Bertrand, Henri Gratien

Bertrand, Henri Gratien

 

Born Mar. 28, 1773, in Châteauroux; died there on Jan. 31,1844. French general and count (1808).

Bertrand was in the military service beginning in 1792 and participated in all the Napoleonic Wars. In 1804 he became adjutant to Napoleon I; in 1813 he became chief marshal of the imperial court. Bertrand enjoyed Napoleon’s confidence and voluntarily shared his exile on the island of Elba (1814) and the island of St. Helena (1816–21). In 1816 he was sentenced to death, in absentia, by the French government, but in 1821 his rights and rank were restored. From 1831 to 1834 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies. Bertrand left a diary about Napoleon’s stay on the island of St. Helena.

WORKS

Cahiers de Sainte-Hélène, vols. 1–3. Paris, 1949–59.