Nicolas Léonard Beker
Encyclopedia
Nicolas Léonard Beker or Nicolas Léonard Becker or Nicolas Léonard Bagert, born 18 January 1770 – died 18 November 1840, joined the French army as a dragoon
before the French Revolutionary Wars
and rose in rank to become a general officer. In 1800 he married the sister of Louis Desaix, who was killed at the Battle of Marengo. He led an infantry brigade in the 1805 campaign and commanded a dragoon division in 1806 and 1807. In 1809 he became chief of staff
to Marshal
André Masséna
but ran afoul of Emperor Napoleon
and was banished from the army for several years.
After Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
and the collapse of his regime, the interim French government appointed Beker to guard the ex-emperor. The general behaved correctly during the intrigues surrounding Napoleon before he went into exile at Saint Helena
. Nevertheless, he was summarily retired during the Bourbon Restoration
and only received the honors due him many years later. Beker is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
.
, Beker was serving as a dragoon in the royal army at the beginning of the French Revolution
. During the War of the First Coalition he earned rapid promotion to adjutant general while fighting as a dragoon, chasseur, and hussar. He commanded a brigade in 1795 and served as chief of staff
of the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
and the Army of Santo Domingo
.
Soon after Marengo, Beker married the deceased Desaix's older sister Antoinette Desaix (1764–1816). He was elevated to the rank of general of brigade on 2 January 1801.
's division in Marshal
Jean Lannes
' V Corps. He led his command at the Battle of Austerlitz
on 2 December 1805. On 24 December he won a promotion to general of division for his exploits.
At the start of the War of the Fourth Coalition
Beker did not have a command. However, he served as acting commander of the 2nd Dragoon Division when Emmanuel Grouchy was ill. In the operations shortly after the Battle of Prenzlau
on 28 October 1806, he led a brigade of dragoons in the search for isolated Prussian columns. At Anklam
on 31 October he located the combined forces of Karl Anton Ernst von Bila and his younger brother Rudolph Ernst Christoph von Bila. Attacking, he forced the Prussian column to retreat to the north side of the Peene
River. The next morning, he secured the surrender of 1,100 infantry, 1,073 cavalry, and six colors.
During the winter campaign in Poland, Beker commanded a small dragoon division numbering 1,200 men. With this unit he fought at the Battle of Pultusk
on 26 December 1806. During Lannes' mid-morning attack, Beker's dragoons covered the left flank under the immediate orders of Suchet. One source listed Beker as commander of the 2nd Dragoon Division at Pultusk. His independent command later became known as the 5th Dragoon Division and served first under Anne Jean Marie René Savary
and later under Marshal André Masséna
near Warsaw
. The 15th, 22nd, and 25th Dragoon Regiments fought at the Battle of Ostroleka
on 16 February 1807. Napoleon appointed him a Count of the Empire in 1808 with the title Count of Mons
.
Beker served as Masséna's chief of staff from the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition
through the Battle of Aspern-Essling
. He was considered a capable chief of staff. Historian Francis Loraine Petre
wrote that Masséna had grown lazy and delegated too many responsibilities to Beker, "probably also a great deal of the framing of orders". Masséna never once in the 1809 campaign signed a general order to his corps. Petre noted that the orders for the morning of 21 April 1809 were issued, "over Becker's signature as usual". According to Petre, Napoleon took notice of the marshal's habit of letting Beker run the corps for him and removed the chief of staff from his post, "probably unjustly". James R. Arnold related that the emperor sacked Beker after he heard that the chief of staff criticized his strategy. Masséna defended his intelligent chief of staff, but Napoleon had his way. Henri Lachouque claimed that the emperor dismissed Beker after he "violently criticized" Napoleon's orders. The unlucky general was put on half-pay and retired in 1811. Another account has him banished to the remote outpost of Belle-Île off the west coast of France. Beker's replacement as Masséna's chief of staff was Francois Nicolas Fririon.
King Louis XVIII of France
restored Beker to service on 3 June 1814. Described as "stubborn and hard-headed", he ran for office and was elected as the representative from Puy-de-Dôme
on 8 May 1815. This was during the Hundred Days
when Napoleon returned and the king fled. Within weeks, Napoleon was decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
and on 20 June Beker was ordered to report to Paul Grenier
and assist in the defense of Paris
.
At the orders of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout, Beker was sent to the Château de Malmaison
purportedly "to ensure the Emperor's safety". Actually, Joseph Fouché
, who controlled the interim government, feared that Napoleon might rejoin the French army and continue the war. Fouché and Davout knew there was every reason for Beker to dislike Napoleon and found him the perfect person to keep a close guard on the abdicated emperor. Beker tried to avoid the unpleasant task, but his duty as a soldier overcame his disgust at the intrigues going on in Paris at the time.
