Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era

by George F Nafziger

  After the Treaty of Lunéville French occupation of Switzerland was no longer necessary and it became advantageous to Napoleon to neutralize it yet again. In doing so, Napoleon authored a new Swiss constitution, the Act of Mediation (1802–03). It reestablished a federal government in Switzerland. Napoleon then negotiated an alliance with the new Swiss Republic that included the provision of four Swiss infantry regiments to the French army.

  After the allied victory at Leipzig, Napoleon was no longer able to protect Switzerland and on 21 December 1813 the allied armies invaded Switzerland. The Swiss government began to fall apart, as the new cantons established by the Act of Mediation feared that they would be abolished. An aristocratic revolution erupted in Berne on 23 December 1813. The Allies were forced to intervene and induced the Swiss to agree on a new Federal Pact in September 1814. This restored the old federal institutions, including the practically absolute sovereignty of the cantons. The newly organized diet was a diplomatic body with little real power. The Bishoprics of Basel, Neuchâtel, Geneva, Savoy, Valais and Valtellina expressed their desire to become part of the new Confederation. Neuchâtel called on its prince, the King of Prussia, to assist. The Treaty of Paris left most of these territories outside of the Swiss national boundaries when it established them. However, on 12 September 1814, Valais, Geneva and Neuchâtel were officially taken into the Confederation as cantons. The final settlement would have to wait until the Congress of Vienna.

  The perpetual neutrality of Switzerland was established by the congress. The old frontiers were restored, with the exception of Mulhaus, which remained within France and Valtellina, which went to Austria. A second act gave Switzerland some minor territories in Savoy and Swiss neutrality was extended to northern Savoy.

  When Napoleon returned, Swiss neutrality was promptly ignored. The Swiss joined the alliance and its troops entered Franche-Comté on 3 July. Despite its support, Switzerland was not compensated in the second Treaty of Paris. There were some slight border adjustments on the French frontier and a free zone was created near Geneva.

  SYSTEM OF THE YEAR XI. The System of the Year XI was a system of artillery weapons designed to replace the Gribeauval System. The field guns of the new system consisted of 4pdr, 6pdr and 12pdr cannons, and 5.5 in. howitzers. Though introduced in 1802, it never completely replaced the weapons of the Gribeauval System, which remained in use in Spain. After the Second Restoration, the System of the Year XI was eliminated and replaced by the Gribeauval System.

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  TALAVERA, BATTLE OF. The battle of Talavera de la Reina was fought on 27–28 July 1809. Wellington commanded a force of 20,578 British and 34,800 Spanish troops under General Cuesta. He was attempting to withdraw from the advancing French, but was unable to do so fast enough, so he turned and deployed his forces with the city of Talavera on his right and his right wing formed of Spanish troops. In pursuit was King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain commanding 46,078 French and allied troops.

  The battle was a frontal assault, with little effort at maneuver. The superior British firepower savaged the advancing French columns and forced them to retreat. In a maneuver of epic stupidity the British 23rd Light Dragoons charged into a ravine and were nearly destroyed but for the timely intervention of the King’s German Legion. In another notable incident, four Spanish infantry battalions posted between the Tagus and the Pajar fired a volley at some French dragoons 1,000 yards away. The noise was so great that the startled Spanish threw down their muskets and fled the field.

  All folly was not on the British side of this fight. Joseph and his staff suffered from considerable discord and abandoned the field with 12,000 fresh and uncommitted troops. Joseph was unable or unwilling to press home the battle and simply withdrew when his personal ability to continue the fight ceased.

  The French lost around 7,300 casualties. The British lost 3,494 and though the Spanish admitted only losing 1,201, no proper return was ever prepared and their true losses are unknown.

  For his victory, Wellington was created a viscount and learned that the Spanish armies were unable to operate alone and survive. Wellington was unable to enjoy the fruits of his victory at Talavera because he soon had Ney and Mortier advancing to the south from where they could take him in the rear. Wellington quickly withdrew.

