Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. His talent for war, along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the nickname "The Iron Marshal" (Le Maréchal de fer). He is ranked along with Marshals Louis-Alexandre Berthier and Jean Lannes as one of Napoleon's finest commanders. His loyalty and obedience to Napoleon were absolute. During his lifetime, Davout's name was commonly spelled Davoust - this spelling appears on the Arc de Triomphe and in much of the correspondence between Napoleon and his generals. Biography Davout was born in the small village 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). He was of (poor) noble descent but 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. He graduated on 19 February 1788 and was appointed a sous-lieutenant in the Royal-Champagne Cavalry Regiment in garrison at Hesdin (Pas-de-Calais). On the outbreak of the French Revolution, Davout embraced its principles. He was chef de bataillon in a volunteer corps in the campaign of 1792, and distinguished himself at the Battle of Neerwinden the following spring. He had just been promoted to general of brigade when he was removed from the active list because of his noble birth. After he divorced his wife in 1794 he served in the Rhine campaign of 1796, and accompanied General Louis Desaix in the Egyptian expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte. On his return, he did not take part in the Battle of Marengo, where his friend Desaix was killed while making a decisive contribution to the victory. Napoleon, who had great confidence in his abilities, finally promoted him to general of division and arranged his marriage to his sister Pauline's sister-in-law Aimée Leclerc, thus making him part of Napoleon's extended family, and gave him a command in the . At the ascension of Napoleon as emperor in 1804, Davout was named as one of the original 18 Marshals of the Empire. Davout was the youngest and least experienced the generals promoted to marshal, which earned him the hostility