GENERALS OF NAPOLEON (13) - SUCHET - “The Late Bloomer"

herverisson (70)in #history • 8 years ago

“If I had two generals like Suchet, I would not have simply conquered Spain, I would have kept it” said Napoleon in Saint-Helena. Evidence that he is probably the only general of Napoleon to have actually increase his reputation and honour during that fateful and bitter war.

[Suchet in the National Guard]

Louis-Gabriel Suchet was born in Lyons in 1771.He is the son of a silk trader, silk being the main trade of Lyons for generations, which guarantees him a good education. He joins the National Guard in 1791 when the Revolutionary government asks for volunteers to fight the counter-revolutionary elements in the countryside. Soon enough, his abilities are recognized and it’s as a lieutenant-colonel that he is sent to the Siege of Toulon (1793), where he meets Bonaparte but also captures with his men the English general O’Hara.

[Suchet lieutenant-colonel]

After that, he goes to the Campaign of Italy, and takes part in all the major battles: Lodi, Arcola, Mondovi and Loano, where he captures 3 flags from the Austrians.

In 1798, his regiment passes in Switzerland. His excellent leadership was noticed by Bonaparte who appointed him as chief of staff for the coming Egypt expedition but he eventually could not go, the Directoire accusing him of mismanagement in Switzerland, from which he was eventually cleared. However, he will have ample time to prove himself again under Massena in Switzerland, and in the second Italian campaign which ends at Marengo. He is at the head of the troops which reconquer Genoa after Massena’s siege.

In spite of his spotless records, when the Empire is proclaimed, Suchet is not named Marshall with the first promotion of 1804. Far from getting discouraged, he makes his authority and administrative skills evident in the Camp of Boulogne by managing and providing so efficiently his division that Napoleon congratulates him personally. Soon enough, his division is at the vanguard in Marshall Lannes’ 4th Corps which enter Germany to crush the Austrians. At Austerlitz, Suchet’s troops are at the extreme left of the battlefield and are decimated by Bagration firepower, but manage to stand their ground and eventually repulse the enemy.

His dedication and professionalism is definitely established after the battle of Iena and the campaign again the Russians. As a reward, he is sent to Spain with the 5th Army Corp. And this is where he will make his mark.

First, he is at the siege of Zaragoza, a bloody affair, in December 1808. It takes 2 months and 50.000 Spanish dead to eventually capture the city. Two months later, he is named governor of the province of Aragon, and almost immediately, a Spanish army led by Blake attacks the city. He is first forced to retreat, but eventually beats back the Spanish army at the battles of Maria and Belchite in June and definitely consolidates his position, which buys him time to administrate his new “kingdom”.

Suchet is this rare thing in the Peninsular wars: a French general recognized by the Spanish people as a fair and just man. Thanks to his strict discipline, his troops are not allowed to molest and abuse Spanish people. He tolerates the religious orders, attends mass every sunday and refuses the order from King Joseph (in Madrid) to seize the treasures of the Pilar (the cathedral of Zaragoza). He actively encourages a revival of the economic activity by spending in Aragon what the people had been forced to lend as tribute to the army.

[The capture of Lerida]

All of these actions and more make his base secure, and enable him, come January 1810, to takes his army in campaign. He conquers Lerida on May 1810, then Mequinenza on June, and in January 1811 it’s the turn of Tortosa to fall. Six months later, Tarragona is taken, the conclusion of a brilliant campaign for which Napoleon eventually reward him with the title of Marshall.

[At last, Marshall!]

But there is no time to celebrate: as soon as September 1811, Suchet turns South and attacks Valencia. The General Blake surrenders in January 1812. Suchet is made “Duke of Albufera” and is now in control of almost all of the north-east corner of Spain, from the Pyrenees to Denia.

[The conquest of Valencia, January 1812]

However, this is how far as it gets: Soult, Marmont, Sebastiani in the Western and Southern parts of the peninsula are hardly pressed by the forces of Wellington. When Wellington threatens Madrid after the battle of the Arapiles, the king Joseph flees to the protection of the troops of Suchet in Aragon! A testimony of the firm grip Suchet had on his territory.

But when Wellington comes back one year later and inflicts the decisive battle of Vitoria, July 1813, Suchet is forced to abandon Valencia, to avoid his supply lines to be cut off. He falls back to Catalunia where his troops have dwindled to a mere 9.000 men and takes upon him to defend the Pyrenees frontier while France is invaded.

When Napoleon abdicates, Suchet is made Peer of France by the Bourbons and later on made military governor in Strasbourg. He remains loyal to his new masters as long as they are on the national territory, but as soon as they have fled to Belgium to flee Napoleon’s Hundred Days comeback, perfectly aware that this means war again, he rallies to the Emperor.

Napoleon won’t however employ him at Waterloo. Knowing the skills of Suchet as an independant commander, he is given the task to raise an army in Lyons and to face the threat of a Sardinian and Austrian attack through the Alps. However, when the news of Waterloo arrives, he agrees a ceasefire and a treaty with the Austrians to save his army and his hometown.

The Bourbons won’t take kindly to his change of allegiance and he is excuded from the Peers of France, even more so because he took the defense of Marshall Ney and tried to convince his fellow marshall to flee and seek refuge in exile.

However, a last task await the fair marshall in Spain. In 1823, Ferdinand VII has been forced to flee Spain which is in turmoil. The people has not forgotten its sacrifices against Napoleon and wants a Constitution and liberalism. The French Bourbons immediately send an army to reestablish their cousin in 1823 and Suchet is among the troops, certainly for his knowledge of the land and the people, and for the respect the people there had for him.