First promotion (1804)

The first promotion created eighteen new Marshals of the Empire and coincided with the proclamation of the First French Empire and was used as an opportunity for the new Emperor to strengthen the new regime. The list included 14 names of generals who had served in the armies of the Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars: seven of them were generals who had served directly under Napoleon during his campaigns in Italy and Egypt. Moreover, he was also careful to reward several general officers who had acquired considerable fame and political influence while commanding the armies of the Republic, as well as several highly-promising generals who had held significant divisional commands in the Army of the Rhine. The latter were well known for their largely Republican sentiments and had never served under Napoleon's command. By rewarding them for their military accomplishments, Napoleon sought to gain their loyalty and make sure that they would be supporters, rather than opponents of the new Imperial regime.^[3][6]

Overall, the first promotion included 14 names of generals. An initial list was drafted by State Secretary Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke and later altered by the Emperor. Napoleon added in his own handwriting Murat's name, which was conspicuously absent from Clarke's draft. This was possibly an omission, but there seems to be no evidence to that effect. The final list included the following names, in an order which to this day remains unclear:

• Louis-Alexandre Berthier, an experienced soldier of the Ancien Régime, a part of the French Expeditionary Corps during the American Revolutionary War, who had become Napoleon's ‘indispensable’ chief of staff, creating a complex staff system mainly composed of three groups that proved highly effective^[7]
• Joachim Murat, who had married Napoleon's sister, Caroline, and subsequently made a name for himself under the command of his brother-in-law as a dashing cavalry commander. Later made King of Naples.
• Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, a competent if unexceptional soldier, who had been the commander-in-chief of the French army that defeated Spain and forced it out of the First Coalition
• Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, the hero of Fleurus, a staunch Republican, and held significant commands and campaigned on the Rhine
• André Masséna, a dogged and tenacious soldier, one of Napoleon's former senior divisional commanders from the First Italian Campaign and who subsequently acquired considerable reputation as an independent commander of armies
• Pierre Augereau, a skilled tactician, another of Napoleon's senior divisional commanders of the First Italian Campaign
• Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, served as Minister of War and ambassador to Austria under the Directory, he was one of Jourdan's divisional commanders in the Army of the Rhine and himself a Republican, who also fought with Napoleon in Italy as a divisional commander, and commander of the Army of the West during the Consulate
• Guillaume Brune, a fierce Republican, he had been friends with the journalist Jean-Paul Marat and risen to become an influential soldier and diplomat who was the hero of the Battle of Castricum.
• Jean-de-Dieu Soult, a dependable commander and organizer, who had served under Jourdan and Jean Victor Marie Moreau and became Masséna's right-hand man during the 1799–1800 campaigns
• Jean Lannes, a distinguished soldier who proved courageous in Italy and Egypt, rising to become a General of Division and commandant of the Consular Guard
• Édouard Mortier, a capable commander who served with great distinction during the War of the Second Coalition at Zurich and Hanover
• Michel Ney, an excellent cavalry officer who distinguished himself in the War of the First Coalition
• Louis-Nicolas Davout, perhaps Napoleon's finest general, a Republican and a commander in the consular guard and already had an impressive record, also serving in the Egyptian Expedition, although there were rumors that Davout had actually risen to the rank of Marshal because of the deaths of two of his patrons (General Desaix; at Marengo, and Charles Leclerc; died of yellow fever in Haiti)
• Jean-Baptiste Bessières, a fine cavalry commander, and one of Napoleon's closest friends

Four additional names were mentioned on the list: these were former senior generals who had held commands of armies and had been elected senators of the Republic. Their status was honorary due to their age and they weren't set to be given field commands.

• François Christophe de Kellermann, the oldest marshal chosen by Napoleon, supposedly honorary but in fact, Kellermann proved one of Napoleons most effective at handling reserve-class forces.
• François Joseph Lefebvre, who continued to serve as field commander
• Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon, who fought in the Pyrenees frontier against Spain, winning several key victories, but retiring from military command shortly before becoming a Marshal, never held active military command again
• Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier, a close friend and supporter of Georges Danton, making him politically useful for Napoleon

Second promotion (1807)

• Claude Victor-Perrin, a skilled commander, who had served under Napoleon in the Siege of Toulon, in which he personally drove the British back into the sea, not to mention for his valor during the Italian Campaign. Made a Marshal for his performance at the Battle of Friedland

Third promotion (1809)

Three new marshals were created in the aftermath of the Battle of Wagram.

• Jacques MacDonald, the only Marshal of the Empire to be promoted on a battlefield, and was Napoleon's choice for “France”
• Nicolas Charles Oudinot, Napoleon's choice for the “Army”
• Auguste de Marmont, was the choice of “friendship,” probably to Napoleon

Fourth promotion (1811)

• Louis-Gabriel Suchet, one of the most prominent and successful marshals of the Napoleonic Wars and the only Marshal to gain his baton in the Peninsular Wars after his Victory at Taragona.^[8]

Fifth promotion (1812)

• Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr was made a Marshal after routing a Russian army at Polotsk, defending the French spearhead which was driving towards Moscow. This, in recognition, Napoleon made him a Marshal.

Sixth promotion (1813)

• Józef Antoni Poniatowski was a firm supporter of Napoleon and participated in the Invasion of Russia. He was among the rearguard at the disastrous Battle of Leipzig and was drowned, having only served as Marshal of the Empire for three days. He was the first and only Marshal of Napoleon who was not French. He was a member of the House of Poniatowski.

Seventh promotion (1815)

• Emmanuel de Grouchy was made a Marshal at the latter stages of Napoleon's military career. A capable cavalry general throughout the Napoleonic wars, Grouchy was made a Marshal before the 100 days. He was widely blamed for not joining with Napoleon for the Battle of Waterloo, getting himself into unnecessary battles with Prussian field commander, Von Blücher.

Controversies

Among the men who were offered the Marshalate, there was a mix of famous generals, who had commanded the armies of the Republic (Brune, Jourdan, Kellermann, Lefebvre, Masséna, Moncey), as well as more junior generals, whose command never exceeded division-sized forces (Mortier, Ney, Soult). It even included relatively obscure generals from Napoleon's Italian or Egyptian expeditions, who had recently secured their promotion to the top military rank of General of Division, but had never held significant commands (Bessières, Davout, Lannes). Unsurprisingly, this created a certain degree of discontentment among the more senior commanders. André Masséna was noted for his sardonic remark, "There's fourteen of us...", which he muttered when his friends came to congratulate him for his nomination. Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, then a young general, possibly bitter that he had not been nominated also observed that: "If Bessières is a Marshal, then anyone can be." Ironically, Marmont himself was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1809, though it was said he was awarded the distinction for his close friendship with Napoleon as opposed to any great generalship.