1800 - Mort du General Desaix
elverno
Posts: 1,068 ✭
Napoleon was kind of a tough guy on his friends. He arguably only had three or four of them, at least personal friends. And all of the ones except one that I'm thinking of died in battles where Napoleon was in overall command. One of those friends was Louis Desaix who "marched to the sound of the guns" at the battle of Marengo and saved his commander's b-tt by turning a lost battle into a resounding win. Upon arriving at the battle in late afternoon after forced marches he is said to have commented that this battle was lost but there was time to win another that day. Thereupon he launched his troops at the Austrians who were rather lazily pursuing Napoleon's beaten army and crushed the pursuit column. This caused widespread panic and the battle was turned. Unfortunately for Desaix, he died at the climatic moment.
Bramsen 44, 50mm
Or perhaps that's a good way for a soldier to die, if die he must. Later historians have made a big deal about how Napoleon feared Desaix as a rival. Most of that stems from the fact his almost-lost battle at Marengo weighed on Napoleon's mind for most of the rest of his life. As late as St. Helena he was still rewriting how the battle went turning it into a planned retreat in order to suck the Austrians into his master plan, to be crushed by Desaix who he had ordered to be there. Not complementary to a great commander but of course Wellington spent almost his entire life after Waterloo trying to make it into a British victory that the Prussians had arrived late for.
A real truth is that Napoleon and Desaix considered each other friends. The reverse is the accepted message (read, edited history) of Desaix's final words. It's known that his last words were about the First Consul (not Emperor yet) and that they expressed his regret if he hadn't done enough to save the day. Whether his exact words are on the reverse of this medal is certainly open to speculation; the men listening were under fire at the time. Napoleon mourned for years; he named public buildings and works after Desaix, raised multiple monuments at his own expense and never really forgot his friend.
Bramsen 44, 50mm
Or perhaps that's a good way for a soldier to die, if die he must. Later historians have made a big deal about how Napoleon feared Desaix as a rival. Most of that stems from the fact his almost-lost battle at Marengo weighed on Napoleon's mind for most of the rest of his life. As late as St. Helena he was still rewriting how the battle went turning it into a planned retreat in order to suck the Austrians into his master plan, to be crushed by Desaix who he had ordered to be there. Not complementary to a great commander but of course Wellington spent almost his entire life after Waterloo trying to make it into a British victory that the Prussians had arrived late for.
A real truth is that Napoleon and Desaix considered each other friends. The reverse is the accepted message (read, edited history) of Desaix's final words. It's known that his last words were about the First Consul (not Emperor yet) and that they expressed his regret if he hadn't done enough to save the day. Whether his exact words are on the reverse of this medal is certainly open to speculation; the men listening were under fire at the time. Napoleon mourned for years; he named public buildings and works after Desaix, raised multiple monuments at his own expense and never really forgot his friend.
0
Comments
FOR SALE Items
P.S. Looks like Roger Daltry from the early 70's
09/07/2006
Shep
Collecting Penguins, Named Ship Coins and other assorted goodies
Looking for Circulated coins of Papua New Guinea
stores.ebay.com/Grumpy's-Cave
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!