André, Prince of Essling and Marshal of France, was the son of a wine-merchant, and was born at Nice in 1758. At an early age he enlisted into the French service as a private in the Royal Italian regiment, but after having served fourteen years without rising higher than an inferior officer, he retired disheartened from military life. The French Revolution, however, reanimated his warlike ambition, and in 1792 he was appointed to the command of a battalion of the national volunteers of Var. As his valour and talents had now fair scope, his rise was rapid. In 1793 he was appointed general of brigade, and in 1795 he commanded the right wing of the army in Italy as general of division. In this capacity he acted no mean part "at the terrible bridge of the Lodi," and for his brilliant repulse of Beaulieu at Roveredo, he earned from his commander-in-chief, Napoleon, the surname of "the favourite child of victory." So marked was his conduct at the battle of Rivoli in 1797, that he afterwards received the title of Duc de Rivali; and so high had he now risen in the estimation of Bonaparte, that he was despatched to France by that general to present to the Directory the ratification of the treaty of peace with Austria. In 1798 Massena was entrusted with the invasion of the States of the Church, but being accused by his soldiers of avarice, he was forced to lay down his command soon after his appointment. Receiving, however, in the following year, the command of the army in Switzerland, he defeated the Russians at Zurich, and thus saved France from the invasion of the allied armies of Russia and Austria. On the return of Napoleon from Egypt in 1800, Massena was sent to consolidate the shattered remains of the Italian army, and to check the successes of Austria. With a mere handful of troops, and with little ammunition, and less provisions, he threw himself into Genoa, and resisted the beleaguering Austrians, until he was compelled by famine to yield to an honourable capitulation. A few days after this Bonaparte routed the enemy at Marengo, and Massena was replaced in his command. But grasping cupidity was again the cause of his disgrace, and he was soon afterwards superseded by Brune. Massena, however, possessed a military genius that could not be spared in those troublous times. He was therefore created a marshal of France in 1804, and in the following year was once more appointed to the command of the army in Italy. After opening the campaign by the capture of Verona, he received several severe checks from the Austrian army under the Archduke Charles. Yet when the enemy retreated from Italy, Massena hung upon his rear, and ultimately effected a junction with the grand army of Napoleon. In 1806 Massena was commissioned at the head of a large army to accompany Joseph Bonaparte to his new kingdom of Naples. From Italy he was summoned in 1807 to command the right wing of the French army in Poland. But his military genius was chiefly conspicuous in the Austrian campaign of 1809. He saved the French army at Essling by his desperate defence of the village of Aspern, and his directing skill and animating bravery contributed in no small degree to the decisive victory of Wagram. For these services Bonaparte conferred upon him the title of Prince of Essling, and loaded him with riches and honours. As the reputation of Massena became greater, it was submitted to greater tests. Accordingly in 1810 he was chosen by Napoleon to stop the advance of Wellington in Portugal, and was commissioned "to drive the English and their sepoys general into the sea." But the wary strategy and imperishable firmness of the British general proved restless, and Massena was compelled to save his military fame by a masterly retreat. Ill in health, and chafing under disappointment, Massena retired to his native Nice, and was not again entrusted with a post until 1813. He was then appointed to the command of the Eighth Military Division at Toulon. In 1814 he sent in his submission to Louis XVIII., and was in return confirmed in his appointment, and created Commander of the Order of St Louis. With some reluctance he transferred his allegiance to Napoleon on his return from Elba, and he remained inactive during the Hundred Days. After the disaster at Waterloo he again submitted to the Bourbons, and was appointed commander of the national guard. Marshal Massena died in April 1817.