Bertrand, comte Clauzel (12 December 177221 April 1842) was a Marshal of France. When asked on Saint Helena which of his Generals was the most skillful Napoleon named Clauzel along with

Louis-Gabriel Suchet Louis-Gabriel Suchet (2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), Duke of Albufera (french: Duc d'Albuféra), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarde ...

and

Étienne Maurice Gérard Étienne Maurice Gérard, 1st Comte Gérard (4 April 177317 April 1852) was a French general, statesman and Marshal of France. He served under a succession of French governments including the ''ancien regime'' monarchy, the Revolutionary govern ...

Ojala, Jeanne A. (1987)"Napoleon's Marshals" Macmillan Publishing Company & David Chandler P.502

Military career

Bertrand Clauzel was born on 12 December 1772 at

Mirepoix A mirepoix ( ; ) is a flavor base made from diced vegetables cooked—usually with butter, oil, or other fat—for a long time on low heat without coloring or browning, as further cooking, often with the addition of tomato purée, creates a dark ...

in the

County of Foix The County of Foix (french: Comté de Foix, ; oc, Comtat de Fois) was an independent medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern ''département'' of Ariè ...

and served in the first campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars as one of the volunteers of 1791. In June 1795, having distinguished himself repeatedly in the war on the northern frontier (1792–1793) and the fighting in the eastern

Pyrénées The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

(1793–1794), Clauzel was made a general of brigade. In this rank he served in Italy in 1798 and 1799, and in the disastrous campaign of the latter year he won great distinction at the battles of the

Trebbia The Trebbia (stressed ''Trèbbia''; la, Trebia) is a river predominantly of Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. It is one of the four main right-bank tributaries of the river Po, the other three being the Tanaro, the Secchia and t ...

and of Novi. In 1802 he served in the expedition to

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and ...

. He became a general of division in December 1802, and after his return to France he was in almost continuous military employment there until in 1806 he was sent to the army of Naples. Soon after this Napoleon made him a grand officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. In 1808–1809 he was with

Marmont Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...

in Dalmatia, and at the close of 1809 he was appointed to a command in the army of Portugal under Masséna.

Peninsular campaigns of 1810 and 1811

Clauzel took part in the Peninsular campaigns of 1810 and 1811, including the Torres Vedras campaign, and under Marmont he did excellent service in re-establishing the discipline, efficiency and mobility of the army, which had suffered severely in the retreat from Torres Vedras. In the 1812 Salamanca campaign, the result of Clauzel's work was shown in the marching powers of the French. At the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

, Clauzel, who had succeeded to the command when Marmont was wounded, and had himself received a severe wound. After Clauzel took over command, his army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Salamanca. The retreat on

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

was conducted by him so well that the pursuers failed to make the slightest impression, and had themselves in the end to retire from the

Siege of Burgos At the siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General o ...

(1812).

Army Command in Spain and during Hundred Days

Early in 1813 Clauzel was made commander of the Army of the North in Spain, but he was unable to avert the great disaster of Vitoria. Under the supreme command of

Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Frenc ...

he served through the rest of the Peninsular War with unvarying distinction. On the first restoration in 1814 he submitted unwillingly to the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...

, and when Napoleon returned to France, he hastened to join him. During the Hundred Days he was in command of an army defending the Pyrenean frontier. Even after Waterloo he long refused to recognize the restored government, and he escaped to

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, being condemned to death in absence. He then settled in the

Vine and Olive Colony The Vine and Olive Colony was an effort by a group of French Bonapartists who, fearing for their lives after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Bourbon Restoration, attempted to establish an agricultural settlement growing wine grapes and ...

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, later returning to France after the failure of that venture.

Political life

He took the first opportunity of returning to aid the Orléanist Liberals in France (1820), sat in the

Chamber of deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

from 1827 to 1830, and after the July Revolution of 1830 was at once given a military command. Clauzel replaced the Legitimist General Louis-Auguste-Victor de Bourmont as head of the invasion of Algeria. He made a successful campaign, but he was soon recalled by the home government, which desired to avoid complications in Algeria. At the same time he was made a Marshal of France (February 1831). For some four years thereafter he urged his Algerian policy upon the Chamber of Deputies, and finally in 1835 was reappointed commander-in-chief. But after several victories, including the taking of Mascara in 1835, the Marshal met with a severe setback at Constantine in 1836. A change of government in France was primarily responsible for the failure, but public opinion attributed it to Clauzel, who was recalled in February 1837. He thereupon retired from active service, and, after vigorously defending his conduct before the deputies, he ceased to take part in public affairs. He lived in complete retirement up to his death at château du Secourieu ( Haute-Garonne).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clauzel, Bertrand 1772 births 1842 deaths People from Ariège (department) Counts of France Politicians from Occitania (administrative region) Orléanists Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 5th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Governors general of Algeria Marshals of France Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe