General Jean Victor Moreau: biography. Alexey Zotov, Napoleon's main rival
This publication provides historical portraits of the most famous military leaders of the West who fought against Russia in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In general historical works there are references to all these figures, but nothing more. Therefore, both specialist historians and a wide range of readers will undoubtedly be interested in learning more about the life and activities of Napoleon’s marshals and military leaders of the Third Reich. The final part presents the commanders of the Great French Revolution, who fought for new ideals and brought liberation from feudal oppression to the people.
First of all, each character is shown as a military leader with all his advantages and disadvantages, his role and place in history are determined, and the qualities of the commander as a person are revealed.
Moreau Jean Victor
Moreau Jean Victor
French figure Moreau Jean Victor (02/14/1763, Morlaix, Brittany region, - 09/2/1813, Laun, now Louny, Czech Republic), division general (1794). The son of a wealthy lawyer.
Even in his youth, Moreau showed a great inclination towards military affairs and in 1780, leaving his studies in the city of Rennes, where, according to family tradition, he studied law and was preparing to become a lawyer, he entered the royal army as a private. However, the father, dissatisfied with this, achieved termination of the contract concluded by his son and forced him to continue his studies. The naturally gifted young man, already in his student years, stood out from the general mass of his peers, was known as a leader and enjoyed great influence among the students, who elected him chairman of their club.
After graduation, Moro became a lawyer. It was in those years that his republican convictions were formed, he became an ardent admirer of the ideas of Walter, J. Rousseau and other French encyclopedists of the second half of the 18th century (D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu, C. Helvetius, P. Holbach, J. d'Alembert) who preached the spirit of love of freedom, democracy and hatred of tyranny.
With the outbreak of the Great French Revolution in 1789, the young lawyer Moreau immediately joined the ranks of its most ardent supporters, was one of the first to join the National Guard and was soon promoted to officer. In April 1792, the Revolutionary Wars of France began against the 1st coalition of European monarchical powers, which attempted to strangle the revolution in France by force of arms and restore pre-revolutionary order in it.
In the context of a nationwide upsurge that then swept the entire country, rising to defend its freedom and independence, Moreau volunteered for the army and was soon elected commander of a battalion of volunteers that became part of the Northern Army (May 1792). From that time on, he began to seriously study military affairs and gradually acquired great knowledge in this. In the very first battles with the interventionists, he showed himself to be a brave and skillful commander, which contributed to his rapid promotion. He distinguished himself in a number of battles and battles and already in 1793 he was promoted to brigade general, and less than a year later to division general (the highest military rank in the French revolutionary army).
Commanding the division, Moreau captured several important fortresses in Belgium, including Menin, Nieuwport (Nieuwpoort), Ostend, and gained fame as one of the best divisional generals of the revolutionary army.
Among these glorious victories, he had to endure a heavy blow of fate - the death of his father, executed by the Jacobins. The discouraged and depressed young general was saved from inevitable reprisal as the “son of an enemy of the people” by his military merits, reputation as a convinced patriot, as well as the intercession of the commander of the Northern Army, General C. Pichegru, who was in close relations with many Jacobin leaders. The latter managed to encourage his subordinate, inspire him to further serve the Revolution and return him to his previous active combat activities.
In the Dutch Campaign of 1794, Moreau commanded the right wing of the Northern Army, and after the conquest of Holland he replaced Pichegru as commander of the army. He was 31 years old at that time.
In 1796, Moreau led the Army of the Rhine-Moselle, which at that time was considered the main army of the French Republic. He was given the task, in cooperation with the Sambro-Meuse Army (General J. Jourdan), to defeat the Austrians in Southern Germany and strike in the direction of Vienna.
After crossing the Rhine, Moreau invaded Germany, where he won a number of victories over the Austrian troops, but his slowness and excessive caution in his actions prevented him from taking full advantage of the results of his victories. The Austrian commander-in-chief, Archduke Charles, skillfully took advantage of the fragmented actions of the French armies, which were not united by a single command. Concentrating his main forces against the Sambro-Meuse army, he defeated it first at Amberg (August 22), and then at Würzburg (September 3) and threw Jourdan over the Rhine. Under threat from the left flank and rear, Moreau was forced to leave Germany and also begin a retreat across the Rhine. He carried out this retreat in exemplary order. During it, Moreau won a victory at Biberach, but failed at Emmendingen, and then again achieved success at Schlingen.
In general, the 1796 campaign in Germany was unsuccessful for France, which caused sharp discontent in the Directory. Not considering himself to blame for the failure, the offended Moreau resigned and received it. At a time when the main forces of the French army, operating in Germany under the command of Moreau and Jourdan, were defeated and forced to go on the defensive on the Rhine, the Italian army of General Napoleon Bonaparte, which was not considered by the Directory as a serious fighting force and which, due to its limited opportunities in the 1796 campaign were assigned only an auxiliary role - to divert part of the enemy’s forces to themselves, and accomplished the incomprehensible. It not only inflicted a number of heavy defeats on the Austrians and their allies, but also forced the Austrian command to transfer its best generals and large forces from the main theater of operations to Italy, and also conquered almost all of Northern Italy.
In the smoky, bloody European sky of the late 18th century, a new, previously unknown star rose and sparkled with dazzling light - the star of Napoleon Bonaparte. Literally in a matter of months, during just one campaign, the unknown 27-year-old General Bonaparte (or as he was called then - Buonaparte) quickly burst onto the forefront of history and turned into a national hero of France, becoming the most famous commander of the Republic. In the bright rays of Napoleonic glory, the glory of the most famous commanders of the Republican army - Gauche, Pichegru, Jourdan and Moreau - immediately faded.
Having victoriously completed the Italian campaign of 1797 and forced Austria to conclude peace, Napoleon Bonaparte finally established his status as the “first sword” of the French Republic.
And Moro was languishing in retirement at this time. In 1798 he was again invited to serve. He first received the post of Inspector General of Infantry, and then was appointed a member of the council involved in strategic planning. At the beginning of 1799, the Directory sent him to Northern Italy as deputy commander of the Italian Army, General B. Scherer, whom Moro soon replaced as commander (April 1799).
Having barely taken office and not having had time to gather his troops, scattered on a wide front by the former commander, he was defeated by A.V. Suvorov in the battle on the Adda River and retreated to Piedmont, and then to the Riviera.
Allied Russian-Austrian troops led by Suvorov occupied Lombardy and Piedmont within two months after the start of the campaign in Northern Italy. When Suvorov with the main forces of his army turned against the French army of General J. MacDonald advancing from Southern Italy, Moreau, taking advantage of this, defeated the Austrian corps of General G. Bellegarde at Casin Grosse (June 20, 1799) and liberated the Tortona citadel from the siege. But he failed to support MacDonald, who was defeated by Suvorov on the Trebbia River, and was again forced to retreat to the Riviera.
After this, Moro was replaced as commander of the Italian Army by General B. Joubert, and he himself was appointed to the post of commander of the Army of the Rhine. Arriving at the army, Joubert asked Moreau to delay his departure from Italy for a few days to help him understand the situation and prepare for the offensive.
On August 4 (15), 1799, the Battle of Novi took place, at the very beginning of which Joubert was killed, and Moreau again took command of the Italian army. The French suffered a crushing defeat from Suvorov in this battle.
Moro showed great courage and bravery at Novi, 3 horses were killed under him, and he himself was wounded, but remained in the ranks and, at the cost of incredible efforts, saved the main forces of the Italian army from complete destruction.
When he arrived in France, his reputation as a commander, despite the defeat suffered in Italy by Suvorov, was not shaken in public opinion. However, after his recovery, Moreau did not receive a new appointment (the post of commander of the Army of the Rhine was already occupied by another general).
In 1799, the internal political situation in France was very difficult. The authority of the Directory, which led the country, fell to its lowest level. The idea of a coup d'état was in the air with the aim of removing the disgusting Directory from power and establishing a new, more durable regime. The main ideologist of the conspiracy against the Directory was its member E. Sieyes. For several months now he had been looking for a “sword” (a popular general) to carry out his plan. In the summer of 1799 he found such a general - it was Joubert. But his unexpected appointment to Italy, his urgent departure there and subsequent death there led to a delay in the implementation of Sieyès’s plan.
He again began searching for a candidate to lead the military coup. However, his attempt to win Moreau over to his side ended in failure. Known for his strong republican convictions and far from political ambitions, Moreau declined the role offered to him. At the same time, the Directory tried to find support in him to maintain its power. But she too was unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Napoleon Bonaparte returned from Egypt to France, around whom all anti-government forces quickly rallied. Sieyes, who had lost his leadership role in the conspiracy against the Directory, was forced to join him.
Bonaparte immediately played his game, and he did not need any political mentors. One of the most important tasks facing Bonaparte during the preparation of the military coup was to win over to his side or at least neutralize General Moreau, whose great influence in army circles was well known to him. The candidate for the role of military dictator coped with this task successfully. He managed to charm Moreau so much (Bonaparte even gave him a precious Damascus saber brought from Egypt) that he, however, after some hesitation, nevertheless agreed to support Bonaparte and took an active part in the military coup of the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799).
As a reward for this support, Moreau received from Napoleon Bonaparte, who became the first consul of the French Republic, and in fact a military dictator, the post of commander of the Army of the Rhine.
With the start of the 1800 campaign, Moreau invaded Germany and won a number of victories over the Austrians (at Engen, Mezkirch, Biberach, etc.). But after sending a significant part of his troops to Switzerland, he was forced to suspend the offensive, which displeased the First Consul. The successes of French troops in Italy and Switzerland forced the Austrians to begin a retreat in Germany. This prompted Moreau to become active - he resumed the offensive, but the truce concluded in July stopped him. After the end of this truce at the end of 1800, the Austrians went on the offensive, but on December 3, 1800 they were defeated by General Moreau in the Battle of Hohenlinden (a village in Bavaria, 32 km east of Munich).
In this famous battle, which took place in wooded, rugged terrain, Moreau skillfully used a flanking maneuver. Bypassing the enemy's left flank, he allocated 1/4 of all the forces at his disposal. With a simultaneous attack from the front to the flank and rear, the Austrian Danube Army (about 60 thousand people; Archduke John) was completely defeated. The Austrians lost about 14 thousand people (including 9 thousand prisoners) and almost all the artillery (87 guns), while the French lost about 2.5 thousand people.
The defeat at Hohenlinden and Moreau's subsequent advance on Vienna forced Austria to ask the French for an armistice.
The decisive factors in Moreau's victory at Hohenlinden were: the correct choice of the direction of the main attack, a bold and decisive maneuver during the battle and the energetic pursuit of a defeated enemy. The brilliant victory at Hohenlinden was won by Moreau in the absence of superiority in forces over the enemy (the French Army of the Rhine had a strength of 56 thousand people).
The main reason for the defeat of the Austrians was that the lack of roads and forests did not allow them to bring all their forces into battle at the same time, and they were defeated piece by piece by the French. Poorly organized command and control, lack of interaction between columns (the Austrian army advanced in 4 columns) and poor intelligence also played a significant role in their defeat.
Moreau's resounding victory at Hohenlinden overshadowed Napoleon's success at Marengo (June 14, 1800), since it was it that marked the victorious point in the second war against Austria.
Its direct consequence was the conclusion of a truce on December 25, and on February 9, 1801, the Peace of Luneville, which was unfavorable for Austria, which completed the collapse of the 2nd anti-French coalition.
Arriving in Paris after the conclusion of peace, crowned with glory, Moreau was surrounded by universal attention and honor. This was the finest hour in his life. Napoleon Bonaparte gave him a pair of pistols, richly decorated with diamonds and inlays, noting that due to lack of space it was impossible to place the names of all his victories on them.
But, remaining a staunch republican, Moreau soon found himself in the epicenter of the political struggle that unfolded against the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte, which, from temporary, as many believed in the fall of 1799, in many ways threatened to turn into permanent. Therefore, various forces rallied in the struggle against the first consul, who clearly sought lifelong and sole power, from the extreme left (former Jacobins) to the extreme right (royalists).
The proclamation of Napoleon Bonaparte as first consul for life (August 2, 1802) further strengthened Moreau's opposition sentiments. He publicly refuses to accept the Legion of Honor awarded to him by Napoleon. Moreau was well aware that he had the loudest name in the army and country after Napoleon Bonaparte, that influential forces stood behind him, and he openly opposed the regime established in the country. He knew that Bonaparte could not ignore him, and he was not mistaken in his calculations. The First Consul tried more than once to extend the hand of reconciliation to him (inviting him to his palace for dinners, ceremonial receptions, services at Notre Dame Cathedral, etc.), but each time he encountered a cold refusal. True, Moreau did not go into open confrontation with the top person in the state, but he also did not want to enter into any contact with him. The more elegant and magnificent the receptions at the Tuileries Palace became, the more simply and unpretentiously Moreau dressed, becoming in the eyes of the French a model of republican modesty. Bonaparte heard the general's contemptuous comments about the Order of the Legion of Honor, about the Boulogne camp, about the proposed landing operation in England, etc. In the capital, and not only in Paris, rumors spread by Napoleon's enemies circulated with might and main, hurting the pride of the first consul: about that that the victory won by Moreau at Hohenlinden is a pure victory, while Napoleon lost the battle at Marengo, and the true winner in it is General L. Dese, who snatched victory from the enemy; that the Egyptian expedition was an adventure started by Bonaparte, who, as soon as he realized that it had failed, deserted Egypt, leaving his army to the mercy of fate; that the military coup of the 18th Brumaire is an unconstitutional action that cannot be recognized as legitimate, and Bonaparte simply usurped power; that Bonaparte constantly violates the constitution and strives for an authoritarian form of government, etc. But Napoleon was well aware that Moreau, by his nature, was not capable of getting involved in any anti-government actions and would limit himself to only verbal opposition. Nevertheless, be that as it may, the openly confrontational general became the banner of the opposition, around which all the dissatisfied united.
Opposition also appeared in the army, which was made up of officers and generals who adhered to republican views. This was already dangerous for the authorities. In April 1802, by order of Napoleon, a number of generals and officers were arrested on charges of anti-government activities. After being kept in custody for some time, they were then sent on an expedition to the island of San Domingo, from where none of them returned.
By taking tough and quick measures to suppress opposition sentiments in the army, Napoleon quickly eliminated this serious threat to himself and isolated Moreau from his supporters in the army.
General Moreau, who openly flaunted his opposition, gradually found himself to some extent involved in the royalist conspiracy, led by the famous Chouan J. Cadoudal and the former general of the revolutionary army Ch. Pichegru, his old military comrade-in-arms. Although Moreau in many ways did not share the views of the conspirators, whose goal was to kill the first consul, he nevertheless came into contact with them.
In January 1804, Napoleon's intelligence services received information that a group of terrorists led by Cadoudal had been in Paris since August 1803. These 50 willing thugs are planning to kidnap or kill the First Consul. On February 13 this was reported to Napoleon. By this time, it became known that Pichegru, who was acting together with Cadoudal, was illegally in Paris, and that he had a secret meeting with Moreau.
Napoleon was literally amazed by this news. What shocked him most was that a participant in the royalist conspiracy turned out to be the famous general of the revolutionary army, Moreau, who for many years selflessly fought under its banners against the enemies of France and now went over to their side and betrayed his homeland.
On February 16, Moro was arrested at his apartment on charges of participating in an anti-state conspiracy. The next day, it was announced that Moreau would be arrested as a traitor. This caused a shock in Paris. Alarmed by such news, the opposition public did not believe in the guilt of the popular general. Attacks on the first consul intensified sharply; he was accused of seeking to eliminate his rival, of envying Moreau's military glory, etc. Napoleon was powerless to change public sentiment.
Once in prison, Moreau long denied all the charges brought against him. Finally, on March 8, he wrote a letter to Napoleon in which he confessed that he had still told a lie, denying everything. He admitted that he had met with Pichegru on the latter’s initiative, but refused to participate in the conspiracy and did not talk to Cadoudal, whom Pichegru had invited to a meeting without his, Moreau’s, knowledge. In all likelihood, this letter of repentance was written by Moreau at a moment of spiritual breakdown. It added little to the facts already known to the investigation from the arrested persons from the general’s inner circle. Another thing was important, namely, the current general of the Republic personally confirmed that he had entered into unauthorized negotiations with its enemies. This confirmed the fact of Moro's treason. His confession was immediately published in the press. He was publicly discredited as a conspirator and traitor. The halo of heroism, civil courage and republican incorruptibility that had hitherto surrounded his name was torn away. From the pages of his letter of repentance, Moreau appeared before all of France as a weak, hesitant and double-minded man. With this letter, he caused great harm not only to himself personally, but also to numerous supporters of the opposition, who were forced to hastily retreat. By this time, most of the Chouans who were part of the terrorist group had already been arrested. Cadoudal himself was caught in the gendarmerie's net on March 9. The trial of the conspirators took place in May-June 1804. Moreau was tried by a military court separately from the other conspirators. Pichegru, who committed suicide in his prison cell on April 6, was also not present at the trial. The military court dismissed Moreau from the army, but, contrary to Napoleon's expectations, sentenced him to only two years in prison. Napoleon, who had just become emperor, under the guise of showing generosity, hastened to get rid of the defeated enemy, who still remained dangerous for him. He replaced Moreau's imprisonment with exile from France.
In June 1804, Moreau left France, which he was never destined to see, and left Barcelona (Spain) for America. When Napoleon was informed about this, after a short thought he said: “Now he will follow the road to the right. He will end up coming to our enemies.” These words turned out to be prophetic...
As for the real conspirators, they were treated far less humanely than Moreau, who was entangled in his connections. Most of them, led by Cadoudal, were sentenced to death and executed on June 25, 1804. Several titled aristocrats involved in the conspiracy (for example, the princes of Polignac) were pardoned by Napoleon. However, Cadoudal was also promised a pardon, but under certain conditions. However, the brave Chouan (Cadoudal was distinguished by his insane courage; for example, during his arrest he offered desperate resistance, killing several intelligence agents) rejected this proposal with contempt, accompanying his refusal with vulgar abuse. He preferred martyrdom (Cadoudal was executed with particular cruelty) to apostasy.
In the USA, Moro lived as an exile for 9 years. As Napoleon predicted, the republican general’s rejection of the authoritarian form of government in France led him to the camp of the enemies of his homeland. In the spring of 1813, he accepted the invitation of the Russian Emperor Alexander I and his old comrade, the former Napoleonic Marshal J. Bernadotte, who became Prince Regent of Sweden (by the way, with the consent of Napoleon), to take part in the war against Napoleon.
In July 1813 he arrived in Europe and became a military adviser at the main headquarters of the allied monarchs (Russian and Austrian emperors and the Prussian king). He took part in the development of Allied military plans. It was Moreau who gave the allied monarchs advice to avoid a direct clash with Napoleon himself, and to concentrate the main efforts of the allied forces on the defeat of individual groups led by his marshals.
In the first battle that took place after the expiration of the Pleswitz truce - near Dresden, while in the retinue of Alexander I, Moreau was mortally wounded (both legs were torn off by a direct hit from a cannonball).
The French army took the death of the “traitor” with great satisfaction. There was a legend that Napoleon, allegedly noticing Moreau in the enemy's position, himself aimed the gun and personally struck the enemy of France. Moreau was buried with full military honors in the Catholic Church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg. After the collapse of Napoleon's empire, Moreau's widow transported his ashes to his homeland.
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A staunch republican, an ardent supporter of revolutionary changes in the country, Moro, from the very first days of the Great French Revolution, devoted all his strength and extraordinary abilities to the armed defense of the fatherland, which was attacked by foreign invaders who tried to strangle the revolution in France by force of arms. A brave and courageous officer, and then one of the best generals of the revolutionary army, Moreau, commanding armies in Belgium, on the Rhine, Germany and Italy during the wars of the French Republic against coalitions of European monarchical powers, proved himself to be a major military leader, a commander of great talent.
At one time he was seen as the first commander of the Republic, but soon the resounding victories of Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy overshadowed the glory of Moro. Moreau regained his fame as an outstanding commander a little later, having won a brilliant victory at Hohenlinden.
Although Moro possessed many of the qualities necessary for a commander, he at the same time had many shortcomings that significantly reduced his military leadership potential. The most significant of them should be recognized as Moro’s lack of firmness of character and his liberalism, which was not always acceptable in a combat situation. He had too friendly relations with his subordinate generals and his adjutants, which not only deprived himself of the respect they deserved as a superior, but also often allowed them to interfere in issues the solution of which was only the prerogative of the commander. And, as a consequence of this state of affairs, his operational plans and plans for action were not always kept secret. When developing his operational plans, Moreau, as a rule, blindly adhered to the instructions given to him by the government, although they quite often no longer corresponded to the actual situation, and therefore, in a number of cases, the achievement of his goals was called into question. In difficult situations, Moreau usually showed excessive caution, sometimes bordering on indecisiveness. Unlike Napoleon, who always sought to concentrate his main efforts on the direction of the main attack, Moreau preferred to act in separate groups of troops. This method of action, although it often put the enemy in a difficult position, at the same time led to the dispersal of one’s forces and rarely brought a decisive result, especially in the early days of Moro’s military leadership.
Showing great concern for the soldiers, he usually tried to give them rest after a successful battle and did not organize active pursuit by large forces of the defeated enemy. This also quite often prevented him from making the most of his victory.
Napoleon Bonaparte considered Moreau an excellent divisional general, but at the same time admitted that he was capable of commanding a small army. Let’s make a reservation right away - this opinion of the great commander is biased. Moreau always commanded the best armies of the Republic, which were superior in numbers to the armies led by Napoleon in Italy and Egypt. And the campaign of 1800 was generally completed victoriously only thanks to the victories of the army led by Moreau.
The battle of Hohenlinden he won was of strategic importance. His repeated winner, the great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov, had a different opinion about Moro, who considered it an honor to fight “with such a famous commander” as Moro.
According to contemporaries, Moreau was characterized by such character traits as honesty, selflessness and democracy. He was completely indifferent to awards and honors. Many military authorities at one time put Moreau as a commander on a par with Napoleon, with which one can hardly agree. But the fact that among the commanders of the French Republican Army Moreau was a star of the first magnitude is an unconditional fact. The information does not contradict the truth that at the beginning of his military career Napoleon felt a burning envy of the military glory and great popularity of Moreau (it especially intensified after Hohenlinden) and subsequently, not without reason, saw him as his main rival, whom he got rid of at the first opportunity. True, invaluable assistance to him in this, paradoxical as it may sound, was provided by Moro himself, who became entangled in his anti-government connections and showed amazing political imprudence, if not naivety, which gave the authorities a reason to completely discredit him not only as one of the most prominent leaders the French revolutionary army, but also simply as a citizen of the French Republic, which Napoleon did not fail to take advantage of.
The courageous warrior, who had fearlessly looked death in the face countless times on countless battlefields, showed amazing cowardice when he found himself in a prison dungeon. Such humiliating behavior of Moreau caused unanimous condemnation even from his closest like-minded people, who turned away with contempt from their yesterday's idol.
And finally, Moro dealt the final, final blow to his reputation at the end of his life, openly going over to the side of the enemy. This betrayal finally debunked him in the eyes of the French people and erased all his services to his homeland, for the glory of which he fought so valiantly for many years. He fell on the battlefield, struck by a French shell fired by the hand of his compatriot, and died with the mark of a traitor at the age of 50 years. The last refuge of the former hero of the Revolutionary Wars was a foreign land. And the last military honors were given to him not by the French soldiers, companions of his military glory, whom he once led to victories and with whom he shared the bitterness of failures, but by foreigners who fought against France at that time.
Memorial plate to the Russian Field Marshal General and the French Marshal Moreau in the church on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.The revolutionary French Republic had many gifted generals, and some of them were perhaps as talented as the Corsican. But it so happened that by the end of 1800 there was not a single military leader left alive whose authority could be compared with Napoleonic’s. Except General Moreau.
In the Church of St. Catherine on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.
Jean Victor Marie Moreau was born on February 13, 1763. His father ended his days in 1794 on the guillotine, which, however, did not prevent his son, although he condemned the Jacobin terror, from remaining a staunch republican throughout his life. Moreau made a brilliant career in the service of the republic. Volunteering in the National Guard, he quickly rose to the rank of division general. Wherever he fought: France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy... By the way, there he was defeated several times by Suvorov. However, Moreau learned quickly and already the next year defeated the Austrians, bringing long-awaited peace to France.
However, in 1799 he made a fatal mistake. Considering that the Directory was ruining the republic, he helped its real enemy. When Bonaparte returned from Egypt and began preparing a conspiracy against the Directory, Moreau agreed to support him and on the day of the coup, with a detachment of 300 soldiers, blocked members of the government who were not involved in the conspiracy in the Luxembourg Palace.
But here is the victory over Austria and peace, which... Napoleon could never forgive General Moreau. After Moreau's victory at the Battle of Hohenlinden, Bonaparte saw the general as his main rival. Indeed, Moreau commanded an excellent army; soldiers and officers adored him and were ready to follow him through thick and thin. His popularity among the people was enormous, in particular because after the triumph of Hohenlinden he behaved with the utmost dignity, we note, in contrast to Napoleon, who invariably inflated his victories and even appropriated others’, such as the victory in the famous the battle of Marengo, for which France must thank General Desaix, who fell in this battle. And for all that, Moreau did not pose any danger to Napoleon. This stubborn, like many Bretons, but very modest man was very far from big politics.
Gradually, Napoleon concentrated all power in his hands, becoming, in fact, a dictator. Moreau was disappointed and resigned. But this was not enough for Napoleon Bonaparte, who saw his rival in Moreau. He accused him of participating in the monarchist conspiracy of Charles Pichegru and Georges Cadoudal against the Republic! Ah, the Corsican was a master of farce. He, who dreamed of an imperial crown and the founding of a dynasty, made its sincere supporter an enemy of the republic! And although Moreau performed admirably at the trial, proving his innocence, Napoleonic’s pocket court sentenced the general to imprisonment, which Napoleon, however, “generously” replaced with exile.
Moreau left for the USA, and only in 1813 returned to Europe. He, on the recommendation of another former French general, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who became Crown Prince of Sweden and joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition, was invited by Emperor Alexander I so that Moreau would become a military adviser at the headquarters of the allied armies. Moreau agreed because he was finally convinced that Napoleon was leading France to destruction.
Having become a Russian field marshal general and being an adviser to the main headquarters of the allied monarchs, in the battle of Dresden on August 15, Moreau was mortally wounded by a cannonball and died on September 2 (that is, 205 years ago) in some Czech village.
According to legend, Napoleon, who saw the traitor through a telescope, personally loaded the cannonball. At the fateful moment, Moreau and Alexander I stood on horseback on a hill occupied by an Austrian battery. Moreau noticed that the French were shooting at them and advised the emperor to leave; Alexander followed Moreau, and at that moment the French cannonball tore off the general's right leg, passed right through the horse and severely wounded his left shin. This shot became fatal for Moro. Doctors amputated both of his legs, but Moro died two weeks after the operation.
The Russian field marshal general and the French marshal (posthumously) Moreau are buried there.
By order of Emperor Alexander I, Moreau's body was taken to St. Petersburg and buried in the Catholic Church of St. Catherine (the choice of the saint to whom the temple was dedicated was probably influenced by who was then the wife of Peter the Great - our Livonian peasant woman). Thus, two commanders of hostile armies - Suvorov and Moreau - are buried in the same city and in the area of one of its highways (Nevsky Prospekt), only at different ends of it. And on the other side of Nevsky Prospect, almost opposite, Field Marshal Kutuzov is buried in the Kazan Cathedral. Interestingly, in 1814, Louis XVIII posthumously awarded Moreau - I repeat, an ardent republican - the title of Marshal of France.
Crowds of French tourists annually visit Napoleon's tomb in the Les Invalides in Paris. The grave of the man who destroyed the French Republic with his dictatorial ambitions. But his opponent is hardly remembered in France. The glory of the emperor completely eclipsed the glory of Moro. But Napoleon once envied her: “Moro’s fame upsets me. They blamed me for his expulsion; one way or another - after all, there were two of us, when only one was needed.”
However, he is not particularly remembered in Russia either. However, on July 13, 2017, the French Consul General Thibault Fourrier decided to draw attention to the figure of the famous commander and gave the Basilica of St. Catherine a memorial plaque to be installed in the crypt, on the wall behind which is the sarcophagus of Marshal Moreau.
Soon this slab will be installed in the crypt, on the wall behind which Moro’s sarcophagus is located.
The board weighing 120 kilograms is made of Shoksha crimson quartzite, which is mined only on the Karelian Isthmus. The material was not chosen randomly. Napoleon's sarcophagus in Paris was made from the same stone.
Since the church is currently undergoing renovations, the stove stands modestly in the corner. This is how I found her.
General Moreau was equal to Napoleon in everything except the art of political intrigue.
Two hundred and ten years ago, on December 3, 1800 (12th Frimer of the IX year of the Republic), a battle took place in the Hohenlinden Forest near Munich between the French army of General Moreau and the Austrian Archduke Johann. Moreau's composure and courage ensured complete success for the French: the entire battlefield was littered with the bodies of killed and wounded Austrians. The winners captured 12,000 prisoners, 76 guns and a huge amount of equipment. The path to Vienna was open, and the Austrians had to sue for peace. General Moreau became an unusually popular figure in his homeland - thanks to him, the war that had disgusted the French ended victoriously. It would seem that Napoleon should have treated the hero in every possible way and brought him closer to himself. But Moreau was effectively forced to resign, and four years later he was declared a traitor and expelled from France. How did it happen that Bonaparte did not get along with one of the best French generals?
 Photo: ROGER-VIOLLET/EAST NEWS |
Constellation of Warlords
Modern man, even if he has heard the names of French generals of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, at best imagines them as a kind of satellite planets revolving around the brilliant sun - Napoleon Bonaparte. Contemporaries considered these commanders to be independent luminaries. The Republic had many gifted generals, and some of them were perhaps as talented as the Corsican. But it so happened that they all left the stage one after another. Barthelemy Catherine Joubert died in 1799 at the Battle of Novi, fighting against Suvorov. The brilliant Louis Lazare Gauche died in 1797 at the age of 29, either from pneumonia or tuberculosis. There were rumors that he was poisoned. Two friends, Louis Charles Antoine Desaix and the mighty Jean Baptiste Kleber, died, by a strange coincidence, on the same day, June 14, 1800, within a few minutes of each other. The first was killed by an Austrian bullet at the moment when the scales in the Battle of Marengo finally tilted towards his army, and the second, who commanded the troops in Egypt, fell from the killer’s knife. By the end of 1800, there was not a single military leader left alive whose authority could be compared with Napoleonic's, except General Moreau.
Jean Victor Moreau was born in 1763 in the Finistère department in western France, the son of a lawyer. His father, Gabriel Louis Moreau, ended his days in 1794 on the guillotine, which did not prevent his son, although he condemned the Jacobin terror, from remaining a staunch republican throughout his life. Jean Victor made a brilliant career in the service of the republic. Volunteering into the National Guard, he quickly rose to the rank of divisional general in the Army of the North, commanded by Jean Charles Pichegru, the conqueror of Flanders. After defeating the Austrians at the Battle of Tourcoing, Moreau became famous throughout France. Even when the general had to retreat, he did it brilliantly and with minimal losses. In 1796, Moreau was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine, with which, having won several victories, he occupied Regensburg and Munich. However, the following year, 1797, the general was removed from command. His comrade Pichegru, elected chairman of the Council of Five Hundred, spoke out against the “snickering” Directory - the five “directors” who made up the government of the French Republic. He was accused of treason and exiled to Guiana, but he escaped and took refuge in England. Naturally, this could not but cast a shadow on everyone with whom Pichegru was associated. But Moro did not sit idle for long - two years later, when it became obvious that none of the French generals were able to resist Suvorov, he led the Italian army. He failed to defeat the great Russian commander, but Moreau himself was not defeated.
Moro and Suvorov
In March 1799, the European monarchies brought forces twice their size against France, and the French began to suffer defeat after defeat on all fronts. In particular, in April, the commander-in-chief in Italy, General Scherer, was defeated on the Adige River. After this, he abandoned the army, and Moreau was appointed in his place. The defeated army was a 20,000-strong detachment, greatly extended along the front. On April 15-17 (26–28), 1799, on the Adda River, Moro gave a decisive battle to the Austro-Russian troops superior in number under the command of Alexander Suvorov. He had no chance of winning, and he was forced to retreat. According to experts, the retreat was very effective, but the Directory only needed victories. And Moreau was removed from his post, and in his place at the head of the army was put the young General Barthelemy Joubert, who was considered one of the most talented commanders of the republic. Joubert, wanting to have an experienced adviser with him, asked General Moreau to temporarily remain with the army. On August 4 (15), 1799, in the Battle of Novi, General Joubert was killed, and Moreau was forced to take command of the poorly prepared military operations. His courage knew no bounds; two horses were killed under him, but nothing helped. At Novi the French lost between 7,000 and 10,000 men. Moreau entered the battle against his will, which led the French army to disaster. Military historian Carl von Clausewitz called the Battle of Novi "a great tragedy." Suvorov himself, recognizing Moreau’s talent, said: “Moro understands me as an old man, and I am glad that I am dealing with an intelligent commander.”
Unforgiven Victory
By that time, Moreau had become completely disillusioned with the Directory, which he believed had betrayed the ideals of the revolution. When Napoleon returned from Egypt in 1799 and began preparing a conspiracy against the Directory, Moreau agreed to support him and on the day of the coup, with a detachment of 300 soldiers, he blocked two members of the government who were not involved in the conspiracy in the Luxembourg Palace - Louis Goyer and Jean Francois Moulin.
But having become first consul, the de facto head of state, Napoleon chose to send a potential competitor away from Paris, entrusting him with the formation of a new Army of the Rhine.
Moreau coped with this task brilliantly and in early December 1800, at the Battle of Hohenlinden, he completely defeated the Austrian army, which allowed France to conclude the Peace of Luneville, which was extremely beneficial for it, which put an end to the ten-year war in Europe.
Napoleon could never forgive Moreau for this victory. After Hohenlinden, he saw the general as his main rival. Indeed, Moreau commanded an excellent army; soldiers and officers adored him and were ready to follow him through thick and thin. His popularity among the people was enormous, in particular because after the triumph of Hohenlinden he behaved with the utmost dignity, we note, in contrast to Napoleon, who invariably inflated his victories and even appropriated others’, such as the victory in the famous the battle of Marengo, for which France must thank General Desaix, who fell in this battle. And for all that, Moreau did not pose any danger to Napoleon. This stubborn, like all Bretons, but very modest man was very far from big politics.
However, he strictly followed his principles and therefore did not see the opportunity for himself to cooperate with the usurper, who actually destroyed the republic. Moreau resigned, got married, bought the castle of Grobois, located near Paris (by that time he, like other revolutionary generals, had a considerable fortune), and settled there. Nowadays it would be called internal emigration.
English trace
Meanwhile, Napoleon concentrated all the threads of government in his hands - and neither the republicans, nor the monarchists, nor those influential politicians who, like Sieyès, supported the coup of the 18th Brumaire in the hope that the young general would become their puppet, wanted to put up with this. The police exposed one conspiracy after another, which only added to Napoleon's popularity. It was even rumored that he organized them himself. Madame de Stael, a well-known opponent of Napoleon, wrote: “He needed a pretext to change the form of government; As for the conspirators, he had no doubt that he would be able to stop them in time. There was no obvious reason for changing the order of things and it was necessary to refer to a conspiracy in which the British would be involved, and then, supposedly, to prevent a return to the old order, introduce an ultra-monarchical order in France. That’s exactly what Bonaparte did.”
Madame de Staël was only partly right - in addition to the imaginary ones, there were real conspiracies, and their threads really led to England. Although France and Britain were in a state of peace from 1802 to 1804 (the only such period during Napoleon’s reign), the latter remained the main refuge of the irreconcilable enemies of the “Corsican usurper.” The spiritual leader of the French counter-revolution, the younger brother of the executed King Louis XVI and the future King Charles X, Comte d'Artois, lived in exile here. He made another attempt to overthrow Napoleon and restore Bourbon power in France together with the most prominent leader of the French royalists, the son of a miller, Georges Cadoudal.
General Moreau's Creed
He (Moreau - Ed.) wrote to the Russian envoy to the United States, Dashkov: “It is a true misfortune for humanity that the low culprit of the army’s disasters nevertheless escaped death. He can still do a lot of evil, for the horror of his name gives him great influence over the weak and ill-fated French. I am sure that he fled from Russia, fearing as much the dart of the Cossacks as the irritation of his troops. The captured French in Russia must be in despair and breathing vengeance. If a significant number of these unfortunates agree to go to the shores of France under my leadership, I guarantee that I will overthrow Napoleon.”<...>“I am ready,” he wrote a month before leaving America, “to go to France with French troops, but I will not hide my disgust to enter my fatherland with a foreign army.”
Royalist misalliance
The very fact that a person of royal blood entered into an alliance with a commoner is worthy of surprise. But Cadoudal was a courageous man and devoted to the idea, which he proved more than once by raising the peasants of Vendee and Brittany to fight the republic. Whom did d’Artois and Cadoudal decide to rely on in the holy cause of restoring the monarchy? Their choice clearly indicates that these ardent royalists have completely lost their sense of reality. They tried to enlist the support of a man whose loyalty to republican ideals was never in doubt - General Moreau. True, it would still be impossible to find another commander whose authority in the army could be compared with Napoleonic’s. The conspirators planned that the winner of Hohenlinden would raise troops, overthrow the first consul, take power into his own hands and prepare the country for the return of the prince of the royal blood and the restoration of the Bourbons. In August 1803, Cadoudal sailed for France.
It was clear that the Republican Moreau would not want to meet with the royalist Cadoudal, who had secretly arrived in Paris - it would be a different matter if this meeting had been organized by a person whom the general completely trusted. They turned to Moreau’s old comrade-in-arms, Pichegru, who was languishing idle in England, and who fiercely hated Bonaparte. He agreed to act as a mediator and in January 1804 crossed the English Channel illegally.
Moreau's meeting with Pichegru and Cadoudal took place, but the general flatly refused to participate in the conspiracy. The ubiquitous Napoleonic police could not find out what this trio was discussing about, but the very fact of such a conversation was enough. When Napoleon was informed about him, he showed extreme surprise that General Moreau allowed himself to be drawn into such a scam. But the Parisians were even more surprised to find the name of their favorite Moreau on the lists of wanted traitors posted on all corners. Police and gendarmes combed the city and its environs in search of the conspirators. As during the times of revolutionary terror, people were arrested at the slightest suspicion or denunciation. Of the three participants in the illegal meeting, Moreau was captured first, on February 15, 1804, and he did not try to escape. Following him, Pichegru was arrested following a denunciation from an officer who had once served under the general. Cadoudal was the only one who resisted. He killed one policeman, and they managed to capture him after a long pursuit.
From the French core
Modest Bogdanovich in his “History of the reign of Emperor Alexander I and Russia in his time” describes the death of Moreau this way: “At the first hour of the afternoon Moreau, noticing that the enemy had turned the fire of the battery stationed near the Moshchinsky Garden against the numerous retinue of the allied monarchs, suggested that the sovereign move to a different height. As for this it was necessary to move one by one through the lowland, along a narrow path, the sovereign, turning to Moreau, said: “Ride ahead, and we will follow you.” At that very moment when he, two steps ahead of the sovereign, continued the story of his reconnaissance and uttered the words “trust my experience,” he was struck by a cannonball, which tore off his leg and, flying through his horse, crushed his other knee.<…>Transferred on a stretcher from Cossack peaks covered with greatcoats to Netnitz, Moreau endured an operation there - the removal of both legs above the knee - performed by physician Vilie. Then<…>it was moved<…>to Lawn, where he died, August 21st (September 2nd).”
Freedom for General Moreau!
Moreau wrote a letter to Napoleon from prison, explaining that he had agreed to meet with his old comrade Pichegru, and not with Cadoudal. He spoke disparagingly about the conspiracy: “I don’t even understand how a handful of people can hope to change the government and restore a family to the throne that the efforts of all of Europe and many years of civil war could not return. I assure you, General, that I rejected all the offers that were made to me as completely insane.”
Pichegru, despite the torture, remained silent during interrogations. As Stendhal would later write, “the expectation of extracting important confessions through torture is not justified when it comes to people of such caliber as Pichegru.” On the morning of April 6, 1804, the general was found in his cell hanging from his own tie. Few people believed the official version - suicide. Napoleon was clearly not happy with the prospect of a public trial in which the honored general would receive a platform. Talleyrand directly admitted in his Memoirs that “The violent, inexplicable death of Pichegru, the means used to achieve the conviction of Moreau, could be justified by political necessity.”
The trial of the conspirators began on May 28, 1804, 10 days after Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of the French. The case was handled by 12 judges, of whom the most active was the former Jacobin Jacques Alexis Thuriot, who voted for the death of King Louis XVI. The court records have been published, and from them we learn that the judges did not even have to prove Cadoudal’s guilt; he immediately admitted everything he was accused of, but refused to extradite anyone. He showed every contempt for Turiot, addressing him only as “the king’s murderer.” Cadoudal listened to the death sentence with complete calm and, contrary to Napoleon’s expectations, did not ask the newly-crowned emperor for clemency.
But it turned out to be almost impossible to convict Moro of treason. The general easily parried any attack of accusation. When asked to talk about contacts with the “traitor Pichegru,” Moreau replied:
I urge you to be careful with the word “traitor.” The revolution has already produced so many “traitors” that the guillotine did not have time to work, and its knife, not having had time to dry from yesterday’s blood, fell today on those who yesterday themselves passed sentences for so-called treason.
The judge tried to seize the initiative:
Your betrayal of France is proven by the nature of your speeches, in which you with enviable consistency condemned the actions of the government, insulting the sacred person of the emperor.
Freedom to express your thoughts! Could I have imagined that this would be considered a crime among a people who legalized freedom of thought, speech and press, who enjoyed these freedoms even under kings! I confess that I was born with an outspoken character and, as a Frenchman, I have not lost this quality, considering it the first duty of any normal citizen.
Moreau's behavior during the trial only strengthened the belief of the Parisians, who had sympathized with the general from the very beginning, that he was not to blame for anything. On June 6, 1804, at the next meeting, Moreau asked to speak. After telling in detail about his career and recalling that he was one of those who helped Bonaparte overthrow the Directory, the accused spoke about his alleged treason:
After Hohenlinden, what a fortunate moment for the conspiracy! Would a person striving for power miss such an opportunity, being at the head of a victorious and loyal army of one hundred thousand? I then retreated to simple civilian life. Now they are trying to accuse me of being a conspirator. But these accusations are not based on anything! You, gentlemen, judges, know your rights and your duties, all of France will listen to you, all of Europe will look at you, do not forget about it! My whole life was dedicated only to France, only to the revolution! Now it costs only a drop of ink to sign a death warrant. But no one in this world will make me repent of anything. I have lived and will die a citizen of France!
Those present greeted these words with an ovation. Women threw flowers at Moro’s feet, and shouts were heard from the square:
Moreau is innocent! Freedom for General Moreau!
Madame de Staël recalled: “General Moreau delivered in court one of the most beautiful speeches that the history of mankind knows. With the necessary modesty, he recalled the battles that had been won since Bonaparte had ruled France; he apologized for sometimes expressing his thoughts with excessive frankness. Finally, at this most dangerous moment, he discovered at once both an extraordinary mind and an unparalleled presence of mind.”
The judges deliberated for a long time, and by seven votes to five, Moro was acquitted. After this, Thuriot, Aimard and Grange, who owed everything to Napoleon, gathered for a closed meeting. It was decided that the court's verdict must be changed. Otherwise, France, President of the Court Aimard painted an apocalyptic picture, will face a new civil war. Thuriot also emphasized the enormous political significance of the trial - Moreau must be sentenced to death and given the opportunity for Napoleon to pardon him. Granger even declared that the degree of Moreau’s guilt did not matter. We must teach the French a lesson in fear, for, as Robespierre said, for every prudent person, fear is the only basis for his behavior.
Having finished deliberating, the trio joined the other judges, and Emar made a long speech in which he called on his colleagues to change their decision for the sake of the safety of the state. When they objected to him that the verdict had already been pronounced, he replied that it had been pronounced, but had not been announced, and therefore nothing prevented him from changing it. The discussion dragged on for another day, and Emard and Thuriot managed to get a second vote, as a result of which Moreau was sentenced to two years in prison. This sentence outraged the emperor: “They decided to punish him as if he were stealing handkerchiefs!” Napoleon did not want to leave such a popular and now clearly oppositional figure in the country. The imprisonment was replaced by indefinite exile overseas - to the United States, which was on friendly terms with France. The general's departure to America passed almost unnoticed. Napoleonic newspaper the Monitor gave only a brief message in small print: "General Moreau left for the United States this morning."
"Beyond the Coffin"
Having learned about the death of Moreau, Alexander I sent his widow the following letter: “When the terrible misfortune that struck General Moreau near me deprived me of the experience and knowledge of this great man, I still harbored hope through efforts to preserve him for his family and my friendship. Providence determined otherwise. He died as he lived, with the strength of a strong and unshakable soul. Unfeigned participation is the only consolation in misfortune. Everywhere in Russia you will find sympathy for yourself, and if you wish to settle with us, I will use all the ways to decorate your life, making it my sacred duty to be your comforter and support.<…>My friendship for your husband extends beyond the grave, and I have no other way, although in part, to express it, like by doing something for the well-being of his family.”
In the camp of Napoleonic enemies
In December 1804, Moreau arrived in New York, where he was given an enthusiastic welcome. He settled in Philadelphia and later purchased the Morrisville homestead on the beautiful banks of the Delaware River and lived there as a private citizen, being principally engaged in hunting and fishing. French political emigrants and agents of powers hostile to Napoleon came to him, but the illustrious general rejected all offers of cooperation. When the Anglo-American War began in 1812, US President James Madison invited Moreau to lead the American army. But then the news came about the defeat of Napoleonic troops in Russia, and the general considered that he was more interested in European affairs than American ones.
We must pay tribute to Napoleon's foresight: somehow, after the Russian campaign, he, having inquired about the fate of Moreau, noticed that sooner or later the general would end up in the camp of his enemies. And so it happened. In 1813, Alexander I, on the recommendation of another former French general, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who became Crown Prince of Sweden and joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition, offered Moreau the position of military adviser at the headquarters of the allied armies. Moreau agreed because he was finally convinced that Napoleon was leading France to destruction.
The general did not have to participate in the war for long - on August 27, 1813, at the Battle of Dresden, he was mortally wounded by a stray French cannonball. There is a beautiful legend that Napoleon, remembering his artillery past, himself aimed the gun for the fatal shot “at a group of dressed-up gentlemen.” Moreau’s suicide note addressed to his wife ended with the words: “That scoundrel Bonaparte was lucky again. He turned out to be happier than me here too.”
General Jean Victor Marie Moreau was buried in the Catholic Church of St. Catherine. The Russian military department took upon itself all the worries about the burial. There he lies, on the same avenue as his glorious opponent, Suvorov. Posthumously, after the expulsion of Napoleon, Louis XVIII promoted Moreau to marshal of France (as, by the way, did Georges Cadoudal).
However, even after death, “that scoundrel Bonaparte” turned out to be happier than the disgraced general. The glory of the emperor completely eclipsed the glory of Moro. But Napoleon once envied her: “Moro’s fame upsets me. They blamed me for his expulsion; one way or another - after all, there were two of us, when only one was needed.”
At the beginning of January 2009, a new book by Alexei Zotov, “The Forgotten Moreau,” was published in a limited edition, dedicated to the difficult fate of the French general, friend of Tsar Alexander I, Jean-Victor Moreau (1763-1813) and Napoleon’s main rival. The book barely fits on 1,000 pages of text, accompanied by 700 illustrations, maps, diagrams and facsimiles of previously never published documents, 7 letters from Moreau and 1 note from Napoleon. In this fundamental biographical study, there are chapters dedicated to the famous Russian commander A.V. Suvorov, Paul I and Gatchina, as well as the diplomatic maneuvers of Alexander I and his cabinet in order to get Moreau as commander-in-chief of the coalition forces in the fight against Napoleon. We publish excerpts from the chapter “Moro and Suvorov”.In March 1799, the Second Coalition fielded 320,000 people against France, 80,000 of which were the troops of Suvorov and Rimsky-Korsakov. The Directory could oppose approximately half of these forces, namely 170,000 soldiers, the density of the front decreased significantly, and the French gradually began to lose ground.
The Anglo-Russian expeditionary force landed in Holland and Brun was unable to contain the numerically superior enemy. The campaign led by Jourdan was even more disastrous than that of 1796. Defeated again by Archduke Charles at Stockach on March 24, 1799, he was forced to retreat, reducing the front line to 100 km - from Ostrach to the Rhine, which had just been crossed by the Austrians, who threatened to invade Alsace.
Under pressure from the Austro-Russian troops of Gotz and Rimsky-Korsakov, Massena retreated from Feldkirch to the line of the river. The Limmat reached Zurich, which it decided to defend with the support of General Lecourbe, who by this time was already famous as a major military specialist in combat operations in mountainous areas. According to French historians, it was he who would ultimately have the honor of defeating the army of the “old Scythian” - Suvorov, as Lekurbe jokingly called him.
General Scherer also faced a series of defeats in Italy. It seemed that Barras, knowing about Scherer’s inability as a commander, agreed to his appointment to please Bonaparte, however, just in case, he assigned Moreau to him as inspector general of infantry. This allowed Barras, if necessary, to be able to quickly transfer command to Moreau, and thereby minimize the negative consequences associated with the possible defeat of Scherer. Such a moment did not take long to arrive. As soon as the retreat began, Scherer, trembling with fear of responsibility for imminent defeat, asked Moreau to take command of the corps, which consisted of two divisions (which could only be done with the tacit consent of all the directors). However, Scherer continued to be commander-in-chief and, despite the opinion of Moreau, decided to take the battle on the Adige River against the troops of the Edge. This experienced Austrian general launched his attack at Magnano, near Verona, on April 6, 1799. The right wing of Scherer's army was defeated, but the left, led by Moreau, continued to hold out. This is how Moreau himself recalled it: “I was on the march with a detachment that I was assigned to command. Suddenly I heard cannonade. I could continue to move in accordance with the order of the commander, with whom I had lost contact due to this sudden enemy attack. However, experience told me that the army was in danger.” Then Moro decided to turn his body 90 degrees and go to the “thunder of guns.” “I fought successfully until the evening. I took several thousand prisoners and many guns. By nightfall the enemy was defeated and retreated in complete disorder.” As always, following his innate modesty, characteristic of many Aquarians, Moreau says nothing about the fact that he saved Scherer's army from complete defeat and allowed him to retreat in order to the fortress of Mantua and regroup. Only eight days later the Austrians were again able to reach the line of the Mincio River. However, the French were no longer able to hold this line, as well as the front along the Olyo River, due to the approach of the Russians led by Suvorov, which doubled the strength of the Austrians.
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 Francois Bouchaud Jean-Victor Moreau (1763-1813) |
But Moreau did not hesitate. At the Battle of Cassano (April 28, 1799), in which even he could not resist the 70,000 Austro-Russian troops under the command of Suvorov, Moreau first of all began by regrouping the individual parts of the army, which represented four separate detachments, which the Directory through Scherer “gifted” it to him at the last moment before the battle, thereby doing Moreau a disservice. The general sent an urgent order to MacDonald in the Neapolitan Army, tasking him to come to him in Tortona, and he himself, with the forces and means at hand, moved towards the enemy. With this battle-tested army, through incredible efforts, he made his way through the Apennines, collecting a corps of 18,000 people along the way, and brought it safe and sound to Genoa. So, one army was saved, but Moreau still had to save another.
From Genoa the general moved to Tortona, where the Neapolitan army was not there. She was only 80 km from the city when her path was cut by the same “old skiff” Suvorov. In a bloody battle on the Trebia River, which lasted three days, the Russian generalissimo completely defeated MacDonald's army. This happened on June 17 - 19, 1799.
Macdonald began moving to join Moreau on May 8, 1799. The entire journey from Naples to Tortona took 40 days, which was an average of 15 km per day, and he was ordered to move by forced march! However, MacDonald's path ran through an area engulfed in a popular uprising against the French conquerors. This guerrilla war was the prototype of the People's War in Spain in 1808.
Champion, a general of crystal honesty, rarely found among the generals of that time, and who conquered this part of Italy in January 1799, was suddenly recalled by the Directory for betraying its civilian commissioners, among whom was the notorious Faipul, who was engaged in looting, as they would now say, in especially large sizes. Champion was replaced by Macdonald, a man more reserved in such matters, whose helpfulness towards the civil commissioners was well known in Rome. However, no forced march happened, since along with MacDonald’s army there was a convoy loaded with gold “expropriated” from the local population and which was accompanied by Faipul. At the same time as art objects valued at 800,000 francs, Monsieur Faipul had his own van loaded with forged chests containing 75,000 louis (so, at least, Thiebaud, at that time a colonel of the Neapolitan army, testifies). This booty, which traveled under army protection, left it vulnerable to attack by angry bands of peasants and artisans fanatical by local priests. Individual soldiers, as soon as they moved a little away from the main column, immediately became victims of guerrillas. At best, their throats were cut alive. There were cases when the army entered a village where the air was filled with the smell of a real crematorium: the partisans were burning soldiers from the French vanguard. With an army of warriors rather than escorts of loot, Macdonald could have been in Thorton by the end of May 1799. This would enable Moro to immediately launch a counteroffensive. However, MacDonald arrived only towards the end of June, when Moreau defeated the Austrians in the Genoese Riviera, who tried to block his path to join MacDonald. The meeting of the two armies, each defeated separately, did not arouse much enthusiasm among Moreau, for the full burden of responsibility for the delay lay with the two marauders - Faipule and MacDonald. However, this double defeat only increased Moro's fame. In the eyes of military experts, the retreat that Moreau carried out instead of Scherer was more spectacular than a similar one in 1796 in Bavaria. Then Moreau stood at the head of an invincible army - the best army of the republic, numbering 70,000 people. Here he inherited a broken army and an incapable commander. But this small army, weakened by defeat and numerically inferior to the enemy, surpassed him in dedication, fortitude and patriotism, examples of which are few in the ten-year history of the wars of the French Revolution. Moreau did everything that his genius, talent, experience and love for ordinary soldiers were capable of to save the French army from inevitable defeat and flight; and get her out of harm's way in good order.
Later, fools and envious people would call Moreau a “retreating general.” These will be Madame Junot, whose husband the Duke d'Abrantes, the hero of the defeats at Vimeiro and Sintra, and Bonaparte, in his statements on Fr. Saint Helena, who himself often deserted from his own army, both in Egypt and in Russia and, in the words of A. Sorel, “leaving her death on the conscience of others.”
But what was important for Moreau was that he saved for France the lives of 18,000 young people, the sons of the republic, which, alas, at that time was unworthily represented by Barras, who despised it, and who deprived Moreau of the post of commander in chief after the events of Fructidor. Our hero's destiny was to serve the ideal republic and the soldiers who died for it, not its leaders who lived in it!
“The government sent General Joubert to replace me,” Moreau recalled, “and I had to go to the Danube. However, the events associated with the Battle of Novi forced me to stay in Italy until Vendemier.” In fact, Moreau had to once again save the Italian army, which Barras considered it a good idea to take away from him, although it continued to exist only thanks to Moreau. Later, at the Cadoudal trial, Moreau’s lawyer, Master Bonnet, will emphasize this act of republican self-sacrifice, which underestimates the natural modesty of the general: “Now this man is accused of ambition (Bonnet will write these lines in 1804 during the Moreau trial - A.Z.), and then, in Thermidor of the year VII, he resignedly handed over the command of the army he had saved to General Joubert, who was moved to tears not only by the ideal order and discipline established in it, but also by the noble simplicity with which this modest general handed over his post of commander-in-chief, for that Joubert publicly showed sincere signs of respect and gratitude. General Moreau accepted the offer of his successor to participate in the upcoming battle, without having any appointment or position, but simply as an observer... Fighting in the famous and unfortunate battle of Novi, when the brave Joubert fell at the first attack, Moreau fought like a real warrior ; three horses were killed under him, but he worked miracles to delay the defeat he foresaw, and, at the common request of all officers and soldiers, took upon himself the dangerous honor of leading a defeated army, bristling it with bayonets, returning to it the respect of its enemies, so much so that they they did not dare to pursue her any longer; to return it to the protection of the fortifications of Genoa and continue to hold the key points of Italy, as well as prepare a successful ground for the general who would succeed him. Finally, to hand over the army by order of the Directory to General Champion, to leave it, to return again, to hand over the command with the obedience of a child to the whim of those who were his judges when he was at the head of a loyal army and, despite all this, to be able to resist an enemy twice his size, thanks to his talents and the filial love of the soldiers who respect him as their savior and father.”
Couldn't have said it better.
Shortly before the events described, Joubert married the stepdaughter of Semonville - the same one who, in the words of Talleyrand, was a cunning “old cat” who voted after Napoleon’s first abdication against Alexander I’s proposal to rehabilitate General Moreau and prudently sent one of his sons-in-law, General de Montolon (according to Ben Vader - the poisoner of Napoleon on the island of St. Helena), into exile for Bonaparte, and the other - into exile for King Louis XVIII in Ghent.
But Joubert's honeymoon was short. Ten days after the wedding, he goes to the theater of war to take command of the Italian army. Almost all historians, as we will soon see, agree that Joubert was nominated by Sieyès to the post of commander-in-chief. In fact, this statement is controversial. Hide de Neuville writes in his memoirs that this man was the Marquis Charles-Louis Huguet de Semonville, and not Sieyès. Joubert hesitated for a long time whether he should take command in order to confront the formidable Suvorov. The French general had to take over the army from Moreau, which was in the process of being reorganized after the defeats and was still numerically smaller than Suvorov's army. In the end, Joubert agreed, but asked Moreau to delay his departure to the Army of the Rhine (the order appointing Moreau was signed by the Directory on the 17th messidor of the year VII, i.e. July 5, 1799). Joubert needed Moreau's advice, he knew the character, honesty and integrity of this republican general to the core, he also knew that Moreau had proven himself well during the last campaign in Italy and, as Pierre Lafrey wrote, “the retreat of the army was carried out incomparably using all available resources, their combination, correct dispositions, correct decisions, with composure and perseverance worthy of a true genius.”
Joubert recognized the urgent need to have the brilliant Moreau with him, at least during the first military operations that would allow him to begin to reconquer Italy, relying on Alexandria. However, as Moreau would tell Bonaparte during their first meeting in November 1799, Joubert spent a month preparing, thereby giving the Austrians and Russians the opportunity to significantly increase their contingents. Thus, in his report to the Directory, published in Monitor No. 7, 1799, Moreau writes: “Many reasons led to the loss of the battle (we are talking about Novi - A.Z.): first of all, the numerical superiority of the enemy forces - in infantry by one third , - three-quarters of the cavalry.”
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Sieyès anxiously followed the first steps of General Joubert on the other side of the Alps. “He did not take his eyes off this blade sparkling on the horizon, from which salvation could come,” wrote Albert Vandal.
As we have already mentioned, appointed commander of the newly formed Army of the Rhine in July 1799, Moreau was replaced by Joubert in Italy, but the latter, wanting to have such an experienced adviser with him, asked Moreau to stay. Moved by patriotic feelings, Moreau agreed. This patriotism, as we will see below, will serve him badly.
Joubert arrived in the Italian army on the 17th Thermidor (August 4, 1799). He immediately moved her forward, both by virtue of his innate determination and in accordance with the established plan. In addition, the French soldiers, starving in the harsh Apennine gorges, hoped to once again find abundance in everything on the plains of Lombardy. Joubert knew that Suvorov was close, but hoped that the siege of Mantua would keep part of the Austrian troops, operating jointly with the Russians, away from him. But Mantua, as it turned out, had surrendered five days ago, and the Austrians rushed to the aid of Suvorov with a forced march.
The first collision occurred on 26 Thermidor (August 13); and at dawn 28 Thermidor i.e. On August 15, Napoleon's birthday, the entire Russian army, deployed in front of Novi, opened up to the French. Joubert immediately rushed to attack the line of outposts. A firefight had already begun on both sides. From the vineyards and from the outskirts with which the terrain was cut, gunfire was heard, still weak and rare, Joubert rushed forward, dragging the weakening column behind him; suddenly he fell from his horse, bleeding, wounded through the chest by a bullet. He was carried to the rear on a stretcher covered with canvas so that the sight of the dying leader would not demoralize the soldiers, and before noon he died. There was nothing to be done and Moreau had to take command of a poorly prepared and poorly organized battle against the formidable and invincible Suvorov. The firing flared up; The battle began to be serious and hot. For 12 hours, the Republican troops held firm under artillery and rifle fire, defending their positions, repelling constantly repeated attacks by the Russians; Two horses were killed near Moreau (other estimates say three). But, in the end, when the Austrians, who arrived in time at noon, bypassed the French on the left flank, their ranks became disordered, and the army retreated, although in order, but having lost its artillery, several generals and many prisoners. Moreau again took her beyond the Apennines and could only cover Genoa, leaving the entire peninsula in the enemy’s power, except for the narrow edge of the Ligurian coast.
The first news of this disaster was received on the 9th Fructidor. Paris was informed that a bloody battle had taken place in Italy, that the enemy's losses were enormous, significantly greater than those of the French, but that Joubert had died. “No matter how indifferent the majority of the French became to the glory of their homeland,” wrote Albert Vandal, “the premonition of misfortune and the death of Joubert plunged society into despondency.”
The impression of the catastrophe was further enhanced by the fact that the information received was invested with some kind of mystery; the so-called “informed” people answered questions with restraint, with omissions, others seemed not to dare to say everything they knew. “A rumor quietly circulated,” Vandal continues, “that Joubert, killed at the very beginning of the battle, was wounded not by an enemy bullet, but by one of the Jacobin traitors who had sneaked into the ranks of the army or into the convoy; that this vile faction, which sought in every national calamity the satisfaction of its brutal appetites and revenge for its grievances, which recently only tried to kill two members of the Directory in the Champs de Mars, basely pursued on the heels of the young general with the aim of killing in his person the hope of all honest people in France.” . Could this be believed? Many thought it was murder. Before leaving for the army, Joubert received a rather ignorant letter in which his fellow countryman urgently asked him for a meeting. Joubert apparently disagreed. Perhaps they wanted to warn him of danger and advise him to be on his guard. Be that as it may, the government, declaring mourning in the country, showed extraordinary honors to the memory of Joubert.
Under Novi Moro again had to sacrifice his reputation. “Our misfortunes again appointed me commander-in-chief,” - this is what he said about himself, and this is what his soldiers said about him. He held off Suvorov as long as he could. Having disabled 8,000 soldiers of the “old Scythian,” Moreau led the army in perfect order to the safe line of Genoa. In the report of the Directory, published in the Monitor No. 6 of the 6th of Vendémière VIII (September 28, 1799), Moreau writes: “It seems important to me that the Republic should know the truth about this unfortunate event, but which honors the courage and courage of the Italian army... ...At that The moment I learned about the death of the fearless General Joubert and, although I did not have any position in this army, everyone began to turn to me for orders. I believed that the fate of the army required that I take command." Austrian losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners were significant and amounted to 205 officers and 5,845 soldiers. “The losses of the Russians have not yet been published in Vienna,” wrote Chateauneuf, “but bearing in mind that they attacked the center of the French battle line three times and were repulsed three times, it is not an exaggeration to say that their losses are twice those of the Austrians. After this campaign, all of France and, what is especially glorious, foreign nations began to call Moreau the French Fabius.”
It was the autumn of 1799. Suvorov's Swiss campaign was approaching its logical conclusion. But, as often happens in war, fortune turned away from the “old Scythian” at the last moment; the initiative passed to the troops of General Massena (the future Napoleonic marshal) and the troops of Rimsky-Korsakov, having lost the support of the Austrians, were defeated at the second battle of Zurich. It should be noted that the French people wanted peace, not war. The list of excellent and talented administrators appointed by the government of the first consul was in itself proof that the management of internal affairs in France would be carried out properly. The qualitative reorganization of the army made it possible, in turn, to predict that the upcoming war would end with an honorable peace for France. However, it was necessary to take a step that would instill in the French the conviction that their first consul was animated by the most peaceful aspirations. Upon Bonaparte's return from Egypt, circumstances developed in such a way that it was not difficult for him to find a solution to this problem.
By this time, Paul I had already been in power for 2.5 years and looked less and less often into his beloved Gatchina. He had already abandoned plans for the construction of Ingerburg (having only completed the dacha of E.I. Nelidova) and began to think about his new residence in the capital. He didn't like the Winter Palace, where everything was reminiscent of his mother's alcove favorites. In his imagination he already pictured the Mikhailovsky Castle, surrounded by deep ditches and secret underground passages connecting the Eastern and Western guardhouses with the main castle. It was here, on the site of Elizabeth’s summer palace, where he was born, that grandiose construction took place day and night. Then Pavel Petrovich did not yet know that the wonderful creation of the architect Brenn would serve as his home for only 40 days.
Pavel worked hard. He got up at 4 in the morning, attended parades, gave audiences, and dealt with issues of domestic and foreign policy. His efficiency could be envied by Napoleon himself, and the accuracy with which Paul’s orders were carried out aroused the admiration and sincere amazement of foreign envoys at court, including the French.
Pavel Petrovich was outraged by the policy of the English king George III because the Russian troops included in the Alkmaar surrender were given a very cold reception in England and that they were actually kept almost under house arrest in the British Isles of Guernsey and Jersey. The Russian sovereign hoped to become the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, and when, after that, the British besieged Malta, he was ready to accuse Great Britain of treason. Paul's irritation with Austria was even stronger. Part of the Russian troops, as we have already mentioned, under the command of Rimsky-Korsakov, was defeated due to the fault of the Austrians near Zurich on September 25, 1799. Suvorov, with the other wing of the army, was then the complete master of Piedmont and, in accordance with the instructions of his monarch, invited King Charles Emmanuel IV to return from Sardinia to the Turin Palace. The Austrian Archduke Charles, having won a victory over Massena in the first battle near Zurich in June 1799, left Switzerland with his troops for central Germany and left the Russians to their fate. Emperor Franz, in turn, sought to take possession of all of Northern Italy, and therefore, not wanting the House of Savoy to return there, he ordered Suvorov to immediately redeploy to Switzerland and join forces there with Russian troops.
The Russian commander discovered that the Austrians had not made any preparations for his army to cross the St. Gotthard Pass. The lack of mules for transporting artillery and convoys seriously hampered its movement and determined, to the same extent as the energetic actions of the French, the failure of the Swiss campaign. Suvorov himself attributed this failure to the indifference, or rather, the ill will of the Austrians. Suvorov's troops, who had to cross the peaks of the Alps, covered with snow and wild gorges from one valley to another, suffered severe poverty due to the unsatisfactory organization of convoys, and suffered heavy losses. Their situation seemed completely hopeless when it turned out that Rimsky-Korsakov, to whom they were going to join, was defeated and forced to leave Switzerland. Suvorov, without artillery, ammunition and food, surrounded on all sides by the victorious troops of Massena, barely made his way to the east. The remnants of the Russian detachment gathered in the city of Kure, from where they proceeded to the Bavarian borders. And, nevertheless, Massena later said with envy that “he would give everything for one Swiss campaign of Suvorov.”
Emperor Paul was furious with the results of the campaign. Suvorov received orders to return to St. Petersburg. The Tsar demanded that all Italian monarchs be returned to their thrones and that, as proof of the sincerity of Austrian policy, Thugut should be dismissed. Meanwhile, it dawned on Paul that after the capture of Ancona by the combined Austrian, Russian and Turkish forces, his own standard, raised above the fortress, was removed and only one Austrian banner was left above its walls. An enthusiastic enthusiast, eager to gain the glory of a royal, generous knight, recognized this act of the Austrians as a personal offense and decided in December 1799 to leave the coalition. Bonaparte immediately took advantage of this favorable circumstance and honored him by releasing 6,000 Russian prisoners with banners and full weapons to their homeland. This noble act of Bonaparte influenced the mood of Pavel Petrovich, who was imbued with enthusiastic sympathy for the first consul and his projects, including the development of a plan for a joint Franco-Russian expedition to India. With Russia's withdrawal from the coalition, England and Austria remained the only formidable opponents of France.
He, a gray-haired old man, understands me somewhat; but I have more of him. I am proud that I dealt with a nice man!...
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov about General Jean Victor Marie Moreau
On August 27, during the battle of Dresden, the French General Moreau, who was assigned the post of commander-in-chief of all allied armies instead of Field Marshal Schwarzenberg, was mortally wounded.
General Jean Victor Moreau, engraving by unknown artist
He died a few days later, namely on September 2, 1813, 200 years ago.
It seemed that the young man was destined to become a successful lawyer or government official, to follow in the footsteps of his father Gabriel Louis Moreau, as did his younger brother Joseph Marie Francois. As usual, his father sent Jean Victor to study at law school in Rennes, but he was captivated by his military career and simply ran away to military service. But the father insisted on continuing his studies and bought his son out of the army. I had to gnaw on the granite of science. This is how Moreau himself recalled: At the beginning of the Revolution, which was intended to usher in the freedom of the French people, I was doomed to study the laws. The revolution changed the direction of my life: I devoted it to military affairs. I did not join the ranks of the soldiers of freedom out of ambition, but chose the military field out of respect for the rights of the people: I became a warrior because I was a citizen.
Jean Victor Moreau
Jacques Francois Joseph SCHWEBACH-DEFONTAIN
Jean Victor Marie Moreau, lieutenant colonel of the battalion of volunteers of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, 1792
Francois BOUCHAU
In 1789, Jean Victor exchanged a boring career as a lawyer for the life of a professional soldier, joining the ranks of the newly created National Guard as an artillery captain. He was soon elected lieutenant colonel of the First Volunteer Battalion of the Ille-et-Vilaine department. Moreau took part in the war against Austria and Prussia, proved himself to be a knowledgeable and fearless officer, distinguished himself in many operations, which did not fail to affect his promotion; in four years he rose to the rank of division general, becoming the commander of a division of the Northern Army under the command of General Jean Charles Pichegru , and then commander of the army. Despite the fact that Father Moreau laid his head on the guillotine during the Jacobin Terror in 1794, Jacques Victor remained a republican. And in 1796, he was already appointed commander of the Rhine-Moselle Army, becoming one of the best commanders of the French Republic. Together with his comrades, generals Dese and Saint-Cyr, he won victories in southern Germany, occupying Regensburg and Munich. However, the campaign ended with a 40-day retreat, which Moreau carried out brilliantly, receiving the nickname of the French Fabius from his compatriots.
Jean Victor Marie Moreau
from an engraving by PARMENTIER for the History of the French Revolution by Louis Jean Joseph Blanc
However, in 1797 he was removed from command due to the fact that his commander and comrade General Pichegru, being chairman of the Council of Five Hundred, declared war on the Directory, was accused of treason and expelled from France. But soon the republic again felt the need for the services and talent of General Moro; he was drafted into the Italian army, which he soon led. So at the end of the 18th century, fate brought Moreau together with the Russian commander A.V. Suvorov.
Portrait of General Moreau
Engraving by E. MONSA based on a drawing by A. RUSSO
It must be said that both military leaders treated each other with respect; Jean Victor spoke of the Russian general as follows: Suvorov is one of the greatest generals: no one knew how to animate troops better than him, no one combined in himself to the highest degree the qualities of a military leader, such as his main exploits in Italy: the battles of Novi and Trebia, especially the march to Trebia, which is perfection in military art. He knew what he was talking about. He failed to defeat the great Russian commander, but Moreau himself was a capable student. And Alexander Vasilyevich saw Moro as a worthy opponent: And here I see the finger of Providence. It would be little glory to defeat a charlatan. The laurels that we steal from Moreau will bloom and turn green better...
Jean Victor Moreau. General-in-Chief of the Republican Army
Jacques Luc Barbier-Valbonne after an original by François GERARD, 1816
In Paris, meanwhile, dissatisfaction with the Directory was growing more and more. Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès was preparing a coup d'etat, for the success of which he needed good general's sword. Moreau came to the attention of the abbot, but he was absolutely indifferent to politics, and when Napoleon Bonaparte, who had fled from Egypt, appeared on the horizon, Jean Victor said with relief to Sieyès: This is the one you need; he will arrange a coup for you much better than me(A. Vandal). Moreau supported Napoleon on the day of the coup, with a detachment of 300 soldiers blocking in the Luxembourg Palace two members of the government - Louis Goyer and Jean Francois Moulin, who were not involved in the conspiracy.
Jean Victor Moreau. General-in-Chief of the French Army of the Rhine
Battle of Stockach May 3, 1800
Felix FILIPPOTO
In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte, in order to get Moreau out of sight, appointed the general commander of the new Army of the Rhine and French troops in Switzerland. In the spring, he crossed the Rhine and won victories over the Austrians at Stockach, Hochstein and Neraheim. Napoleon sent Moreau a dispatch dated May 16, 1800: I would gladly exchange the purple robe of the First Consul for the epaulettes of the commander of the brigade under your command. In September he arrived in Paris, where he was favorably received by Bonaparte, who honored the general with two pistols decorated with precious stones. In November, Jean Victor married the lovely young Creole Alexandrina Gullo, but after 10 days he again left for the active army.
Battle of Hohenlinden. General Moreau
Henri Frederic CHOPIN
It was this time that became the peak of the career of this one of the most talented generals of the French army. On December 3, 1800, the French army under his command won a brilliant victory over the Austrians at Hohenlinden, luring there, as if into a trap, the troops of the Archduke of Austrian Karl Ludwig Johann Hohenzolern. This further strengthened France's position. The result was the conclusion of the Peace of Luneville on February 9, 1801 between France and Austria, which consolidated the territorial annexations stipulated by the Treaty of Campo-Formia in Italy, Belgium and the Rhine. Of all its Italian possessions, Austria retained only Venice. She recognized the formation of the Batavian, Helvetic and Cisalpine Republics. The treaty meant the end of the decade-long war in Europe that had disgusted the French. This was the finest hour of General Moreau, he became extremely popular in his homeland, his compatriots put his victory at Hohenlinden above the victory at Marengo, attributed only to himself by Napoleon. Naturally, this triumph irritated Napoleon.
The victory at Hohenlinden was the last republican victory. Never again did France see such modesty in its commanders, such heartfelt respect for them on the part of the soldiers, such touching manifestations of patriotism as the embrace of two comrades, Ney and Richpans, on the battlefield, after they had united, breaking through the Austrian army on both sides . It never occurred to Moreau to inflate his victory with boastful reports: he reported about it in a strikingly modest letter containing only a few lines. Bonaparte reported it to the Legislative Corps as one of the greatest victories ever won, and wrote to Moreau that he had surpassed himself. But he later took back his praise. He argued that this victory was the result of pure chance and that Archduke John's operations were far superior to those of his enemy(Ernest Lavisse, Alfred Rambaud History of the 19th century)
Moreau, remaining a Republican, and, being an opponent of Bonaparte’s one-man dictatorship, retired from service, stepped aside, trying to stay away from politics: We're no good for conspiracies, settling in the Chateau Grosbois in the suburbs of Paris. Having learned that Bonaparte was going to become emperor, Jean Victor refused the Order of the Legion of Honor sent to him. But it should be noted that his wife and mother-in-law gathered at their home those dissatisfied with Napoleon’s rule, intrigued against him, expressed their dissatisfaction, which, naturally, immediately became known to the police...
Georges Cadoudal
Paul Amable COUTAN
This state of affairs did not suit many French people and, above all, the royalists. Conspiracies and assassination attempts on the First Consul were spreading. One of these irreconcilables was the fanatical leader of the Chouans and Breton rebels, Georges Cadoudal. After Moreau refused to cooperate with him, Cadoudal and his comrades decided to simply kidnap Napoleon during a walk and then kill him.
General Charles Pechegru Alexandre-François CAMINAD
The person who could replace the First Consul, according to the conspirators, should have been General Moreau, as a man whose authority in the army was akin to Napoleonic. As a mediator between them and Moreau, they appointed the former general Pichegru, who hated Napoleon, who was exiled by him to Guiana, but fled from there and was living illegally in Paris. It would be strange if the ardent Republican General Moreau agreed to this adventure. Not even wanting to meet with Cadoudal, he told Pichegru that he would agree to act against Bonaparte, but did not want to serve the Bourbons. He later wrote to Napoleon about the plot: I don’t even understand how a handful of people can hope to change the government and restore a family to the throne that the efforts of all of Europe and many years of civil war could not return. I assure you, General, that I rejected all the offers that were made to me as completely insane.
Arrest of General Peshegru
Artist of the French school
19th century French school engraving
Meanwhile, Napoleonic police tracked down the conspirators. First, General Jean Victor Moreau was arrested (for knowing but not reporting), then General Charles Peshegru, who was betrayed to the police by a friend, the owner of a safe house. Pichegru, despite the torture, remained silent, and 40 days after his arrest he was found in his cell, strangled by his own tie. Nobody believed in the general's suicide. Later, everyone was arrested by Cadoudal. At the trial, he confessed to the conspiracy, taking all the blame upon himself, refused to submit a request for pardon and was executed in the summer of 1804.
Portrait of General Jean Victor Moreau
Unknown artist
General Moreau was also tried. He defended himself brilliantly during the trial; the ladies present in the hall threw flowers at his feet, every now and then exclaiming: Moreau is innocent! Freedom for General Moreau! All this is colorfully described in the memoirs of Madame de Stael. He was sentenced to 2 years, to which Napoleon complained: They decided to punish him as if he were stealing handkerchiefs! And he replaced the imprisonment with deportation to the United States. In a letter to his wife, Jean Victor wrote that the verdict was a triumph for him horror and dishonor. In addition to moral ones, the general suffered material losses, the court withheld more than a million francs from him, Bonaparte gave his Paris apartment to General Bernadotte, and his estate in Grobois to Alexandre Berthier.
At the end of 1804, Moreau arrived in the United States and was excellently received by President Jefferson, who invited him to head the military schools opening in America. But the general chose to settle in Philadelphia, where he lived as a private citizen, hunting and fishing. He rejected all offers of cooperation from visiting political emigrants and agents of powers hostile to Napoleon. With the beginning of the Russian army's foreign campaign in 1813, Emperor Alexander I, on the advice of the former French Marshal Bernadotte, invited Moreau to take part in the joint fight against Napoleon. Coincidentally, the general’s wife fell ill and went to Europe for treatment, his adjutant J.B. Rapatel entered the Russian service, and a fire broke out on the estate, destroying the house, library and Moro’s manuscripts. When Jean Victor Moreau learned that many captured French soldiers remained in Russia, he wrote that I am ready to go to France with French troops, but I will not hide my disgust to enter my fatherland with a foreign army... And ...If a significant number of these unfortunates agree to go to the shores of France under my leadership, I guarantee that I will overthrow Napoleon.
Self-portrait
Pavel SVININ
Russian diplomats Andrei Yakovlevich Dashkov and Pavel Petrovich Tugoi-Svinin were not asleep either. Pavel Petrovich, a man from a tribe of adventurers and adventurers, a notable writer and artist, a distant relative of M. Yu. Lermontov (and, according to some pathfinders, A. S. Pushkin), became friends with Moreau, organized the general’s secret departure from America to Europe for the fast brig Hannibal, accompanied him on his journey. Svinin was with the general during the battle in Dresden, witnessing his injury, and remained with him until his death on September 2.
General Jean Victor Moreau
Pavel SVININ
In mid-August, Jean Victor arrived at the headquarters of Emperor Alexander I, was kindly received by him, a dinner was given in honor of the general, and he himself was introduced to King Frederick William III of Prussia and Emperor Franz I of Austria. As already mentioned, Alexander Pavlovich intended to do Moreau became the commander-in-chief of all coalition forces, since he considered only him a worthy opponent of Napoleon. The general himself preferred to remain chief of staff under the Russian emperor. The first covenant he gave to his allies was this: Do not attack those parts of the army where Napoleon himself is, attack only the marshals. The next day, Alexander I and General Moreau went to the theater of military operations, and for the rest of the time Jean Victor remained inseparably with the Russian emperor.
Death of General Moreau, par Paul Lehugeur
Death of General Moreau
Thomas SUTHERLAND
Jean-Victor Moreau dies from wounds received at the Battle of Dresden
Engraving by Thomas SUTHERLAND after the aquinta of William HEATH
On August 27, 1813, in the Battle of Dresden, the commander of the Allied forces, General Moreau, was mortally wounded by a cannonball explosion.
The French see divine Providence in the death of the traitor.
Carl Antoine Charles Horace VERENET
Illustration for the History of the Emperor Napoleon, Laurent de l'Ardèche
Well, then Dresden happened, the second day of the battle, a shootout of enemy batteries. Moreau suggested that the emperor drive away from the dangerous place and as soon as they moved, Jean Victor in front, Alexander half a length behind, a stray cannonball hit Moreau. It tore off his right leg and, having pierced his horse, crushed his left one... He was evacuated from the battlefield on a stretcher, built from Cossack pikes covered with greatcoats, to Netnitz, where physician Willie amputated Moreau both limbs above the knees.
Death of General Moreau
Louis-Charles-Auguste COUDER
Death of General Moreau (fragment)
The general was then transported to Laun, where he died on September 2. In his suicide note to his wife, he wrote: This scoundrel Bonaparte was lucky again. He turned out to be happier than me here too. His faithful adjutant Colonel Rapatel, Alexander I's aide-de-camp Colonel Orlov, and Pavel Svinin were constantly at his bedside. The latter painted a portrait of Moreau from life these days: He is represented as lying on his deathbed, but not changed in the least in his resemblance. The portrait of General Moreau was drawn by me in Prague from life and, upon my departure to England, was presented by Colonel Rapatel to the Emperor, who ordered it to be placed in the Hermitage. This portrait could not be found. Moreau dictated the last message for the Russian emperor: Sovereign! I go to my grave with the same feelings of respect, surprise and devotion that I felt for your Majesty in the first minute of our meeting...
Upon learning of Moreau's death, Alexander I sent his widow a letter: When the terrible misfortune that struck General Moreau near me deprived me of the experience and knowledge of this great man, I still cherished hope through efforts to preserve him for his family and my friendship. Providence determined otherwise. He died as he lived, with the strength of a strong and unshakable soul. Everywhere in Russia you will find sympathy for yourself, and if you wish to settle with us, I will use all the ways to decorate your life, making it my sacred duty to be your comforter and support. My friendship for your husband extends beyond the grave, and I have no other way, although in part, to express it, as by doing something for the well-being of his family. The emperor assigned the widow a one-time allowance of half a million rubles and assigned a lifelong pension of 30 thousand rubles annually. In addition, later King Louis XVIII, at the request of the Russian emperor, granted Alexandrina Moreau a pension of 12 thousand francs and the title of marshal's wife (la Marechale Moreau), as well as compensation of about half a million francs for lost property.
Dresden. Monument to General Moreau
Engraver William MILLER
View of Dresden and monument to General Moreau, 1815.
F. TEUBERT
Monument to General Moreau in Dresden
And at the site of the death of General Moreau near Dresden, Alexander I ordered the installation of a monument in the form of a granite obelisk with an antique helmet and a laurel wreath and a sword on top.
We managed to find crumbs about the general’s children. His only son, three-year-old Eugene, remained in France with his grandmother and soon died. I don’t know how many daughters there were, but the names (Amalia, Isabel) are different, although apparently we are talking about the same lady. OUR EVERYTHING wrote about her in his diary dated December 5, 1834: Ermolova and Courval (daughter of General Moreau) dress the worst of all. And Dolly Fikelmon added: The family of the Frenchman Viscount Courval appeared here; his wife is Moreau's daughter. As such, she received the code of maid of honor of the Russian Court with a large boarding house. She is not at all beautiful and not even elegant, but she seems to me to be a creature with a good, cheerful character. Her husband is a handsome man, terribly talkative and a phrase-monger when inspired to do so. They have beautiful and smart children.
A rogue Bonaparte in exile on the island of Saint Helena said to the Count of Las Cass: I am saddened by the fame of Moreau, who found death in the ranks of the enemy. If he died for his homeland, I would envy such a fate. They blamed me for his expulsion; one way or another - after all, there were two of us, when only one was needed... And he turned out to be right: Napoleon’s posthumous glory completely eclipsed the glory of Jean Victor Marie Moreau...
Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria
Ironically, two opponents - Suvorov and Moro - are buried in one country, one city, on one avenue - Nevsky. At the behest of Alexander I, the body of Jean Victor Moreau was embalmed in Prague and taken to St. Petersburg. He was buried in the crypt of the Catholic Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria with the honors of a Russian field marshal. The Russian military department took upon itself all the worries about the burial. Posthumously, King Louis XVIII promoted Moreau to marshal of France (as did Georges Cadoudal).
During the years of Soviet power, a warehouse was located in the church.
And recently a memorial plaque was installed in the room
On the brick wall of the crypt hangs only a portrait of the outstanding general. I read that on the 200th anniversary of the death of the commander, they plan to create a memorial at the grave and open it to the public...
pro100-mica.livejournal.com
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