Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
Portrait by Josef Grassi, ca. 1810
Colonel Königsfels Teaching Prince Poniatowski to Ride by Bernardo Bellotto, 1773
Stanislaus Augustus of Poland encouraged his nephew to return and serve in the Polish ranks.
Poniatowski in 1792
Marshal of the Empire was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was created by Sénatus-consulte on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent reinstated the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. According to the Sénatus-consulte, a Marshal was a grand officer of the Empire, entitled to a high-standing position at the court and to the presidency of an electoral college.
Napoleon and several of his Marshals (recognisable by their white-feathered bicornes) at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. Painting by Vasily Vereshchagin
Official uniform of a Marshal of the Empire. It was designed by painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey and designer Charles Percier.
Image: Robert Lefevre 20
Image: Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Prince de Ponte Corvo, roi de Suède, Maréchal de France (1763 1844)