Sebastiani

Sebastiani, FRANÇOIS HORACE BASTIEN, COUNT, marshal of France, was born November 10, 1772, at Porta d'Ampugnano, a village near Bastia, in Corsica. Entering the French army in 1789, he became one of Napoleon's most devoted partisans, and advanced rapidly. He fought at Marengo, executed some important diplomatic service in Turkey in 1802-3, after which he became general of brigade, and was wounded at Austerlitz. In 1806 he was again deputed to Turkey, this time to break the alliance of the Porte with Russia and England. His mission was successful, and Turkey declared war upon the allies. Thereupon the English fleet forced a passage through the Dardanelles, and cast anchor before Constantinople. Sebastiani, however, speedily put the coast batteries in a state fit for action, and got several small gunboats afloat. But the deposition of the sultan and the treaty of Tilsit put an end to the French intrigues in Turkey, and Sebastiani was recalled (June 1807). He subsequently commanded the fourth French army corps in Spain, and distinguished himself in the Russian campaign of 1812 and at Leipzig. On the exile of Napoleon to Elba he gave in his adherence to the Bourbon government, but joined his old master on his return. After the revolution of 1830 he held for brief periods the portfolios of naval and foreign affairs, and the embassies to Naples and London, but was more distinguished for his elegance and graceful demeanour in the Parisian salons than as a politician or administrator. He was made a marshal of France in 1840, and died at Paris, July 20, 1851.