Marshal of France Jean Lannes, the Pygmy Giant
-Jason
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One of the most profound alterations to French life during the Revolution (1789-1800) was the destruction of the Old Regime. The Old Regime was the class structure that dominated France for much of its history. The nobility had a different set of legal protections, social status, and rights than common born citizens. If a family managed to rise above their station to nobility, their members were still looked down upon and limited in their options for both careers and social connections. The events of the French Revolution shattered this system and created a new social order based on merit.
Many people inside France felt that their lives and rights were crushed by the rigid system. Talented, but not aristocratic, soldiers could not rise through the ranks to become officers. This damaged France’s military because positions of command were given to those of noble birth without proving their abilities. The Revolution ended this military caste system, allowing those who would never have had the chance to command. Napoleon Bonaparte is an excellent example of this: he was from a low-born Corsican noble family. His father’s political position meant that Bonaparte was sent to an elite military academy, but without the events of the French Revolution he would never have risen in the ranks, much less become Emperor of France.
During the early years of the French Revolution, the monarchies of Europe feared the disorder in France would spread to their nations. To stop rebellion in their countries, Austria, Prussia, Spain, and Great Britain declared war on France and sent their armies to invade. At the same time many nobles fled France, abandoning their military obligations. This allowed French soldiers and officers of lower birth to suddenly could demonstrate their talents and rise to glory. Napoleon was only one of the many young officers who were thrust into command repelling foreign armies: a Frenchman who truly seized the opportunities of the Revolution was Jean Lannes.
Lannes was born in Gascony, near the French-Spanish border, in 1769. He received very little in formal education but was a born leader with limitless energy. When the French Revolution broke out, Lannes volunteered join a militia unit. In 1792 Spain declared war on France and Lannes was elected as the sergeant-major of his unit. Over the course of fighting, he gained a fearsome reputation for bravery, leadership, and unorthodox tactics which ensured Spanish units fighting him were stymied. His service in Pyrenees brought Lannes to the attention of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout who recommended Lannes to Napoleon for promotion. This proved to be the start of a short, but glorious, military career.
Lannes was attached to Napoleon’s command when the latter was sent to Italy to fight against the Austrians. The two men developed a deep friendship and good working rapport that ensured the Italian Campaign’s victory. Lannes was Napoleon’s favorite subcommander and gained the nickname “The Pygmy Giant,” or “The Little Giant” due to his outsized personality and bravery. Lannes earned more and more promotions and found himself far above the station he would have been limited to in pre-Revolutionary France.
Upon the establishment of the First French Empire on 2 December 1804, Lannes was made one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire. The Marshals of France were the highest-ranking officers in Emperor Napoleon’s army, a position many could never have reached before the Revolution. A scandal almost ended Lannes’s military and political career, but fate had another plan than obscurity for the Little Giant. In 1805, he fully regained Napoleon's favor, which he had lost during the consulate. Marshal Lannes and Marshal Murat bluffed their way into possession of a key Austrian bridge. Loaded with explosives, the Austrians intended to destroy the bridge the moment the French attempted to take it. Marshals Lannes, Murat, Bertrand, Belliard, and a few other officers crossed the bridge, lying to the Austrians that an armistice had been signed that gave the French the bridge. Shortly after this, during the Battle of Austerlitz (1805), Lannes commanded the left wing of the Grande Armée and contributed to the emperor’s victory.
Lannes fought in Spain during 1808 and his talents were needed once again when France and Austria once again descended into war in 1809. On 22 May 1809, during a lull in the second day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling, Lannes went and sat down at the edge of a ditch, his hand over his eyes and his legs crossed. As he sat there with his friend and colleague General Pierre Charles Pouzet the latter was decapitated mid-conversation by a cannonball, a second cannonball fired from a gun at Enzersdorf ricocheted and struck Lannes just where his legs crossed. As he was transported back to safety, Napoleon saw him and rushed to him, concerned for the fate of his wounded friend. Napoleon’s personal surgeon Dr. Larrey quickly decided to amputate one leg and let the other heal. Unfortunately, the wound became infected, and Lannes took an agonizing eight more days to die. Upon his death, Napoleon wept. Napoleon lamented the loss of his friend; he is quoted as saying: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant".