Davoût

Davoût (not DAVOUST), LOUIS NICOLAS, French marshal, was born 10th May 1770, at Annoux, in Burgundy; was educated along with Bonaparte at the military school of Brienne; and in 1788 became lieutenant in a cavalry regiment. During the revolutionary wars he rose to the rank of general. He accompanied Bonaparte to the East, where he mainly contributed to the victory at Abonkir, and otherwise distinguished himself both in Upper and Lower Egypt. On his return to France, he was named general of division in 1800, commander-in-chief of the consular grenadier guards in 1800, and marshal of the empire in 1804. He acted a brilliant part in the great victories obtained by the French at Austerlitz (1805) and Auerstädt, and was created by the emperor Duke of Auerstädt (July 2, 1808). On the renewal of the war with Austria in 1809, Davoût rendered useful service at Eckmühl (22d April); and at Wagram, where he commanded the right wing, he succeeded in turning the enemy's left, and so first checked the Austrians' attack. In 1811 he was created Prince of Eckmühl. Appointed governor of Poland, he ruled that country in a spirit of the harshest despotism, and provoked the reproaches of the emperor, but, nevertheless, did not forfeit his esteem. In the Russian campaign of 1812 he gathered fresh laurels on the fields of Mohilev and Vitebsk (27th July). After the retreat from Moscow, Davoût became governor-general of the Hanse towns, and at Hamburg, though hated for his cruelty, resolutely maintained himself till the restoration of the Bourbons. On the return of Bonaparte from Elba, Davoût was appointed war-minister, and as such showed a remarkable genius for the rapid organisation of troops and supplies. After the battle of Waterloo, he received the command of the remnant of the French army under the walls of Paris. He would have continued the contest had he not been ordered by the Provisional Government in the capital to conclude a military convention with the Allies. In 1819 he was made a peer of France. His death took place June 1, 1823. Firminess of character and dauntless courage were Davoût's leading characteristics; but his military severities often went the length of harshness, and even cruelty, while his rapacity had in it something akin to barbarism. See his Correspondance (4 vols. 1885), and his Life by Chénier (1886), by his daughter, the Marquise Blocqueville (3 vols. 1879-80), and by Montegut (1882).