Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815

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Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel, was Marshall of France and Chief of Staff under Napoleon. Caffarelli was a French General and minister of War for the Kingdom of Italy.

From the description of [Letter] 1811 mars 8, Paris [to] General Caffarelli / Neuchâtel. (Smith College). WorldCat record id: 171158144

Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815), one of the four sons of Jean-Baptiste Berthier, was born in Versailles, where his father was in charge of the Royal Map Service. He entered the army as a young man; in 1777, at the age of twenty-four, he attained the rank of captain. In 1780 he asked to be assigned to Rochambeau's army which was preparing to leave for America, and was offered a place on the staff of Count de Saint-Maisme who commanded the Soissonais regiment. Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings (related in the journal in the Princeton Library), Berthier did not leave with Rochambeau's army when it sailed from Brest in May 1780, but proceeded to America via the West Indies and finally joined up with the army at Newport, Rhode Island, on September 30, 1780.

In January 1781, Captain Berthier was assigned to the staff of General Rochambeau, as "aide maréchal général des logis surnuméraire." In this capacity he accompanied the army in 1781 on its march to Yorktown, and in 1782 on its return march to Boston, and thence to the West Indies, before returning to France. In all, Berthier was in the United States from September 30, 1780, until December 24, 1782.

After his return to France, Berthier was sent on a military mission to Prussia in 1783. (The Journal of this mission is among the manuscripts at Princeton.) He continued to be employed in staff posts, and to earn regular promotions. When the French Revolution came he again saw active service in the field. In 1796 he accompanied General Bonaparte in the Italian campaign, as chief of staff of the army. Henceforth, his fortunes were linked to those of Bonaparte. Berthier participated in the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire (1799) which established the Consulate, and received the post of Minister of War. Soon after Bonaparte became Emperor Napolean I, in 1804, he chose Berthier as one of the eighteen army officers to be named Marshal of the Empire. Subsequently, Berthier acquired other titles: Duke of Valangin, Price of Neufchâtel, Prince of Wagram. Marshal Berthier was with Napolean in the campaigns of Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland; he was in the Peninsular Campaign (1808), the Austrian Campaign (1809), in Russia (1812), Germany (1813), and France (1814). In 1814 he abandoned Napoleon, and died the following year, on June 1, 1815, at Bamberg.

