Louis-Alexandre Berthier

Born into a military family in 1753, Berthier fought in the American Revolutionary War and navigated the Reign of Terror's suspicion of monarchist sympathies before climbing the Revolutionary Army ranks. He backed the coup that handed Napoleon power in 1799 and became his chief of staff from the first Italian campaign in 1796, earning a marshal's baton in 1804 and eventually the titles Prince de Neuchâtel and Prince de Wagram. His administrative genius kept the Grande Armée's communications, supply lines, and troop movements running through Napoleon's greatest victories, though he openly opposed the overstretched logistics of the Russian campaign. After Napoleon's first abdication in 1814, the restored Bourbons let him retire. On 1 June 1815, days before Waterloo, he died under unclear circumstances - either suicide or murder.