Davout was one of the most highly regarded Napoleonic Marshals.

Early Career

Davout was born in 1770 to a noble French family and joined the royal army. However, in 1790 he was at the forefront of his unit’s support of the revolution, eschewed the flight of many of his fellow noble commanders, and led successful forces in the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars; he was particularly noted for trying to stop a French General called Dumouriez from defecting.

By 1793 Davout was Brigadier-General, then spent a short while out of the army thanks to Jacobin restrictions on nobles, and was welcomed back after Thermidor.

Under Napoleon

He was present with Napoleon in Egypt, and went on to play key roles in many of Napoleon’s campaigns, including Austerlitz, and Wagram. He became a duke in 1809, and Prince d’Eckmühl in 1810. Even the overall failure of the Russian campaign could not dim Davout’s star as he was successful there, and he proved he was among Napoleon’s best officers. When the latter was forced to abdicate Davout retired, but returned when Napoleon did in 1815. However, he was inexplicably left in charge of Paris as Napoleon went to Waterloo, where his talents were needed, and after that defeat Davout allowed the coalition forces into Paris, and only pledged allegiance to the new king in 1817; doing so meant he retained his titles. He died in 1823.