Napoleon hoped to flee to the United States
from the port of Rochefort
, while Fouché wished to hand the ex-emperor over to the Allies. Beker accompanied his former sovereign until 15 July, when Napoleon surrendered his person to the captain of a British man-of-war at the Île-d'Aix
. After the event, Louis XVIII's war minister Marshal Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr peremptorily ordered Beker to go home and remain there. He was not reinstated in rank until 1818. He belatedly received the Order of Saint Louis
in 1825 and the Grand Cordon of the Légion d'Honneur
in 1831.
Beker died at Aubiat
, Puy-de-Dôme
on 18 November 1840. His name is engraved on Column 26 of the Arc de Triomphe
. His only son Napoleon Beker became a staff officer in the French royal army. After his son died on 21 April 1829, Beker adopted his sister's son Victor-Felix Martha Beker as the heir to the title Count of Mons.
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
before the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and rose in rank to become a general officer. In 1800 he married the sister of Louis Desaix, who was killed at the Battle of Marengo. He led an infantry brigade in the 1805 campaign and commanded a dragoon division in 1806 and 1807. In 1809 he became chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
to Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
but ran afoul of Emperor Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and was banished from the army for several years.
After Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and the collapse of his regime, the interim French government appointed Beker to guard the ex-emperor. The general behaved correctly during the intrigues surrounding Napoleon before he went into exile at Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
. Nevertheless, he was summarily retired during the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
and only received the honors due him many years later. Beker is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
The following is the list of the names of the 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them are generals who served during the First French Empire with additional figures from the French Revolution ....
.
Early career
Born on 18 January 1770 at Obernai in the French province of AlsaceAlsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, Beker was serving as a dragoon in the royal army at the beginning of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. During the War of the First Coalition he earned rapid promotion to adjutant general while fighting as a dragoon, chasseur, and hussar. He commanded a brigade in 1795 and served as chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
of the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
The Army of Sambre-et-Meuse is the best known of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining three forces: the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of Moselle, and the right wing of the Army of the North. It had a brief but celebrated existence...
and the Army of Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
.
Soon after Marengo, Beker married the deceased Desaix's older sister Antoinette Desaix (1764–1816). He was elevated to the rank of general of brigade on 2 January 1801.
Empire
During the War of the Third Coalition, Beker commanded an infantry brigade in Louis Gabriel SuchetLouis Gabriel Suchet
Louis Gabriel Suchet, 1st Duc d'Albufera was a Marshal of France and one of Napoleon's most brilliant generals.-Early career:...
's division in Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
' V Corps. He led his command at the Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
on 2 December 1805. On 24 December he won a promotion to general of division for his exploits.
At the start of the War of the Fourth Coalition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
Beker did not have a command. However, he served as acting commander of the 2nd Dragoon Division when Emmanuel Grouchy was ill. In the operations shortly after the Battle of Prenzlau
Battle of Prenzlau
In the Battle of Prenzlau or Capitulation of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806 two divisions of French cavalry and some infantry led by Marshal Joachim Murat intercepted a retreating Prussian corps led by Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen. In this action from the War of the Fourth...
on 28 October 1806, he led a brigade of dragoons in the search for isolated Prussian columns. At Anklam
Anklam
Anklam is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 and was the capital of the former...
on 31 October he located the combined forces of Karl Anton Ernst von Bila and his younger brother Rudolph Ernst Christoph von Bila. Attacking, he forced the Prussian column to retreat to the north side of the Peene
Peene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
River. The next morning, he secured the surrender of 1,100 infantry, 1,073 cavalry, and six colors.
During the winter campaign in Poland, Beker commanded a small dragoon division numbering 1,200 men. With this unit he fought at the Battle of Pultusk
Battle of Pultusk
The Battle of Pułtusk took place on 26 December 1806 during the War of the Fourth Coalition near Pułtusk, Poland. Approximately 35,000 Russian soldiers with 128 guns under General Levin August, Count von Bennigsen resisted the attacks of 25,000 First French Empire soldiers under Marshal Jean...
on 26 December 1806. During Lannes' mid-morning attack, Beker's dragoons covered the left flank under the immediate orders of Suchet. One source listed Beker as commander of the 2nd Dragoon Division at Pultusk. His independent command later became known as the 5th Dragoon Division and served first under Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Anne Jean Marie René Savary, 1st Duc de Rovigo , French general and diplomat, was born at Marcq in the Ardennes.-Biography:...
and later under Marshal André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
near Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The 15th, 22nd, and 25th Dragoon Regiments fought at the Battle of Ostroleka
Battle of Ostrołęka (1807)
The Battle of Ostrołęka was fought on 16 February 1807 between First French Empire troops under General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary and Russian soldiers under Lieutenant General Ivan Essen. The French defeated the Russians and forced them to retreat to the east...
on 16 February 1807. Napoleon appointed him a Count of the Empire in 1808 with the title Count of Mons
Mons, Puy-de-Dôme
Mons is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
.
