Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Louis-Gabriel Suchet, duc d'Albuféra ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; 2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarded as one of the greatest generals of the Napoleonic Wars. Template:Anchor
Early lifeEdit
Suchet was born on 2 March 1770 in Lyon, the son of Jean-Pierre Suchet and Anne-Marie Jacquier.<ref name=Rollet>Template:Cite book</ref> His mother died four years later.<ref name=Rollet/> His father was a silk merchant, and Suchet originally intended to follow a business career.<ref name=Rollet/> He received a solid education and joined his father's business in 1787, working as an apprentice for two years.<ref name=Rollet/>
Upon Jean-Pierre's death in January 1789, Suchet and his brother Gabriel-Catherine took over the family enterprise, which they decided to expand under the name Maison Suchet frères.<ref name=Rollet/> However, the French Revolution led Suchet to volunteer, in 1791, for the cavalry of the National Guard at Lyon.Template:Sfn He displayed abilities which secured rapid military promotions, and by 1792 he was a captain of the volunteers from Ardèche.Template:Sfn<ref name=DPF>Template:Cite book</ref>
French Revolutionary WarsEdit
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After the Levée en masse of August 1793, Suchet was appointed commander of the 4th Ardèche Battalion.<ref name=DPF/> In this capacity he served in the Siege of Toulon, where he captured British General Charles O'Hara.<ref name=DPF/> In May 1794, at the head of 250 soldiers of his battalion, he suppressed a counter-revolutionary uprising in the town of Bédoin in southeastern France.<ref name=Rollet/> Suchet was then sent to the Army of Italy, where he would serve for most of the next seven years.<ref name=DPF/> He fought at the Battle of Loano in November 1795 during the army's first campaign.<ref name=DPF/> During the Italian campaign of 1796–1797, he served with distinction at the battles of Lodi, Castiglione, and Bassano.<ref name=DPF/> He went to Paris on leave after being severely wounded on 11 October at Cerea, but soon returned to the army.Template:Sfn<ref name=DPF/>
In May 1797, Suchet was one of three lieutenant colonels of the 18th Infantry Demi-brigade, with little hope of advancement. He was sent to Venice to procure uniforms for the troops. Since the Venetians believed that they might in future be ruled by the French, Suchet and an aide were treated like royalty. For two months, they enjoyed living in a palace, having a personal gondola and holding reserved seats at the opera. On 28 October 1797, 150 officers of André Masséna's division hosted a large dinner. The colonel of the 32nd Line, Dominique Martin Dupuy brought Suchet to Napoleon Bonaparte's table and said, "Well general, when will you make our friend Suchet a colonel?" Bonaparte tried to brush him off with the reply, "Soon: we will see about it." Thereupon Dupuy took off one of his epaulettes and placed it on Suchet's shoulder, saying, "By my almightiness, I make thee colonel." This clownish action was successful; Bonaparte immediately directed Louis-Alexandre Berthier to write out Suchet's nomination for advancement.Template:Sfn
Suchet received the command of the 18th half-brigade ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) on 26 October 1797.<ref name=DPF/> In March 1798, he served under General Guillaume Brune in the invasion of Switzerland.<ref name=DPF/> At the end of the campaign, he was promoted to brigade general and was given the honor of presenting the flags captured from the enemy to the Directory.<ref name=DPF/><ref name=FN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Although designated to take part in the expedition to Egypt, Brune kept Suchet’s services and appointed him his chief of staff in the Army of Italy, a role that he retained under General Barthélemy Joubert, Brune's successor as commander in Italy and Suchet's friend.<ref name=DPF/> He was appointed chief of staff of the Army of the Danube on 21 February 1799, but soon rejoined Joubert in Italy and was promoted to general of division.<ref name=DPF/> After Joubert's death at the Battle of Novi, Suchet continued to serve as chief of staff to his successors Moreau and Championnet.<ref name=DPF/>
