March 2, 1770 (Lyon) - January 3, 1826 (Marseille)
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- Suchet, Louis-Gabriel, Duke of Albufera
The son of a silk worker, endowed with a solid education, Suchet joined the National Guard of Lyon in 1791 and rose there in the hierarchy to the rank of captain. Elected lieutenant-colonel by the volunteers of the Ardèche in September 1793, he began his career in the war at the siege of Toulon. In the Army of Italy in 1794, he took part in the main battles. Brigade leader in 1797 and chief of staff of Brune, then brigadier general in March 1798, he got into trouble because of his management under Brune in Switzerland, had to come to Paris to justify himself and could not leave with the shipping from Egypt.
General of division and chief of staff of Joubert in the army of Italy in 1799, he took command of this army after the death of its leader in Novi (August 15, 1799). Cut off from Masséna's army, he retreated to the Var, then recaptured Genoa on June 22, 1800, shortly after Masséna's capitulation. Inspector general of infantry in 1801, Sachet served under Lannes in the Grande Armée in 1805-1806, under Masséna in Poland in 1807. Count of the Empire in 1808, sent to Spain, he became the head of the so-called army there. of Aragon, is distinguished by his prudence, his tenacity, removes one by one all the strongholds of Catalonia, establishing a strict discipline, not tolerating the plunderings and the exactions, but also bringing the greatest care to the maintenance of his men.
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- Suchet's weapons
The campaign of his army ends in apotheosis with the capture of January 19, 1812). The title of duke comes to reward the merits of Suchet, on January 24 following. He had been Marshal of France since July 8, 1811. He slowly evacuated the country of Valence then Catalonia by confronting the guerrillas and preventing the English from landing and brought his army back in good order to the Eastern Pyrenees. Rallying Napoleon during the Hundred Days, Suchet was assigned to the defense of Lyon. Louis XVIII took away his peerage on his return from Ghent but gave it back to him in 1819. Suchet's name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile.