Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Videos
Jean-Baptiste Bessières, duc d'Istrie was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon in 1804.
Portrait by Henri-François Riesener
Jean-Baptiste Bessières, adjutant in 1792 by Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guérin, 1835
Bessières leading the cavalry of the Consular Guard in a charge at the Battle of Marengo, 14 June 1800. Painting by Alphonse Lalauze.
Portrait by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse
Battle of Austerlitz
Videos
The Battle of Austerlitz was fought on Monday 2 December 1805, near Austerlitz, being the decisive engagement of the War of the Third Coalition. The Grande Armée under the command of Emperor Napoleon
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
…of the Imperial Guard. A brilliant cavalry officer, Bessières distinguished himself in most of the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars, notably at Austerlitz, Eylau, Aspern-Essling and Wagram. In 1808, he played an active role in the Peninsular War, scoring a victory at Medina de Rioseco early in the conflict…
Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805 François Gérard, c. 1810
Napoleon accepts the surrender of General Mack and the Austrian army at Ulm. Painting by Charles Thévenin
French cuirassiers taking position
Capture of a French regiment's eagle by the cavalry of the Russian guard, by Bogdan Willewalde (1884)