Augustin Daniel Belliard, comte Belliard et de l'Empire (25 May 1769 in Fontenay-le-Comte,

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

) was a French general.

Biography

Revolution

Belliard became an officer between 1792 and 1793 under Dumouriez in Belgium. He then fought under Hoche in Italy between 1796 and 1797, near Castiglione,

Caldiero Caldiero is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about east of Verona. Caldiero borders the following municipalities: Belfiore, Colognola ai Colli, Lavagno, S ...

, Arcole, and promoted to ''général de brigade'' on the 18 November 1796. A participant of the 1798 Egyptian expedition, he fought in the Battle of the Pyramids, became

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

, and advanced with his troops into

Nubia Nubia () ( Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sud ...

. He also fought back the enemy cavalry at the

battle of Heliopolis The Battle of Heliopolis or Ayn Shams was a decisive battle between Arab Muslim armies and Byzantine forces for the control of Egypt. Though there were several major skirmishes after this battle, it effectively decided the fate of the Byzant ...

. He played a major role in the taking of Bulal and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

. However, with the departure of Napoleon and the arrival of British troops under General

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

the situation changed for the French and the victories ended. After string of British victories Beliard became trapped in Cairo was besieged by a combined British and Ottoman force culminating with Belliard's surrender on 22 June 1801.

Empire

In 1805, Belliard fought against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, under

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

. King

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic ...

left

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

with his 5,850-strong reserve on 23 July 1809 to fight at the Battle of Talavera. Wanting to face the combined British and Spanish army with his maximum strength, the king left Belliard, the governor of Madrid, with only about 4,000 troops. Belliard's force consisted of one brigade from the division of Jean-Joseph, Marquis Dessolles, and a few pro-French Spanish troops. There were three potential threats, a Portuguese column of unknown strength led by Robert Wilson, the Spanish Army of La Mancha under Francisco Javier Venegas, and an insurrection. In case any of the threats developed, Belliard was ordered to withdraw into the Retiro forts for a last-ditch defense. After his defeat at Talavera, Joseph ordered Belliard to send away all non-combatants from Madrid and prepare to defend the Retiro. However, Venegas failed to take advantage of his opportunity, Wilson's force was too weak, and the crisis passed.Oman (1995), II, 569–571. During the

n campaign in 1812, he fought at

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

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 ...

and

Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the ri ...

, again under Murat. He was severely wounded in the battle of Craonne. After

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

was overthrown,

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 ...

awarded him the title Peer of France ''(Pair de France)''. When Napoleon returned from

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

in 1815, Belliard became commander of the Mosel forces. After the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

, he surrendered to Louis XVIII, had his title ''Pair'' taken away, was imprisoned for month, but then released and reinstated as ''Pair'' in 1819. The Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat in Brussels is named after him, as is a street in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belliard, Augustin Daniel 1769 births 1832 deaths People from Fontenay-le-Comte Counts of the First French Empire Orléanists Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy Politicians from Pays de la Loire Ambassadors of France to Belgium French generals French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe