Leipzig 1813

Bertrand--The First & Final Bonapartist

So who was this Bertrand, commander of the IV Corps, who previous to 1813 had not even commanded a brigade or division for more than a few hours? The life of Bertrand was symbolic of the Age of Napoleon--a timeline of the glory and the dedication to the Revolution and its Emperor like no other. It can be said that no other individual was as close to Napoleon for so long, and had such a crucial part in the Emperor's life. For almost 30 years, Bertrand's life was France and his dedication to his Emperor was almost beyond compare. Bertrand was born in 1773, in the town of Chateauroux, in Berry, of bourgeois parents. His father, commander of the National Guard in Chateauroux, encouraged his son to join the National Guard. His membership in the National Guard, at age 18, soon brought Bertrand to Paris, where he participated in putting down a demonstration of the Parisian mob at the Tuilleries in 1792 between stints in engineering school. Graduation in 1793 led to various assignments before being sent to the Army of Italy in 1797 and then to the Army of the Orient in 1798. He was injured at the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798 and was personally treated by the army's chief surgeon, General Larrey, who was so impressed with Bertrand's bravery and demeanor, that he introduced him to General Bonaparte. That introduction started a 22 year relationship that was only interrupted by Napoleon's death. From that point on, the fates of both Bertrand and Bonaparte were fraternally linked through the successes and failures of the rest of Napoleon's life. While most of his early assignments were engineering in nature, he also became one of Napoleon's aides de camp, and served with distinction at Austerlitz; Jena; Spandau; Danzig; Friedland; and Wagram as both an engineer and aide de camp. In 1808, Napoleon named Bertrand a Count of the Empire. That was also the year he married his beloved Fanny Dillon, the daughter of General Dillon, whom with Bertrand had served in Spain. His extensive correspondence with his wife, published into a book more than a century after his death, is one of the few intimate insights into Bertrand's soul, as he wrote few other documents other than military correspondence to Marshal Berthier. In 1811, Napoleon appointed Bertrand to succeed Marmont as the governor of the Illyrian Provinces---a segment of the French Empire in Croatia and Dalmatia. He established an excellent reputation for administration; and Bertrand served with distinction and great popularity with the people, who were starting to enjoy their freedom after so many centuries of Hapsburg mismanagement and indolence. The collapse of the Russian campaign, forced Napoleon to husband his shrinking resources, and Bertrand was asked to go to Italy and establish the Corps d'Observation d'Italie for the purpose of raising troops for the 1813 campaign. Bertrand again, received high marks for his administration of this difficult task, and the troops he raised and moved to Germany eventually became two corps---including the corps he would lead for the next year, the IV Corps, made up of Bertrand's French division; Fontelli's Italian division; and Franquemont's Würtembergers. Those formations would stay with Bertrand to the end of the 1813 campaign, only to be broken up by the reluctant defection of the Würtembergers after Leipzig. So what happened at Lindenau on the first day of the Battle of Leipzig October 16, 1813? Bertrand and the IV Corps had been marching through Leipzig, when Bertrand received word from General Arrighi, commanding the French cavalry corps in front of Lindenau, that General Margeron, commanding the makeshift assembly of troops taken from the Leipzig garrison' and positioned in Lindenau, was under assault by 30,000 Austrians under Gyulai. So Bertrand

Marshal Emterprises

Page 2 of 3