Beker served as Masséna's chief of staff from the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
through the Battle of Aspern-Essling
Battle of Aspern-Essling
In the Battle of Aspern-Essling , Napoleon attempted a forced crossing of the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles...
. He was considered a capable chief of staff. Historian Francis Loraine Petre
Francis Loraine Petre
Francis Loraine Petre OBE was a British civil servant in India and a military historian upon his retirement. He wrote a two-volume regimental history of the Norfolk Regiment, but is best known for his works on the Napoleonic Wars. The grandson of the 11th Baron Petre, he was educated at Oscott...
wrote that Masséna had grown lazy and delegated too many responsibilities to Beker, "probably also a great deal of the framing of orders". Masséna never once in the 1809 campaign signed a general order to his corps. Petre noted that the orders for the morning of 21 April 1809 were issued, "over Becker's signature as usual". According to Petre, Napoleon took notice of the marshal's habit of letting Beker run the corps for him and removed the chief of staff from his post, "probably unjustly". James R. Arnold related that the emperor sacked Beker after he heard that the chief of staff criticized his strategy. Masséna defended his intelligent chief of staff, but Napoleon had his way. Henri Lachouque claimed that the emperor dismissed Beker after he "violently criticized" Napoleon's orders. The unlucky general was put on half-pay and retired in 1811. Another account has him banished to the remote outpost of Belle-Île off the west coast of France. Beker's replacement as Masséna's chief of staff was Francois Nicolas Fririon.
Hundred Days
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
restored Beker to service on 3 June 1814. Described as "stubborn and hard-headed", he ran for office and was elected as the representative from Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
on 8 May 1815. This was during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
when Napoleon returned and the king fled. Within weeks, Napoleon was decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and on 20 June Beker was ordered to report to Paul Grenier
Paul Grenier
Paul Grenier joined the French royal army and rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a division in the 1796-1797 campaign in southern Germany. During the 1800 campaign in the Electorate of Bavaria he was a wing commander...
and assist in the defense of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
At the orders of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout, Beker was sent to the Château de Malmaison
Château de Malmaison
The Château de Malmaison is a country house in the city of Rueil-Malmaison about 12 km from Paris.It was formerly the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais, and with the Tuileries, was from 1800 to 1802 the headquarters of the French government.-History:Joséphine de Beauharnais bought the...
purportedly "to ensure the Emperor's safety". Actually, Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante was a French statesman and Minister of Police under Napoleon Bonaparte. In English texts his title is often translated as Duke of Otranto.-Youth:Fouché was born in Le Pellerin, a small village near Nantes...
, who controlled the interim government, feared that Napoleon might rejoin the French army and continue the war. Fouché and Davout knew there was every reason for Beker to dislike Napoleon and found him the perfect person to keep a close guard on the abdicated emperor. Beker tried to avoid the unpleasant task, but his duty as a soldier overcame his disgust at the intrigues going on in Paris at the time.
Napoleon hoped to flee to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from the port of Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
, while Fouché wished to hand the ex-emperor over to the Allies. Beker accompanied his former sovereign until 15 July, when Napoleon surrendered his person to the captain of a British man-of-war at the Île-d'Aix
Île-d'Aix
Île-d'Aix is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department off the west coast of France. It occupies the territory of small island of Île d'Aix in the Atlantic. It is a popular place for tourist day-trips during the summer months.-Location:...
. After the event, Louis XVIII's war minister Marshal Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr peremptorily ordered Beker to go home and remain there. He was not reinstated in rank until 1818. He belatedly received the Order of Saint Louis
Order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis was a military Order of Chivalry founded on 5 April 1693 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis . It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles...
in 1825 and the Grand Cordon of the Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1831.
Beker died at Aubiat
Aubiat
Aubiat is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
, Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
on 18 November 1840. His name is engraved on Column 26 of the Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
. His only son Napoleon Beker became a staff officer in the French royal army. After his son died on 21 April 1829, Beker adopted his sister's son Victor-Felix Martha Beker as the heir to the title Count of Mons.