From the guide to the Louis-Alexandre Berthier Collection, 1780-1783, (Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Letter signed : Bayonne, to Louis Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel, 1808 Jul. 3. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Suchet, Louis-Gabriel, duc d'Albufera, 1770-1826. Autorgraph letter signed : Paris, to Inspector Jullien, 1803 Oct. 31. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Rosengarten, J. G. (Joseph George), 1835-1921. General Count de Rochambeau and The Château de Rochambeau, and related materials, ca. 1892-1895. University of Pennsylvania Library
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Autograph letter signed "Alexandre" : Wilkowice, to General Reynier, 1812 July 26. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Vandamme, Dominique, 1770-1830. Letters signed (2) : Lille and Boulogne, to Berthier and Soult, [1805 Feb. 18 and Apr. 29]. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Dumas, Guillaume Mathieu, Comte, 1753-1837. Letter signed : Paris, to the Prince de Neuchâtel [Berthier], 1811 Dec. 31. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Document on vellum signed : Paris, 1803 May 30. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Photostats of letters and papers, 1796-1814. Houghton Library
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Letter : Finckenstein, Germany, to General Thouvenot, Stettin, Poland, 1807 Apr. 7. University of Chicago Library
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Letter : Finckenstein, Germany, to General Thouvenot, Stettin, Poland, 1807 Apr. 7. Texas Christian University
referencedIn William Henry Hoffman Collection on Napoleon I, Napoleon I, William Henry Hoffman Collection on, (bulk 1789-1821), 1585-1913 John Hay Library, Special Collections
creatorOf Louis-Alexandre Berthier Collection, 1780-1783 Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special CollectionsManuscripts Division
creatorOf Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834. Correspondence : manuscript, 1774-1849. University of Chicago Library
creatorOf Ney, Michel, duc d'Elchingen, 1769-1815. Document signed : Innsbruck, to the Minister of War, 1805 Nov. 28. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Rice, Howard C. (Howard Crosby), 1904-1980. Howard C. Rice papers, 1965-1975. Princeton University Library
creatorOf Exelmans, Remy Joseph Isidore, comte Marshal of France, 1775-1852. Autograph letter signed : to General Berthier, 1801 Jun. 21. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Rochambeau family. Rochambeau papers and Rochambeau family cartographic archive, 1669-1823. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Mortier, Edouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph, Duc de Trévise, 1768-1835. Autograph letter signed : Badajoz, to General Berthier, 1811 Mar. 31. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Napoleon Bonaparte, military letters University of Nebraska - Lincoln
creatorOf Suchet, Louis-Gabriel, duc d'Albufera, 1770-1826. Letter signed : Cremona, to General Berthier, 1801 Apr. 26. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Autograph letter signed : Malpartida, près Almeyda, to Marshal Berthier, 1810 Sept. 7. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Autograph letter signed : Paris, to the Marquis de Lafayette, n.p., 1791 Aug. 7. University of Chicago Library
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. [Ville, port, et rade de Baltimore dans le Maryland. Library of Congress
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821,. Brevet de capitaine pour le Cn. Peyrat (Raymond). University of California, Los Angeles
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Autograph signature to letter : Lodi, to Gen. Berthier, 1796 Apr. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn French Republic certificate, 1801. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Letter, 1808 Aug. 9, Nantes to Napoleon. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf Sémonville, Charles Louis Huguet, Marquis de, 1759-1839. Letter signed : the Hague, to citizen Berthier, Minister of War, 1803 Oct. 4. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Napoleon Bonaparte, Military Letters, 1798, 1810 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
creatorOf Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834. Correspondence : manuscript, 1774-1849. Texas Christian University
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Louis-Alexandre Berthier collection, 1780-1783. Princeton University Library
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Document signed : Anspach, 1806 Aug. 26. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Collection, circa 1790-1880. Library of Congress
creatorOf Soult, Nicolas-Jean de Dieu, 1769-1851. Letters signed (3) and letter (1) : Val[l]andar, Boulogne and Passau, to Berthier and other recipients, [1798 Dec. 19]-1806 June 24. and undated. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Autograph signature to letter : Lodi, to Gen. Berthier, 24 Floréal an 4. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Spencer, William Marvin, 1892-1984. Spencer Napoleonica collection, 1756-1975. Newberry Library
creatorOf Sebastiani, François Horace Bastien, Comte, 1772-1851. Autograph letter signed "en avant de Schüngrabern" : to Marshal Berthier, 1805 Nov. 16. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Napoleon letter to Major General Berthier, 1809 April 8. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. Document signed : St. Cloud, 1803 Jun. 2. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. [Letter] 1811 mars 8, Paris [to] General Caffarelli / Neuchâtel. Smith College, Neilson Library
referencedIn Rochambeau family. Rochambeau papers and Rochambeau family cartographic archive, 1669-1823. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Washington Irving's Life of George Washington Miscellany, 1755-1835 Cornell University Library
creatorOf Taylor, Orla Benedict, 1865-1945,. Napoleon autograph collection, 1792-1843. University of Michigan
creatorOf Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 1753-1815. Autograph letter signed : Paris, to the Marquis de Lafayette, n.p., 1791 Aug. 7 Texas Christian University
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Bonaparte, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, 1784-1860. person
associatedWith Bonaventure Lafayette Collection (University of Chicago) corporateBody
associatedWith Bonaventure Lafayette Collection (University of Chicago) corporateBody
associatedWith Caffarelli, Marie François Auguste, comte de, 1766-1849, person
associatedWith Charles XIV John, King of Sweden and Norway, 1763-1844. person
associatedWith Dumas, Guillaume Mathieu, Comte, 1753-1837. person
associatedWith Exelmans, Remy Joseph Isidore, comte Marshal of France, 1775-1852. person
associatedWith France. Armée corporateBody
associatedWith France. Armée corporateBody
associatedWith Hoffman, William Henry, 1867-1916 person
associatedWith Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834. person
associatedWith Mortier, Edouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph, Duc de Trévise, 1768-1835. person
associatedWith Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821. person
associatedWith Ney, Michel, duc d'Elchingen, 1769-1815. person
associatedWith Paris (France). Garde nationale. corporateBody
associatedWith Reynier, Jean Louis Ebenezer, Comte, 1771-1814, person
associatedWith Rice, Howard C. (Howard Crosby), 1904-1980. person
associatedWith Rochambeau family. person
associatedWith Rochambeau, Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de, 1725-1807 person
associatedWith Rosengarten, J. G. (Joseph George), 1835-1921. person
associatedWith Sebastiani, François Horace Bastien, Comte, 1772-1851. person
associatedWith Sémonville, Charles Louis Huguet, Marquis de, 1759-1839. person
associatedWith Soult, Nicolas-Jean de Dieu, 1769-1851. person
associatedWith Spencer, William Marvin, 1892-1984. person
associatedWith Suchet, Louis-Gabriel, duc d'Albufera, 1770-1826. person
associatedWith Taylor, Orla Benedict, 1865-1945, person
associatedWith University of Chicago. Library. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Chicago. Library. Special Collections Research Center corporateBody
associatedWith Vandamme, Dominique, 1770-1830. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
Great Britain
Baltimore Region (Md.)
France
United States
Yorktown (Va.)
America
Yorktown (Va.)
France
France
Maryland--Baltimore
Subject
American history/Colonial
Cartography
Harbors
Manuscripts, French
Military topography
Military topography
Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1753-11-20

Death 1815-06-01

French

French

Information

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