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Joseph, comte Souham (30 April 1760 – 28 April 1837) was a French general who fought in the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
. He was born at Lubersac and died at
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
. After long service in the French Royal Army, he was elected to lead a volunteer battalion in 1792 during the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
. He was promoted to general of division in September 1793 after playing a prominent role in the defense of Dunkirk. In May 1794 with his commander absent, he took temporary command of the '' Army of the North'' and defeated the Coalition army at
Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, ...
. He led the covering forces at the siege of Ypres and participated in the successful invasion of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...
. He spent many years in occupation duties in Holland and then his career suffered because of his association with
Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to h ...
and Moreau. Starting in 1809 he was employed in Spain during the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...
, winning the Battle of Vich where he was wounded. When he was in army command again, he forced Wellington's army to retreat at Tordesillas in 1812 and became one of the few French generals to remain undefeated in the war. The following year he led a division at Lützen and a corps at
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
. He remained loyal to the Bourbons during the Hundred Days.


French revolutionary years

Souham served in the Royal French army as a private from 1782 to 1790. In 1792, having shown himself active in the cause of the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
, he was elected ''chef de bataillon'' of a volunteer battalion from the
Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regio ...
. He served with his unit at the Battle of Jemappes. By 1793, Souham had risen to the rank of ''général de division'' during the
Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Au ...
. When his army commander,
Jean-Charles Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to ...
fell ill, Souham assumed army command and defeated the Allied army at the
Battle of Tourcoing The Battle of Tourcoing (17–18 May 1794) saw a Republican French army directed by General of Division Joseph Souham defend against an attack by a Coalition army led by Emperor Francis II and Austrian Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. T ...
in May 1794. He served under Pichegru in Holland (1795), but in 1799 he fell into disgrace on suspicion of being involved in Royalist intrigues. He was reinstated in 1800 and served under
Jean Moreau Adrien Édouard Jean Moreau (31 July 1888 – 5 June 1972) was a French politician. Moreau was born in Paris. He belonged first to the Republican Party of Liberty (1945–1946), then to the Independent Republicans (1946–1955) and then to th ...
in the Danube campaign of that year. During the
French Consulate The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...
he appears to have been involved in conspiracies and was suspected with his old commanders Moreau and Pichegru of participation in the plot of Georges Cadoudal.


Empire and later years

He was unemployed from 1800 to 1809. In the latter year a shortage of available experienced officers caused him to be put back on active duty. He was sent to Spain, where he took a notable part in Gouvion St Cyr's operations in
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
. The actions at Vic in which he was wounded won him the title of ''comte de l'empire''. When
Marshal Marmont Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...
had been wounded at the
Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...
in 1812, Marshal André Masséna, who was unable to assume the post himself, recommended Souham for the post. The latter was thus pitted against
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
, and by skilful maneuvers drove the allied general back from
Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...
and regained the ground lost at Salamanca. In January 1813, he was recalled to France. In 1813, he took command of a division in Marshal Michel Ney's III Corps. At Lützen he greatly distinguished himself. Faced by the bulk of the combined Russian and Prussian armies, he bitterly defended the area around Gross-Gorschen. At the Battle of Leipzig he was wounded while leading III Corps. After the fall of the First Empire he deserted the emperor and, having suffered for the Royalist cause, was well received by
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
, who gave him high commands. These honors Souham lost at the return of Napoleon and were regained once more after the Second Restoration. He retired in 1832, and died on 28 April 1837 in Versailles.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Souham, Joseph 1760 births 1837 deaths French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars French generals French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars People from Corrèze Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe