André Masséna

André Masséna was one of Napoleon's ablest marshals, called the dear child of victory, and ended his career blamed for a defeat in Portugal. Born in Nice in 1758, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, he was orphaned young, served as a cabin boy on merchant ships, and enlisted in a French regiment in 1775, rising to sergeant major — the highest rank a commoner could then reach. He left the army, smuggled goods across the Alpine frontier, and rejoined when the Revolution opened commissions to talent. He was a general of division within two years. He made his name in Italy under Bonaparte in 1796-97, particularly at Rivoli. In 1799 he won the second battle of Zurich against the Russians and Austrians, which saved France from invasion and is arguably the most important victory of his career. In 1800 he held Genoa under siege for two months on starvation rations, tying down Austrian forces long enough for Bonaparte to cross the Alps and win at Marengo. He was made a marshal in 1804 and Duke of Rivoli, and commanded at Aspern-Essling and Wagram in 1809, where he directed the battle from a carriage after a riding injury. He was sent to Portugal in 1810 to drive the British into the sea. Wellington had built the Lines of Torres Vedras, three belts of fortifications across the peninsula north of Lisbon, and had the countryside stripped bare. Masséna sat before them through a winter, lost tens of thousands of men to starvation and disease, and withdrew. Napoleon never gave him another field command. He was notoriously corrupt about plunder. He died in 1817.

• Lived: 1758 CE – 1817 CE
• Nationality: French
• Roles: military_leader