by | Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois-Crancé |
| Succeeded by | Lazare Carnot |
| In office 8 October 1800 – 19 August 1807 | |
| Preceded by | Lazare Carnot |
| Succeeded by | Henri Guillaume Clarke, Duke of Feltre |
| Sovereign Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin | |
| In office 25 February 1806 – 3 June 1814 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick William III of Prussia |
| Succeeded by | Frederick William III of Prussia |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1753-11-20)20 November 1753 |
| Died | 1 June 1815(1815-06-01) (aged 61) |
| Relations | Jean-Baptiste Berthier(father) César Berthier(brother) Napoléon Alexandre Berthier(son) |
| Awards | Grand Cross of theLegion of Honour Commander of theOrder of Saint Louis Vice-Grand Constable of France |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of France Kingdom of France First French Republic First French Empire Kingdom of France |
| Branch/service | Army |
| Years of service | 1764–1815 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
| Battles/wars | |
Louis-Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel et Valangin, prince de Wagram (French:[lwialɛksɑ̃dʁbɛʁtje]; 20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815) was a French military commander who served during theFrench Revolutionary Wars and theNapoleonic Wars. He was twiceMinister of War of France and was made aMarshal of the Empire in 1804. Berthier served aschief of staff toNapoleon Bonaparte from hisfirst Italian campaign in 1796 until hisfirst abdication in 1814. The operational efficiency of theGrande Armée owed much to his considerable administrative and organizational skills.
Born into a military family, Berthier served in theAmerican Revolutionary War and survived suspicion of monarchism during theReign of Terror before a rapid rise in the ranks of theFrench Revolutionary Army. Although a key supporter of the coup against theDirectory that gave Napoleon supreme power, and present for his greatest victories, Berthier strongly opposed the progressive stretching of lines of communication during theRussian campaign. Allowed to retire by the restored Bourbon regime, he died by either suicide or murder shortly before theBattle of Waterloo. Berthier's reputation as a superb operational organiser remains strong among current historians.
Berthier was born inVersailles on 20 November 1753.[1] He was the eldest of five surviving children of Lieutenant-ColonelJean-Baptiste Berthier (1721–1804), an officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, and his first wife (married in 1746) Marie Françoise L'Huillier de La Serre.[2] Three of his brothers also served in the French Army, with two,César (1765–1819) and Victor-Léopold (1770–1807), becoming generals during the Napoleonic Wars.[2][3]
As a boy, Berthier was instructed in the military art by his father, an officer of theCorps de genie (Engineer Corps). In 1764 he was admitted to theRoyal Engineering School of Mézières, as a second lieutenant, graduating as a topographical engineer two years later, at the age of 12.[2] In March 1772, Berthier entered the army as a lieutenant in the Flanders Legion.[2] He then joined thePrince of Lambesc's LorraineDragoon Regiment in August 1776, and was promoted to captain in June 1777.[2]
Berthier first saw action during theAmerican Revolutionary War, in which he served from 1780 to 1783 as a staff officer underJean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Count of Rochambeau.[2] On his return, having attained the rank of colonel, he was employed in various staff posts and was made aKnight of Saint Louis in 1788.[2] In July 1789, at the start of theFrench Revolution, Berthier was made a lieutenant-colonel as well as chief of staff of the VersaillesNational Guard, and in this role protected KingLouis XVI's family from popular violence.[2] In 1791, he aided in theemigration of the king's auntsVictoire andAdélaïde.[1][2]
In 1792, Berthier was promoted tomaréchal de camp and posted to theArmy of the North.[2] He was appointed chief of staff to MarshalNicolas Luckner, and played a distinguished part in the Argonne campaign of GeneralsDumouriez andKellermann. He served with great credit in theWar in the Vendée of 1793–1796. Berthier was made a brigade general in March 1795 and a general of division three months later.[2]
Berthier first met Napoleon Bonaparte in March 1796, and was at once made chief of staff to theArmy of Italy, which Bonaparte had recently been appointed to command.[2] He served in theItalian campaign of 1796, distinguishing himself at theBattle of Lodi.[2] In January 1797 he played an important role in theBattle of Rivoli, relieving GeneralJoubert when the latter was attacked by the Austrian generalJozsef Alvinczi. His power of work, accuracy and quick comprehension, combined with his long and varied experience and his complete mastery of detail, made Berthier the ideal chief of staff. In this capacity, Berthier was Napoleon's most valued assistant for the rest of his career.[1]
Berthier accompanied Napoleon throughout the campaign of 1797, and was left in charge of the army after theTreaty of Campo Formio. He was in this post in 1798 when he entered Italy, invaded the Vatican, organized theRoman Republic, and took PopePius VI prisoner. Berthier supervised the Pope’s relocation toValence, where, after a tortuous journey, Pius died. The death of the Pope dealt a major blow to the Vatican's political power.
After this, Berthier joined his chief in Egypt, serving there until Napoleon's return. He assisted in theCoup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), afterwards becomingMinister of War for a time. During theBattle of Marengo, Berthier was the nominal head of the Army of Reserve, but the first consul accompanied the army and he acted in reality, as always, as chief of staff to Napoleon.[1]
Despite serving as a staff officer, Berthier had at one point received a battlefield injury. A contemporary subordinate staff officer, Brossier, reports that at the Battle of Marengo:
The General-in-Chief Berthier gave his orders with the precision of a consummate warrior, and at Marengo maintained the reputation that he so rightly acquired in Italy and in Egypt under the orders of Bonaparte. He himself was hit by a bullet in the arm. Two of his aides-de-camp, Dutaillis and La Borde, had their horses killed.[4]
At the close of the campaign, he was employed in civil and diplomatic business.[1] This included a mission to Spain in August 1800, which resulted in the retrocession ofLouisiana to France by theTreaty of San Ildefonso on 1 October 1800, and led to theLouisiana Purchase.[citation needed]
In May 1804, Napoleon became emperor and at once made Berthier aMarshal of the Empire.[2] He took part in the campaigns ofAusterlitz,Jena, andFriedland. Berthier was madeGrand Huntsman in 1804 andVice-Constable of the Empire in 1807.[2] In 1806, when Napoleon deposed KingFrederick William III of Prussia from the Principality of Neuchâtel (now theSwiss canton ofNeuchâtel), Berthier was appointed its ruler, with the title of Prince of Neuchâtel and Duke ofValangin.[5] This lasted until his abdication on 3 June 1814.[5] Berthier never visited Neuchâtel, where he was represented by a governor, although he was well acquainted with its affairs.[5]
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In 1808, Berthier served in thePeninsular War, and in 1809, served in the Austrian theatre during theWar of the Fifth Coalition, after which he was given the title ofPrince of Wagram. He was with Napoleon in Russia in 1812, and took part in the extremely unusual council of war on whether to proceed, being one of several who advised against an advance on Moscow which Napoleon had decided on, encouraged byJoachim Murat who was blamed by many for the horse-killing pace of the march into Russia. Berthier is said to have burst into tears at the decision. He served inGermany in 1813, and France in 1814, fulfilling, until the fall of the French Empire, the functions of chief of staff of theGrande Armée.[1]
Following Napoleon's first abdication, Berthier retired toChâteau de Grosbois, his 600-acre (2.4 km2) estate atBoissy-Saint-Léger,Val-de-Marne. He made peace withLouis XVIII in 1814 and accompanied the king on his solemn entry into Paris. During Napoleon's short exile onElba, he informed Berthier of his projects. Berthier was much perplexed as to his future course and, being unwilling to commit to Napoleon, fell under the suspicion both of his old leader and of Louis XVIII.
On Napoleon's return to France in March 1815, Berthier withdrew to theBavarian city ofBamberg. On 1 June 1815 he died from a fall from an upstairs window at theNeue Residenz, a 17th-century Bishop's residence.[6] The manner of his death remains uncertain because he fell from acasement window with asill 4 ft (1.2 m) from the floor, making an accident seem unlikely.[7] According to some accounts, he was assassinated by members of a secret society, while others say he threw himself from the window, maddened at the sight ofRussian troops marching to invade France. It remains unclear whether hisdefenestration was suicide or murder.[1]
His loss was keenly felt by Napoleon, who wished he had his former Chief of Staff atWaterloo:
If Berthier had been there, I would not have met this misfortune.[8]
Berthier was an immensely skilled chief of staff, but he was not a great field commander. When he was in temporary command in 1809, the French army inBavaria underwent a series of reverses. Despite the fact that his merit as a general was completely overshadowed by the genius of Napoleon, Berthier was nevertheless renowned for his excellent organising skills and being able to understand and carry out the emperor's directions to the minutest detail.[1] GeneralPaul Thiébault wrote of him:
No one could have better suited General Bonaparte, who wanted a man capable of relieving him of all detailed work, to understand him instantly and to foresee what he would need.[8]
In 1796, Berthier fell in love with Giuseppa Carcano, marquise Visconti di Borgorato, who was to be his mistress for the duration of the First French Empire, despite the emperor's disapproval. Even when Napoleon forced him to marry a Bavarian princess, theDuchess Maria Elisabeth, in 1808, Berthier managed to keep his mistress and his wife together under the same roof, a state of affairs which infuriated the emperor.[9]
On 9 March 1808, Berthier married Elisabeth who was the only daughter ofDuke Wilhelm in Bavaria andCountess Palatine Maria Anna of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Rappoltstein,[10] the sister of KingMaximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, and a relative of the Russian emperor through the Wittelsbach line on the Bavarian side and Prussian (Mecklenburg) side of her lineage.
They had one son and two daughters :[11][12]
Berthier is mentioned and/or appears in several ofSir Arthur Conan Doyle'sBrigadier Gerard stories, includingHow the Brigadier Was Tempted by the Devil (1895), and in Leo Tolstoy'sWar and Peace. He is the main character in the 2024 French historical novel, York-Town,[13] byGérard Cardonne.
Berthier is prominently featured in the 2010 video gameNapoleon: Total War, where he serves as the narrator of the campaign/story mode, and the battle advisor to the French faction during battles. He is also featured prominently in the three tutorial missions in the game, and also appears in two of the game's historical battles. The game is slightly inaccurate in Berthier's life, in that Berthier gives the narration about theBattle of Waterloo, regardless of a win or a loss, while in real life, Berthier died shortly before the battle from a fall in his home.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Berthier, Louis Alexandre".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 812.
The Berthier collection is conserved inthe archives of the State of Neuchâtel. It contains more than 2'000 items inventoried in 1895–1896 by Albert Dufourcq. The collection contains correspondence sent and received by the prince in connection with the general affairs of the Principality or particular affairs.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of War 11 November 1799 – 2 April 1800 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of War 8 October 1800 – 19 August 1807 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Prince of Neuchâtel 25 February 1806 – 3 June 1814 | Succeeded by |
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Head of state:Napoleon | ||
| Secretary of State |  Napoleon | |
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Preceded byFrench Consulate • Followed byFrench provisional government of 1814 | ||
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