Marshal of France Jean Lannes by Jean Charles Nicaise Perrin

Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello (April 11, 1769 РMay 31, 1809), Marshal of France, was born at Lectoure, Gers. Jean Lannes was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant." Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1809 (MDCCCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Baton of a modern Marshal of France The Marshal of France (French: Mar̩chal de France) is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. ... Lectoure is a commune of the Gers d̩partement, in France. ... Gers is a d̩partement in the southwest of France named after the Gers River. ...

Early Life

He was the son of a livery stables keeper, and was apprenticed to a dyer. He had little education, but his great strength and proficiency in all manly sports caused him in 1792 to be elected sergeant-major of the battalion of volunteers of Gers, which he had joined on the breaking out of war between Spain and the French republic. He served through the campaigns in the Pyrenees in 1793 and 1794, and rose by distinguished conduct to the rank of chef de brigade. However, in 1795, on the reform of the army introduced by the Thermidorians, he was dismissed from his rank. 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Thermidor was the eleventh month in the French Revolutionary Calendar, which was used only in France and only for thirteen years. ...

Army of Italy, Egypt, Italy again

He re-enlisted as a simple volunteer in the army of Italy, and in the famous campaign of 1796, he again fought his way up to high rank, being eventually made a general of brigade by orders of Bonaparte. He was distinguished in every battle, and was wounded in the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole while aiding Bonaparte to escape the Austrian advance. He was chosen by Bonaparte to accompany him to Egypt as commander in one of Kléber's brigades, in which capacity he greatly distinguished himself, especially on the retreat from Syria. He went back to France with Bonaparte, and assisted him at the 18 Brumaire. After Bonaparte's take over and appointment as Consul of France, Lannes was promoted to the ranks of general of division and commandant of the consular guard. He commanded the advanced guard in the crossing of the Alps in 1800, was instrumental in winning the battle of Montebello, from which he afterwards took his title, and bore the brunt of the battle of Marengo. Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des... Combatants French Revolutionary Army Austrian Empire Commanders General Napoleon Bonaparte General Alvinczy Casualties Unknown, three days of heavy fighting Unknown, much of the Austrian army had moved to safety. ... Jean Baptiste Kléber Jean Baptiste Kléber (9 March 1753 - 14 June 1800) was a French general. ... Napoléon Bonaparte in the coup détat of 18 brumaire. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Battle of Montebello was fought on 9 June 1800 near Montebello in Lombardy. ... The Battle of Marengo was fought in Italy on June 14, 1800 as the decisive battle of the war of the Second Coalition. ...

Jean Lannes leading the battle at Essling

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Service to the Empire

In 1801 Napoleon sent him as ambassador to Portugal. Opinions differ as to his merits in this capacity; Napoleon never made such use of him again. On the establishment of the empire he was created a marshal of France (1804), and commanded once more the advanced guard of a great French army in the campaign of Austerlitz. At Austerlitz he had the left of the Grand Armée. In the 1806-07 campaign he was at his best, commanding his corps with the greatest credit in the march through the Thuringian Forest, the action of Saalfeld (which is studied as a model today at the French Staff College) and the battle of Jena. His leadership of the advanced guard at Friedland was even more conspicuous. The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Combatants First French Empire Russian Empire, Austrian Empire Commanders Napoleon I Alexander I Strength 65,000[1] 73,000[2] Casualties 1,305 dead, 6,940 wounded, 573 captured, 1 standard lost[3] 15,000 dead or wounded, 12,000 captured, 180 guns lost, 50 standards lost[3] The Battle... La Grande Armée (in English, the Big, Great or Grand Army) is the French military term for the main force in a military campaign. ... The Free State of Thuringia (German: Freistaat Thüringen) is located in central Germany and is considered one of the smaller of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 km² and 2. ... The Battle of Saafeld took place on October 10, 1806, between 7,000 Prussians under Prince Louis of Prussia and a division of Lannes corps under the Marshal himself. ... The Battle of Jena was fought on October 14, 1806, in Jena, in todays Germany, and resulted in a French victory under Napoleon Bonaparte against the Prussians under General Hohenlohe. ... Combatants First French Empire Russian Empire Commanders Napoléon Bonaparte General Bennigsen Strength 80,000 60,000 Casualties 8,000 killed and wounded[1] 20,000 killed and wounded[2] The Battle of Friedland, fought on June 14, 1807 about twenty-seven miles (43 km) southeast of the modern Russian...