  TALLEYRAND-PÉRIGORD, CHARLES-MAURICE DE, BISHOP OF AUTUN, PRINCE OF BENEVENTO (1754–1838). Talleyrand was born in Paris on 13 February 1754. He was the first born of an ancient French family. Lamed in an accident, his future was aimed at the church at an early age. After his studies at the Collège d’Harcourt, he went to Saint-Sulpice and became an abbé. His readings of revolutionary literature caused him to abandon the priestly life for one of licentiousness. Despite this, being an ordained priest since 1779 and appointed general agent of the clergy in 1780, Talleyrand acquired a reputation as a man of ability. The Assembly of the Clergy of France made him its promoter and secretary in 1785. Only by the intervention of his father, Comte Daniel de Talleyrand, who wrung a promise from a dying king, was his notorious immorality overlooked and he obtained an episcopal see. Talleyrand was consecrated on 16 January 1789 and promoted to the Bishopric of Autun. From there he was elected a member of the États-généraux and went to Versailles to execute those duties.

  Being in the National Assembly during the Revolution, Talleyrand looked upon it as having “dismembered France.” Initially, he advised Louis XVI to dissolve the Assembly. Despite this, Talleyrand found the democratic movement irresistible and soon joined it. As a member of the constitutional committee, he took part in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Talleyrand agitated for the confiscation of Church property and took the oath to the civil constitution. His peers in the church described him as deserving “infamy in this world and damnation in the next” and he resigned his see. Despite this he consecrated several constitutional bishops and was excommunicated by a pontifical brief of 13 April 1791.

  In 1792 the Assembly sent Talleyrand to London on an unofficial diplomatic mission to organize a Franco-British alliance. All he obtained was a promise of neutrality. Shortly later, Talleyrand was banished by the Convention, and he fled to the United States. In March 1796 Talleyrand returned to Paris and, with the assistance of Barras, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Talleyrand saw the potential of the young Napoleon Bonaparte and welcomed him as one “who would make everything smooth.” He conspired with Bonaparte and Sieyès in the the coup d’État du 18 brumaire, after which he assisted Napoleon, then First Consul, in the drafting of the Concordat. Meanwhile the pope released Talleyrand from his ban of excommunication and restored him to secular life and the lay communion. In 1803 Napoleon compelled him to marry, by civil law, his mistress, Madame Grand, an English divorcée. Talleyrand served Napoleon as the principal agent in many treaties early in the Empire and was paid a fortune of some 60,000,000 francs for his services. In addition, he was made grand chamberlain, vice elector of the Empire, and Sovereign Prince of Benevento. In 1807, during negotiations that led to the Treaty of Tilsit, Talleyrand advised against the Franco-Russian Alliance and resigned the ministry in August 1807. His opposition to the Spanish War in 1807 was the cause of his complete disgrace. Napoleon’s disgust was substantial and he is reputed to have described him as “a shit in silk stockings.”

  In 1814 Talleyrand became the leader of the provisional French government. He led the Senate in the establishment of a constitution that gave full power to Louis XVIII. Louis XVIII then appointed him as minister of foreign affairs and his first act was to preserve for France its 1792 frontiers. At the Congress of Vienna, Talleyrand broke the union of the great powers by secretly concluding a treaty with Austria and Britain. After the Waterloo campaign and the Second Restoration he was once again appointed minister to Louis XVIII and prevented the dismemberment of France yet again. Talleyrand was appointed grand chamberlain and peer of France, but had no position in government. In 1830 Louis-Philippe, whose accession he had supported, appointed him ambassador to Bri
tain. After having established the entente cordiale with Britain, he resigned office in November 1834. Talleyrand returned to Paris and died there in May 1838.

  TARGOWICA, CONFEDERATION OF. The Confederation of Targowica was organized on 14 May 1792. The King of Poland took advantage of Russia’s involvement in a war against Turkey to instigate a reform in Poland (1788–92). The task of implementing it was carried out by the “Four-Year” or “Great Sejm,” which established a new constitution known as the Constitution of the Third of May. This constitution was established in 1791, and abolished the liberum veto, introduced majority rule and guaranteed personal freedoms to all of the people. The constitution was hailed in the United States, England and France, but was seen as a threat to the absolute rulers of Prussia, Austria and, especially, Russia. In 1792 a handful of magnates led by Ksawery Branicki, Szczesny Potocki and Seweryn Rzewuski, instigated by Russia, betrayed the Commonwealth and formed the Confederation of Targowica against the new constitution. They then “asked” for help from Russia, whose troops crossed the borders and war broke out. The King of Poland’s nephew, Josef Poniatowski, and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a veteran of the American War of Independence, put up a heroic resistance but all hope faded away when the Prussians joined in, attacking the Polish armies in the rear.

  TAUROGGEN, CONVENTION OF. The Convention of Tauroggen was signed on 30 December 1812 by Prussian General Yorck and Russian General Diebitsch. Yorck was the commander of the Prussian Hilfkorps serving as part of the Grande Armée during the invasion of Russia, under the overall command of Marshal Macdonald. During the retreat from Russia, General Diebitsch approached the dissaffected Prussian general under a flag of truce and proposed that he defect, with his army, and join the Russians in their war against France. Yorck acted on his own, against the wishes of his king, and signed the convention. Though initially the King of Prussia ordered him arrested, popular sentiment supported Prussian defection to the Russians and eventually King Friedrich Wilhelm III relented, forgave Yorck, defected to the Russians, and declared war on France.

  TCHICHAGOV, PAUL VASILIEVICH (1765–1849). Tchichagov served in the Russian navy under Catherine the Great and gained a reputation for hotheaded foolishness, though apparently not foolish enough to prevent his promotion to admiral. Alexander I appointed him minister of the navy in 1805–06 and in May 1812 gave him command of the Moldavia, Wallachia and Black Sea Fleet to replace Kutusov as military custodian of the Russo-Turkish border after the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest. The initial plan was that Tchichagov would reach an agreement with the Turks that would permit him to cross their territory and strike the French Illyrian provinces, but the Turks refused to cooperate.

  By August 1812, however, the situation was such that every musket was needed in central Russia and Tchichagov marched north to strike Napoleon’s southern flank. By mid-September he had reached the region of the Pripet Marshes and had joined other Russian forces to form the Third Army. Tchichagov advanced on and recaptured Minsk on 16 November, then turned east and marched on Borisov and the Berezina. Had Tchichagov been more aggressive and marched harder he might have placed his army on the western bank of the Berezina and prevented the French from crossing. Instead, he hung back and arrived too late to effectively intervene. He joined the pursuit of Napoleon and followed him to the Niemen River in Poland. In the spring he marched on Thorn and was relieved of his command, his career as a general ending.

  TILSIT, TREATY OF. The Treaty of Tilsit is, in fact, two treaties signed on 7 July and 9 July 1807. The first was between France and Russia, the second between France and Prussia.

  The terms of the treaty signed by France and Russia made the two states allies and divided Europe between them, ignoring the claims of Austria and Prussia. By its terms the two parties agreed that Prussia would be reduced from 89,120 to 46,032 square miles and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw would be formed from those same provinces and placing under the rule of the King of Saxony. It also created the Kingdom of Westphalia in northern Germany from a number of-former Prussian lands and other German states. It established Napoleon’s hegemony in western and central Europe. Russia accepted that Prussia would be occupied by French troops until a war indemnity, set at 120,000,000 francs, had been paid.

  The treaty also contained secret provisions whereby Napoleon agreed to help Russia take most of European Turkey if Turkey rejected French mediation in its disputes with Russia. Russia agreed to join the Continental System and was given French consent to take Finland from Sweden. It also joined the French and Russians in a military alliance.

  The second treaty forced Prussia to join the Continental System and close its ports to British trade. It also forced Prussian assent to all the territorial reallocations made in the first treaty with Russia.

  TOLENTINO, BATTLE OF. The battle of Tolentino was fought on 2 May 1815 between the Austrians and Neapolitans. King Joachim Murat of Naples had betrayed and abandoned Napoleon in 1814, but his conscience and the fact that northern Italy had not been given to him in return for his betrayal of Napoleon, caused him to rise up with his army and advance north to support Napoleon as well as to grab what he thought was his due. Murat marched north from Naples with 39,000 men and encountered Feldmarschal-leutnant Baron von Bianchi commanding around 10,000 men. Though terribly outnumbered, the Neapolitan army was utterly incompetent. Murat ran about as fast as he could, attempting to make up for the incompetence of his officer corps, but could not. The Austrians decisively beat his army and it utterly collapsed. In doing so, they lived up to Napoleon’s earlier comment about the Neapolitans: “Dress them in green, white or red, they’ll run just the same.” The Neapolitans lost around 4,000 casualties and prisoners, while the Austrians lost around 700. The destruction of the Neapolitan army cost Murat his throne and would soon cost him his life.

