Marmont, Auguste-Frédéric-Louis-Viesse de

(1774-1852)

   marshal of France

   Born in Châtillon-sur-Seine, Auguste-Frédéric-Louis-Viesse de Marmont had been an attaché to Napoléon Bonaparte (see napoléon i) since the siege of Toulon (1793), was his aide-de-camp in italy, then accompanied him to Egypt (1798). He was named governor general of Dalmatia (1806), which he subsequently developed; duke of Ragusa (1808), then marshal after the battle of Wagram. He replaced Marshal andré masséna as commander of the army in Portugal (May 1811) and was wounded and defeated in spain by the duke of Wellington (1812). Marmont campaigned in Germany (Bautzen, Leipzig) and, with remarkable tactics, held back the advance of the coalition forces. in 1814, he fought outside Paris and, with the consent of joseph bonaparte, negotiated the surrender of the city with Russian czar Alexander I. On April 3, 1814, ignoring the emperor's abdication plans, he marched his troops into Normandy instead of covering Napoléon at Fontainebleau, which was considered a betrayal. Meanwhile, he tried to have the king of Rome (napoléon ii) recognized as heir to the throne. King louis XV III made Marmont a peer of France and, in July 1830, he led the royal troops who fought against the revolution of 1830 in Paris. Marshal Marmont accompanied the exiled king charles x to Cherbourg, then went into exile himself. He left his Mémoires.