Born in 1770, offspring of the noble Davout family. After graduating from the military academy at Brienne in 1788, Davout became Sub-Lieutenant of the Champagne cavalry regiment. When the French Revolution broke out, he left the army. He later returned and rose from Major of Commissariat to General of Brigade.
Davout escaped execution during the Jacobinic terror and took part in the Egyptian expedition in 1798, commanding a brigade of cavalry and distinguished himself at the Battle of Abukir. After his promotion to Division General, he commanded the cavalry division of the Italian Army.
From 1805 until 1807, he was in command of III Corps. In the battle of Austerlitz, Davout's soldiers stood in the gap and did not retreat a step. At Auerstadt, they scattered and annihilated the Prussian army. Louis-Nicolas Davout had a determined character, was resolute in battle, carried out orders with extreme accuracy, demanded order from his soldiers, and could take the severest measures when necessary. His soldiers called him "The Iron Marshal".
After becoming Governor-General of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, he stifled all national rebellions. During the Russian campaign of 1812, the Iron Marshal took Minsk, Mohilev, and Smolensk. In the Battle of Borodino, he personally led his soldiers in an attack against Bagration's archers. During the campaign of 1813-14 Davou's XIII Corps defended Hamburg.
When Napoleon Bonaparte returned from exile on Elba, Davout was appointed Minister of War and became a Peer of France. After Waterloo, he took command of the army. The Bourbons stripped him of all rank and banished him to the provinces under police supervision. In 1817, he returned to service. Louis-Nicolas Davout, The Iron Marshal, died in 1823 of pneumonia.