go against the Austrians instead. At the battle of Fried-
land (14 June 1807), Bernadotte, aided by Marshal Jean
lannes, occupied a position with 17,000 French troops
as 61,000 Russians under Benningsen led a full assault.
However, when Napoleon entered the fray with an ad-
ditional 80,000 French soldiers, the Russians retreated
with over 20,000 casualties.
In 1809, Napoleon put Bernadotte in command of
the French army’s IX Corps, also known as the Saxon
Corps. At Wagram on 5–6 July 1809, he made a key
mistake when his forces were attacked by Archduke
charles of Austria, losing the area of Anderklaa. Na-
poleon, furious that this setback cost him nearly 40,000
men overall, fired Bernadotte on the spot. The emperor
later relented and, after Bernadotte had returned to
Paris, put him in charge of defending the Netherlands
from a potential British invasion. Bernadotte handled
this position well, but it was not appropriate service for
a field general, and he returned to France.
In 1810, Charles XIII of Sweden and Norway ad-
opted Bernadotte as his official heir to the throne, since
the crown prince chosen by Parliament had died in
1810, leaving no heir. Historians believe that Charles
had been impressed by Bernadotte’s service in northern
Germany and with his conduct on the field of battle.
It is also believed that Charles desired an alliance with
Napoleon against the Russians. Once Napoleon gave his
blessing, Bernadotte was named as crown prince of Swe-
den in 1810, taking the name Charles John.
Bernadotte subsequently changed from an obedient
and loyal French military officer backing Napoleon to
an angry Swedish prince who decided to lead his newly
adopted land against France. In 1812, he entered into an
alliance with his former enemy, Russian czar Alexander
I, and the following year Sweden joined Russia in its
war against France. Taking to the field, Bernadotte com-
manded an army of some 30,000 men used in several
battles against his homeland’s forces. These included ac-
tions at Gross-Beeren (23 August 1813) against General
Nicholas Charles oudinot and Dennewitz (6 Septem-
ber 1813) against Marshal Peter ney. At Leipzig on 16–
18 October 1813, with 300,000 Russian, Prussian, and
Austrian forces, he confronted and defeated Napoleon
himself, leaving more than 50,000 French dead. This
was a major setback for Napoleon.
Bernadotte now went to war against the Danes to
consolidate Sweden’s power in Scandinavia. In January
1814, he forced King Frederick VI of Denmark to sign
the Treaty of Kiel, which ceded authority over Norway,
formerly controlled by Denmark, to Sweden. That same
year, following Napoleon’s defeat and exile to the island
of Elba, Bernadotte returned to France in a bid to be-
come king of France and to establish a grand alliance of
Sweden and France. However, finding his fellow French-
men bitter that he had turned against his homeland, he
left France, never to return.
Returning to Sweden, Bernadotte discovered that
the Norwegian people had refused to accept the Treaty
of Kiel, and he went to war against them in July 1814.
After just a month, the Norwegians were defeated, and
they were forced to sign the Convention of Moss on 14
August, joining the two nations into one.
On 5 February 1818, Charles XIII died, and Ber-
nadotte was crowned King Charles XIV John of Sweden
and Norway. He sat on the throne of these two countries
for 26 years, although he never learned to speak Swed-
ish. His alliance with Russia resulted in increased trade,
and he pushed the construction of Sweden’s Göta Canal.
His intolerance for a free press and some infringements
on liberties led to demonstrations against him and calls
for his abdication in the 1830s. However, he remained
on the throne until his death in Stockholm on 8 March
1844; he was succeeded by his son Oscar I. The current
Swedish monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf (Charles XVI
in English), is a direct descendent of Bernadotte. Another
descendant was Count Folke Bernadotte (1895–1948),
the UN representative in Israel who was murdered while
trying to reach a truce between the Jews and Arabs.References: Wencker, Friedrich, Bernadotte, A Biogra-
phy, translated by Kenneth Kirkness (London: Jarrolds,
1936); Barton, Sir Dunbar Plunkett, The Amazing Career
of Bernadotte, 1763–1844 (London: John Murray, 1929);
Palmer, Alan Warwick, Bernadotte: Napoleon’s Marshal,
Sweden’s King (London: John Murray, 1990); Bruce,
George, “Austerlitz” and “Eylau,” in Collins Dictionary
of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers,
1995), 25, 85.Berwick, James FitzJames, first duke of (earl
of Teignmouth, Baron Bosworth, duc de FitzJames)
(1670–1734) marshal of France
James FitzJames was born in Moulins, France, on 21
August 1670, the illegitimate son of James of York
(1633–1701), later James II of England, and his mis- beRwick, JAmeS FitzJAmeS, FiRSt Duke oF