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17360 - LOUISÉ ALEXANDRE BERTHIER (1753-1815)
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| Louisé-Alexandre Berthier was born
at Versailles, on the 20th of November 1753 one of the four sons of
Jean-Baptiste Berthier, was born in Versailles, where his father was
in charge of the Royal Map Service. He entered the army as a young
man; in 1777, at the age of twenty-four, he attained the rank of captain.
In 1780 he asked to be assigned to Rochambeau's army that was preparing
to leave for America, and joined up with the army at Newport, Rhode
Island, on September 30, 1780.
Berthier had both a strong character and constitution. He could work for days without sleep, some of his subordinates once claimed he had gone thirteen days straight without any sleep at all. If true, that is quite amazing. Reputedly, Berthier would rest after a long day's ride by sitting down and writing the Emperor's orders for the next day. He was short, stocky, an expert horseman, strict, but fair, with his subordinates, methodical and modest. He took good care of the troops and officers in his charge, but put up with no nonsense, and always insisted on proper staff procedures. On the 19th of May 1816, he was seen leaning out of the window of his hotel, as the allies were defiling past, in their retreat from France. A moment after, his mangled body was lifted from the pavement, where it lay crushed and lifeless at the very feet of the Russian soldiers. Some say the soldiers threw him out themselves; others, that he leaped purposely from the window to destroy himself. Napoleon himself summed up Berthier's overall worth as a soldier,
and to the Grande Armée in general, referring to his absence
at Waterloo, 'If Berthier had been there, I would not have met this
misfortune.' |
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