Leipzig, capitulating only on 11 November, when Napoleon had retreated to the Rhine. In this year, Saint Cyr's relation with the Emperor warmed as Napoleon commented that Saint Cyr had no match in all of the marshalate and was the equal of Napoleon himself in defence. On the day he received his baton, he wrote a lengthy letter to his wife, and, true to his character, he devoted only one line to his promotion. Last years During the Bourbon Restoration, Saint-Cyr was created a Peer of France, and in July 1815 was appointed War Minister, but resigned his office in the following November. During this appointment he tried to assist long-time friend and fellow marshal Michel Ney by providing him a jury of four other Napoleonic Marshals, but was disgraced when Marshal Moncey refused to even sit in it. In June 1817, he was appointed Marine Minister, a pretext for him to resume the place of War Minister, which he did in September and continued to discharge till November 1819. During this time he initiated many reforms, particularly in respect of measures tending to make the army a national rather than a dynastic force. He made efforts to safeguard the rights of veteran soldiers of the Empire, organized the General Staff, and revised the code of military law and the pension regulations. He was made a marquess in 1817. Saint-Cyr died on 17 March 1830 in Hyères, a town in the southeast of France. In literature Marshal Saint-Cyr is mentioned in Joseph Conrad's short story "The Duel" (as well as Ridley Scott's film adaptation The Duellists) as the commander of Armand d'Hubert after the second and final restoration of Louis XVIII as King of France. Writings Journal des opérations de l'armée de Catalogne en 1808 et 1809 (Paris, 1821) Mémoires sur les campagnes des armées de Rhin et de Rhin-et-Moselle de 1794 à 1797 (Paris, 1829) Mémoires pour servir de l'histoire militaire sous le Directoire, le Consulat et l'Empire (1831) References In turn, it cites as reference Léonard Honoré Gay de Vernon's Vie de Gouvion Saint-Cyr (1857) Chandler, David (editor). Napoleon's Marshals. London: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987. 1764 births 1830 deaths People from Toul Counts of the First French Empire French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Ministers of Marine and the Colonies French Ministers of War French memoirists Marquesses of Gouvion Saint-Cyr Marshals of the First French