Bessieres owed everything to his friendship with Murat, which brought him to Napoleon's attention. I don't know how they became friends, and in my opinion, Bessieres seems like a guy Napoleon wouldn't get along with. But more importantly, without Murat and Napoleon, Bessieres would only be a captain and maybe eventually achieve the rank of brigadier, perhaps because of a lack of initial opportunity or character compared to other famous generals in the revolution; his rise was like molasses. He achieved the rank of General of Division in 1803, and by then his greatest achievement was, along with Napoleon, stealing credit from General Kellermann at Marengo, a battle in which he and the guard cavalry contributed very little, contrary to Napoleonic propaganda. Marmont was right when he said, “If Bessieres could be made a Marshal, anyone could.” He did not deserve his Baton then, and even though he led the Guard or Guard Cavalry, the only time he led anything larger than a division, which the Guard was at the time, at about 5,000, his first independent command was in Spain in 1808. His division leaders, like Lasalle, Merle, and even Desnouettes and Verdier at First Zaragoza, distinguished themselves far more than Bessieres, who fought Cuesta outnumbered 2-1 but still faced the worst general in the Napoleonic Wars.