page_title: Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
section_title: Napoleonic Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr / Napoleonic Wars
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr (1764–1830), napoleonischer MarschallEnglish: Laurence de Bouvion Saint-Cyr (1764-1830, Napoleonic Field Marshall.
context_page_description: Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr was a French commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to Marshal of the Empire and Marquis.
context_section_description: Saint-Cyr was a stoic in an age of pragmatism and glory. His refusal to sign the proclamation of congratulation for declaring the birth of the empire resulted in his name not being included in the first list of Napoleonic Marshals, while commanders such as Lannes, Bessières and Soult who had not had independent command experience were included. For the whole of his life Saint-Cyr believed that Napoleon deliberately refused him troops just to disgrace him. In 1803 he was appointed to the command of an army corps in Italy, in 1805 he served with distinction under Masséna, and in 1806 he was engaged in the campaign in southern Italy. When he returned to Paris to protest his treatment in Naples, Napoleon sent him back to his post on pain of death. He took part in the 1807 campaigns in Prussia and Poland, and in 1808, in which year he was made a count, he commanded an army corps in Catalonia; but, not wishing to comply with certain orders he received from Paris, he resigned his command and remained in disgrace till 1811.
  He was still a général de division, having been excluded from the first list of marshals. On the opening of the Russian campaign, Saint-Cyr received command of the VI Corps, and on 18 August 1812 won a victory over the Russians at Polotsk, in recognition of which he was made a marshal. The Russians, under Barclay de Tolly, were burning everything as they retreated back towards Moscow, and had just burned nearby Smolensk. It was just prior to the victory at Polotsk on the banks of the Daugava river, however, that Oudinot was wounded, and thus Saint-Cyr assumed his command.
  In October 1812 Saint-Cyr was driven out of Polotsk. He received a severe wound in one of the battles during the general retreat. Saint-Cyr distinguished himself at the battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) and in the defence of that place against the Allies after the battle of Leipzig, capitulating only on 11 November, when Napoleon had retreated to the Rhine. In this year, Saint Cyr's relation with the Emperor warmed as Napoleon commented that Saint Cyr had no match in all of the marshalate and was the equal of Napoleon himself in defence. On the day he received his long overdue baton he wrote a lengthy letter to his wife and true to his character he devoted only one line to his promotion.
caption: Portrait of Saint-Cyr by Charles-Aimé Forestier
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