The Making of a Reluctant Marshal
Emmanuel de Grouchy’s path to becoming Napoleon’s final marshal was anything but straightforward. Born into an aristocratic family in Paris on October 23, 1766, young Grouchy entered the prestigious Strasbourg Artillery School at age 14, displaying early military promise. Unlike many of Napoleon’s marshals who rose from humble origins, Grouchy’s noble lineage traced back to the era of William the Conqueror, making him an unusual figure in the revolutionary French army.
His career nearly ended before it began when illness forced him to leave military service in 1787. The Revolution brought him back in 1791 as a staunch republican, though his aristocratic background led to temporary dismissal in 1793. Grouchy proved resilient, returning to service and distinguishing himself in Italy under General Joubert, where he suffered multiple wounds at Novi in 1799 – four saber cuts, a gunshot wound, and several bayonet thrusts that left him hospitalized and captured.
The Long Road to Imperial Service
Grouchy’s relationship with Napoleon remained complicated. His early association with General Moreau, Napoleon’s rival, and his vocal support during Moreau’s 1804 trial marked him as politically unreliable in the Emperor’s eyes. Yet his battlefield performances couldn’t be ignored – particularly at Hohenlinden (1800) where he fought alongside Ney, and at Friedland (1807) where his cavalry maneuvers earned him the Grand Cross of the Baden Military Order.
The Russian campaign of 1812 nearly ended his career again when severe wounds at Borodino forced his evacuation. By 1814, the 47-year-old cavalry commander was physically diminished but still capable, fighting under Victor and Marmont during the defensive campaigns in France. When Napoleon abdicated, Grouchy – like many marshals – accepted the Bourbon restoration, though he resented losing his honorary cavalry colonel-general title.
The Hundred Days and Unexpected Promotion
Napoleon’s dramatic return from Elba in March 1815 forced every marshal to choose sides. Grouchy, despite his aristocratic background, immediately rallied to the Emperor, successfully neutralizing the Duc d’Angoulême’s royalist forces in the south. This loyalty, combined with Napoleon’s desperate need for reliable commanders, earned Grouchy command of the Army of the Alps and, on April 15, 1815, the long-coveted marshal’s baton.
The promotion came shockingly late – Grouchy had been a division general for twenty years and had essentially given up hope of further advancement. At 49, he became both Napoleon’s oldest and last-created marshal, his gratitude making him fiercely loyal just as the Emperor needed unquestioning obedience most.
The Waterloo Campaign: A Marshal’s Crucible
Assigned to command the cavalry reserve for the Waterloo campaign, Grouchy’s role expanded dramatically after the Battle of Ligny on June 16. With the Prussians retreating in disarray but not destroyed, Napoleon gave Grouchy 33,000 men and explicit orders: “Pursue the Prussians, discover their movements, and prevent them from approaching Wellington’s army or rejoining the English.”
What followed became one of history’s most debated military decisions. Hearing distant cannonade from Waterloo on June 18, Grouchy’s subordinates – especially General Gérard – urged marching toward the guns. The marshal refused, citing his strict orders to pursue the Prussians. While he engaged part of the Prussian III Corps at Wavre, the bulk of Blücher’s army slipped away to decisively reinforce Wellington at Waterloo.
The Controversial Legacy
Grouchy’s post-Waterloo retreat through Namur to Paris demonstrated considerable skill, preserving his force intact when Napoleon’s main army had disintegrated. But history remembers him primarily for his decisions on June 18. Had he marched to Waterloo, might the battle’s outcome have changed? Historians remain divided.
Exiled during the Second Restoration, Grouchy spent years in America before returning to France in 1820. Only after the July Revolution of 1830 did King Louis-Philippe restore his marshal’s title. He died in 1847, the last of Napoleon’s marshals to receive his baton, his name forever tied to the Emperor’s final defeat.
Grouchy’s story encapsulates the dilemmas of Napoleonic commanders – talented professionals caught between duty to orders and opportunities of the moment. His steadfast adherence to Napoleon’s instructions, while militarily correct, couldn’t account for the Emperor’s own deteriorating situation at Waterloo. In this sense, Grouchy became the perfect symbol of Napoleon’s waning fortunes in 1815 – capable but constrained, loyal but unlucky, promoted too late to change history’s course.