La Bataille de Deutsch Wagram 1809

André Massena ; Maréchal and Preservationist

she was not clear that the origins of this grand monument were due to the events of the Age of Napoleon. The Musee—formerly the Manse Massena—was actually built by the son of the French Marshal in the mid-Nineteenth Century. This son was able to use the stunning artworks and furnishings of his father’s fortune gathered in during Massena’s 25 year career on many of the greatest battlefields in Europe nearly a half century before. To be fair, today’s Massena family are faithful stewards of the Napoleonic legend...the current Prince of Essling, a direct descendent of the original Marshal Massena, is also the President of the Foundation Napoleon and has guided that stellar organization for most of the 21st Century. His leadership of both the Foundation Napoleon and of the Massena family have been well received for both his foresight and generosity. These are qualities which could not be attributable to the original General Massena.

Andre Massena, the general, travelled throughout Italy; Spain and Austria in his rich career as one of Napoleon’s better generals. But as the historian Paul Johnson describes in his biography of Napoleon, Napoleon: A Life, about the character of Massena, “some, like Andre Massena, were incorrigibly corrupt, looters notorious by even the standards of Bonaparte’s army. Massena, indeed, was so outrageous, that on one or two occasions, actually had to be punished by loss of command. “

One of those occasions was in 1798 when Massena was sent by the revolutionary government to establish a Roman Republic. Among the questionable actions by General Massena was to misappropriate the payroll of his soldiers for his own benefit despite having almost unfettered access to the riches of Rome and the Roman Church. Because of that, the soldiers reacted so strongly, that the French government had to intervene and make sure the army got paid. Indeed, his service in Spain in 1810-11, with his looting and womanizing taking precedence over his duties, ruined his career in Napoleon’s eyes, and he was recalled to France, given a minor command in Marseilles for the remainder of the war. He died in 1817, two years after the fall of Napoleon, in a state of some disgrace. But between the looting and scandal, Massena had a magnificent career. He was born in Nice in 1758, when Nice was part of Piedmont. He went to sea as a cabin boy on a merchant ship. He became a soldier in 1775 and rose in the ranks as high as a commoner could rise before the revolution. He left the army and made his living as a smuggler in Northern Italy for a couple of years before joining the revolutionary army in 1791. He was a general by 1793 in the French Army of Italy. As commander of the avant-garde in that army, Massena met Napoleon in 1796 and was a great part of Bonaparte’s early success. Massena commanded the French at Second Zurich in 1799, where he defeated the Russians. He also commanded the French under siege at Genoa, and as such as Napoleon himself related, was a major reason for Napoleon’s subsequent victory at Marengo in 1800. Napoleon called Massena the “dear child of victory.” But despite his great successes, like the Italian Campaign in 1805, and the battles at Aspern- Essling and Wagram in Austria in 1809, Massena would always be remembered for his transgressions as a looter. But there remains the argument that Massena was much more than a looter. He was a “preservationist.” His work remains on display today at the Musee Massena in Nice for our education and enjoyment. His descendants serving in the Fondation Napoleon, like

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