Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Rachael Profile picture
Rachael
@Bookish_Rachael
A little bit obsessed with the Napoleonic period. Very often rambling about the Marshals of the Empire or their fascinating wives. Chief Davoutee.
Sep 18, 2023 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Lunchbreak #MarshalMonday thread. This week, the focus is on Napoleon's Ajax, Marshal Jean Lannes.

Lannes had almost no education; his father could not afford to formally educate his five sons. As a result, Lannes' spelling and grammar were atrocious all his life. Image Though his eldest brother became a priest and, upon entering the seminary, acted as an unofficial tutor to the other brothers, Lannes had little interest in anything beyond reading and writing.

He and his younger brother (nicknamed Louiset), had a reputation for mischief.
Nov 20, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
So despite chatting to @ZwhiteHistory for the Napoleonic Wars podcast about Marshal Oudinot for 90 mins yesterday, I only used half my notes about him. So it looks like Oudinot week on this account!

An amusing little story of Oudinot’s time as governor of Erfurt… Oudinot was named governer of Erfurt when the congress took there in September 1808.

It involved the diplomatic managing (diplomacy not something O is usually known for) of a great many kings, princes and other titled dignitaries.

A LOT of ego in one place!
May 31, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
On 31st May 1809, the first gap opened in the ranks of the marshalate.

Following his wounding at the Battle of Aspern-Essling some days prior, Jean Lannes had had his leg amputated and it seemed to those solicitous for his comfort that he was rallying well. He was considering prosthetics at Kaiserebersdorf, and reportedly discussing his wish to be of further use to Napoleon, when fever set in.

After several long, protracted hours of suffering, Lannes died at day break. He was 40 years old.
May 30, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
When Marshal Oudinot was wounded at Polotsk, his 21 year old wife Eugenie decided the travel right across Europe to be with him.

She dreaded the thought of him losing his arms. #marshalmonday She wanted to nurse him herself and packed 20 bottles of Bordeaux so that he might have some comfort during the hardship.

When she arrived at Wilna, she was delighted to find her husband recovering well, with two arms still.

At dinner that night she proudly presented the wine.
May 29, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Emmanuel de Grouchy, the last marshal to be appointed by Napoleon, died today in 1847.

He is chiefly - and very much unfairly (as per my recent rant on the Napoleonicist) - remembered as being the reason for the defeat at Waterloo. Image Born into the aristocracy, Grouchy was from a progressive family and wholeheartedly supported the political philosophy of the Revolution, despite being deprived of rank at one point due to his noble roots.

He was part of the ill-fated attempt to invade Ireland in 1796.
Dec 6, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Someone get the bandages at the ready as today’s #MarshalAdventCalendar is the marshal who managed to accumulate at least 34 wounds in the course of his career and must have had a whole division of Guardian angels watching over him!

It’s Nicolas Oudinot. Oudinot was the only surviving son of a brewer in Bar-le-Duc. Consequently his parents desperately wanted him to choose a safe career, but the young man was set on military life; serving in the army for 3 years before retiring due to lack of promotion prospects.
Dec 5, 2021 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
It’s all about to get controversial! Day 5 of #MarshalAdventCalendar is Napoleon’s ultimate frenemy and the marshal who went on to gain a throne and actually keep it: Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.

I’m doing my best to be concise but this will be a longer thread! Bernadotte was born in Pau and was the son of the prosecutor. He was intended for a law career but this was halted (spot the theme) by the death of his father. Instead he enlisted.

He rose as high as a commoner could under the Bourbons… then the Revolution came.
Dec 4, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Day 4 of #MarshalAdventCalendar and today it’s the man who was never shy to tell Napoleon what he thought…whether the emperor liked it or not! It’s one of Napoleon’s few close friends - Jean Lannes. Image Lannes had no great level of education and was apprenticed to a dyer in his teens. His strength and bravery stood him in good stead when he enlisted though and he distinguished himself in the Italian campaign; rapidly gaining rank and personally capturing two flags at Bassano.
Dec 3, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Day 3 of #MarshalAdventCalendar and today it’s the man who won his baton in Spain: Louis-Gabriel Suchet.

Alongside Bernadotte he was one of the most politically-astute of the 26, and Napoleon would later say that he wished he’d had two of Suchet. Image Suchet, who was the son of a silk merchant, enlisted at age 21 in the cavalry of the National Guard and quickly began to rise through the ranks.

He served at Toulon, where he took General O’Hara prisoner.