On the dissolution Of that body, young Bessieres was transferred to a cavalry regiment, attached to the legion of the Pyrenees. In the north of Spain, he conducted himself so well, as to rise from the station of a private sentinel to that of captain. It was in this in this capacity, or perhaps in the superior one of brigade major, that in 1796 he joined the army of Italy, where he soon attracted the attention of one, who, above all other generals, was able to discover and willing to reward military merit. One of the first occasions on which he was noticed by Buonaparte, was also that which laid the foundation of his fortune. As he was one day advancing against an Austrian battery, his horse was killed under him. He quickly disengaged himself from the fallen animal, leaped on a large piece of ordnance, and with his sabre laid lustily on the gunners who defended it. Two of his followers galloped to his aid, and enabled him to bring away the gun in triumph. The General-in-chief was so pleased with the intrepidity of the action, that he intrusted the gallant officer with the command of his guides, a corps which, by successive augmentations, became in the sequel the famous Imperial Guard, and of which the new favourite retained the command until his death.

Under the imperial government, this officer, now Marshal of France, continued to evince both ability and zeal in the service of his master. In 1805, he hastened to the theatre of war opened in Germany, and was incessantly employed until the peace of Tilsit. He fought at Jena, Heilsberg, Friedland, and Eylau; and exhibited, throughout the whole of these great campaigns, such an union of valour and prudence, as was rare even among the lieutenants of Napoleon.

1808.] The next scene which witnessed the talents of this marshal was Spain. He was placed over the Second Corps, and fixed his head-quarters at Burgos. Combining great activity, with a mildness unknown to the French leaders generally, he succeeded more effectually than almost any of them, in quelling the insurrections which perpetually broke among the patriotic inhabitants. This was a service which, however valuable, and however gratefully acknowledged by the people, was not, perhaps, calculated to add much lustre to name beyond the Pyrenees; but fortune furnished him with an occasion of placing that name beside the more illustrious of his brother marshals. The brave but imprudent Cuesta, the Spanish general, at~the head of a numerous force, advanced on Burgos, with the intention of cutting off the communication between France and Madrid. Bessieres, though at the head of no more than 13,000 men, was not less eager for the attack. The two armies met near Medina del Rio Seco, and furious was the struggle which ensued. For some time the Spaniards had much the advantage, -- a circumstance not to be surprised at, when we consider the great superiority of their numbers; but the charge of the French cavalry on the left wing bore down all before and at length turned the fortune of the day. The Spaniards were completely routed; their materiel fell into the hands of the victors; and, if we admit the authority of the neighbouring priests, 27,000 bodies were buried on the field.

The success of this battle appeared so decisive to Napoleon, that he exclaimed, "This is a second Villaviciosa: Bessieres has placed my brother on the throne!" It opened the way to Madrid, whither Joseph immediately proceeded to assume the ensigns of royalty. It also enabled the marshal to take possession of the arms and stores which England had forwarded to the patriots.

At Wagram, he led the French horse against the Austrian flank. The charge was gallantly met, and was well nigh proving fatal to him. A ball struck him from his horse: he was for a few moments believed to be dead, and nothing could exceed the affliction of his men, at the supposed catastrophe of their beloved chief. But to their great joy, the injury was but slight. Their attachment to him was deep, and well it might be: he had not only the bravery which, with the brave, is an unfailing passport to esteem, but that unaffected simplicity, that mildness of manner, that kindness of heart, and that pleasing familiarity with the lowest of his followers, which do and must win a way to the heart. "Bessieres," said the emperor, who rejoiced at his narrow escape as much as any one of them "you ought to feel obliged to that ball; it has made my whole guard weep for you!"

In 1811, Bessieres governed Old Castile and Leon, and in 1812, he went through the Russian campaign with honour. The opening of the next saw him in the place of Murat -- at the head of the cavalry of the whole array. In this important post, he prepared to merit the increased confidence of his master. But in the decline of that emperor's prosperity, it seemed as if fortune was not satisfied with the infliction of the reverses common to vanquished heroes. Not only was his fall so rapid as to astonish the world, even more than his rise had done, but, in the course of it, many of his early and most attached followers -- those whom he loved beyond every thing save his glory and his power, were snatched from his side: and among these was Bessieres.

On the first of May, the evening before the battle of Lutzen, the marshal was forcing the defile of Rippach near Poserna. According to his custom, he penetrated into the midst of the danger, followed by the foot tirailleurs. The moment the defile was won, a ball struck him in the breast, and extended him lifeless on the ground. His corpse was instantly covered with a white sheet, and his death concealed from the brave men he had so long been in the habit of commanding, until the victory of the following day had rendered them more able to bear the sorrowful intelligence.

Thus fell an excellent soldier, and a good man. His character appears to unspeakable advantage, when contrasted with that of the far greater number of Napoleon's lieutenants. He was no plunderer, for he left his family not only poor, but considerably in debt. He was no courtier, for he loved his imperial master too much to deceive him with honeyed words. Of his humanity, his benevolent spirit, no better proof need be adduced than this, -- that even in Spain, where the French name was deservedly odious, the inhabitants of several towns which had witnessed his administration, assembled voluntarily to offer up masses for the soul of Bessieres.

In Austria, Prussia, Poland, he did all in his power to mitigate the horrors of war, and left many grateful remembrances behind him. Nay, even Russia ,had reason to praise his humanity. At the conflagration of Moscow, a considerable number of the unhoused and trembling inhabitants sought refuge in the palace he occupied. On their entrance, he and his suite were about to sit down to table. Affected with so much misery, he said to the members of his staff, "Gentlemen, let us seek a dinner elsewhere!" He immediately caused the famished wretches to be seated at his board. During the fearful retreat from Mara-yaslovetz, his humanity and courage were unceasingly exhibited. He was with the soldiery the object of equal confidence and affection.

Bessieres left a son, whom Louis XVIII. created a Peer of France.