page_title: Louis-Nicolas Davout
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Louis-Nicolas Davout / Biography
context_page_description: Louis-Nicolas d'Avout, better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. His talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian earned him the nickname "The Iron Marshal". He is ranked along with Marshals André Masséna and Jean Lannes as one of Napoleon's finest commanders. His loyalty and obedience to Napoleon were absolute. During his lifetime, Davout's name was commonly spelled Davoust, which is how it appears on the Arc de Triomphe and in much of the correspondence between Napoleon and his generals.
context_section_description: Davout was born at Annoux (Yonne), the son of Jean-François d'Avout (1739–1779) and his wife (married in 1768) Françoise-Adélaïde Minard de Velars (1741–1810). He was educated at a military academy in Auxerre, before transferring to the École Militaire in Paris on 29 September 1785. He graduated on 19 February 1788 and was appointed a sous-lieutenant in the Royal-Champagne Cavalry Regiment in garrison at Hesdin. On the outbreak of the French Revolution, Davout embraced its principles. He was chef de bataillon in a volunteer corps in the campaign of 1792, and distinguished himself at the Battle of Neerwinden the following spring. He had just been promoted to general of brigade when he was removed from the active list because of his noble birth. He nevertheless served in the campaigns of 1794-1797 on the Rhine, and accompanied General Louis Desaix in the Egyptian expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte.
  On his return he did not take part in the Battle of Marengo, where his friend Desaix was killed while making a decisive contribution to the victory. Napoleon, who had great confidence in his abilities, finally promoted him to general of division and arranged his marriage to his sister Pauline's sister-in-law Aimée Leclerc, thus making him part of Napoleon's extended family, and gave him a command in the consular guard. At the accession of Napoleon as emperor in 1804, Davout was named as one of the original 18 Marshals of the Empire. Davout was the youngest and least experienced of the generals promoted to marshal, which earned him the hostility of other generals throughout his career. As commander of the III Corps of the Grande Armée, Davout rendered his greatest services. At the Battle of Austerlitz, following a forced march of 48 hours, the III Corps bore the brunt of the allies' attack. In the subsequent War of the Fourth Coalition, Davout, with a single corps, fought and won the Battle of Auerstädt against the main Prussian Army, which had more than twice as many soldiers at its disposal (more than 63,000, to Davout's 28,000). Historian François-Guy Hourtoulle writes: "At Jena, Napoleon won a battle he could not lose. At Auerstädt, Davout won a battle he could not win". As a reward, Napoleon let Davout and his men enter first in Berlin on 25 October 1806.
  Davout added to his renown in the battles of Eylau and Friedland. Napoleon left him as governor-general of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw following the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, and the next year awarded him with the title of Duke of Auerstädt. During the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809, Davout took part in the Battle of Eckmühl, and also distinguished himself in the Battle of Wagram, where he commanded the right wing. He was later made Prince of Eckmühl following the campaign. Davout was entrusted by Napoleon with the task of organizing the "corps of observation of the Elbe", which would become the gigantic army with which Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. In this, he commanded the I Corps, numbering over 70,000, and defeated the Russians at Mohilev before he joined the main army, with which he continued throughout the campaign and the retreat from Moscow. During the retreat he conducted the rear guard, which was deemed too slow by the emperor, and was replaced by Marshal Michel Ney. His inability to hold out at Krasny until the arrival of Ney and his corps led him into disgrace and he would not meet with the emperor again until his return from Elba.
  In 1813, Davout commanded the Hamburg military district, and defended Hamburg, a poorly fortified and provisioned city, through a long siege, only surrendering on direct order by King Louis XVIII, who had come to the throne after Napoleon's abdication in April 1814. During the siege, he expelled up to 25,000 of Hamburg’s poorest citizens out of the city into the cold winter, many of whom perished of cold and starvation. Between 1806 and 1814, when the French occupation came to an end by Davout's surrender, the population decreased by nearly one-half, to 55,000.
  Davout's military character has been interpreted as cruel and
caption: Marshal Davout in Chudov Monastery of Moscow Kremlin, by Vasili Vereshchagin
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