Could Marshal Saint-Cyr have been one of Napoleon's best marshals?

There is a good, short bio of St Cyr in David Chandler's 'Napoleon's Marshals'.

Not sure if you are asking if St Cyr was one of the best Marshals, but was not accorded his proper place, or could he have been one of the best had his record included other campaigns and his personal history with Napoleon been better.

His strength was in planning defensive operations which was not Napoleon's area of strength or personal inclination. St Cyr had trouble being a subordinate to numerous other Marshal's, he was not an outgoing personality by any means and disassociated himself from care or concern for the troops under him. He clashed with and caused Napoleon to replace him on multiple occasions. If he failed to attain a higher position in the Marshal's listing it appears to be mainly his own fault due to personality, an inability to inspire and a refusal to accept commands or positions he did not agree with. The latter failure is one Napoleon also shared so perhaps he was too much like his leader to be better used or appreciated.

Thanks everyone for your informative and detailed replies. 😀

More on St Cyr from Swords, 148-149:

His name was, properly, Laurent Gouvion St Cyr. 'St Cyr'might have been adopted by him as a 'nomme de guerre.' He was described as an 'icy intellectual whom soldiers called 'the Owl.'

St Cyr began his service in a sans-culotte battalion and was later assigned to staff duty.

'Like Murat, St Cyr had too little troop duty.' He took care of his men's health but was distant and it was remarked by Fezensac that he 'never showed himself.'

'He was a difficult subordinate and not always the best of comrades.' He did study Frederick the Great and Machiavelli and was 'honest and always his own man.'

'He was neveer the man to seize a flag and rally a broken line...Some of his more extroverted contemporaries christened him 'the prudent one.' His leadership was cerebral-cautious calculation, then a thrust to the enemy's vitals.'

He won his baton in Russia and Napoleon trusted him with independent commands in secondary theaters, but he did have a tendency towards insubordination.

Back to topic

Nabulieone about St. Cyr :

Le meilleur de nous pour la guerre defénsive

At the Armée du Rhin he had the nickname - général dix milles homes, because he presence was thought to have the value of 10,000 men.

Other nicknames, hibou - odd fellow, the owl, the hermit - and also the mal coucheur.

According to the Dictionnaire Napoléon he never lost a battle in the field (Dresden was a capitulation).

source for all above : Tulard (editeur) - Dictionnaire Napoléon, volume one.

He had certainly a peculiar character, maybe no fitting for a popular leader, after the victory at 2nd - Polozk, according to Marbot - caution - the locked himself up in a chamber and played the violin - which was his main passion.

'Massena, Davout, and Suchet were the masters, capable of independent missions. So, to a lesser degree, were St Cyr, Soult, and - for a while - Macdonald. Lannes, had he lived, might have ranked with their best. The rest were human projectiles who required the Emperor's aim and impulse. Their service was hard. Their names are remembered.'-John Elting, Swords Around a Throne, 155.

I would consider Lannes among the best of the marshals along with Massena, Davout, and Suchet even though his career was cut short at Essling. The one indispensable marshal, however, was Berthier.

There are his memoires as well

for download

http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?adva=1&adv=1&tri=&t_relation=%22cb305298450%22&lang=de

He published also the

Journal des opérations de l'armée de Catalogne en 1808 et 1809

It is difficult to answer, he was praised a lot when serving in the Revolutionary Armies - along with Moreau - then under Napulieone it was too late to show what he could do with more independent command.

I would recommend to read

Guy de Vernon : Vie du Maréchal Gouvion Saint -Cyr, Paris 1856

it is available for download on google books etc.

I really enjoyed this book on Marshal Lannes. I already liked him before, but enjoyed learning about his mood swings, which made him seem more like a real person.

The Emperor's Friend: Marshal Jean Lannes (sadly the cheapest book is $100 on Amazon)

A review of the book can be found below.

https://www.napoleon-series.org/reviews/biographies/c_lannes.html