The brilliant Napoleonic cavalry commander Claude-Pierre Pajol
When it comes to the outstanding cavalry commanders of Napoleon Bonaparte's army, the first person who comes to mind is, of course, Joachim Murat. Napoleon himself said of him:
I have never seen a man braver, more determined, and more brilliant than him in cavalry charges.
And also:
Murat constantly showed brilliant courage and particular bravery in cavalry affairs... I only had to give the order, and Murat would instantly overthrow 4 or 5 thousand people in a given direction.
Patrick Courcelle and Jacques Girbal. Marshal Murat in Naples in 1813.
During the Hundred Days, the emperor rejected Murat's services, a decision he regretted. Recalling the famous Battle of Waterloo, he wrote:
We really missed him at certain points that day. Breaking through three or four English squares—Murat was made for that.
Less well-known as an outstanding cavalry commander was another Napoleonic marshal—Murat's fellow countryman, friend, and rival, Jean-Baptiste Bessières. Bonaparte held him in high esteem and ranked him alongside his brother-in-law, but he also pointed out the differences between them:
Bessières... was brave, cool, and remained calm under the heaviest fire. He had excellent eyesight and great skill in maneuvering cavalry. He was particularly adept at leading the cavalry reserve. He subsequently rendered the greatest service in all the major battles. He and Murat were the army's foremost cavalry commanders, but they possessed completely opposite qualities. Murat was a vanguard commander, impetuous and ebullient. Bessières possessed the qualities of a reserve officer, full of energy, yet cautious and prudent.
E. Meissonier. Equestrian portrait of Marshal Bessières
While we are on the subject of caution and prudence, it should be noted that it was Bessières who, during the Battle of Borodino, at the decisive moment when the question arose of bringing the Guard into battle, said to Napoleon:
Between us and France there is a whole Europe, we must preserve at least this handful of soldiers that we can count on.
Many other marshals, including Ney, Davout, and Murat, never forgave him for this remark. And Bessières, according to Ségur's testimony, was the first to advocate retreating from Maloyaroslavets. He became one of three Napoleonic marshals to die on the battlefield. Upon learning of his death, Bonaparte said:
Bessières lived like Bayard and died like Turenne.
However, few today remember such a cavalry commander as Claude-Pierre Pajol. Meanwhile, Bonaparte gives him a truly brilliant characterization:
There is no other cavalry general like Pajol; he not only knows how to fight, but also how to guard himself well and will never allow himself to be taken by surprise.
And even more:
Only Pajol among my generals knows how to lead cavalry.
Only Pajol! And this in the presence of such "masters" and masters of cavalry charges as the aforementioned Bessières and Murat.
Let us continue quoting Bonaparte:
If all my generals fought like Pajol, there would be no enemy in France.
But, as already noted, Pajol is known primarily to military historians. The fact is, this talented cavalry general never rose to the rank of marshal. He commanded a regiment, a brigade, and only in 1812 was he promoted to division, and in 1813, a corps. And throughout this time, he remained in the shadow of higher-ranking commanders, who took all the credit. Let's talk a little about him.
The origin and youth of the hero of the article
Claude-Pierre Pajol came from a fairly well-off bourgeois family. He was born in Besançon on February 3, 1772. Pajol's father was a respectable lawyer, and it was expected that Claude-Pierre would follow a similar path. However, the Revolution interrupted his career, forcing him to leave university and take an active part in anti-monarchist protests. This is not surprising, since the young Pajol, while not experiencing financial difficulties, was nevertheless a member of the Third Estate, which had no political rights.
Incidentally, during the storming of the Bastille, Claude-Pierre could have met another future Republican general, Lazare Hoche, whose adjutant he was to become.
The future Marshal, François Joseph Lefebvre, a miller's son and then a lieutenant, defended two elderly female relatives of Louis XVI from an enraged mob at the Château de Bellevue in February 1791. They were suspected of carrying sacks of gold. Lefebvre was even wounded in the ensuing scuffle, but he saved Lieutenant Colonel Berthier (the future indispensable chief of staff to Bonaparte), who nearly died in the ensuing brawl.
But let's return to the hero of the article, who at the end of October 1789 (at the age of 17) joined the Besançon National Guard as a private and by June 1, 1791, had risen to the rank of senior sergeant, and on August 21 of the same year transferred to the 1st battalion of the Doubs department.
On January 12, 1792, he received his first officer rank - he became a junior lieutenant in the 82nd Infantry Regiment.
Infantry service
The first battle in which Pajol took part was the famous Battle of Valmy (September 20, 1792): the French armies of the North under Dumouriez and the Centre (Moselle) under Kellermann stopped the troops of Charles Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick.
The Battle of Valmy as painted by Horace Vernet
The army of the First Anti-French Coalition at the time included Prussian, Austrian, and Hessian regiments, as well as units of French émigrés. After the capture of the fortress of Longwy, even many French commanders doubted their success, believing that the inexperienced recruits would not withstand the onslaught of a professional enemy army. Colonel Bourreport, the French commandant of Verdun, shot himself to avoid the shame of capitulation—it was after this that the demoralized garrison of the fortress actually capitulated. However, after two unsuccessful attacks on the approaching Republican troops, the coalition army retreated. It remained near Valmy for another 10 days, but did not dare to re-enter the battle.
The Battle of Valmy became the first victorious engagement for the new republican forces, and the following day, the decision was made to abolish the monarchy in France. On September 30, 1792, Pajol led a grenadier column that stormed Speyer and was wounded for the first time—two bayonet stabs to his left arm. He underwent lengthy recovery. Finally, on April 10, 1793, he was assigned to the garrison of Mainz, where he was wounded again during the siege of that city in August 1793. In 1794, after the Battle of Hochheim, Pajol was promoted to captain and on June 21 became adjutant to General Kléber. On June 26, he took part in the famous Battle of Fleurus, which brought fame and made General Jourdan a national hero. In September of that year, during the Battle of the Ourthe River, Pajol captured the Austrian flag.
On February 16, 1795, he was appointed company commander of the 6th Demi-Brigade of Light Infantry, reporting first to Lefebvre and then to Ney. Finally, on July 23, 1797, Pajol was transferred to the cavalry, becoming a squadron commander in the 4th Hussar Regiment.
Cavalry commander
After this, Pajol took part in the battles of Altenkirchen, Wetzlar, Uckerath, Neuheim, and Friedberg. He particularly distinguished himself at Este (where he was wounded again) and Aldenhofen, where he personally captured two flags. That same year, 1797, Pajol briefly served as aide-de-camp to the extremely popular General Lazare Hoche, before being appointed to the position by General Masséna. Pajol continued to command individual units and played a major role during Jourdan's unsuccessful Battle of Ostrach (March 21, 1799): leading two hussar squadrons, he managed to temporarily halt the Austrians' advance.
In the subsequent Battle of Stockach (March 25, 1799, also unsuccessful for the French), Pajol, leading the same squadrons, managed to capture soldiers from one of the enemy battalions. He himself narrowly escaped capture, however, as, while pursuing the retreating Austrians, he became separated from his hussars and lost his horse to an enemy bullet. Rising from the ground, Pajol managed to seize the horse of an Austrian dragoon, on which he continued the fight. Pajol also had to fight his way through the encircling Austrians at Waldkirch.
After a series of failures, Jourdan was replaced as commander by Masséna. On May 27, General Tarraud, subordinate to this future marshal, lost the Battle of Winterthur. Pajol's horse was again killed, and this time he was captured (and stripped naked by the Austrians who robbed him), but was immediately freed by his hussars. He had to continue the battle in his underwear, which did not prevent the hero of this article from effectively covering the retreat of General Gazan's brigade.
Incidentally, in this same battle, Michel Ney, who had recently become a general, was seriously wounded.
The defeat at Winterthur opened the way for the Austrian Archduke Charles to Zurich, which he captured on June 6. Masséna found himself in dire straits. He was saved by the Austrian Emperor, who unexpectedly ordered the withdrawal of his troops from Switzerland. The situation had changed radically. Just recently, Masséna had been a hunted animal; now he had become the hunter: he attacked and routed the Russian corps of General A. Rimsky-Korsakov and a small detachment of Austrian Field Marshal Lieutenant Johann Gotze. Suvorov was forced to abandon his plans for a march on Paris and change his army's route through the Alps.
André Masséna, painted by François Bouchot, during the Battle of Zurich, September 25, 1799.
For his actions in Switzerland, Masséna received the official title of "Savior of the Fatherland" and the unofficial nickname l'Enfant chéri de la Victoire ("precious child of Victory").
Meanwhile, on July 10, 1799, Pajol was promoted to colonel and became commander of the 6th Hussar Regiment, which had recently suffered such losses in the Battle of Novi (against Suvorov's army) that the hero of the article had to essentially re-form it. This regiment became part of Jean-Victor Moreau's army and participated in the battles of Neresheim, Neuburg, and the great Battle of Hohenlinden (December 3, 1800), which military historians consider equal to Austerlitz, and Bonaparte called the victory one of the greatest in world warfare. stories.
General Moreau during the Battle of Hohenlinden in a painting by Henri Frederic Chopin
However, even earlier, after Moreau’s victories at Möskirch and Höchstädt, Bonaparte wrote to him:
I would gladly exchange the purple robe of the First Consul for the epaulettes of the brigade commander under your command.
But let's return to the subject of this article, who, during Bonaparte's Second Italian Campaign, distinguished himself in the unsuccessful Battle of Babenhausen. Pajol's 6th Hussar Regiment, leading the rearguard, was temporarily surrounded by the Austrians but managed to break through to Waldkirch. Napoleon himself recognized the subject's actions, awarding him the insignia of a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.
In 1805, Pajol and his regiment were part of Marmont's 2nd Corps. He was in the vanguard at the Battle of Weyer, then fought in the battles of Ulm and Leoben. Pajol's greatest success was capturing the bridge over the Enns River at Altenmarkt. In December 1806, his regiment was transferred to Italy. Finally, on March 1, 1807, the subject of this article received his first general's rank, and on May 14, he became commander of a light cavalry brigade in General Lasalle's division. This brigade included the 5th and 7th Hussar Regiments and the 3rd Horse Chasseurs (and in September 1897, the 11th Horse Chasseurs). In literature, this brigade is often called the "Hellish" brigade (La brigade infernale).
At this time, the subject of this article was already 35 years old—a career not particularly remarkable for the French army of that time. Jean Schramme became a general at 23, Napoleon Bonaparte at 24, Lazare Hoche at 25, and Barthélemy Joubert at 26. Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr rose from private to general in two years (1792–1794), and Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult in three (1791–1794). It took Pajol 18 years to become a general. However, he was still younger than the average general in the French army: their average age was 39.
In the next article we will continue and finish our story.
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