Marcellin Marbot
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Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin MarbotTemplate:Efn (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell, Template:IPA; 18 August 1782 – 16 November 1854), known as Marcellin Marbot,Template:Efn was a French general, famous for his memoirs depicting the Napoleonic age of warfare.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He belongs to a family that has distinguished itself particularly in the career of arms, giving three generals to France in less than 50 years. His elder brother, Adolphe Marbot, was also a general.
Biography
Early life
Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin Marbot was born into a family of military nobility in Altillac, in the ancient province of Quercy in southwestern France.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 1, Chapter 1">Template:Cite book</ref> He was the younger son of General Jean-Antoine Marbot, who had served as aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-Général de Schomberg, inspector general of the cavalry in the military household of the king of France.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
After completing his studies at the Military College of Sorèze (1793–1798), he joined the 1st Hussar Regiment as a volunteer on 3 September 1799.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 1, Chapter 1"/> Serving under General Jean-Mathieu Seras, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant on 1 December 1799, and later that month, to second lieutenant on 31 December in recognition of his bravery. He fought with the Army of Italy and took part in the Siege of Genoa, during which his father, General Jean-Antoine Marbot died, and subsequently fought in the Battle of Marengo.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 1, Chapter 9">Template:Cite book</ref>
Upon returning to France, he joined the 25th Chasseur Regiment on 11 June 1801 and was detached to the Cavalry School at Versailles.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 1, Chapter 16">Template:Cite book</ref>
Napoleonic wars
On 31 August 1803 he became aide-de-camp to General Charles-Pierre Augereau and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 11 July 1804. Having distinguished himself at the Battle of Austerlitz, he fought in the VII corps of the Grande Armée during the 1806–1807 campaign against the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire. On 3 January 1807 he was promoted to the rank of captain and took part in the Battle of Eylau, during the course of which he nearly lost his life. Subsequently, he served in the Peninsular War under Marshals Jean Lannes and André Masséna, and showed himself to be a dashing leader of light cavalry in the Russian campaign of 1812.<ref name="Chisholm 1911">{{#if: |
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He was promoted to the rank of colonel on 15 November 1812 and took part in the German campaign of 1813 as commander of the 23rd Chasseur Regiment. During the morning of the first day of the Battle of Leipzig, Marbot nearly altered the course of the war when his regiment came close to capturing the Tsar of Russia, Alexander I and the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, as they had strayed from their escort.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 2, Chapter 38">Template:Cite book</ref> After a slow recovery from the wounds he had sustained at the battles of Leipzig and Hanau, he rallied to Emperor Napoleon during the Hundred Days, leading the 7th Hussar Regiment at the Battle of Waterloo.<ref name="Chisholm 1911"/>
After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815, he was exiled during the early years of the Bourbon Restoration, returning to France in 1819.<ref name="Chisholm 1911"/>
July Monarchy
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During the July Monarchy, his close relationship with King Louis Philippe I and his son, Prince Ferdinand Philippe of Orléans secured him important military appointments. He was promoted to the rank of maréchal de camp (brigadier general), and was present in this capacity at the Siege of Antwerp in 1832.<ref name="Chisholm 1911"/>
From 1835 to 1840 he served in various Algerian expeditions, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-général (divisional general) in 1836. In 1845 he became a member of the Chamber of Peers. Three years later, after the fall of King Louis Philippe I, he retired into private life.<ref name="Chisholm 1911"/>
Family
His father, General Jean-Antoine Marbot, had four sons, only two whom reached adulthood: Antoine Adolphe Marcelin, the elder, maréchal de camp (brigadier general) during the July Monarchy, and Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin, the younger. Through his mother, he was the cousin of François Certain de Canrobert, Marshal of France during the Second French Empire.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 1, Chapter 1"/>
On 5 November 1811, he married Angélique Marie Caroline Personne-Desbrières (1790–1873), and by this alliance became the owner of the Château du Rancy in Bonneuil-sur-Marne.<ref name="Marbot 1892, Volume 2, Chapter 19">Template:Cite book</ref> They had two sons:
- Adolphe Charles Alfred, known as Alfred (1812–1865): Painter, historian and uniformologist.
- Charles Nicolas Marcelin, known as Charles (1820–1882): Whose daughter Marguerite first published her grandfather's famous Memoirs.
Decorations
Marbot received the following decorations:
- National Order of the Legion of Honour:
Knight: 16 October 1808.<ref name="Base Léonore"/>
Officer: 28 September 1813.<ref name="Base Léonore"/>
- Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis:
Knight: 6 June 1827.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Royal Order of the Legion of Honour:
Commander: 21 March 1831.<ref name="Base Léonore"/>
Grand Officer: 30 April 1836.<ref name="Base Léonore"/>
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- Order of Leopold:
Commander: 10 March 1833.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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- Order of the Oak Crown:
Grand Cross: 9 September 1842.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wounds and injuries
Marbot endured 13 wounds and injuries<ref name="Base Léonore"/> during his service:
- A bayonet stab to the left arm, received while he was left stunned by the "wind" of a cannonball that had just flown through his bicorn hat, at the Battle of Eylau: 8 February 1807.
- A sword slash to the forehead at Ágreda: 1 November 1808.
- A gunshot through the upper body at the Siege of Zaragoza: 9 February 1809.
- A gunshot to the right thigh at the Battle of Essling: 22 May 1809.
- A gunshot to the left wrist at the Battle of Znaim: 12 July 1809.
- A sword slash to the face and a sword stab to the belly at the Battle of Casal Novo: 14 March 1811.
- A gunshot to the left shoulder at the Battle of Klyastitsy: 31 July 1812.
- A lance stab to the right knee at Plyeshchanitsy: 4 December 1812.
- An arrow hit to the right thigh (fired by Russia's Bashkir horse archers) at the Battle of Leipzig: 18 October 1813.
- A lance stab to the chest at the Battle of Waterloo: 18 June 1815.
- A gunshot to the left knee at Médéa during the Algerian expedition: 12 May 1840.
Literary works
Publications
In exile after the Battle of Waterloo, Marbot returned to France in 1819 and wrote two books:
- Critical remarks on the work of Lieutenant-Général Rogniat, entitled: Considerations on the art of war (1820).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- On the necessity of increasing the military forces of France; means of achieving this in the most cost-efficient way possible (1825).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The first publication was a reply to General Joseph Rogniat's treatise on war, in which Marbot effectively contrasted the human factor in war with Rogniat's pure theory. The second presented his recommendations for the future development of the French Armed Forces.
Napoleon read the first publication while in exile on the island of Saint Helena. His aide-de-camp, General Henri Gatien Bertrand recorded in his diary on 14 March 1821:
In the evening, the Emperor handed me Marbot's book, [...] and said: "That is the best book I have read for four years. It is the one that has given me the greatest amount of pleasure. [...] He has expressed some things better than I did, he was more familiar with them because, on the whole, he was more of a Corps commander than I. [...] Throughout the book he never refers to 'the Emperor'. He wanted the King of France [[[:Template:Nowrap]]] to give him an appointment with the rank of Colonel; that is quite obvious. He uses 'Emperor' once, so as not to look as though he were afraid to do so, or to appear cowardly, and another time he uses 'Napoleon'. He mentions Masséna and Augereau frequently, and he has described the Battle of Essling better than I could have done it myself [...]. I should have liked to show Marbot my appreciation by sending him a ring. If I ever return to active life, I will have him attached to me as an aide-de-camp [...].<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
This publication earned Marbot the distinction of being remembered in Napoleon's will:
To Colonel Marbot, one hundred thousand francs. I recommend him to continue to write in defence of the glory of the French armies, and to confound their calumniators and apostates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Memoirs
His fame rests chiefly on the Memoirs of his life and campaigns, the Memoirs of General Baron de Marbot, which were written for his children and published posthumously in Paris, in 1891. An English translation by Arthur John Butler was published in London, in 1892.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Marbot's Memoirs were widely acclaimed, and Arthur Conan Doyle wrote of them:
The first of all soldier books in the world. [...] There are few books which I could not spare from my shelves better than the Memoirs of the gallant Marbot.<ref name="Doyle 1907">Template:Cite book</ref>
Literary references
Several authors and personalities have cited Marbot and his Memoirs in their works:
- Andrew Lang's collections of stories written by various authors feature selected excerpts from Marbot's Memoirs. Three appear in The Red True Story Book collection (1895): "Marbot's March",<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "Eylau. The Mare Lisette"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and "How Marbot crossed the Danube".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Another two appear in The All Sorts of Stories Book collection (1911): "How the Russian Soldier was Saved"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and "Marbot and the Young Cossack".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- In Arthur Conan Doyle's novel Through the Magic Door (1907), the author shares his admiration for Marbot's Memoirs with his readers.<ref name="Doyle 1907"/> Doyle also modelled the fictional comedic character of Brigadier Gerard, the most entertaining of all his characters, on a number of real-life sources from the Napoleonic era, among them Marbot.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- In Theodore Roosevelt's writings and public statements, Marbot is cited on two occasions. He is mentioned in Roosevelt's address Biological Analogies in History (1910), delivered at the University of Oxford,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and in his publication A Book Lover's Holiday in the Open (1916).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- In Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway (1925), there are several mentions of the protagonist Clarissa Dalloway reading Marbot's Memoirs.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- As with a number of other historical figures, Marbot appears prominently in the Riverworld cycle of science-fiction novels (1967–1983) by Philip José Farmer. Marbot is first featured as the commander of Marines on Sam Clemens' riverboat, the Not for Hire. After the destruction of that boat and the death of its captain, Marbot joins the group led by famed English explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton and accompanies him on the journey to the head of the River. Accompanied by his lover, the English author Aphra Behn, Marbot reaches the Tower at the head of the River, only to die in combat when androids based on characters from Alice Through the Looking-Glass attack the guests during a Lewis Carroll-themed party.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- In Marc Bloch's book The Historian's Craft (1949), he uses the story of Marbot crossing the Danube, along with various documentary evidence, as an example of historical criticism unearthing erroneous history-writing, citing sources as wide-ranging as the Commentaries of Julius Caesar and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- In Ronald Frederick Delderfield's novel To Serve Them All My Days (1972), the protagonist David Powlett-Jones gets comfort from Marbot's Memoirs during his time in the trenches, and again on the death of his wife and daughter in a road accident.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Eponyms
Several places and buildings have been named after Marbot:
- Place Marbot, the central square of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, department of Corrèze, France.
- Avenue des Généraux Marbot, the principal avenue of Altillac, department of Corrèze, France.
- Hôtel Marbot, a château in Tulle, department of Corrèze in France and seat of the Departmental Council of Corrèze.
- Marbot Lake, a lake in Baie-James, Quebec, Canada.
- Marbot, previous name of the town of Tarik Ibn Ziad in Aïn Defla Province, Algeria.
See also
References
Sources
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- Template:Cite book
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- Archives nationales (French Ministry of Culture): Template:Base Léonore
Notes
Citations
External links
- Template:Base Léonore
- Works by Marcellin Marbot at HathiTrust.
- Template:OL author.
- Template:Gutenberg author.
Template:French Revolution navbox Template:Napoleonic Wars Template:Authority control
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- 1782 births
- 1854 deaths
- Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour
- Knights of the Order of Saint Louis
- Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy
- French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
- Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration
- Marbot family
- Cavalry commanders
- Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
- 19th-century French writers
- Barons of the First French Empire
- People from Corrèze
- French military writers
- French lieutenant generals