Nicolas Léonard Beker

Nicolas Léonard Beker or Nicolas Léonard Becker or Nicolas Léonard Bagert, born 18 January 1770 – died 18 November 1840, joined the French army as a dragoon before the French Revolutionary Wars and rose in rank to become a general officer. In 1800 he married the sister of Louis Desaix, who was killed at the Battle of Marengo. He led an infantry brigade in the 1805 campaign and commanded a dragoon division in 1806 and 1807. In 1809 he became chief of staff to Marshal André Masséna but ran afoul of Emperor Napoleon and was banished from the army for several years.

After Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and the collapse of his regime, the interim French government appointed Beker to guard the ex-emperor. The general behaved correctly during the intrigues surrounding Napoleon before he went into exile at Saint Helena. Nevertheless, he was summarily retired during the Bourbon Restoration and only received the honors due him many years later. Beker is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.

Early career

Born on 18 January 1770 at Obernai in the French province of Alsace, Beker was serving as a dragoon in the royal army at the beginning of the French Revolution. During the War of the First Coalition he earned rapid promotion to adjutant general.* After fighting as a dragoon, chasseur, and hussar, he commanded a brigade in 1795 and served as chief of staff in the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. Perhaps the author meant demi-brigade instead of brigade, since he was not officially a general of brigade until later. He served in the Rhine Campaign of 1796. As a staff officer he was present at an unusual event during the Battle of Limburg. On the night of 16 September 1796 he notified the commander of the right flank division, Jean Castelbert de Castelverd that the Austrians had won a crossing of the Lahn River at Diez but that French forces had sealed off the bridgehead. At this, the division commander panicked and ordered an immediate retreat despite positive orders to hold the river line. This opened a gaping hole in the French lines and led to a general retreat. When later asked privately about his actions, Castelverd fumed that the rest of the army was looking for an excuse to withdraw. Castelverd was later removed from command for his failure.

Beker was an adjutant general on the staff of Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier at the Battle of Magnano in 1799. Soon after Marengo, Beker married the deceased Desaix's older sister Antoinette Desaix (1764–1816). He was elevated to the rank of general of brigade on 2 January 1801. He fought with the Army of Santo Domingo in 1802.

Empire

During the War of the Third Coalition, Beker commanded an infantry brigade in Louis Gabriel Suchet's division in Marshal Jean Lannes' V Corps. He led his command at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. On 24 December he won a promotion to general of division for his exploits.

At the start of the War of the Fourth Coalition Beker did not have a command. However, he served as acting commander of the 2nd Dragoon Division when Emmanuel Grouchy was ill. In the operations shortly after the Battle of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806, he led a brigade of dragoons in the search for isolated Prussian columns. At Anklam on 31 October he located the combined forces of Karl Anton Ernst von Bila and his younger brother Rudolph Ernst Christoph von Bila. Attacking, he forced the Prussian column to retreat to the north side of the Peene River. The next morning, he secured the surrender of 1,100 infantry, 1,073 cavalry, and six colors.

During the winter campaign in Poland, Beker commanded a small dragoon division numbering 1,200 men. With this unit he fought at the Battle of Pultusk on 26 December 1806. During Lannes' mid-morning attack, Beker's dragoons covered the left flank under the immediate orders of Suchet. One source listed Beker as commander of the 2nd Dragoon Division at Pultusk. His independent command later became known as the 5th Dragoon Division and served first under Anne Jean Marie René Savary and later under Marshal André Masséna near Warsaw. The 15th, 22nd, and 25th Dragoon Regiments fought at the Battle of Ostroleka on 16 February 1807. Napoleon appointed him a Count of the Empire in 1808 with the title Count of Mons.Lachouque, p 121

Beker served as Masséna's chief of staff from the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition through the Battle of Aspern-Essling. He was considered a capable chief of staff. Historian Francis Loraine Petre wrote that Masséna had grown lazy and delegated too many responsibilities to Beker, "probably also a great deal of the framing of orders". Masséna never once in the 1809 campaign signed a general order to his corps. Petre noted that the orders for the morning of 21 April 1809 were issued, "over Becker's signature as usual". According to Petre, Napoleon took notice of the marshal's habit of letting Beker run the corps for him and removed the chief of staff from his post, "probably unjustly". James R. Arnold related that the emperor sacked Beker after he heard that the chief of staff criticized his strategy. Masséna defended his intelligent chief of staff, but Napoleon had his way. Henri Lachouque claimed that the emperor dismissed Beker after he "violently criticized" Napoleon's orders. The unlucky general was put on half-pay and retired in 1811. Another account has him banished to the remote outpost of Belle-Île off the west coast of France. Beker's replacement as Masséna's chief of staff was François Nicolas Fririon.

Hundred Days

King Louis XVIII of France restored Beker to service on 3 June 1814. Described as "stubborn and hard-headed", he ran for office and was elected as the representative from Puy-de-Dôme