Napoleon's Marshals: Berthier, Lannes, Davout.

In 1804 Napoleon created 18 'Marshals of the Empire', to serve as the senior officers of the Grande Armée. He created a further 8 before his abdication. A few were aristocrats, but others were the sons of shopkeepers or tailors. The most favoured became princes and kings. Among their ranks were legendary figures such as Marshals Lannes, Ney, Soult, Davout and Massena, but also much less well know figures like Pérignon, Brune and Moncey. Our series will explore the lives of all 26 Marshals, and rank them according to our own judgement of their achievements as Marshals.

Visit our online bookshop to find great books on this and other topics:

📚 Recommended reading:

Get 20% off an annual license with code EPICHISTORYTV_ANN

'Egmont Overture', Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Thank you to Alexander Averyanov for permission to use his artwork, 'Battle of Eylau' and 'Fighting for the Bagration Flèches'.

#EpicHistoryTV​ #NapoleonicWars​ #Napoleon​ #NapoleonsMarshals

[yrsjhydjmdhyt]

Epic History TV is one of the purest glories of YouTube!

[yrsjhydjmdhyt]

Fun fact EHTV fans: Check out the epicness that was born in 1769
Jan 10 - Marshal Ney
Mar 29 - Marshal Soult
Apr 10 - Marshal Lannes
May 1 - Duke of Wellington
Jun 18 - Lord Castlereagh
Aug 15 - Emperor Napoleon

[Fenniks-]

“ill show you that before i was a marshal i was a grenadier, and still am!” Lannes Bravery and leadership abilities were awe-inspiring his death was the saddest of all the Marshals in my opinion.

[carlpeterson]

Davout routing an entire Prussian army with a single corps is like a grown man breaking into your house, and your eight-year-old son fights him off.

[kingmob]

Berthier truly was a master of diplomacy. He convinced his wife and mistress to live together in the same house, truly a legend!

[impaugjuldivmax]

Napoleon once said it is impossible to give Marshal to everyone who deserves it.
There are lots of small stories about colonels and generals of his army. Some of colonels even refused to be promouted to higher ranks coz they did not want to leave their regiments.

[stuart]

I found your channel a Pygmy, you’ve become a giant.

[bradmetcalf]

Hench forth, Epic History shall be referred to as “the iron channel”

[serenade]

Davout knocking out an entire Prussian Army with III corps was just incredible. Of course hes ranked number 1

[dl]

Lannes is the prototype of the « romantic hero ». Deadly in the battle but so kind outside of the field. And a real friend to the emperor. One of the very few to speak to Napoleon plainly and frankly.

[BholewalaofTaranto]

From a history-based YouTube channel, to becoming a staple internet diet, Epic History TV is what the name suggests, just epic. I would argue that they are becoming history itself by making such invaluable pieces on human history. What a series this Napoleonic one has been! Kudos!

[bassgeeker]

I am french, passionate about History and military History. I read lots of books on French Revolution and Napoleonic wars era. I think all your ranked Marshall list is fair, and the top one, the Iron marshal Davout is justify. He has never been interested by political matters, but as a military leader, it can be compared to Napoleon himself.
All in all, this list clearly highlights the quality and the importance of all side partners of Napoleon. It was an amazing military leaders generation...

[theironknight]

"Terror Belli, Decus Pacis" the words permanently inscribed in my head after this series.

[pandeleronoseinsel]

" History may never see such an extraordinary, diverse, and colorful collection of military commanders again. "

What a line to end this series! Bravo!

[duncan]

Nietzsche’s idea that Napoleon had reignited the flame of antiquity is so incredibly true, especially after you read about Marshall Lannes. He was something akin to a hero from antiquity.

[benjamindover]

That's why I love Berthier, a man that knows his limitations is a rare thing.

[crownprincesebastianjohano]

Lannes may have had the saddest death, but Berthier suffered the most (of those who did not get killed horribly). Never got the glory for all those victories, but had to do all the work necessary to make those victories possible as well as taking all of Napoleon's ill-tempered, and unjustified, abuse. A toast to all the staff officers at there, past and present!

[Cottereau]

There has been a big push lately on French media to cancel Napoléon as the commemorations of his death’s bicentenary are approaching. His detractors argue that Napoléon cannot be celebrated since he is a man who re-established slavery.
While it is true that Napoléon legalized slavery in 1802, it was restricted to the island of Guadeloupe, and in a very specific context. France had abolished slavery in 1794 under Robespierre's leadership.
While it is obviously a good thing that slavery was abolished, it was considered as a completely extreme decision at that time, slavery being legal everywhere else. Napoléon was a friend of Robespierre. He even owed his first commandment of the army of taly to him. He opposed slavery until 1802, saying “Nous ne devons pas retirer la liberté à des hommes à qui nous l’avons donnée” (we shall not take liberty back from people that we freed).
In 1802, France was facing the Haitian revolution, and was about to lose its entire colonies to the slaves or to Britain, who had not abolished slavery. The colonial lobby mostly consisted of French nobles, who threatened to ally with the British. Napoléon had to re-establish slavery. When he came back into power in 1815, he abolished the slave trade.
When talking about Napoléon, slavery was never a topic until about a few years ago. Now, it is the only topic. Clearly, Napoléon was not a saint, but he still had one of the most incredible destinies in history, his military genius was unlike any other, and he created the entire administrative and legal system that we still use today.
And that’s why I have to tip my hat to our British friends at Epic History who, with a computer and a few donations, do a better job at celebrating French national heritage than all of French TV put together.

[diegocobosanchez]

I once read that following the end of the Napoleonic Wars there existed this saying among the French People:
"The Emperor lost Lannes too soon, gained Suchet too late and didn't use Davout when he needed him the most".

PS: THANKS A BUNCH FOR THIS SWEET RIDE OF MILITARY HEAVEN, Epic History TV, IT'S BEEN A BLAST!!! 👏 👏 👏 👏
Overall, I appreciate the standards you've set for summarizing the merits of the Eagle's top adjutants and agree with them 👍 (the only notable exceptions to that being Murat and Masséna, who I feel deserve to have been ranked Better in spite of their Flaws). For someone who will always have tons of History to yet learn, it's always la crème de la crème listening to experts such as you!!! 👌👌

[historymanZP]

Thank you so much for your impeccable work on this period! It's obvious how dedicated you were and how much you care about the history. Truly, your entire Napoleonic Wars series, from Toulon to the last Marshals video is something else. You have made a truly special video series for all military history lovers like myself to enjoy. I've had a fantastic time watching this series from the very start, when you first uploaded the Battle of Waterloo. I've even shown these videos to my coworkers during breaks, and they've grown to love it too.

Even though I'm sad to see Napoleon come to an end, I'm glad I got to be a part of it. I hope that you continue to meet the same standards in your future productions (maybe you'll do World War II next?)

Vive l'Empereur et Vive Epic History TV!