His talent for war, along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the nickname "The Iron Marshal" (Le Maréchal de fer).

Davout was born in the small village of Annoux, Yonne, as the eldest son of Jean-François d'Avout (1739–1779), a cavalry officer and his wife (married in 1768) Françoise-Adélaïde Minard de Velars (1741–1810).

[3]: 4  Although a member of an impoverished minor French noble family, he was still educated in the nearby Brienne-le-Chateau, which had a military academy also attended by Napoleon, before also transferring to the École Militaire in Paris on 29 September 1785.

At the Battle of Austerlitz, following a forced march of 48 hours to fall on the left flank of the Russian army, the III Corps bore the brunt of the allies' attack.

Napoleon left him as governor-general of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw following the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, and the next year awarded him with the title of Duke of Auerstädt.

On the order of Napoleon Davout secretly took over the command of Jérôme Bonaparte,[9] occupied Minsk but had lost a third of his men due to sickness and desertion.

[6] During the retreat from Moscow he conducted the rear guard, which was deemed too slow by the emperor, and was replaced by Marshal Michel Ney in the Battle of Vyazma.

His inability to hold out against Mikhail Miloradovich in the Battle of Krasnoi, threatened his forces with destruction,[11] until the arrival of the Old Guard led by Édouard Mortier.

In April 1813, on his return from Russia with 4,000, the remains of 70,000 men,[15] Davout commanded the military district of Hamburg and Dirk van Hogendorp left.

He defended the poorly fortified and provisioned city, through the long Siege of Hamburg, only surrendering on direct order by King Louis XVIII, who had come to the throne after Napoleon's abdication in April 1814.

To what degree his skill and bravery would have altered the fortunes of the campaign of 1815 can only be surmised, but Napoleon has been criticized for his failure to avail himself in the field of the services of the best general he then possessed.

[19] On 24 June 1815, Davout was sent by Joseph Fouché, the president of the provisional government, to the dethroned emperor at the Élysée Palace with a request to quit Paris, where his continued presence could lead to trouble and public danger.

Napoleon received him coldly but left Paris the next day and resided at Château de Malmaison until 29 June when he departed for Rochfort.

"[23] Subsequently, Davout retired with the army beyond the Loire and made his submission to the restored Bourbon monarchy on 14 July, and within a few days gave up his command to Marshal Jacques MacDonald.

[citation needed] Because of his stubborn personality and limited social skills, he developed many enemies and antagonists within the army's officer corps, notably Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Joachim Murat (with whom he clashed strongly during the 1812 campaign), Louis-Alexandre Berthier and Baron Thiébault (who would harshly criticize Davout in his memoirs).

[citation needed] Perhaps his fiercest anger was directed towards Bernadotte, who he perceived to have failed to come to his aid at Auerstadt, though close enough to observe the smoke and hear the cannon fire.

[28] When Sweden threw in her lot against Napoleon in the War of the Sixth Coalition, Davout personally asked to be placed opposite Bernadotte's contingent, in order to gain retribution for the latter's betrayal.

They had eight children, four of whom died in childhood: The title of duke went to the descendants of Louis-Nicolas' brother Charles Isidor (1774–1854) by his marriage in 1824 to Claire de Cheverry (1804–1895).