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Louis César Gabriel Berthier de Berluy (9 November 1765
Louis César Gabriel Berthier de Berluy (9 November 1765 Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
- 17 August 1819 Château de Grosbois
The château de Grosbois is a castle in Boissy-Saint-Léger, Val-de-Marne, France.
History
In 1190, Philip II of France gave the abbaye de Saint-Victor de Paris lands at Grosbois in exchange for lands in the bois de Vincennes. The abbey ceded ...
(Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.Napoleonic War general.
He commanded the 27th military division in Turin (1808-1811) and the 23rd Military Division in Corsica (1811-1814).
Also in Italy he was appointed head of the house of
Early life
He was the son ofJean-Baptiste Berthier
Jean-Baptiste Berthier (1721–1804) was an officer (Lieutenant-Colonel) in the French Corps of Topographical Engineers during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI.
Biography Early life
Jean-Baptiste Berthier was born on 6 January 1721 in Tonnerre ...
(1721-1804), an engineer and lieutenant-colonel ennobled by Louis XV of France
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
, and a brother of Louis-Alexandre Berthier
Louis-Alexandre Berthier (20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815), Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram, was a French Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minister ...
the Empire ''maréchal'', the division general Victor Léopold Berthier, and ''maréchal de camp'' Joseph-Alexandre Berthier, 1st Viscount
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
Berthier (1821).
César was born on 9 November 1765, at 3, rue de l’Indépendance américaine, in Saint-Louis parish, at Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
, and was baptised on 20 November.
Career
After thecoup of 18 Brumaire
The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' overt ...
in Year VIII (9 November 1799) he was appointed inspector of reviews. At Marengo on 25 Prairial in the year VIII (14 June 1800), he was made adjutant to Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
, commander of the cavalry. Promoted to Brigadier General on September 4, 1802, he succeeded his brother the following year as chief of staff in Paris, the latter being called to leave for Germany.
He was made a commander in 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 ...
on 14 January 1804, and in 1805 he obtained the command of an army of observation on the coast of Holland. He became a division general on 3 January 1806.
At Corfu
TheSeptinsular Republic
The Septinsular Republic ( el, Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία, Heptanēsos Politeia; it, Repubblica Settinsulare) was an oligarchic republic that existed from 1800 to 1807 under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty in the Ionian Island ...
was ceded by Russia to France as part of the Treaties of Tilsit
The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander, when t ...
in 1807.Dr Vincent, « Les Français à Corfou. In August 1807, Berthier arrived in Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
from Taranto with 4,000 men of the 5th Italian Regiment of the Line, the , two artillery companies, two companies of sapper
A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...
s, supplies and ammunition. The Ionian Islands were occupied by the 4th Light.
Berthier announced on 1 September at the Septinsular Senate that the Ionian Islands were annexed to France.
When he became "commander of Corfu," Caesar Berthier settled in the Fortezza Vecchia, in the building occupied before him by Venetian ''provveditore The Italian title ''prov ditore'' (plural ''provveditori''; also known in gr, προνοητής, προβλεπτής; sh, providur), "he who sees to things" (overseer), was the style of various (but not all) local district governors in the exten ...
s'', general and Louis François Jean Chabot
Louis François Jean Chabot (27 April 1757 in Niort – 11 March 1837 in Sansais) was a French general. He was in charge of the French forces at the Siege of Corfu (1798–99) Siege of Corfu may refer to:
* Siege of Corfu (1537) by the Ott ...
, then before that Sebastiano Mocenigo
Alvise III Sebastiano Mocenigo (1662–1732) was the 112th Doge of Venice from 1722 to 1732. He was also ''Provveditore Generale'' (Governor) of Venetian Dalmatia twice.
Life
Born into one of the most important families (the House of Mocenigo) of ...
. Although Napoleon promised that the Seven Islands would retain their independence, Berthier hoisted the French flag over the citadel, which was not seen as an encouraging sign by the local population.
On March 28, 1808, he was replaced by his former assistant, François-Xavier Donzelot
Comte François-Xavier Donzelot (7 January 1764, in Mamirolle – 11 June 1843) was a French general and a Governor of the Ionian Islands and Martinique. He was the son of François Donzelot and Jeanne–Baptiste Maire and had a brother name ...
.
End of the empire and restoration
He commanded the 27th military division in Turin (1808-1811) and the 23rd Military Division in Corsica (1811-1814).
Also in Italy he was appointed head of the house of Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...
, who was being held prisoner in Savona
Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea.
Savona used to be one of the chie ...
by Napoleon (1809-1814). He was then governor of Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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replacing General Jacques-François Menou
Jacques-François de Menou, Baron of Boussay, later Abdallah de Menou, (3 September 1750 – 13 August 1810) was a French statesman and general of Napoleon during the French Revolutionary Wars, most noted for his role in the French campaign in Eg ...
.
He was made a knight of the Order of the Lion "Bavaria" and count of the Empire on February 13, 1813.
He rallied 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 ...
in 1814. He was awarded the Cross of St. Louis on 24 October 1814. In 1819 he was assigned the rank of lieutenant general in the infantry's General Inspectorate.
But on 17 August 1819, while visiting the Castle of Grosbois near Boissy-Saint-Léger
Boissy-Saint-Léger () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris.
Population
Transport
Boissy-Sai ...
, the country house of his sister-in-law Duchess Maria Elisabeth in Bavaria
, title =Princess of Wagram
, image =Portrait of Duchess Maria Elisabeth in Bavaria.jpg
, caption =Portrait by Joseph Boze
, consort =yes
, succession = Princess consort of Neuchâtel
, reign =9 March 1808 – ...
, Princess of Neufchatel and Wagram, he died accidentally (by drowning or struck with apoplexy) in a pond on the grounds of the castle.
Notes