Eagle

ENTJ
Elemental Energy: Air
War Bird
KType: Field Marshall

Napoleon at Toulon

In 1793, Napoleon, the young artillery captain in the French revolutionary army, was in the south of France escorting a cargo of gunpowder from Avignon to the revolutionary army of Italy. En route from Marseille to Nice, he dropped by at the siege of Toulon to pay his respects to his fellow Coriscan Saliceti, the powerful political advisor. It was a shrewd move.

The occupation of Toulouse – France’s most important Mediterranean naval base – by royalist forces, supported by Britain and the allies, was a threat to the whole revolution. The original commander of artillery at the siege had been wounded, and Saliceti and Robespierre insisted that he should be immediately replaced by the young Bonaparte, despite the reluctance of the military general in charge of the siege.

Napoleon carried out a reconnaissance and quickly sized up the strategic situation. He recommended training the artillery on the British encampment on a promontory overlooking Toulon’s harbour, rather than on the city itself.

He could see that seizing control of the British position would allow him to fire on the harbour itself, rather than the town, and to drive out the British fleet, leaving the defenders without a supply-line from the sea.

The general in charge, however, made a half-hearted attempt on the promontory which succeeded only in alerting the British to their danger: they reinforced the promontory so heavily that it was dubbed ‘Little Gibraltar’.

Napoleon had been denied what was to become one of his later trade-mark routes to success: acting with great speed to surprise the enemy, exploiting a weakness that they had not recognized. Denied this, his next move represented another classic Napoleonic strategy: apply overwhelming force.

He requisitioned artillery from all around the region, and established a series of batteries that were given stirring patriotic names – ‘The Convention’, ‘Camp of the Republicans’, ‘The Jacobins’, ‘The Men Without Fear’. This in itself was a clever piece of leadership, demonstrating Napoleon’s instinctive grasp of motivation.

The battery of ‘The Men without Fear’ was indeed sited in a very exposed and dangerous position, but it never lacked for volunteers, keen to prove their bravery. Legend has it that Napoleon himself worked on this battery, wielding a ramrod alongside his gunners. He probably did.

The original general in charge of the siege was dismissed by the politicos; he was succeeded by a former doctor – a classic example of the danger of letting political cadres take control of an army. He in turn resigned in recognition of his own incompetence and was succeeded at last by an experienced soldier, Dugommier, who recognised the merit of Napoleon’s strategy and gave it his full support.

After repulsing one British attack on the French gun emplacements, Napoleon and Dugommier together led a counter-attack, during which Napoleon captured General O’Hara, the British commanding officer.  Napoleon was promoted to Colonel. Later he led the final, successful, attack on the British position and was wounded in the thigh by a bayonet.  It was, astoundingly, the only wound that he was ever to receive in battle, despite his legendary insouciance about exposing himself to enemy fire. As his career progressed, this insouciance (or bravery) seemed to come from a genuine fatalism: he believed that he would not be killed until he had fulfilled his destiny.

Psysign Summary

Eagles are natural born leaders. They are raptors with keen vision and intellect who soar above scanning the field below. These “war birds” are sharply focused on their objectives and like fighter pilots, are not afraid to engage in conflict, debate and battle.

The Functions

Careers

Relationships

Owls: Eagles, who lead with external thinking are best matched with partners who have strong internal (introverted) thinking.

Famous Eagles

• Napoleon
• Albert Gore, Jr.

Other Trivia

National bird for Albania, Armenia, Egypt, Germany, Panama, United States, and Zambia
Mascot for Philadelphia Eagles