BERTRAND, COUNT (1772-1842), marshal
of France, was born at Mirepoix (Ariege) on the 12th of December 1772,
and served in the first campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars as one
of the volunteers of 1791. In June 1795, having distinguished himself
repeatedly in the war on the northern frontier (1792-1793) and the
fighting in the eastern Pyrenees (1793-1794), Clausel was made a general
of brigade. In this rank he served in Italy in 1798 and 1799, and in the
disastrous campaign of the latter year he won great distinction at the
battles of the Trebbia and of Novi. In 1802 he served in the expedition
to S. Domingo. He became a general of division in December 1802, and
after his return to France he was in almost continuous military
employment there until in 1806 he was sent to the army of Naples. Soon
after this Napoleon made him a grand officer of the Legion of Honour. In
1808-1809 he was with Marmont in Dalmatia, and at the close of 1809 he
was appointed to a command in the army of Portugal under Massena.

Clausel took part in the Peninsular campaigns of 1810 and 1811,
including the Torres Vedras campaign, and under Marmont he did excellent
service in re-establishing the discipline, efficiency and mobility of
the army, which had suffered severely in the retreat from Torres Vedras.
In the Salamanca campaign (1812) the result of Clausel's work was shown
in the marching powers of the French, and at the battle of Salamanca,
Clausel, who had succeeded to the command on Marmont being wounded, and
had himself received a severe wound, drew off his army with the greatest
skill, the retreat on Burgos being conducted by him in such a way that
the pursuers failed to make the slightest impression, and had themselves
in the end to retire from the siege of Burgos (1812). Early in 1813
Clausel was made commander of the Army of the North in Spain, but he was
unable to avert the great disaster of Vittoria. Under the supreme
command of Soult he served through the rest of the Peninsular War with
unvarying distinction. On the first restoration in 1814 he submitted
unwillingly to the Bourbons, and when Napoleon returned to France, he
hastened to join him. During the Hundred Days he was in command of an
army defending the Pyrenean frontier. Even after Waterloo he long
refused to recognize the restored government, and he escaped to America,
being condemned to death in absence. He took the first opportunity of
returning to aid the Liberals in F