text: jean - mathieu - philibert sérurier jean - mathieu - philibert sérurier , 1st comte sérurier ( 8 december 1742 – 21 december 1819 ) led a division in the war of the first coalition and became a marshal of france under emperor napoleon . he was born into the minor nobility and in 1755 joined the laon militia which was soon sent to fight in the seven years ' war . after transferring into the regular army as an ensign , he was wounded at warburg in 1760 . he fought in the spanish - portuguese war in 1762 . he married in 1779 after a promotion to captain . a newly minted major in 1789 , the french revolution sped up promotion so that he was colonel of the regiment in 1792 . after leading army of italy troops in a number of actions , he became a general of brigade in 1793 and a general of division the following year . sérurier led a division in napoleon bonaparte 's italian campaign of 1796 , except during bouts of illness . he especially distinguished himself at the battle of mondovì and the siege of mantua . in 1799 , he again fought in italy during the war of the second coalition at verona , magnano and cassano , being captured in the latter action . after being paroled , he supported napoleon 's rise to political power in the coup of 18 brumaire in late 1799 . the apex of his career occurred on 19 may 1804 when napoleon appointed him a marshal of the empire . his active military career over , sérurier served in the french senate and was ennobled by napoleon . in 1814 as the first french empire was crumbling , he burned all the many flags captured by the french armies . his troops called him the " virgin of italy " for his rigorous standards of discipline and honesty in an army known for generals who enriched themselves by plundering the conquered territories . his surname is one of the names inscribed under the arc de triomphe , on column 24 . early life sérurier was born at laon on 8 december 1742 , the son of mathieu - guillaume sérurier . the family formed part of the minor provincial nobility , his father holding the title seigneur de sort and the job of mole - catcher to the king 's breeding stud . after 1750 his father 's title became seigneur de saint - gobert . sérurier got a good education and was of sober character . he received a commission as lieutenant in the laon militia battalion on 25 march 1755 , his uncle being the unit 's commander . he transferred to the soissons militia battalion on 12 june 1758 . when he heard that the laon battalion was called to serve in the seven years ' war he switched back to his old unit on 30 november 1758 . after sustaining a bayonet wound , he transferred into the mazarin infantry regiment as a cadet on 1 october 1759 . at the battle of warburg on 31 july 1760 , duke ferdinand of brunswick surprised the french under louis nicolas victor de felix d , count du muy . while defending a critical post , sérurier was hit on the right side of his face by a bullet , which broke his jaw and left a lasting scar . the injury also cost him most of his teeth . he was promoted to second lieutenant on 25 april 1762 . sérurier 's regiment was ordered to bayonne where it joined a force under charles juste de beauvau , prince of craon . these troops entered spain on 3 june 1762 to take part in the spanish - portuguese war . the first battalion , in which sérurier served , participated in the siege of almeida which fell to the franco - spanish on 25 august 1762 . the unit returned to france in november that year and after the treaty of paris was renamed the beauce regiment . after the peace sérurier was demoted to sous - lieutenant and spent six years as a drill instructor . he was promoted to second lieutenant again on 21 february 1767 and was shipped to corsica in 1770 . the republic of genoa transferred corsica to france in 1764 but pasquale paoli led an insurrection against the occupiers which resulted in a few skirmishes . his superiors called sérurier an " excellent officer " but he was not promoted to first lieutenant until 28 february 1778 . a year later he was promoted to captain . he married louise - marie - madeleine on 3 july 1779 . her father was the registrar of the bail bondsmen of laon . on 29 july 1781 sérurier was awarded the order of saint - louis . on 10 may 1782 he assumed the rank of captain commandant and on 1 june 1783 he took command of the regiment 's chasseur company . by the lack of promotion , he asked to retire on pension on 8 september 1788 . his commanding officer argued to retain such a good officer and sérurier transferred into the médoc regiment as a major on 17 may 1789 . he became lieutenant colonel on 1 january 1791 . since the french revolution the garrison at perpignan became agitated so the regiment was sent there to calm down the other troops . instead , the médoc regiment itself became affected by the troubles . on 23 july 1791 , fearing that sérurier was about to leave the country with the regiment 's colors , a body of soldiers removed them from his quarters . in january 1792 , 19 officers from the regiment emigrated to spain . a story existed that sérurier and a companion tried to flee to spain but were nearly caught by a patrol and only his companion made it across the border . in june 1792 the médoc , renamed the 70th infantry regiment , marched to the camp of in the alps . sérurier became the commanding officer of the 70th with the rank of colonel on 7 august 1792 . french revolutionary wars 1792 – 94 on 29 september 1792 , a 10 , 000 - man division under jacques bernard d crossed the var river and occupied nice , then part of the kingdom of sardinia . this force was part of the army of the midi which was split on 1 october 1792 , with the troops on the alpine front becoming the army of the alps . on 7 november d 's division became the army of italy , which included the 70th regiment . at about this time sérurier was arrested for harboring royalist sentiments , but paul barras got his rank restored . on 19 may 1793 , the new army commander gaspard jean - baptiste brunet sent him with a column to occupy saint - sauveur - sur - . sérurier moved north up the river and captured isola on the 21st . with 3 , 000 troops , he attacked the col de raus west of belvédère but was repulsed on 8 june . during the first battle of saorgio he led a major attack on the massif de l on 12 june , but it was defeated with losses of 280 dead and 1 , 252 wounded . at the end of july brunet made another assault on massif de l while sérurier attacked the col de raus again but both efforts failed . the representatives on mission were pleased with sérurier 's performance and nominated him general of brigade on 25 june ; the promotion was confirmed on 22 august 1793 . meanwhile , brunet was arrested and executed on 15 november 1793 . in september 1793 the sardinian army tried to recapture the county of nice . the french right flank held its ground , but on the left sérurier gave up the east bank of the river and fell back to on 10 september . jacques françois took command of the left wing three days later and sérurier took charge of the right wing of the army of the alps at . sérurier was arrested for retreating too much and for being of noble blood . he was reinstated after the representatives on mission and the war minister jean baptiste noël termed the charges as unimportant while the citizens of laon sent a petition vouching for his patriotism . after the fighting petered out in the december snow , sérurier 's division was transferred to form the left flank of the army of italy . in january 1794 he was denounced for listening to aristocratic songs and for not caring about desertions , but and the representatives brushed aside these charges . under army commander pierre dumerbion a french offensive began on 5 april and oneglia was seized . andré masséna commanded the 20 , 000 - man main column on the right wing while françois macquard directed the center division and pierre dominique garnier led the left division . sérurier , who commanded garnier 's left brigade , reoccupied isola and went on to seize the colle delle finestre against weak resistance . in the second battle of saorgio on 24 april 1794 , masséna defeated michelangelo alessandro colli - marchi , the french inflicting 2 , 800 casualties on the sardinians while losing 1 , 500 killed and wounded . in the aftermath , macquard occupied and the col de tende while masséna held ormea in the tanaro valley . at the end of june , sérurier took part in a small operation in the valle stura di . in september 1794 the sardinians and austrians advanced to , threatening to cut the french link to genoa , where supplies were obtained . advised by his artillery chief napoleon bonaparte , dumerbion struck back on 15 september . while sérurier feinted at on the left and macquard feinted at piemonte in the center , masséna mounted the main thrust on the right . in the first battle of dego on 21 september , 18 , 000 french troops beat olivier , count of wallis and 8 , 000 austro - sardinians . though the allies escaped encirclement , the french later seized the port of vado . dumerbion and garnier both recommended sérurier 's promotion and he was nominated general of division on 22 december 1794 . given command of the right flank division in place of masséna who was sick , his brigadiers were barthélemy catherine joubert and alexandre françois de . 1795 on 4 november 1794 , barthélemy louis joseph schérer replaced the ill dumerbion as army commander . schérer wrote that sérurier was " a very good officer , devoted to his duties ; his patriotism has been attacked in the time of hébert and his consorts ; he has emerged victorious from all these charges . in my opinion he is worthy of the post he holds on the right of the active army . " sérurier 's promotion was not confirmed until 13 june 1795 . the austro - sardinian commander joseph nikolaus de vins attacked the french lines on 24 june . most of the assaults failed but since a few positions were captured and could not be retaken , the french withdrew from vado to borghetto santo spirito by 5 july . in the new line , masséna with 14 , 000 troops held the coast while sérurier and 6 , 000 men defended ormea . on 5 july sérurier reported that a key position had been partly lost , causing consternation at army headquarters . later that day he reported that one of his brigadiers , louis pelletier , retook the position . curiously , this incident did not count against him ; instead sérurier was given command of the left wing in place of garnier . on the evening of 31 august , his headquarters at saint - martin - was surrounded by the enemy . though only 318 soldiers were at hand , sérurier resisted successfully until early the following morning when he attacked and scattered his attackers , capturing 86 of them . the enemy commander , the émigré chevalier committed suicide . not only was he a good soldier , but sérurier 's troops liked him , he treated the local civilians with decency and his diplomacy allowed him to serve as a link between his army and the neighboring army of the alps . françois christophe kellermann then in command of both armies , wrote , " it is to the coolness and courage of this excellent officer that was due the success of this glorious day . " on 23 – 24 november 1795 , the battle of was fought . schérer deployed pierre augereau with 6 , 961 troops on the right , masséna with 13 , 276 men in the center and sérurier with 5 , 155 soldiers on the left . the plan called for sérurier to pin down the allied right while masséna broke through the center and rolled up the allied left with the help of augereau . by luck , wallis replaced de vins in command of the allies on 22 november . that day sérurier 's attack on the colle san bernardo was repulsed but it tied down colli 's division . the plan was carried out with success . masséna and augereau both defeated the forces in front of them . the austro - sardinians suffered losses of 3 , 000 killed and wounded , 4 , 000 prisoners , 48 guns and five colors while french losses numbered 2 , 500 killed and wounded and 500 captured . snow soon compelled both armies to withdraw into winter quarters . the french soldiers were in a wretched state , with very little food ; they became insubordinate and the generals quarreled . sérurier got into a dispute with schérer and nearly left the army . on 18 march 1796 sérurier 's division refused to obey orders . 1796 after the winter campaign , schérer placed the divisions in the positions where they would start the 1796 campaign . from right to left , they were masséna with two divisions on the coast , augereau on the bormida river , sérurier on the tanaro , macquard at the col de tende and garnier on the far left . on 27 march 1796 bonaparte arrived to take command of the army of italy . at this date sérurier was 53 years old with 40 years of military service . he applied to retire on a pension due to his age , health and wounds , but after meeting bonaparte he decided to stay . masséna later wrote that bonaparte did not impress his generals at first . then the new commander put on his hat and sharply questioned them ; the generals went away believing that they had a true leader at last . bonaparte 's plan was to mass over 20 , 000 men under masséna and augereau near where the austrian and sardinian armies linked . sérurier 's division would join the others near as they moved west . his 9 , 448 - strong division consisted of the 39th , 69th and 85th line infantry demi - brigades . in the montenotte campaign , the french won victories at montenotte , and dego between 11 and 15 april . in the battle of colli 's sardinians repelled augereau 's attack but they retreated to the west when sérurier 's division appeared . colli detailed jean - gaspard de with 8 , 000 sardinians and 15 guns to defend san michele against a french attack . on 19 april , sérurier formed his division into two 3 , 000 - man brigades under pascal antoine fiorella and jean joseph guieu plus a reserve under his personal command . the river was due to the spring thaw and the french attack soon stalled . however , some of guieu 's skirmishers found an unguarded footbridge and made a lodgement on the west bank . the french captured san michele but the unpaid , hungry soldiers went on a looting spree . led by a company of swiss troops , colli organized a counterattack which drove sérurier 's division out of the town , though guieu 's brigade maintained its bridgehead . the repulse cost the french about 600 casualties while the sardinians lost 300 . colli 's troops withdrew toward mondovì on the night of 20 april , but the move was soon discovered by the french who caught up with them at at mid - morning . in the battle of mondovì on 21 april , the brigades of fiorella , guieu and auguste cousin de fought their way into and routed the sardinians . was killed and henri christian michel de stengel mortally wounded . mondovì surrendered in the late afternoon . there was no looting but large requisitions of food were made from the town . auguste de