In 1800, Suchet was named second-in-command to General André Masséna.Template:Sfn His dexterous resistance to the superior forces of the Austrians with the left wing of Masséna's army, when the right and centre were besieged in Genoa, not only prevented the invasion of France from this direction but contributed to the success of Bonaparte's crossing of the Alps, leading to a decisive victory at the Battle of Marengo on 14 June.Template:Sfn Following the signing of the Convention of Alessandria on 15 June, Suchet was entrusted with the administration of Genoa and Lucca.<ref name=DPF/> He took a prominent part in the subsequent of the Italian campaign up to the Armistice of Treviso, and thereafter served as governor of Padua until the Peace of Lunéville and the end of the War of the Second Coalition.<ref name=DPF/> He was appointed Inspector-General of the Infantry on 24 July 1801.<ref name=DPF/>
Napoleonic WarsEdit
Suchet greatly enhanced his reputation during the Napoleonic Wars.Template:Sfn In 1804, during the War of the Third Coalition, he commanded the 4th division of Marshal Lannes's IV Corps and distinguished himself at the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz.<ref name=DPF/> He served under Lannes in the V Corps in 1806, during the War of the Fourth Coalition, and fought at the battles of Saalfeld, Jena, Pułtusk, and Ostrolenka.<ref name=DPF/>
In the subsequent negotiations of the Treaties of Tilsit, Suchet worked with Russian generals Tolstoy and Wittgenstein on the settlement of the borders of the new Duchy of Warsaw. He was named a Count of the Empire on 24 June 1808.<ref name=DPF/> Two months later, Suchet was stationed to Silesia as commander-in-chief of the V Corps.<ref name=DPF/>
Peninsular WarEdit
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Suchet was deployed to Spain in November 1808.<ref name=DPF/> After serving in the Siege of Zaragoza, in April 1809 he was appointed commander of the Army of Aragon and governor of that region.Template:Sfn Within two years, he brought the area into complete submission by wise and skillful administration no less than by his valor.Template:Sfn Beaten by the Spanish at the Battle of Alcañiz, he defeated the army of Blake y Joyes at the Battle of María on 14 June 1809.Template:Sfn On 22 April 1810, he defeated O'Donnell at the Siege of Lérida, then laid siege to Mequinenza in May.<ref name=FN/>
He captured Tortosa on 2 January 1811.<ref name=DPF/> For his successful Siege of Tarragona from May to June 1811, Suchet was made a Marshal of the Empire by Napoleon on 8 July 1811.<ref name=DPF/> He then launched an invasion of the region of Valencia, defeated Blake y Joyes at the Battle of Saguntum on 15 October, and received the capitulation of Valencia on 9 January 1812.<ref name=DPF/> He was rewarded with the title of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Duke of Albuféra) on 24 January 1812.<ref name=FN/>
After the tide turned against France, Suchet managed to defend his territories in eastern Spain until the French defeat at Vitoria on 21 June 1813, after which he was forced to evacuate Valencia.<ref name=DPF/> He withdrew to Catalonia then to the Pyrenees before finally re-entering France, and afterwards took part in the defense of southwestern France until Napoleon's abdication in April 1814.<ref name=DPF/>
Hundred Days and later lifeEdit
Suchet accepted the Bourbon Restoration and was made a peer of France on 4 June 1814 by King Louis XVIII.<ref name=DPF/> This was forfeited (effective 24 July 1815) by his support of Napoleon's return during the Hundred Days.Template:Sfn During Napoleon's brief restoration, Suchet was given command of the Army of the Alps and led the defensive campaign on the southeastern front.Template:Sfn He resisted the Allies' advance for nearly two months before withdrawing to his hometown of Lyon, where he signed an armistice on 12 July.<ref name=DPF/>
Suchet was only restored to the Chamber of Peers on 5 March 1819.<ref name=DPF/> Unlike other marshals whom Napoleon harshly criticized in Saint Helena, Suchet never lost Napoleon's high esteem.<ref name=FN/> He died on 3 January 1826 at the Château de Saint-Joseph-Montredon, now called Château de Saint-Just, near Marseille.<ref name=DPF/><ref>Castle of Saint-Joseph Template:Webarchive on Napoleon & Empire website</ref>Template:Sfn His son, Louis-Napoléon (1813–1877), succeeded him as Duc d'Albufera.
LegacyEdit
His memoirs ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) were published in two volumes from 1829 to 1834.Template:Sfn
The chicken dish poularde à la d'Albuféra is named after him.
FamilyEdit
Suchet married Honorine Anthoine de Saint-Joseph (Marseille, 26 February 1790Template:Nbsp– Paris, 13 April 1884), a niece of Julie Clary, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, on 16 November 1808.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They had three children:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Louise-Honorine (1811 – 1885)
- Louis-Napoléon (1813 – 1877)
- [daughter, unknown name] (1820 – 1835)
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
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