Bertrand, Comte Clauzel (12 December 1772 – 21 April 1842) was a French soldier who served in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He saw service in the Low Countries, Italy, and Spain, where he achieved short periods of independent command. He became a Marshal of France under the Orléans monarchy following the July Revolution.
When asked on Saint Helena which of his generals was the most skillful, Napoleon named Clauzel along with Louis-Gabriel Suchet and Étienne Maurice Gérard.[1]
Military career
Bertrand Clauzel was born on 12 December 1772 in Mirepoix, in the County of Foix. He served in the first campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars as one of the volunteers of 1791.[2] In June 1795, having distinguished himself repeatedly on the northern frontier (1792–1793) and in the eastern Pyrénées (1793–1794), Clauzel was made a Brigadier General. In this rank, he served in Italy in 1798 and 1799, during which he won great distinction at the Battle of Trebbia and the Battle of Novi.
In 1802, he served in the expedition to Saint-Domingue. He became a Divisional General in December 1802, and after his return to France, he was in almost continuous service there until 1806 when he was sent to the army of Naples. Soon after this, Napoleon made him a Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur. In 1808–1809, he was with Auguste de Marmont in Dalmatia, and at the close of 1809, he was appointed to a command in the Army of Portugal under André Masséna.[2]
Peninsular campaigns of 1810–1812
Clauzel commanded a division in the Army of Portugal during the Peninsular War of 1810–1812,[3] including the Torres Vedras campaign. Under Marmont, he re-established the discipline, efficiency, and mobility of the army, which had suffered severely in the retreat from Torres Vedras. In the 1812 Salamanca campaign, the result of Clauzel's work was shown in the marching powers of the French.[citation needed]
Salamanca: "a grand attempt to retrieve the battle"
At the Battle of Salamanca, Clauzel's division initially positioned behind the French left wing. However, after the rout of Jean Guillaume Barthélemy Thomières's division, it advanced to reinforce the faltering line. With both Marmont and Jean Pierre François Bonet wounded, Clauzel, as the most senior officer available, assumed command of the French forces.
Clauzel assumed command amidst challenging circumstances. Marmont's attempt to flank had exposed divisions led by Thomières and Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune to an Anglo-Portuguese assault. According to Lewis Butler, Clauzel's subsequent actions constituted "a grand attempt to retrieve the battle."[3]
The battlefield was characterized by two small hills, the lesser and the greater Arapiles. The lesser Arapile was situated at the heart of the Anglo-Portuguese army's position, while the greater Arapile occupied a central position in the French army's deployment. Both hills served as crucial points, securing the flanks of each army's formations. Clauzel's strategy aimed to counter the attack on his left flank by launching an assault on the Anglo-Portuguese center to capture the lesser Arapile.
However, his offensive proved unsuccessful as it was met with staunch resistance from fresh enemy troops, resulting in disarray among the French forces and leaving them vulnerable to subsequent assaults on their left and center. The battle culminated in a resounding defeat for the French, with Butler noting that the engagements had rendered the divisions of Maucune, Thomières, and Clauzel incapable of functioning as cohesive military units.[3]
The Castile Campaign
The retreat from Salamanca posed significant challenges due to the substantial losses suffered by the French army. Initially, Foy's division, the only French unit relatively unscathed, provided cover as the rear guard. However, it suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of García Hernández.
Clauzel managed to salvage what remained of the Army of Portugal as he retreated north of Burgos. Nevertheless, he found himself besieged by Wellington before he could regroup his forces. With reinforcement from General Souham, Clauzel resumed divisional command in the subsequent campaign, resulting in Wellington's retreat to Badajoz. Despite Wellington's return to his initial position, Clauzel's costly defeat at Salamanca compelled French forces in Spain to focus their efforts against Wellington, leading to the liberation of Andalusia, Extremadura, and Asturias by Spanish forces.[4]
Army Command in Spain and during Hundred Days
In early 1813, Clauzel assumed command of the Army of the North in Spain. During the Battle of Vitoria, he was a day's march away and unable to aid Jourdan, leading to defeat. Under the supreme command of Jean-de-Dieu Soult, he continued to serve with unwavering distinction throughout the rest of the Peninsular War. Following the first restoration in 1814, he reluctantly submitted to the Bourbons but swiftly joined Napoleon upon his return to France. Throughout the Hundred Days, he commanded an army defending the Pyrenean frontier. Despite Waterloo, he adamantly refused to acknowledge the restored government and fled to the United States, where he was condemned to death in absentia.[2] He settled in the Vine and Olive Colony in Alabama, later returning to France after the venture failed.[citation needed]
Political life
He seized the first opportunity to return and assist the Orléanist Liberals in France in 1820, serving in the Chamber of Deputies from 1827 to 1830. Following the July Revolution of 1830, he promptly assumed a military command. Clauzel took over from the Legitimist General Louis-Auguste-Victor de Bourmont as leader of the invasion of Algeria. While he led a successful campaign, he was soon recalled by the home government, aiming to avoid further entanglements in Algeria. Simultaneously, he was appointed a Marshal of France in February 1831. For nearly four years thereafter, he advocated his Algerian policy to the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1835, he was reinstated as commander-in-chief. Despite several triumphs, notably the capture of Mascara in 1835, Clauzel suffered a significant setback at Constantine in 1836.[2]
Though primarily attributed to a change in government in France, the failure was widely blamed on Clauzel by public opinion, leading to his recall in February 1837. Upon his return, he retired from active service, vigorously defending his actions before the deputies before withdrawing from public life. He lived in retirement until his death at Château du Secourieu in Haute-Garonne.[2]
