good terms with his commander and retired to France after the first operations of the campaign. In 1801, Saint-Cyr was sent to Spain to command the army intended for the invasion of Portugal (see War of the Oranges), and was named grand officer of the Legion of Honour. When a treaty of peace was shortly afterwards concluded with Portugal, he succeeded Lucien Bonaparte as ambassador at Madrid. Napoleonic Wars Saint-Cyr was a stoic in an age of pragmatism and glory. His refusal to sign the proclamation of congratulation for declaring the birth of the empire resulted in his name not being included in the first list of Napoleonic Marshals, while commanders such as Jean Lannes, Jean-Baptiste Bessières and Jean-de-Dieu Soult who had not had independent command experience were included. For the whole of his life Saint-Cyr believed that Napoleon deliberately refused him troops just to disgrace him. In 1803, he was appointed to the command of an army corps in Italy. In 1805, he served with distinction under Masséna, and in 1806, he was engaged in the French invasion of Naples. When he returned to Paris to protest his treatment in Naples, Napoleon sent him back to his post on pain of death. He took part in the 1807 campaigns in Prussia and Poland, and in 1808, in which year he was made a count, he commanded an army corps in Catalonia; but, not wishing to comply with certain orders he received from Paris, he resigned his command and remained in disgrace till 1811. He was still a général de division, having been excluded from the first list of marshals. On the opening of the Russian campaign, Saint-Cyr received command of the VI Corps, and on 18 August 1812 won a victory over the Russians at Polotsk, in recognition of which he was made a marshal. The Russians, under Barclay de Tolly, were burning everything as they retreated back towards Moscow, and had just burned nearby Smolensk. It was just prior to the victory at Polotsk on the banks of the Daugava river, however, that Oudinot was wounded, and thus Saint-Cyr assumed his command. In October 1812, Saint-Cyr was driven out of Polotsk. He received a severe wound in one of the battles during the general retreat. Saint-Cyr distinguished himself at the Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) and in the city's defence against the Allies after the Battle of