He was now to be tried as a commander-in-chief, for Napoleon took him to Spain in 1808, and gave him a detached wing of the army, with which he won a victory over Castaños at Tudela on November 22. In January 1809 he was sent to attempt the capture of Saragossa, and by February 21, after one of the most stubborn defences in history, was in possession of the place. Napoleon then created him duc de Montebello, and in 1809, for the last time, gave him command of the advanced guard. He took part in the engagements around Eckmühl and the advance on Vienna. With his corps he led the French army across the Danube, and bore the brunt, with Masséna, of the terrible battle of Aspern-Essling. On May 22 he received a mortal wound. His eldest son was made a peer of France by Louis XVIII. General Castaños, Conde de Castaños y Aragones, primero Duque de Bailén. ... The Battle of Tudela was a battle during the Peninsular War fought on November 23, 1808 near Tudela, Spain. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants France Spain Commanders Jeannot de Moncey Édouard Mortier José de Palafox y Melzi Strength 35,500 regulars 33,000 regulars Casualties 10,000 dead 54,000 dead The Second Siege of Saragossa was the second of the two sieges of that city during the Peninsular War and is widly... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Danube (ancient Danuvius, Iranian *dānu, meaning river or stream, ancient Greek Istros) is the longest river in the European Union and Europes second longest river. ... Andr Mass na (May 6, 1758 - April 4, 1817), Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling, was a French soldier in the armies of Napoleon and a Marshal of France. ... Combatants First French Empire Austrian Empire Commanders Napoleon I Archduke Charles Strength 90,000 95,000 Casualties 21,000 23,400 The strategic situation and the Battle of Aspern-Essling on May 22, 1809. ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The status of Peer of France was held by the greatest and highest-ranking of the French nobility. ... Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 - September 16, 1824) was King of France and Navarre from 1814 (although he declared that he considered his reign to have begun in 1795) until his death in 1824, with a brief break in 1815 due to Napoleons return in the Hundred Days. ...

Lannes before his death in 1809

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Death

On May 22, during a lull in the second day of battle of Aspern-Essling, Marshal Lannes went and sat down at the edge of a ditch, his hand over his eyes and his legs crossed. As he sat there, plunged in gloomy meditation, a small three-pound shot, fired from a gun at Enzersdorf, ricochetted, and struck him just where his legs crossed. The knee-pan of one was smashed, and the back sinews of the other torn. The Marshal said, 'I am wounded; it's nothing much; give me your hand to help me up.' He tried to rise, but could not. He was carried to the tête de port, where the chief surgeons proceeded to dress his wound. One of the marshal's legs was amputated. He bore the operation with great courage; it was hardly over when the Emperor came up. The Emperor, kneeling beside the stretcher, wept as he embraced the marshal. On the 23rd he was transported by boat to the finest house in Ebersdorf. Eight days later he succumbed to his wounds at daybreak on May 30th. May 22 is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants First French Empire Austrian Empire Commanders Napoleon I Archduke Charles Strength 90,000 95,000 Casualties 21,000 23,400 The strategic situation and the Battle of Aspern-Essling on May 22, 1809. ...

Assesment

Lannes ranks with Davout and Masséna as the ablest of all Napoleon's marshals, and consciously or unconsciously was the best exponent of the emperor's method of making war. Hence his constant employment in tasks requiring the utmost resolution and daring, and more especially when the emperor's combinations depended upon the vigour and self-sacrifice of a detachment or fraction of the army. It was thus with Lannes at Friedland and at Aspern as it was with Davout at Austerlitz and Auerstädt, and Napoleon's estimate of his subordinates' capacities can almost exactly be judged by the frequency with which he used them to prepare the way for his own shattering blow. Routine generals with the usual military virtue, or careful and exact troop leaders like Soult and Macdonald, Napoleon kept under his own hand for the final assault which he himself launched, but the long hours of preparatory fighting against odds of two to one, which alone made the final blow possible, he entrusted only to men of extraordinary courage and high capacity for command. In his own words, he found Lannes a pygmy, and lost him a giant. Lannes's place in his affections was never filled. Davout, Marshal of France Louis Nicolas dAvout (May 10, 1770 – June 1, 1823), better known as Davout, duc dAuerstädt, prince dEckmühl, and a marshal of France. ... Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, duc de Dalmatie (March 29, 1769 – November 26, 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of France in 1804. ... Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald (November 17, 1765 - September 7, 1840), duke of Taranto and marshal of France, was born at Sedan, France. ...

