Participation in wars:
Wars of Republican France. Napoleonic Wars.
Participation in battles: Battle of Nerwinden. Egyptian campaign. Battle of the pyramids. Battle of Abukir. Battle of Marengo. Battle of Ulm. Battle of Austerlitz. Battle of Auerstedt. Battle of Preussisch Eylau. Battle of Friedland. Battle of Eckmühl. Battle of Wagram. Battle of Saltanovka. Smolensk battle. Battle of Borodino. Battle of Lutzen
(Louis-Nicolas Davout) Marshal of France (1804), Duke of Auerstadt (1808), Prince of Eckmühl (1809), Minister of War (1815), Peer (1819). Member of the Republican and Imperial Wars
Together with Bonaparte Davout was brought up at the Brienne military school, from where he was released in 1788 as a second lieutenant in the cavalry. Despite his noble origins, Davout joined the revolutionary movement and participated in revolutionary wars in the ranks of the republican army. At first, he commanded a battalion of volunteers, and in battle of Nervinden in 1793 - a brigade.
In 1795-1797. he was in the Rhine army. In the Egyptian campaign of 1799, Davout commanded the cavalry and drew attention to his actions of Bonaparte in the battle of Abukir. Then, with the rank of divisional general, Davout commanded the cavalry during the winter Italian campaign 1800-1801
Loyalty to Bonaparte, which turned into worship, caused various favors to Davout on the part of the First Consul, who soon became emperor. Napoleon appointed Davout inspector general of cavalry, then commander of the grenadier consular guard, in 1803 - the head of the permanent camp in Bruges, and on May 18, 1804 he was made a marshal. Napoleon even married Davout to his sister-in-law Pauline.
In the 1805 campaign, Davout, commanding the III Corps, participated in the encirclement of Mack near Ulm, in the occupation of Vienna and Presburg and in Battle of Austerlitz... Since that time, Napoleon often gave Davout important appointments.
At the very beginning of the war of 1806-1807, on the very day when Napoleon defeated part of the Prussian army Jena, Davout, twice yielding to the enemy, defeated near Auerstadt the main Prussian forces, skillfully and successfully blocking their path to the Unstrut River, and opened the way for the French to Berlin.
V Battle of Preussisch Eylau Davout was entrusted with conducting the main attack to cover the left flank of the Russian position.
In 1808 Davout was appointed commander-in-chief of the army in Germany. In the Austro-French War of 1809, Davout commanded one of the strongest corps, with which he successfully completed a flank march from Regensburg to the Abens River. This greatly contributed to the concentration of the French army, warned in this respect by the Austrians.
While Napoleon, having broken through the strategic front of the Austrian army, crushed its left wing, Davout, despite the weakness of his forces, with skillful actions against the right group of the army Archduke Charles prepared for success Eckmühl battle, after which both Austrian wings were disunited.
In battle under Wagram Davout acted on the right flank of the French and after several attacks, having captured Neisiedel, pushed the Austrian corps to Wagram Rosenberg and Hohenzollern.
After the conclusion of peace, Davout was again put in charge of the French troops in Germany. In 1811 he was appointed Governor-General of the Elbe Estuary Department. Here, under the humble rank of commander of the observation corps on the Elbe, Davout organized and equipped an army of unprecedented size for a campaign in Russia, in which he himself commanded the I Corps of five divisions, numbering up to seventy thousand people. Davout, on the other hand, processed the numerous information about Russia that Napoleon had carefully collected over the course of several years.
With the outbreak of war in 1812, Davout was moved into the gap between the armies Barclay and Bagration, but he could not prevent the connection of the Russian armies. On August 5, near Smolensk, Davout's corps led an attack on the Molokhov Gate. V Battle of Borodino Davout was injured. When retreating from Moscow, he commanded the rearguard of the army, but after the defeat at Vyazma, he was replaced by Ney.
As governor-general of the Hanseatic cities, Davout occupied Hamburg and Lübeck in the spring of 1813, but this time he did not show his usual activity. He did not support Oudinot and Ney in their offensive operations against Berlin and left Pesce's division, which was almost destroyed under Gerd, without help.
commander of the Napoleonic Wars, Duke of Auerstedt, Prince of Ekmühl
Biography
Born into a noble family in Burgundy.
He was brought up at the Brienne military school at the same time as Napoleon. He commanded a battalion under the command of Dumouriez, took part in the campaigns of 1793-1795.
During the Egyptian expedition he contributed a lot to the victory at Abukir.
In 1805, Davout was already a marshal and took an outstanding part both in the Ulm operation and in the battle of Austerlitz. In the last battle, it was Marshal Davout's corps that withstood the main blow of the Russian troops, practically ensuring the Great Army's victory in the battle.
In 1806, heading a corps numbering 26 thousand people, Davout inflicted a crushing defeat on the twice strongest army of the Duke of Braunschweig at Auerstedt, for which he received the ducal title.
In 1809 he contributed to the defeat of the Austrians at Eckmühl and Wagram, for which he received the princely title.
In 1812 Davout was wounded in the Battle of Borodino.
In 1813, after the battle of Leipzig, he locked himself in Hamburg and surrendered it only after Napoleon's overthrow.
During the first restoration, Davout was out of work. He turned out to be the only Napoleonic marshal who did not renounce the exile. On the return of Napoleon from the island of Elba, he was appointed minister of war and commanded troops near Paris. “I can only trust you in Paris” - this is how Napoleon motivated his decision not to involve Davout in active hostilities, despite the protests of the marshal himself, who was rushing to the front line.
After the Battle of Waterloo, Davout demanded that the allies declare a full amnesty to all those who participated in the restoration of Napoleon, threatening otherwise to withdraw the army across the Loire River and continue resistance. Marshal MacDonald was sent to negotiate with him, but he was unable to achieve a change in Davout's position, and the allies were forced to accept his demand. Davout was the only marshal of Napoleon who never swore allegiance to the Bourbons, so they had no reason to bring him to justice after the second abdication of the emperor.
In 1818, Davout gained access to the court of Louis XVIII, and in 1819 he was elevated to the dignity of the peerage of France.
Characteristic
The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary describes Davout as follows:
And Tolstoy in War and Peace put it this way (explaining why he chose some dirty barn for his headquarters): to have the right to be gloomy. "
Davout is considered one of the most prominent military leaders in France; unlike many other companions of Napoleon, who usually acted successfully under the direct command of the emperor himself, Davout repeatedly distinguished himself in battles conducted independently and the only one of the 26 marshals of the First Empire remained undefeated on the battlefield.
It is also characteristic that during the occupation of Moscow, Davout's bedroom was located in the altar of the Chudov Monastery. Davout could not help but realize the blasphemy and offensiveness of such a gesture towards the Russians.
In fiction
Davout is one of the characters in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. Tolstoy characterizes it as follows:
On the pages of the novel, Davout receives the envoy of Alexander I - Balashov. One of the central episodes of the fourth part of War and Peace is Davout's conversation with Pierre. With obvious initial distrust, the marshal interrogates the captive Pierre Bezukhov in Moscow, but suddenly decides to spare him:
Such a description of the marshal is followed by the Soviet historian E.V. Tarle. However, his student, A. Z. Manfred, does not agree with this assessment and writes in his monograph "Napoleon Bonaparte":
Trophy wands of Davout in Russia
Davout's marshal rod was twice given to the Russian troops. It was first captured by the Cossacks at the town of Bergfried on the Alla River in East Prussia, in January 1807. Now this trophy is in the collection of the Historical Museum in Moscow. For the second time, Davout lost his marshal's regalia at Krasnoye on November 5, 1812. In his wagon train, captured by the Finnish Life Guards Regiment, among other trophies, there was also a rod, which is now kept in the State Hermitage Museum.
Among the other 26 marshals of Napoleon, Louis Davout was the only person who could boast of the ancient origins of his surname. Davout belonged to an ancient Burgundian family, leading its ancestry as far back as the 13th century, and this was undoubtedly reflected in his character: being not only a brave military man who managed to break through to the very top of the French military elite, he was also a noble man who remained faithful to the idea in which believed.
Louis Nicolas Davout was born in 1770 in the small town of Anne (province of Burgundy) and was the eldest child of the cavalry lieutenant Jean-François d'Avoux and Françoise-Adelaide Minard de Velard.
At the age of 15, Davout entered the Brienne military school, which Napoleon Bonaparte graduated from a year before his admission there. In 1788, Davout graduated from high school and, with the rank of junior lieutenant, arrived in the Champagne cavalry regiment, in which his grandfather and father had previously served.
During the outbreak of the French Revolution, Louis supported republican ideas and, succumbing to fashion trends, changed his aristocratic surname (d "Ava) to a simple one - Davout.
After the riots flared up on the wave of revolutionary sentiments in the Champagne Regiment, Davout fell into disgrace and was forced to resign. However, he did not have to sit idle for a long time, and in the fall of 1791, Davout, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was appointed deputy commander of the battalion of the Yonne volunteers - this was how his military career began in the new republican state.
After the battles at Nervind, Davout made an effort to prevent his soldiers from going over to the banner of the troops of General Dumouriez, who had already gone over to the side of the Austrians. For the suppression of the royalist uprising of the Chouans (peasants) under Vendee, Davout received the rank of major in the commissary service, and after 17 days he became a brigadier general.
At this time, the Convention decides to dismiss all former royal officers from service - Davout himself submits his resignation, and in April 1794 he was arrested with his mother, and only the overthrow of the Jacobin regime saves his life. In the same year, 1794, Louis Davout was again restored to military service with the rank of brigadier general.
Since 1798, General Davout has been participating in the Egyptian campaign as the commander of a cavalry brigade. During the war on the African continent, he managed to distinguish himself, contributing to the victory of the French at Fort Aboukir. His military successes could not be invisible to Napoleon, and little by little these two outstanding people are getting closer.
In 1801, Davout was granted the post of commander of the foot grenadiers of the consular guard, and in 1804 (after the coronation of Napoleon) he became a marshal and one of Bonaparte's advisers.
Louis Davout was an active participant in the Napoleonic campaign of 1805-1807 as the commander of the 3rd corps of the Grand Army. It was during this war that the military talents of Marshal Davout began to be most clearly manifested. A remarkable battle at Ulm, as a result of which the commander-in-chief of the Austrian army, Baron Mack von Leiberich, together with 30 thousand people surrendered to the French. Davout also showed himself excellently during the Battle of Austerlitz.
Even more magnificent was the battle of Auerstedt, during which the 3rd corps of the French army under the command of Davout, consisting of 26 thousand soldiers, inflicted a crushing defeat on the twice as strong army of the Duke of Braunschweig. Davout's victory significantly surpassed Napoleon's victory at Jena and played a key role in the surrender of the Austrian troops. Here is what Napoleon himself wrote about Auerstedt: “... The Battle of Auerstedt is one of the most beautiful days in France! I owe this to the brave Third Corps and its commander. I am very glad that it turned out to be you! " Louis Davout was given the title of Duke of Aurstedt, and around the same time he was nicknamed "Iron Marshal".
The end of 1806 - the beginning of 1807 took place for the Davout corps in battles with Russian troops. The 3rd Corps, which came to the aid of the main forces of the French, literally saved Bonaparte from defeat at Preussisch-Eylau.
After the Tilsit Peace Treaty, Louis Davout was appointed Governor General of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and this was a time for him a little respite from the constant European civil strife.
During the war with the Austrians in 1809, Davout's troops played a decisive role in the battles at Ekmühl and Wagram (for the victory at Ekmühl, he received the title of Prince of Ekmühl, becoming one of three marshals who simultaneously had two titles obtained in foreign campaigns).
On June 23, 1812, the 1st division of the 1st corps of Marshal Davout was one of the first to cross the Neman River: this is how the Russian campaign began (as French historians call the Patriotic War). The Louis Davout corps, numbering 72 thousand people, was one and a half to two times larger than any other French corps.
In July 1812, Davout took Minsk, a little later Mogilev, attacked the Molokhov Gate during the assault on Smolensk, and after a stubborn battle entered this city.
In Borodino, Davout's cavalrymen attacked Bagration's flushes, and, seeing the unsuccessful attacks of the French, - the marshal personally led the 57th regiment into battle, - it is not surprising that in this attack the brave Davout, riding on horseback in the front ranks of the attackers, was wounded.
With the withdrawal of Napoleon's troops from Moscow, Davout was at the head of the rearguard, however, after the defeat at Vyazma, he had to surrender command to Marshal Ney.
With the further withdrawal of the French deep into Europe, Davout led the defense of Hamburg, and held the city until Napoleon Bonaparte's abdication from the imperial throne in 1814.
Remaining an ardent ideological supporter of Napoleon, Davout became Minister of War during his return to the throne (during the famous "Hundred Days"). Before leaving for the army, Napoleon told Davout that he could not take him with him, since he would be more needed and useful in the defense of Paris.
Davout was the only one who, after the Battle of Waterloo, demanded amnesty for all those who had sworn allegiance to Napoleon during its restoration, otherwise he threatened to continue resistance, and his condition was accepted.
Louis Davout is also one of those rare daredevils who refused to recognize the legitimacy of the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, only in 1817 he was admitted to the court of Louis XVIII.
This one of the most worthy people of the Napoleonic era died in 1823 from pulmonary tuberculosis.
Despite the severe character repeatedly noted by his contemporaries, sometimes reaching the point of cruelty (even L.N. brilliant military operations. And therefore it is not surprising that he was the only one of all 26 Napoleon's marshals who did not suffer a single defeat on the battlefield.
