Louis-Alexandre Berthier

Louis-Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel et Valangin, prince de Wagram (French: [lwi alɛksɑ̃dʁ bɛʁtje]; 20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815) was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minister of War of France and was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1804. Berthier served as chief of staff to Napoleon Bonaparte from his first Italian campaign in 1796 until his first abdication in 1814. The operational efficiency of the Grande Armée owed much to his considerable administrative and organizational skills.

Born into a military family, Berthier served in the American Revolutionary War and survived suspicion of monarchism during the Reign of Terror before a rapid rise in the ranks of the French Revolutionary Army. Although a key supporter of the coup against the Directory that gave Napoleon supreme power, and present for his greatest victories, Berthier strongly opposed the progressive stretching of lines of communication during the Russian campaign. Allowed to retire by the restored Bourbon regime, he died by either suicide or murder shortly before the Battle of Waterloo. Berthier's reputation as a superb operational organiser remains strong among current historians.

Berthier was born in Versailles on 20 November 1753. He was the eldest of five surviving children of Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Baptiste Berthier (1721–1804), an officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, and his first wife (married in 1746) Marie Françoise L'Huillier de La Serre. Three of his brothers also served in the French Army, with two, César (1765–1819) and Victor-Léopold (1770–1807), becoming generals during the Napoleonic Wars.

As a boy, Berthier was instructed in the military art by his father, an officer of the Corps de genie (Engineer Corps). In 1764 he was admitted to the Royal Engineering School of Mézières, as a second lieutenant, graduating as a topographical engineer two years later, at the age of 12. In March 1772, Berthier entered the army as a lieutenant in the Flanders Legion. He then joined the Prince of Lambesc's Lorraine Dragoon Regiment in August 1776, and was promoted to captain in June 1777.

Berthier first saw action during the American Revolutionary War, in which he served from 1780 to 1783 as a staff officer under Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Count of Rochambeau. On his return, having attained the rank of colonel, he was employed in various staff posts and was made a Knight of Saint Louis in 1788. In July 1789, at the start of the French Revolution, Berthier was made a lieutenant-colonel as well as chief of staff of the Versailles National Guard, and in this role protected King Louis XVI's family from popular violence. In 1791, he aided in the emigration of the king's aunts Victoire and Adélaïde.

In 1792, Berthier was promoted to maréchal de camp and posted to the Army of the North. He was appointed chief of staff to Marshal Nicolas Luckner, and played a distinguished part in the Argonne campaign of Generals Dumouriez and Kellermann. He served with great credit in the War in the Vendée of 1793–1796. Berthier was made a brigade general in March 1795 and a general of division three months later.

Berthier first met Napoleon Bonaparte in March 1796, and was at once made chief of staff to the Army of Italy, which Bonaparte had recently been appointed to command. He served in the Italian campaign of 1796, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Lodi. In January 1797 he played an important role in the Battle of Rivoli, relieving General Joubert when the latter was attacked by the Austrian general Jozsef Alvinczi. His power of work, accuracy and quick comprehension, combined with his long and varied experience and his complete mastery of detail, made Berthier the ideal chief of staff. In this capacity, Berthier was Napoleon's most valued assistant for the rest of his career.

Berthier accompanied Napoleon throughout the campaign of 1797, and was left in charge of the army after the Treaty of Campo Formio. He was in this post in 1798 when he entered Italy, invaded the Vatican, organized the Roman Republic, and took Pope Pius VI prisoner. Berthier supervised the Pope’s relocation to Valence, where, after a tortuous journey, Pius died. The death of the Pope dealt a major blow to the Vatican's political power.