Generals of Napoleon (6) - BERNADOTTE - "The king of the turncoats"

Born in Pau, Bernadotte is destined to follow in the footsteps of his father by entering law studies. However, the young man finds this field so boring that as soon as his father is dead, he joins the Royal Marine infantry regiment in 1780. When the Revolution breaks out, he is Sergent.

                                              

He fights on the Rhine, takes part in the battle of Fleurus where he meets Kleber and becomes general as soon as 1794. When the general action shifts towards Italy, he is sent at the end of a column of 20.000 men to reinforce the army of Bonaparte and meets the Corsican general in 1797. However, their relations are tense and not without mistrust. Bernadotte is sent back to Paris to bring back captured flags and is named ambassador in Vienna.

                                                                          

There, he only distinguishes himself by meeting Beethoven and also by sparking a riot when he displayes the Republic tricolor flag on the facade of the French embassy. He is back in France two months later, and is named Minister of War by the Directoire. At the end of 1799, Bonaparte seizes power during the coup of 18 Brumaire. Bernadotte, whom the Republican Jacobins consider as their last hope, turns towards a strategy which will become his signature for the years to come : staying put. He does not rally to Bonaparte, nor defend the Directoire, and cultivates the ambiguity to hide his own indecision. 

Moreover, he has an ace : he is married to Desirée Clary since 1798, which makes him practically family with the Bonapartes. Indeed, Désirée Clary is the sister of the wife of Bonaparte’s brother Joseph AND more specifically the first lover of the future Emperor.

So, to reward him for his attentism, Bernadotte is named into the Conseil d’Etat and is given the command of the Army of the West. But soon a scandal breaks out: libels are being distributed in the army, hidden in “butter pots”, trying to call for a Republican sedition in the army. The police determines that the libels are being printed in Rennes, where is stationed Bernadotte. Some of his subordinates are arrested and no one bothers him too much. However, the suspicion and doubts are so high that once again Napoleon tries to put more distance between him and the enigmatic general : he is named ambassador to the USA, a post he will be unable to take due to the War of the 3rd coalition.

                                              

One could imagine that the new war will be a great opportunity for Bernadotte to make himself notice and definitely win the gratitude and trust of the Emperor. However, far from it : Bernadotte proves himself to be quite inert and too slow for the good of his army and his colleagues. At Austerlitz, he plays a peripheral role. Worse! At Auerstedt, in 1808, he lets the general Davout fight alone against most of the Prussian army. He is late at Eylau and at Wagram his Saxon regiment disbands. 

Napoleon realizes suddenly that his inefficiency is probably more a liability than his supposedly republicanism. He is given a command on the Escaut river in Northern France, to prevent any possible english invasion, and it seems that will be the end of his career and ambitions.

But far from it!

By an incredible coup du sort, the Swedish government votes to propose Bernadotte as the new king of Sweden, in August 1810. The current king, Charles XIII, has no heir. To counteract any possible Danish claim on the crown, and in the hope of regaining Finland against Russia, the Swedes propose the throne to Bernadotte. The Emperor is probably as baffled and surprised as everyone else, but eventually accepts, hoping to have a solid ally in the North.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As soon as the Russian campain turns sour, Bernadotte declares himself for the Allies and commits his troops in the Campaign of Germany against Napoleon. Curiously, this is the moment where this strangely apathical general displays newly found strategic skills. He beats Oudinot at Gross Beeren (August 23rd 1813) and then Ney at Dennewitz (September 6th) before to play an even bigger role in the battle of Leipzig which seals the fate of Napoleon in Germany.

However, Bernadotte has the decency not to enter France at the head of the foreign armies. Some say this was a strategic move in order to be called as new king of France, but this is quickly forgotten, and in exchange for his services, Bernadotte is allowed to add Norway to his kingdom. 

                                  

In 1818, when his adoptive father Charles XIII dies, Bernadotte becomes officially the new king of Sweden, Charles XIV Jean, and will rule for 28 years to become the official “to good to be true” story among the generals of the Emperor : the story of a Republican soldier who had a tattoo “Death to the Kings” on his chest and who is now the grandfather of most of the crowned kings of Europe.