Auguste de Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont was born on the 20th of July 1774 in Châtillon-sur-Seine. His father served as an ex-officer within the petite noblesse and adopted revolutionary principles early in life. The young Auguste showed a love for soldiering that drew his father to take him to Dijon. There he learned mathematics before entering the artillery school. This education laid the foundation for a career defined by technical precision and strategic calculation. He made his first acquaintance with Napoleon Bonaparte while serving at Toulon after obtaining his commission. That initial meeting would ripen into intimacy over the coming years.
In 1805, Marmont received command of a corps that performed good service at Ulm. He then directed his army to take possession of Dalmatia and occupied the Republic of Ragusa. For the next five years, he served as both military and civil governor of the region. Traces of his beneficent regime survive today in great public works and in the memories of the people. In May 1809, he defeated an Austrian holding force during the Dalmatian Campaign. He captured the opposing commander and broke out of Dalmatia to reach Ljubljana in early June. After defeating Ignaz Gyulai's corps at Graz, Napoleon summoned the XI Corps to Vienna. He arrived in time to fight in the Battle of Wagram on the 5th and the 6th of July. Napoleon made him a Marshal of the Empire despite saying privately that he had not done enough to justify entirely the choice. French soldiers later joked that Marmont was friendship's choice among the three new marshals created after Wagram.
Marmont was hastily summoned in May 1811 to succeed Masséna in northern Spain. His relief of Ciudad Rodrigo proved a great feat despite the presence of the British army. The manoeuvring preceding the Battle of Salamanca failed to secure victory for France. Wellington ordered his cavalry to charge Marmont's unsuspecting left flank. This attack inflicted a great defeat upon the French forces. Shrapnel struck both Marmont and his deputy commander Comte Jean-Pierre François Bonet very early in the battle. Marmont suffered a grave wound to his right arm and side. Command of the battle passed to Bertrand Clauzel while Marmont retired to France to recover. He would return to lead a corps again in April 1813 at battles like Lützen and Bautzen.
Marmont took on a political role seeking to halt what he saw as a pointless prolonging of war. He contacted the Allies and reached a secret agreement with them before Paris fell. As Allied troops closed on Montmartre, Marmont marched alongside marshals Mortier and Moncey. They were quickly surrounded by enemy forces and surrendered their command. Napoleon had just been defeated at Waterloo when Marmont stayed loyal to King Louis XVIII during the Hundred Days. Following that campaign, he voted in favour of executing Marshal Ney. Charles X later accused him of betraying the Bourbons after Marmont failed to quell the July Revolution in 1830. The king ordered his arrest and stripped him of his marshalate. Marmont accompanied the royal family into exile and forfeited all titles.
Marmont wandered through central and eastern Europe after leaving France for good. He settled finally in Vienna where the Austrian government received him well. Strangely, he was made tutor to the Duke of Reichstadt who had briefly been styled Napoleon II. Thirty years after his surrender, little children in the streets would point and say there goes the man who betrayed Napoleon. The verb raguser derived from his title became a household word meaning to betray. He died in Venice on the 22nd of March 1852 as the last living Napoleonic marshal. His wife Anne-Marie-Hortense Perregaux outlived him by five years before dying in Paris in 1857. They had no children together and were divorced in 1817.
In his final years, Marmont spent much time working on his Mémoires which hold great value for military history. He published Voyage en Hongrie across four volumes in 1837 followed by Voyage en Sicile in 1838. His work Esprit des institutions appeared in 1845 while Cesar and Xenophon texts emerged posthumously in eight volumes during 1856. John Elting called his 300-mile march through roadless country remarkable for scattering two Austrian forces. Marmont studied Wellington's nature of war and refused battle unless ground favored his position. Tactically he proved deadly yet prone to sloppiness that caused his defeats. Modern historians view him as perhaps the most educated of all marshals who wrote a thesis on the art of war.
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Common questions
When was Auguste de Marmont born and where did he die?
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont was born on the 20th of July 1774 in Châtillon-sur-Seine. He died in Venice on the 22nd of March 1852 as the last living Napoleonic marshal.
How did Auguste de Marmont become a Marshal of the Empire?
Napoleon made him a Marshal of the Empire after he fought in the Battle of Wagram on the 5th and the 6th of July 1809. French soldiers later joked that Marmont was friendship's choice among the three new marshals created after Wagram despite Napoleon saying privately that he had not done enough to justify entirely the choice.
What happened to Auguste de Marmont during the Hundred Days campaign?
Marmont stayed loyal to King Louis XVIII during the Hundred Days following his defeat at Waterloo. Following that campaign, he voted in favour of executing Marshal Ney while Charles X later accused him of betraying the Bourbons after Marmont failed to quell the July Revolution in 1830.
Why is the verb raguser associated with Auguste de Marmont?
The verb raguser derived from his title became a household word meaning to betray because little children in the streets would point and say there goes the man who betrayed Napoleon thirty years after his surrender. This association persisted until his death in Venice on the 22nd of March 1852.
Which books did Auguste de Marmont publish in his final years?
He published Voyage en Hongrie across four volumes in 1837 followed by Voyage en Sicile in 1838. His work Esprit des institutions appeared in 1845 while Cesar and Xenophon texts emerged posthumously in eight volumes during 1856.