#marshal grouchy

Emmanuel de Grouchy, later Marshal Grouchy, as Colonel of 2nd Dragoons in 1792, by Georges Rouget, 1835

Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy was a skilled cavalry officer who had a long career of service in the French army. This record has been overshadowed by accusations – originating with Napoleon and his followers on Saint Helena – that Marshal Grouchy was in large part responsible for Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. After Waterloo, Grouchy went into exile in the United States, where he began the frustrating process of defending himself against allegations of incompetence, cowardice and treachery. For details, see “Marshal Grouchy in America.”