Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of Ministers of France. Soult is referred to as one of the outstanding military commanders of the modern era.
Son of a country notary from southern France, Soult enlisted in the French Royal Army in 1785 and quickly rose through the ranks during the French Revolution. He was promoted to brigadier general after distinguishing himself at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, and by 1799 he was a division general. He fought a drawn battle against equally numbered troops of Alexander Suvorov at Glarus in 1799 and in the same year notably defeated the Austrians under the lead of Friedrich von Hotze at the Linth River as Hotze died at the very beginning of battle leaving his Austrians without organization.
In 1804, Napoleon made Soult one of his first eighteen Marshals of the Empire. Soult played a key role in many of Napoleon's campaigns, most notably in the Ulm campaign and at the Battle of Austerlitz, where his corps delivered the decisive attack that secured French victory. He was subsequently created Duke of Dalmatia. From 1808, he commanded French forces during the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Corunna, Soult clashed with the British under generals John Moore and John Hope; during Soult's attack, his troops were outflanked by numerically superior infantry and retreated to their original positions as did the British troops, but eventually the battlefield remained his due to the British retreat to their ships, thus Spain was left without British support for a while. At the Battle of Albuera, against superior Anglo-allied forces of William Beresford, he again fought to a draw.
Despite several initial victories, for instance at the Battle of Ocaña, Soult was eventually outmaneuvered and driven out of Spain by the coalition forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley, which were superior to the army given to Soult in terms of the quality of troops and supplies. Soult then stubbornly fought Wellington at Toulouse in 1814, days after Napoleon's first abdication. Soult declared himself a royalist following the Bourbon Restoration, but rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days. He was Napoleon's chief of staff during the Waterloo campaign in 1815, where the emperor suffered a final defeat; in this role Soult proved himself less capable than as a field commander.
Following the second restoration, Soult went into exile in Germany. In 1819 he was recalled to France and returned to royal favour, and in 1830 he was made Minister of War after the July Revolution. Soult oversaw reforms of the French military and was responsible for the creation of the French Foreign Legion. Under King Louis Philippe, he was three times French prime minister from 1832 to 1834, almost a year between 1839 and 1840 and from 1840 to 1847. In 1847, he was awarded the title Marshal General of France. Soult again declared himself a Republican after Louis Philippe's overthrow in the French Revolution of 1848. He died in 1851.
During his military career, Soult amassed a large collection of paintings, many during his time in Spain. The collection was dispersed in a sale following Soult's death.
Early life
Soult was born in Saint-Amans-la-Bastide and named after John of God. He was the son of a country notary named Jean Soult by his marriage to Brigitte, daughter of Pierre François de Grenier de Lapierre. He was a Catholic.Jean-de-Dieu Soult was expected to have a promising career as a lawyer. However, on 16 April 1785, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted as a private in the Royal-Infanterie regiment, to help his mother financially after the death of his father. His younger brother, Pierre-Benoît Soult, followed his example three years later, and would also become a French general.
Revolutionary Wars
Jean Soult fought in the wars of Revolutionary France. Soult's superior education ensured his promotion to the rank of sergeant after six years of service, and in July 1791 he became instructor to the first battalion of volunteers of the Bas-Rhin. On 17 January 1792 his colonel appointed him instructor in the 1st battalion of Haut-Rhin volunteers, with the rank of second lieutenant. The war period, which began in April 1792, offered him many opportunities to stand out and he rose through the ranks with regularity. Adjutant-major on 16 July 1792, captain on 20 August 1793, provisional adjutant to the staff of General Lazare Hoche to the Army of the Moselle on 19 November 1793. He took part in the Battle of Kaiserslautern from 28 to 30 November, which allowed the recapture of Wissembourg and the relief of Landau. Hoche gives Soult the command of a detached body to take Marsthal's camp, a task which was brilliantly executed.From 26 to 29 December he was present at the Second Battle of Wissembourg. He was appointed chief of staff of the avant-garde on 27 January 1794, provisional battalion commander on 7 February 1794, titular battalion commander on 3 April and adjutant-general brigade chief on 14 May. On 19 March 1794 the Army of the Moselle was replaced by the Army of the Rhine under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. This army immediately returns to the campaign. Two battles were fought in Arlon on 17, 18 and 29 April, then on 21 May, in which Soult took an active part.
After the Battle of Fleurus of 1794, in which he distinguished himself for coolness, he joined the Army of Sambre and Meuse on 28 June. Soult was promoted to brigadier general by the representatives on mission. For the next five years, Soult was employed in Germany under Generals Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, Jean Victor Marie Moreau, Jean-Baptiste Kléber and François Lefebvre. He took part in the Battle of Aldenhoven on 2 October 1794. He moved to Jacques Hatry's division and took part in the Siege of Luxembourg from 22 November to 7 June 1795. He took a brilliant part in the battles of Altenkirchen on 4 June 1796, of Friedberg on 10 July 1796, and in the Battle of Stockach against the army of Charles of Austria on 25 March 1799. The rank of division general was attributed to him on 4 April 1799, provisionally, and it is confirmed on the following 21 April.
Soult passed to the Army of Helvetia under the orders of General André Masséna. It was at this time that he built the bases of his military reputation, in particular during the First Battle of Zurich of 2–5 June 1799; then he subdued the insurgent cantons, drove the rebels on the Reuss and drove them back to in the valley of Urseren — relieving Frauenfeld, Altikon, and Andelfingen. He obtained a citation on the order of the day of 2 June 1799. On the 10th of the same month, he hunted down, at the head of the 110th Demi-Brigade, the Austrians, occupying Mount Albis. Crossing the Linth River on 22 September, Soult led the enemy to suffer a loss of 4,000 men, then he came to meet the Russians who advanced on Kaltbrunn, forcing the surrender of a body of 2,000 men, seized Weesen and pushed the enemy back to Lake Constance. He won a significant victory at the battle of the Linth. Moreover, he had the honour of coordinating the actions of Gazan's and Molitor's divisions, which halted the advance of Suvorov's army at the battle of Näfels.
Consulate Era
When in 1800 the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte entrusted Masséna to reorganize the Army of Italy, he insisted that Soult be his deputy; giving him the command of the right wing.Soult distinguished himself for his active part in the defense of the country of Genoa. On 6 April, in an initial sortie, at the head of several battalions, he crossed the Austrian army and relieved General Gardanne. The enemy was repulsed beyond Piotta, and Soult pursued General Suvorov into the Alps, seizing Sassello and returning to Genoa with numerous prisoners, cannons, and flags. During another sortie, the general pushed in against the Austrian army, trapping a division at Monte-Facio. But, during a fight in Montecreto on 13 April 1800, a gunshot shattered his leg; lying on the battlefield wounded, he was robbed and taken prisoner, spending days in agony in a filthy hospital. This experience traumatized Soult, and he would never again place himself so forward in the battleline.
He was rescued after the victory at Marengo on 14 June 1800. Appointed military commander of Piedmont, then in the midst of a rebellion, Soult managed to put down the so-called Barbets insurrection. He even managed to discipline the rowdy hordes and use them for his service. Soult then received command of the southern part of the Kingdom of Naples.
Shortly before the Treaty of Amiens, General Soult returned to Paris, where the First Consul welcomed him with the highest distinction. On 5 March 1802 he was one of the four generals called to command the Consular Guard with the post of colonel general. He thereafter pledged allegiance to the new regime. In August 1803, Soult was entrusted with the command-in-chief of the Camp of Boulogne. Soult, a former drill instructor, imposed a rigorous discipline there, which ensured the effectiveness of French troops during future campaigns, and also earned him the nickname "Bras de Fer". Even Napoleon wondered if he was being too severe, to which assertions Soult replied:
"Those who can't handle what I myself endure will be left behind in the depots. Those that can will be fit to conquer the world."
Napoleonic Wars
Marshal of the Empire
In May 1804, Soult was made one of the first eighteen Marshals of the Empire. He commanded a corps in the advance on Ulm, and at Austerlitz he led the decisive attack on the Allied centre.Soult played a great part in many of the famous battles of the Grande Armée, including the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 and the Battle of Jena in 1806. However, he was not present at the Battle of Friedland because on that same day he was capturing Königsberg. After the conclusion of the Treaties of Tilsit, he returned to France and in 1808 was anointed by Napoleon as 1st Duke of Dalmatia. The awarding of this honour greatly displeased him, for he felt that his title should have been Duke of Austerlitz, a title which Napoleon had reserved for himself. In the following year, Soult was appointed as commander of the II Corps with which Napoleon intended to conquer Spain. After winning the Battle of Gamonal, Soult was detailed by the emperor to pursue Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore's British army. At the Battle of Coruña, in which Moore was killed, Soult failed to prevent British forces escaping by sea.