A piece of trivia and a test of knowledge. . . which Napoleonic battle had the most marshals / field marshals or future marshals / field marshals present? How many? What were their names?
Well it looks like Leipzig is on the top of the leader board. . . however after re-counting Waterloo falls to 3rd place at 22. The battle that I thought incorrectly would win has 26. Any guesses?
@david Tomlinson , that's a good point. As far as I know, Bernadotte was never a Swedish field marshal. So I listed him as Marechal d'Empire, but found it inappropriate to list him on the French side. A similar case is Ivan Paskewitsch, who became Russian field marshal in 1829 and was also appointed field marshal by the Austrian emperor and the Prussian king in 1850.
Wow @Immo Frese , as I suspected the international aspect really kicks in for Leipzig!Are you counting Bernadotte as a Marshal of France or Field Marshal of Sweden?Thank you for that great list.
French:NeySoultLobauD’ErlonReilleJeromeSt Jean d’Angelyd’Hillier (? QB)Prussian;BlücherGneisenauZietanMufflingBritish;Wellington (Many times over)William II (former Price of Orange)Anglesey ByngColbournWoodfordRossRowanGomm Yorke
Sorry Robert. I’m a bit of a 100 days ‘one shot wonder’ I’m afraid. That I know off the top of my head, the rest would need some work.My instinct would be to go for something with the maximum number of participants, like Austerlitz. That’s just because it could include future Austrian and Russian Field Marshals? A similar case could also be made for Leipzig of course. I have to admit I’d have to do the research for either of those!It’s the British that skews the figures at Waterloo. Who would think that Wellington had 10 future British Field Marshals on the field with him that afternoon? Granted some of them were relatively junior officers, like Gomm or Yorke.
The battle I was thinking of was Vitoria that was fought on 21 June 1813. There were 26 marshals or future marshals present. They were:
British (Seventeen)
Duke of Wellington
Lord Fitzroy Somerset
Hew Ross
Stapleton Cotton
Edward Blakeney
Henry Hardinge
Hugh Gough
Prince of Orange
John Byng
Marquess of Tweeddale
John Burgoyne
William Gomm
Alexander Woodford
John Fitzgerald
William Rowan
Charles York Colin Campbell
Portuguese (Five)
William Beresford
António José Severim de Noronha, 1st Duke of Terceira
Manuel Pamplona Carneiro Rangel, Viscount of Beire
João Carlos de Saldanha Oliveira e Daun, 1st Duke of Saldanha
António Vicente Queirós, 1.º Conde da Ponte de Santa Maria
French (Four)
Jourdain
Bertrand Clauzel
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Honoré Charles Michel Joseph Reille
Well it looks like Leipzig is on the top of the leader board. . . however after re-counting Waterloo falls to 3rd place at 22. The battle that I thought incorrectly would win has 26. Any guesses?
@david Tomlinson , that's a good point. As far as I know, Bernadotte was never a Swedish field marshal. So I listed him as Marechal d'Empire, but found it inappropriate to list him on the French side. A similar case is Ivan Paskewitsch, who became Russian field marshal in 1829 and was also appointed field marshal by the Austrian emperor and the Prussian king in 1850.
Wow @Immo Frese , as I suspected the international aspect really kicks in for Leipzig!Are you counting Bernadotte as a Marshal of France or Field Marshal of Sweden? Thank you for that great list.
I would vote for the Battle of Leipzig.
I count 41 Marshals so far... :
France:
Oudinot
Mortier
Gérard
Macdonald
Sebastiani
Exelmans
Murat
Berthier
Ney
Marmont
Poniatowski
Augereau
Lauriston
Victor
Maison
Randon
Sweden:
Bernadotte
von Stedingk
Sandels
Prussia:
von Blücher
Neidhardt von Gneisenau
von Boyen
von Müffling
Kleist von Nollendorf
Herwarth von Bittenfeld
Yorck von Wartenburg
von Steinmetz
von Wrangel
von Zieten
Austria:
zu Schwarzenberg
Radetzky von Radetz
von Wimpfen
von Mitrowitz-Nettolitzky
von Hessen-Homburg
Russia:
Barclay de Tolly
von der Osten-Sacken
Sayn-Wittgenstein
Paskewitsch
Diebitsch-Sabalkanski
Wolkonski
Woronzow
That changes the parameters somewhat, especially for Wagram...
Yes.
You want marshals of the Empire and field marshals from the allied side correct?