Читать книгу The Times Great Military Lives: Leadership and Courage – from Waterloo to the Falklands in Obituaries - Ian Brunskill - Страница 13

Descendant of a distinguished Irish family in the service of France.

18 OCTOBER 1893

MARIE EDMÉ PATRICE MAURICE DE MACMAHON, Marshal of France, Duc de Magenta, was descended from an Irish family of distinction. In the time of James II its representatives ruined themselves in his service and went with him into exile.

The late Marshal was born in the Château of Sully, near Autun, July 13, 1808. He entered the army and plunged with ardour into the campaign of conquest undertaken by the French in Algeria. He exhibited such talent and bravery that he speedily won renown. As a lieutenant he acquired fame and the Cross of the Legion of Honour by fighting the Kabyles along the slope of the Atlas.

The Crimea furnished the great field for the display of his indomitable courage. In 1855, when General Canrobert left the scene of war, MacMahon was selected by the Emperor to succeed him in the command of a division. When the chiefs of the Allied Armies resolved on assaulting Sebastopol, September 8, he was assigned the most perilous position in the grand final attack on the Malakoff Redoubt. MacMahon said to Marshal Niel, ‘I will enter it, and you may be certain that I shall not be removed from it living!’ Then ensued a colossal and terrible struggle, which will redound for ever to the military credit of the French.

In the Italian campaign of 1859 MacMahon greatly distinguished himself. At the battle of Magenta his conduct was particularly bold and sagacious. When Europe was startled in 1870 by the news of the declaration of war between France and Prussia, Marshal MacMahon was appointed to the command of the First Army Corps. His mission was the defence of Alsace. Although the declaration of war was made only on the 15th of July, by the 30th of the same month the Germans had three armies in the field. The French, on the contrary, had with difficulty collected 270,000 men with 925 guns by the beginning of August. The Emperor assumed the chief command, and had 128,000 men between Metz and the frontier at Saarbrück, some 47,000 under Marshal MacMahon on the eastern slopes of the Vosges Mountains, and 35,000 in reserve at Châlons.

The first engagement took place on August 2nd, when General Frossard’s corps drove out the weak German detachment in Saarbrück, but did not follow up its success, and the Germans took the offensive the next day. On the 4th the Third German Army, under the command of the Crown Prince, met General Douay’s advanced brigade near Wissembourg, defeated it, and then pressed forward. On the 6th the Crown Prince attacked the united Army Corps of Generals MacMahon, Failly, and Canrobert, drawn up in position at Woerth. MacMahon was in chief command, having under him some 50,000 men in all, and he occupied a strong defensive position on the slopes of the Vosges. The Marshal fought courageously against tremendous odds (the Germans having about 120,000 men), and he braved death in the most reckless manner, wringing testimonials of admiration from his enemies. But the display was powerless against the well-laid plans and superior force of the Germans. He was compelled to fall back upon Nancy, leaving in the enemy’s hands 4,000 prisoners, 36 cannon, and two standards.

MacMahon’s retreat was so ably conducted, however, that the Emperor confided to him the supreme command of the new levies which he was mustering at Châlons. This new army was the last hope of France. The Marshal was ordered to effect a junction with Bazaine’s forces at Metz. To effect this MacMahon began a northerly march on the 21st of August, without intelligence reaching the Germans, part of whose Second Army was again in motion towards Paris. On the 25th the Germans learned, as it was alleged, through a telegram in a foreign newspaper, of MacMahon’s movements, and they at once changed the direction of their march so as to intercept him. Finally, on the 30th, the 5th Corps, under De Failly, was surprised and driven northwards on Sedan. MacMahon here collected his dispirited troops, but only to find that the enemy had surrounded him, and by vigorous forward movements had captured the bridges over the Meuse and the commanding positions round the town. The fierce and decisive battle of Sedan commenced early on the 1st of September by the attack on Bazeilles. This village was captured by the Bavarians and recaptured by the French and ultimately burned. By noon MacMahon had been dangerously wounded in the thigh, and he resigned his command to General Wimpffen.

When M. Thiers resigned the Presidency of the Republic, May 24, 1873, Marshal MacMahon was elected to the vacant office by the Assembly. While MacMahon himself was unwilling to accept the office, it is said that his ambitious wife was determined that he should receive the Presidential office. She had put his name about, chiefly through the Figaro, as the champion of order, so that the Marshal, after considerable persuasion, accepted the Headship of the Executive.

This extract from the extensive obituary published in The Times on 18 October 1893 concentrates on MacMahon’s exploits in the Crimean and Franco-Prussian wars. At his death, a Paris newspaper proclaimed, ‘He was the last but one of the French Marshals, (Canrobert was still alive) identified with the old monarchy and not likely to be revived’, but the honour of Marshal of France was bestowed on French commanders of the First World War and subsequently.

On the battlefield, MacMahon displayed coolness but also impetuosity, reflecting the cavalry tradition, although his early service was as an infantry officer. He lacked the intellect and temperament to be a commander-in-chief, succumbing as he did to the strategy of Moltke in 1870.

As a politician he was well-intentioned, in particular for the benefit of the poorer classes, but artless and easily out-manoeuvred by the professionals. It was a weakness he almost certainly recognised but shouldered political responsibility – when no other suitable candidate was available – as a matter of patriotism and soldierly honour.

His devotion tothe large family his wife, a lady of the ducal house of Caraman, bore him was a consistent feature of his life.