General Jean-Baptiste Bessieres

Bessieres (1768-1813) was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic era. A great personal friend of the Emperor he campaigned with him in Italy and Egypt before becoming a senior cavalry commander of Napoleon’s own Guard Cavalry. He subsequently went on to take part in many other notable battles and campaigns in Europe before being killed in action in 1813. Bessieres was not of high birth but adopted the manners and style of a gentleman. He typically wore the distinctive green uniform of his original regiment ‘Guides of the Army of Italy’ and wore his hair long and ‘powdered’ in the style of the ‘Ancien Regime’... And that’s how we have portrayed him.