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| Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier | |
|---|---|
| Name | Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier |
| Birth date | 13 July 1768 |
| Birth place | Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Nord |
| Death date | 28 July 1835 |
| Death place | Lille |
| Allegiance | First French Empire |
| Branch | French Army |
| Serviceyears | 1792–1835 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
| Battles | Battle of Valmy, Fleurus, Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Peninsular War, Battle of Wagram |
| Awards | Legion of Honour |
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier was a French soldier and statesman who rose from the Revolutionary armies to become a prominent marshal under Napoleon I and later a political figure during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy. He served in major campaigns including the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, held diplomatic posts such as French ambassador to Spain and Minister of War, and became Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour. His assassination in 1835 by an Italian exile reverberated through Paris and affected European diplomatic circles.
Mortier was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in Nord into a modest family with roots in the Hainaut region; his early years overlapped with the reign of Louis XVI and the events leading to the French Revolution. He married and established connections with provincial notables, integrating into networks that included officers from Hainaut and administrators tied to the Committee of Public Safety and later to Bonapartist circles. His siblings and in-laws interacted with officials in Paris and with veteran officers who served under Dumouriez and Carnot, linking Mortier to a web of Revolutionary and Napoleonic elites.
Mortier enlisted in the infantry in the early 1790s and fought in operations associated with the Armée du Nord and the campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars, seeing action at the Battle of Valmy and the Fleurus alongside commanders such as Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Charles Pichegru. Promoted through merit during the levee en masse era, he served under generals including Jean Moreau and Jean-de-Dieu Soult in Rhine and German campaigns, and later under Napoleon Bonaparte in Italian and German theatres. As a corps commander he participated in engagements tied to the War of the Third Coalition, the War of the Fourth Coalition, and the War of the Fifth Coalition, coordinating with marshals like Michel Ney, Louis-Nicolas Davout, and André Masséna.
During the Napoleonic Wars Mortier distinguished himself at pivotal battles such as Austerlitz and Jena–Auerstedt, commanding divisions and corps within the Grande Armée and cooperating with leaders like Jean Lannes and Auguste de Marmont. Appointed a Marshal of France by Napoleon I in recognition of campaigns in 1809 and 1810, he led forces in the Peninsular War against Spanish and British commanders including Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and Francisco de Longa. Mortier later commanded reserve forces during the Invasion of Russia and engaged in the 1813–1814 campaigns in Germany and France, confronting opponents such as Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg.
After the abdication of Napoleon I Mortier navigated the turbulent politics of the Bourbon Restoration, accepting positions under Louis XVIII and serving in roles that connected him to the ministries of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu. He was appointed ambassador to The Hague and later to Spain, where he negotiated with figures like Ferdinand VII of Spain and engaged with diplomats from Britain such as Viscount Castlereagh and George Canning. Under the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe I Mortier became Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour and served as Marshal-General and as a senator, interacting with statesmen including Adolphe Thiers and François Guizot.
On 28 July 1835 Mortier was assassinated in Lille by an Italian exile, the carbonari member Giuseppe Fieschi—whose name is associated with the Fieschi assassination attempt—in a plot that also targeted other leading figures in Paris and provoked legal proceedings presided over by magistrates such as Roget de Belloguet. The attack occurred amid tensions involving Italian revolutionary émigrés linked to the Carbonari and to activists influenced by uprisings in Naples and Piedmont. Mortier succumbed to his wounds, and the event triggered responses from ministers in Paris, debates in the Chamber of Deputies and diplomatic protests from capitals including London and Rome.
Mortier's legacy is reflected in commemorations such as inscriptions on monuments associated with the Arc de Triomphe and in lists of marshals maintained by historians of the First French Empire. He received high distinctions including the Legion of Honour and provostships in the social memory of post-Napoleonic France, referenced by biographers like Thiers and military historians such as Carl von Clausewitz in comparative studies. Places and streets in Lille, Paris, and other French cities bear his name, and archives in institutions like the Service historique de la Défense preserve his correspondence and orders from campaigns alongside papers related to contemporaries such as Napoleon III and Eugène de Beauharnais. Category:Marshals of France