Leipzig 1813

Marshal Marmont: Meditations on Möckern and Morality

of Bohemia, under Prince Schwarzenburg south of Leipzig. North of Leipzig, Ney commanded, and the crown jewel of his command was the French VI Corps under Marmont. Ney was to hold the aggressive Blucher at bay to allow Napoleon the time to destroy Schwarzenburg. The battle in the south is chronicled well elsewhere. The north had several actions, the chief being Marmont's defense of the line anchored by Möckern. The French have good troops with Marmont: "Marine" infantry (really trained sailors); several good light formations; and excellent artillery with the benefit of Marmont's outstanding personal direction. But they also have fragile provisional infantry with little staying power; Wurttemberg cavalry with little loyalty to the French side; and too little French cavalry to blunt the allied superiority in that arm. The Allies have similar strengths and weaknesses---some excellent troops; numerous cavalry formations; but also weaker Prussian Landwehr; not enough artillery; and generally weaker leaders--including a von Blücher who despite his tenacity and bravery, provided little focus. Prussian arms were eventually victorious thanks to the Soldier of Fortune who was Yorck. Möckern was a hard-fought battle---and there were several turns of fate that could have determined the ultimate outcome. The desperate intensity of the fighting on both sides made the outcome tenuous. Marmont's management of the French guns achieved a deceiving success. However in the end, Marmont's failure to show restraint and not go on an aggressive counter- attack in the mid-afternoon made him fall prey to Yorck's well executed cavalry attacks that led to the collapse of the French line and the defeat of the French on October 16. The next several days saw the French lose Leipzig; Germany; and the 1813 campaign; Marmont retreated with the French into France for the 1814 campaign. Despite the generally high-level of his military work and his personal bravery, 1814 saw Marmont's other traits mold his historical reputation. Marmont has become notorious for his treachery towards and betrayal of Napoleon to close the campaign of 1814. His decision to disobey his imperial orders and to stand firm and allow his corps to be surrounded, some say prematurely, doomed the already precarious French position in the spring of 1814 and led directly to the first abdication of Napoleon. His embrace of the Bourbon restoration and his rejection of Napoleon upon his return from Elba reserved his place in the gallery of Napoleonic villains. Napoleon struck him from the list of marshals during the Cent Jours in 1815 . betrayal...nonetheless, his behavior only reinforced his public image as disloyal and opportunistic. Ironically, Marmont left France in 1830, following Charles X into exile. He was never to return to France again for the remaining 22 years of his life. He was doomed to the role of a wandering outcast-- though not an impoverished one--moving from place-to-place and cursed with the distinction of living longer than any other Napoleonic marshal. After a long generation of lonely meanderings throughout Europe, Marmont died in Venice in 1852. His memoirs were published posthumously, and despite his efforts otherwise, were not successful in restoring him to the Napoleonic pantheon of heroes. Marmont's subsequent betrayal of Charles X during the Revolution of 1830 has been seized by his Bourbon detractors as an example of his inherent character--although there is some question whether his decision not to support the Bourbon regime at the crucial time was in reality a

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