Lannes purchased the magnificent seventeenth-century Château de Maisons, not far from Paris, in 1804 and had one of its state apartments redecorated for a visit from Napoleon, but he had little use of it. Château de Maisons, southeast-facing garden front The Château de Maisons (now Château de Maisons-Laffitte), in Yvelines, ÃŽle-de-France, designed by François Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example of French baroque architecture and a reference point in the history of European...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
  • See R Penn, Vie militaire de Jean Lannes (Paris, 1809).
    • See Baron De Marbot, The Memoirs of Baron De Marbot (1891)

Marshals of France during the Napoleonic Wars

Augereau • Bernadotte • Berthier • Bessières • Brune • Davout • Grouchy • Jourdan • Kellermann • Lannes • Lefebvre • MacDonald • Marmont • Masséna • Moncey • Mortier • Murat • Ney • Oudinot • Pérignon • Poniatowski • Saint-Cyr • Sérurier • Soult • Suchet • Victor Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Baton of a modern Marshal of France The Marshal of France (French: Maréchal de France) is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. ... Combatants Austria[1] Portugal Prussia[1] Russia[2] Spain[3] Sweden United Kingdom[4] Ottoman Empire[5] Holy Roman Empire[6] French Empire Holland Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of Naples Duchy of Warsaw Bavaria[7] Saxony[8] Denmark [9] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack von Leiberich Gebhard von... Pierre François Charles Augereau, duc de Castiglione Pierre François Charles Augereau, duc de Castiglione (October 21, 1757 – June 12, 1816) was a French General, marshal of France and protagonist of both the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. ... Charles XIV John (Swedish: Carl XIV Johan), born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (January 26, 1763 – March 8, 1844) was King of Sweden and Norway (where he was known as Carl III Johan) from 1818 until his death. ... Louis Alexandre Berthier, Marshal of France Louis Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel (February 20, 1753 – June 1, 1815), marshal of France, Vice-Constable of France beginning in 1808, and chief of staff under Napoleon, was born at Versailles. ... Jean-Baptiste Bessières Jean Baptiste Bessières, duke of Istria (August 6, 1768 – May 1, 1813), was a French marshal. ... Lithograph of Guillaume Marie Anne Brune by Delpech Guillaume Marie Anne Brune (March 13, 1763 – August 2, 1815) was a marshal of France. ... Davout, Marshal of France Louis Nicolas dAvout (May 10, 1770 – June 1, 1823), better known as Davout, duc dAuerstädt, prince dEckmühl, and a marshal of France. ... Emmanuel, Marquis de Grouchy, Marshal of France Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy (October 23, 1766 – May 29, 1847), marshal of France, was born in Paris. ... Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste, comte Jourdan (April 29, 1762 – November 23, 1833), was a marshal of France. ... François Christophe de Kellermann François Christophe Kellermann or de Kellermann (28 May 1735 - 23 September 1820), duke of Valmy and marshal of France, came of a Saxon family, long settled in Strasbourg and ennobled. ... François Joseph Lefebvre, Marshal of France François Joseph Lefebvre, duc de Dantzig, (1755-1820) was marshal of France during the Napoleonic Wars. ... Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald (November 17, 1765 - September 7, 1840), duke of Taranto and marshal of France, was born at Sedan, France. ... Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, Marshal of France. ... André Masséna, Marshal of France André Masséna (May 6, 1758, Nice – April 4, 1817), Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling, was a French soldier in the armies of Napoleon and a Marshal of France. ... Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, duc de Conegliano (1754–1842), Marshal of France, was a prominent soldier in Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. ... Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, Marshal of France Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, duc de Trévise (February 13, 1768 – July 28, 1835), marshal of France under Napoléon, was born at Le Cateau-Cambrésis, and entered the army as a sub-lieutenant in 1791. ... Joachim Murat, King of Naples, Marshal of France. ... Michel Ney, Marshal of France. ... Nicolas Charles Oudinot (April 25, 1767 - September 13, 1847), duke of Reggio, was a marshal of France. ... Dominique-Catherine Pérignon, marquis de Grenade (May 31, 1754 - December 25, 1818) was Marshal of France. ... Noble Family Poniatowski Coat of Arms CioÅ‚ek Parents Andrzej Poniatowski Teresa Kinsky Sibling Maria Teresa Tyszkiewiczowa Consorts none Children with Zelia SitaÅ„ska: Józef SzczÄ™sny Poniatowski; with Zofia Czosnowska: Karol Józef Poniatowski. ... Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr (April 13, 1764 - March 17, 1830) was a French marshal. ... Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier, comte Sérurier (December 8, 1742—December 24, 1819), was a French soldier and political figure who rose to the rank of Marshal of France. ... Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, duc de Dalmatie (March 29, 1769 – November 26, 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of France in 1804. ... Louis Gabriel Suchet, duc dAlbufera da Valencia (March 2, 1770 - January 3, 1826), marshal of France, one of the most brilliant of Napoleons generals, was the son of a silk manufacturer at Lyons, where he was born. ... Claude Victor-Perrin, duc de Belluno (7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) was a marshal of France during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. ...