André Masséna May 6, 1758 (Nice) - April 4, 1817 (Paris)
Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling, Marshal of the Empire.
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- Massena, Andre, Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling
Old Regime
Born in Nice in Piedmont, he spent his childhood in Levens in his family homes of Siga and Serret. Young orphan of a merchant, he enlisted as a ship's boy on a merchant ship, then in the Royal-Italian regiment where he remained for fourteen years with his uncle who taught him in particular to understand maps, reaching the rank of adjutant, the as high as possible for a commoner.
French Revolutionary Wars
After a brief period as a smuggler, he joined the National Guard and was elected an officer.
He was a colonel in 1792, he made the first campaign of Piedmont in the armies of the Republic. When General d'Anselme entered the city of Nice on September 29, 1792 at the head of the French troops occupying the county of Nice, Masséna took part in the atrocities and repression of the counter-revolutionary barbet movement...
He quickly rose to the rank of general of brigade which was conferred on him on August 22, 1793, then general of division on December 20.
He was then assigned to the army of Italy. He won there in 1794 the victory of Saorgio in August 1794.
General of Division in 1795, he commanded the right wing of the Army of Italy. We owe him the victory of the battle of Loano.
Italian Campaign
He receives the command of the vanguard of the army of Italy. In Rivoli, from 25 to 27 Nivôse year V (14 to 16 January 1797), his action was decisive. Bonaparte nicknamed him "the darling child of victory" thanks to the 170 km traveled in two days, a nickname that some transform into "rotten child of victory" because of his systematic looting, in particular pawnbrokers.
Appointed commander of the occupation troops of the Papal States by the Directory, he repressed very harshly an insurrection of soldiers dissatisfied with not being paid, but had to leave in the face of the hostility of the officers.
After the days of 18 and 19 Fructidor Year V, Masséna was one of the candidates on the lists to replace Lazare Carnot and François de Barthélemy in the Directory.
Second Coalition
He was General-in-Chief of the Army of Italy in February 1798 and of the Army of Helvetia in 1799. His forces suffered a defeat on 16 Prairial (June 4) in Zurich, but his victory in the Battle of Zurich over the Russian army of Alexandre Souvorov and Alexandre Korsakov of 3 and 4 Vendémiaire year VIII (25 and 26 September) is decisive. He stopped the waves of the second coalition ready to overflow into France.
Second Italian campaign
Locked up in Genoa for three months, he capitulated on 15 Prairial Year VIII (June 4, 1800). He commands during the Battle of Marengo ten days later but is dismissed for looting.
Consulate and Empire
Became a deputy to the Legislative Body in Messidor year XI (July 1803), he opposed it and did not vote against the consulate for life. He nevertheless received the baton of Marshal of France in 1804.
Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honor in 1805 and again called to command in chief of the army of Italy, conqueror of the kingdom of Naples and peacemaker of Calabria. He leads the forces that capture Verona and install Joseph on the throne of Naples. But he is again suspended for having monopolized the property of the vanquished[4]. He obtained the title of duke in 1808.
Commander of the right wing of the Grand Army in 1807, appointed Duke of Rivoli for his brilliant services with a considerable endowment, he was deprived of an eye by a rifle shot inadvertently fired by Berthier in a hunt near Paris. .
In 1809, during the Battle of Aspen-Essling, when he fell from his horse which had put its paw down a rabbit hole and was commanding from a saloon, the vanguard, the IV Corps, is isolated, and emerges only after a bloody fight. He strikes down a hussar who threatens him with a pistol shot in the head. He receives the title of Prince of Essling. He still contributed powerfully to winning the battle of Wagram, where, wounded, he traveled through the ranks dragged in a carriage.
In 1810, in the Peninsular War, he led the invasion of Portugal with the Battle of Buçacao, forcing the allies to fall back to the line of Torres Vedras. After the allies had received reinforcements the following year, he had to withdraw after the battles of Barrosa and Fuentes de Oñoro, where he was replaced by Auguste de Marmont.[5]
Back in France, he was badly received by Napoleon I who did not employ him in the famous campaigns of 1812 and 1813; but, after the battle of Leipzig, the Emperor entrusted him with the 8th military division (Marseille).
It was maintained by Louis XVIII who made him peer and commander of Saint-Louis. Louis XVIII also granted him letters of naturalization.
In 1815 he remained loyal to the Bourbons as long as he could, accepting no service during the Hundred Days. He maintained calm in the Marseilles region during the Hundred Days but then refused the ultra-royalists' oath demands.
He commanded the National Guard under the Provisional Government, refused to be part of the council of war called upon to judge Marshal Ney, was denounced to the Chambers as guilty of felony on March 20, justified himself for this calumny. He died on April 4, 1817, aged 58.
He amassed an immense fortune, well managed by his wife.