Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr was a French military commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire. He is regarded as Napoleon's finest commander in defensive warfare.
Portrait by Horace Vernet, 1821
Portrait by Jean-Urbain Guérin, 1801
Heraldic achievement of Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr as comte de l’Empire
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)