  TOLENTINO, TREATY OF. The Treaty of Tolentino was signed on 19 February 1797 by France and the Vatican. By its terms the latter agreed to pay an indemnity to prevent French occupation.

  TORRES VEDRAS, SIEGE OF. The siege of Torres Vedras ran from 10 October 1810 to 5 March 1811. Masséna had advanced into Portugal at the head of the Army of Portugal. Wellington could not face Masséna in the field and withdrew behind a series of fortifications he had caused to be prepared between the Zezere River and the Atlantic Ocean. The lines stood behind two smaller rivers, one running east and the other running west that cut across the peninsula, and behind which were a series of hills. This combination formed a naturally strong position that 108 redoubts and 447 cannon greatly strengthened.

  Wellington had decided that the best way to deal with the French was to let them starve in the countryside before these lines, which he assumed had been reasonably stripped of supplies. Once weakened by starvation, Wellington planned to march out and engage the French. However, much to his surprise, instead of starving in a month, it took the French four months to reach the point where the lack of supplies forced them to withdraw.

  Masséna’s original army contained 60,000 men. By March 1811 it had declined to a strength of around 47,000. Masséna realized that he had no hope of winning the situation and withdrew toward Spain.

  TRACHENBERG, AGREEMENT OF. The agreement was reached in early August 1813. By this agreement, the allied commanders (Russian, Prussian and Austrian) agreed that, whichever army should find Napoleon advancing against it, should fall back while the other armies should then advance to take advantage of the less capable French marshals commanding whatever forces faced them. The reason for this agreement was that Napoleon had always been victorious when he faced the Allies, but his marshals were a different story. It was believed that by avoiding battle with Napoleon and concentrating on defeating his marshals, the Allies could achieve ultimate victory. History would prove them correct in this assumption.

  TRAFALGAR, BATTLE OF. The battle of Trafalgar was fought off the coast of Cadiz, Spain, on 21 October 1805. Prior to the battle Napoleon had been gathering his fleet to support a planned invasion of England. Howe
ver, the British fleet had blockaded his fleet in Toulon and Brest. A fortunate turn in the weather allowed the French fleet in Toulon, under Villeneuve, to escape and move south to a rendezvous with the Spanish fleet, then Napoleon’s allies. The Spaniards came out of Cadiz and joined Villeneuve as he maneuvered in the Atlantic in an effort to lure Nelson away from Britain. Uncertain what to do, Villeneuve took the combined fleet back into Cadiz where he waited. Napoleon, impatient with Villeneuve’s indecisiveness, ordered the inept Villeneuve to leave Cadiz and engage the British. Commanding 18 French and 15 Spanish ships-of-the-line Villeneuve put out to sea and early on 21 October he found himself within sight of the British fleet.

  Villeneuve realized that he was unable to outsail the British and formed line of battle for what he knew would come. Instead of deploying in a line parallel to the Franco-Spanish fleet, Nelson drove his fleet straight ahead in two lines and split the Franco-Spanish fleet. He then proceeded to destroy it in detail. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost 18 ships and 14,000 men. Only four of the captured ships were taken as prizes, the rest being destroyed in a gale that arrived shortly after the battle. The British lost 1,500 men, but not a single ship.

  The battle of Trafalgar destroyed the French ability to confront the British at sea ever again. Indeed, it gave undisputed command of the seas to the British until the American Navy grew to huge proportions during World War II. However, though they commanded the seas, the British were unable to make decisive use of their naval superiority to bring an end to the Napoleonic Wars. The French, no longer able to confront the British fleet, turned to sending out privateers and small, fast warships to prey on British commerce in an effort to hit Britain where it hurt, in the pocketbook.