Jean-de-Dieu Soult

Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult Duke and Peer, GOLH, KOHS, COSL
Portrait by George Healy, 1840
Prime Minister of France
In office 29 October 1840 – 18 September 1847
Monarch	Louis Philippe I
Preceded by	Adolphe Thiers
Succeeded by	François Guizot
In office 12 May 1839 – 1 March 1840
Monarch	Louis Philippe I
Preceded by	Louis-Mathieu Molé
Succeeded by	Adolphe Thiers
In office 11 October 1832 – 18 July 1834
Monarch	Louis Philippe I
Preceded by	Casimir Perier
Succeeded by	Étienne Maurice Gérard
Minister of War
In office 29 October 1840 – 10 November 1845
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Amédée Despans-Cubières
Succeeded by	Alexandre Moline de Saint-Yon
In office 17 November 1830 – 18 July 1834
Prime Minister	Jacques Laffitte Casimir Perier
Preceded by	Étienne Maurice Gérard
Succeeded by	Étienne Maurice Gérard
In office 26 November 1814 – 11 March 1815
Prime Minister	Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas
Preceded by	Pierre Dupont de l'Étang
Succeeded by	Henri Clarke
Personal details
Born	(1769-03-29)29 March 1769 Saint-Amans-la-Bastide, France
Died	26 November 1851(1851-11-26) (aged 82) Saint-Amans-la-Bastide, Tarn, France
Political party	Resistance Party
Spouse	Jeanne-Louise-Elisabeth Berg ​ ​ (m. 1796; died 1851)​
Children	3
Profession	Military officer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of France  Kingdom of the French  First French Republic  First French Empire  Bourbon Restoration  July Monarchy
Branch/service	Army
Years of service	1785–1815
Rank	Marshal of the Empire
Unit	Infantry Royal Regiment Army of Sambre-et-Meuse Army of Helvetia 110th Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars Peninsular War

Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult,^[1][2] 1st Duke of Dalmatia (French: [ʒɑ̃dədjø sult]; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) of France.

Son of a country notary from southern France, Soult enlisted in the French Royal Army in 1785 and quickly rose through the ranks during the French Revolution. He was promoted to brigadier general after distinguishing himself at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, and by 1799 he was a division general. In 1804, Napoleon made Soult one of his first eighteen Marshal of the Empire. Soult played a key role in many of Napoleon's campaigns, most notably at the Battle of Austerlitz, where his corps delivered the decisive attack that secured French victory. He was subsequently created Duke of Dalmatia and from 1808, he commanded French forces during the Peninsular War. Despite several initial victories, for instance at the Battle of Ocaña, Soult was eventually outmaneuvered and driven out of Spain by the coalition forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington). He was again defeated by Wellington at Toulouse in 1814, days after Napoleon's first abdication. Soult declared himself a royalist following the Bourbon Restoration, but rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days. He was Napoleon's chief of staff during the Waterloo campaign in 1815, where the emperor suffered a final defeat.

Following the second restoration, Soult went into exile in Germany. In 1819 he was recalled to France and returned to royal favour, and in 1830 he was made Minister of War after the July Revolution. Soult oversaw reforms of the French military and was responsible for the creation of the French Foreign Legion. Under King Louis Philippe, he was three times French prime minister from 1832 to 1834, almost a year between 1839 and 1840 and from 1840 to 1847. In 1847, he was awarded the title Marshal General of France. Soult again declared himself a Republican after Louis Philippe's overthrow in the French Revolution of 1848. He died in 1851.