marmont recalled of sérurier , " to form his men into three columns , put himself at the head of the central one , throw out a cloud of skirmishers , and march at the double , sword in hand , ten paces in front of his column : that is what he did . a fine spectacle , that of an old general , resolute and decided , whose vigor was revived by the presence of the enemy . i accompanied him in this attack , the success of which was complete " . on 28 april the armistice of was signed , taking sardinia out of the war . in may 1796 , bonaparte detailed sérurier to demonstrate with his division at valenza while the rest of the army crossed the po river near piacenza . after the battle of lodi , bonaparte divided the army of italy into a cavalry reserve and four divisions including one under sérurier . during the battle of borghetto on 30 may , his division feinted at the upper mincio river while other troops made the main thrust against johann peter beaulieu 's army at sul mincio . on 1 june , the 4 , 700 - strong division took position on the north side of the fortress of mantua . on 8 june , sérurier , artillerist augustin de and engineer francois , marquis de chasseloup - laubat reconnoitered the fortress . two days later bonaparte put sérurier in charge of the siege of mantua with about 8 , 000 soldiers . soon after , bonaparte wrote to the french directory , " i shall not speak to you of the conduct of the intrepid general sérurier , whose military reputation is established , and to whom we owe , amongst other things since the campaign began , the victory of " . because of the approach of dagobert sigmund von wurmser 's austrian army , the siege was raised on 31 july , the heavy cannons were buried and the division withdrew behind the oglio river . sérurier then became feverish with malaria , so that fiorella and gaspard amédée directed the division during the battle of castiglione . the general returned to france to recuperate . on 14 august 1796 bonaparte wrote a confidential assessment of his generals to the directory . in it he wrote , " sérurier , fights like a private , takes nothing on himself , firm ; has not a good enough opinion of his troops , is ill " . 1797 after his recovery sérurier took command at livorno ( leghorn ) but he was thrilled to get the order to return to the army . on 27 december 1796 he resumed command of the mantua siege corps , replacing charles edward jennings de kilmaine who had also become ill . the corps consisted of 10 , 000 men in two divisions under thomas - alexandre dumas and claude . on 14 – 15 january 1797 bonaparte defeated józsef alvinczi in the battle of rivoli , inflicting terrible losses on the austrians . meanwhile , a relief column under giovanni marchese di provera reached the north side of mantua and on 16 january there was a battle . the mantua garrison launched a sortie led by karl philipp that made progress at first but was beaten back by reinforcements under claude perrin victor . at the same time , sérurier and 1 , 500 troops at la favorita palace blocked provera from joining the garrison . by noon provera was hemmed in by french reinforcements and at 2 : 00 pm he surrendered to sérurier with 7 , 000 men , 22 field guns , a pontoon train and a food convoy . afterward , sérurier got into a dispute with dumas , who had commanded armies but was now a mere division commander . angry that his contributions were not recognized , dumas sent an abusive note to the army chief of staff louis - alexandre berthier and was demoted by bonaparte . on 30 january , wurmser began negotiations with sérurier for the capitulation of mantua ; this was signed on 2 february 1797 by the two generals . the articles permitted wurmser , his staff , his generals , 700 soldiers and six artillery pieces to go free , but 16 , 324 men of the garrison became prisoners of war . for the spring 1797 campaign , bonaparte organized his army into eight divisions of which the 3rd division under sérurier counted 6 , 543 soldiers . in the battle of on 16 march , bonaparte drove back the rear guard of archduke charles , duke of teschen . during the operation sérurier 's division was in reserve , but in the subsequent advance it was on the right flank while jean - baptiste bernadotte 's division was in the center and guieu 's division was on the left flank . on 19 march bernadotte attacked gradisca d and was repulsed . after sérurier 's division swung around the south side of gradisca and gained the heights in the rear of the town , the garrison surrendered . the french captured four battalions of austrian infantry totaling 2 , 500 soldiers , 10 guns and eight colors . while bernadotte continued advancing to the east , guieu 's division followed by sérurier turned north in pursuit of a column under adam bajalics von . at this time sérurier fell ill and command of his division passed to louis françois jean chabot . trapped between massena and guieu , bajalics was forced to surrender with 4 , 000 men in the battle of . after recovering , sérurier