Jean-de-Dieu Soult:伝記、業績、そして不朽の遺産

In 1804, Napoleon made Soult one of his first eighteen Marshals of the Empire. Soult played a key role in many of Napoleon's campaigns, most notably in the Ulm campaign (e.g., Battle of Memmingen) and at the Battle of Austerlitz, where his corps delivered the decisive attack that secured French victory. He was subsequently created Duke of Dalmatia. From 1808, he commanded French forces during the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Corunna, Soult clashed with the British under generals John Moore and John Hope; during Soult's attack, his troops were outflanked by numerically superior infantry and retreated to their original positions as did the British troops, but eventually the battlefield remained his due to the British retreat to their ships, thus Spain was left without British support for a while. At the Battle of Albuera, against superior Anglo-allied forces of William Beresford, he again fought to a draw.

Despite several initial victories, for instance at the Battle of Ocaña, Soult was eventually outmaneuvered and driven out of Spain by the coalition forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington), which were superior to the army given to Soult in terms of the quality of troops and supplies. Soult then stubbornly fought Wellington at Toulouse in 1814, days after Napoleon's first abdication. Soult declared himself a royalist following the Bourbon Restoration, but rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days. He was Napoleon's chief of staff during the Waterloo campaign in 1815, where the emperor suffered a final defeat; in this role Soult proved himself less capable than as a field commander.

Following the second restoration, Soult went into exile in Germany. In 1819 he was recalled to France and returned to royal favour, and in 1830 he was made Minister of War after the July Revolution. Soult oversaw reforms of the French military and was responsible for the creation of the French Foreign Legion. Under King Louis Philippe, he was three times French prime minister from 1832 to 1834, almost a year between 1839 and 1840 and from 1840 to 1847. In 1847, he was awarded the title Marshal General of France. Soult again declared himself a Republican after Louis Philippe's overthrow in the French Revolution of 1848. He died in 1851.

During his military career, Soult amassed a large collection of paintings, many during his time in Spain. The collection was dispersed in a sale following Soult's death.