Edouard Adolphe Mortier

Mortier, Edouard Adolphe 

Born Feb. 13, 1768, in Cateau Cambrésis; died July 28, 1835, in Paris. A marshal of France from 1804; created duke of Trévise in 1808.

The son of a merchant, Mortier joined the National Guard in 1789 and the army in 1791. In 1799 he was promoted to general of division. He commanded a corps in the wars of 1805–07 against Austria and Prussia and from 1808 to 1811 took part in military operations in Spain.

During 1812–13, Mortier commanded the Young Guard in the Russian campaign. In 1812 he was military governor of Moscow; during the retreat, he blew up part of the Kremlin. In 1814, along with Marshal Marmont, he signed the articles of surrender for Paris.

Mortier went over to the side of the Bourbons and became a peer of France, but during the Hundred Days he once again joined Napoleon. In 1816 he rejoined the army and in 1819 was again made a peer. Mortier was ambassador to Russia in 1830–31 and minister of war in 1834–35. He was killed during G. Fieschi’s attempted assassination of King Louis Philippe.