resumed command of his division at graz on 20 april and after the treaty of leoben the unit withdrew from austria and took position at . on 3 june 1797 bonaparte notified the french government that he was sending sérurier with 22 captured colors . he wrote that he , " has in the last two campaigns displayed as much talent as bravery and patriotism ... general sérurier is extremely severe with himself : he is sometimes so with others . a strict friend of discipline , and of the order and virtues most necessary to the maintenance of society , he disdains intrigue and intriguers , which has sometimes made him enemies amongst those men who are always ready to accuse of any one who wishes to see them submitted to their superiors " . he was received in paris by a large audience of government officials on 28 june who he assured of his loyalty and that of his soldiers . he was back with his division on 9 august and missed the coup of 18 fructidor . a little later louis desaix described him , " tall , 55 years old ... honest , estimable in every respect , considered to be an aristocrat but supported by general bonaparte , who values and admires him " . venice was occupied by french troops but by the recent treaty was to be handed over to austria . bonaparte ordered sérurier to carry out the unpleasant job of removing all military stores and ships as well as all works of art . over the objection of the austrians and the inhabitants , the city was thoroughly plundered . although he was the target of anger and abuse , sérurier did not personally benefit from the looting and did his best to prevent others from doing so . he confiscated the salt and biscuits in the venice arsenal but that was to raise money to pay his soldiers . in the same army , masséna and augereau were notorious for looting for personal gain , and many lesser officers also did it . sérurier earned such a reputation for honesty that his soldiers called him the " virgin of italy " . 1798 – 99 early in 1798 sérurier temporarily commanded the divisions left in italy where he had his hands full trying to calm unpaid soldiers who were on the verge of mutiny . bonaparte did not take him on the french campaign in egypt and syria because he was too old . sometime after february 1798 , he was ordered to the army of england where he made his headquarters at rennes . on 15 september he became inspector general of the troops in the interior of france . on 5 november 1798 he transferred back to italy to serve under army of italy commander joubert . sérurier was ordered by joubert to occupy livorno , but instructions soon changed to invade the republic of lucca . his cavalry entered lucca on 22 december 1798 and extorted large sums of cash and clothing for the army 's use . sérurier 's 6 , 000 infantry arrived at the city on 2 january 1799 . after declaring that lucca was a french - style republic on 25 january , he handed it over to on 5 february and returned to mantua . at that time , the army of italy was led by schérer who gave sérurier command of the tyrol division with a paper strength of 8 , 328 men . the outbreak of the war of the second coalition saw schérer with 43 , 000 troops facing paul kray with 50 , 700 austrians near verona and 24 , 551 russians under alexander suvorov marching up in support . hoping to maul kray before his russians allies arrived , schérer opted to attack . on 26 march 1799 in the battle of verona , the french gained a success at in the north , fought to a draw in front of verona and were drubbed in the south at . in the north sérurier drove the austrians from rivoli veronese . on the 27th kray rapidly shifted his strength to the north to assist his outnumbered right wing . schérer shuffled the positions of his divisions which exhausted the soldiers without accomplishing anything . belatedly , schérer tried push his advantage in the north by sending sérurier with 6 , 000 troops to advance on verona from the north . on 30 march he ran into 15 , 000 austrians at and was badly defeated , losing 600 killed and wounded and 1 , 177 prisoners . austrian casualties numbered only 390 . the battle of magnano on 5 april 1799 resulted in a french defeat . in the fighting sérurier 's division included three battalions each of the 18th , 29th and 30th light infantry demi brigades , one battalion of the 1st light , 180 grenadiers , 850 cavalry and 60 gunners . both armies advanced , sérurier successfully capturing villafranca on the left . however , the divisions of claude perrin victor and paul grenier were routed on the right . the french lost 7 , 000 – 8 , 000 men , seven colors and eight cannons , while kray 's army sustained 5 , 228 casualties . the worst casualty was the confidence of the french generals and the morale of the troops . when schérer found that 12 , 000 austrians were marching from the county of tyrol to turn his north flank , he withdrew from the line of the mincio , leaving 12 , 000 soldiers to defend mantua . during the retreat many italian and swiss allies deserted from the army of italy . by the end of april 1799 , schérer had 28 , 000 troops behind the adda river , strung out on a line 115 kilometres ( 71 mi ) in length . the army was arranged in three small corps under sérurier on the left , grenier in the center and victor on the right . by the morning of 27 april , suvorov 's austro - russian army had won crossings over the adda at san gervasio and brivio . that day jean victor marie moreau replaced schérer in command of the army of italy and the allies defeated the french in the battle of cassano . after a struggle , grenier 's soldiers were beaten at trezzo while the austrians broke through victor 's defenses at cassano . the french withdrew toward milan leaving sérurier isolated and without orders between trezzo and brivio . during the night the old veteran entrenched 2 , 600 – 4 , 000 troops in an all - around defense near verderio . finding the french in his path , josef philipp vukassovich split his division into three columns and enveloped sérurier 's position . vukassovich reported that his enemies put up a " desperate " fight , but out of ammunition , sérurier surrendered on the evening of 28 april . by the terms of the capitulation , the general and his officers were released on parole to france . the austrians reported capturing 243 officers and 3 , 487 soldiers . vukassovich 's troops suffered 2 , 750 casualties , over half of the allied losses at cassano . sérurier 's left wing near lake como escaped and rejoined the main army . suvorov invited the captured general to dinner and found it impossible to coax any military information from him . the russian wondered why such a reputable man should be fighting for the first french republic . sérurier retorted , " my father , in giving me my sword , expressly ordered me to use it only to defend my country " . historian ramsay weston phipps considered verderio to be the biggest blunder of sérurier 's career . he suggested that the general was accustomed to seeing bonaparte save dire situations with brilliant maneuvers . when moreau next saw the paroled general , he severely reprimanded him but later admitted to the government that sérurier 's only mistake was hewing to his orders too rigidly . this was the last time sérurier led troops in combat . meanwhile , the french directory sank in popularity after military defeats and mismanagement . back in paris , sérurier became part of the bonaparte faction , having seen nothing but disaster since serving under the military genius . bonaparte launched the coup of 18 brumaire on 9 november 1799 during which sérurier led a reserve detachment of soldiers at the pont - du - jour . the next day , the coup almost collapsed when bonaparte had to be rescued from the council of five hundred . however , lucien bonaparte convinced the council 's own guard battalion that only a minority of members opposed his brother . these soldiers soon evicted the lawmakers from their own hall . during these events , sérurier 's troops arrived at saint - cloud and the general was heard addressing them , " the wretches ! they wished to kill general bonaparte . do not stir soldiers ; wait until you get orders " . in the aftermath of the coup , sérurier was put on a commission to determine how to use auxiliary battalions on 15 november 1799 . he became a member of the sénat ( senate ) on 27 december . later life in time sérurier became vice - president of the senate and in 1803 was appointed president of a commission that determined the border between france and piedmont . in 1804 he was named governor of les invalides , a hospital and retirement home for veterans . on 19 may that year emperor napoleon named him an honorary marshal of france . out of 18 marshals appointed on this date , the other three honorary ones were bon adrien jeannot de , françois christophe de kellermann and catherine - dominique de pérignon . sérurier was awarded the grand eagle of the légion d 'honneur and the grand cordon of the order of the iron crown . he was ennobled as a count of the empire in 1808 and granted a pension of 40 , 000 francs per year . on 31 march 1814 , upon the arrival of the sixth coalition armies at paris , sérurier publicly destroyed the 1 , 417 captured enemy flags and personally burned the sword and sash of frederick the great as to not let them fall into the allies ' hands . the restored king louis xviii made sérurier a peer of france , but he joined napoleon during the hundred days , when the former emperor briefly returned to power . this caused him to lose his post at les invalides and his marshal 's salary after napoleon 's second downfall . despite his bonapartist sympathies , as peer sérurier voted in favour of the death penalty for marshal michel ney . sérurier was restored to the dignity of marshal in 1819 . he died on 21 december that year in paris and was buried at père lachaise cemetery . his body was not transferred to les invalides until 26 february 1847 is one of the names inscribed under the arc de triomphe , on column 24 .