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French Imperial Army (1804–1815)
The French Imperial Army () was the land force branch of the French imperial military during the Napoleonic era. History The beginnings of the Imperial Army were seeded in the reorganisation of the French Army in 1803, which helped pave the way for the well-known French-style army organisation. Under this reorganisation, the old-style military district system was reorganised so that it included the new departments. These districts were known as 'Military Divisions', or ''divisions militaires'', which were tasked with local administration of garrisons, recruitment, and providing National Guard and local forces for invasion. The Imperial Army was divided into three separate types of commands: the largest was the ''Grande Armée'', and its equivalent 'Field Armies', the next smallest were the Corps of Observation which were tasked with overseeing regions with strategic importance and providing rearguards where necessary, the next smallest was the 'Field Corps' which provided the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career of Napoleon, a series of military campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815. He led the French First Republic, French Republic as French Consulate, First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then ruled the First French Empire, French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814, and briefly again in 1815. He was King of Italy, King of Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Italy from 1805 to 1814 and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine from 1806 to 1813. Born on the island of Corsica to a family of Italian origin, Napoleon moved to mainland France in 1779 and was commissioned as an officer in the French Royal Army in 1785. He supported the French Rev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Augereau
Charles Pierre François Augereau, duc de Castiglione (; 21 October 1757 – 12 June 1816) was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. After serving in the Revolutionary Wars, he earned rapid promotion while fighting against Spain and soon found himself as a division commander under Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. He fought in all of Bonaparte's battles of 1796 with great distinction. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon entrusted Augereau with important commands. His life ended under a cloud because of his poor timing in switching sides between Napoleon and Louis XVIII. Napoleon wrote of Augereau that he "has plenty of character, courage, firmness, activity; is inured to war; is well liked by the soldiery; is fortunate in his operations". Augereau is generally counted as one of the most capable generals of the Napoleonic Wars. Early years Augereau was born in Faubourg Saint-Marceau, Paris, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auguste De Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, duc de Raguse (; 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 (). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeeded the disgraced André Masséna in the command of the French army in northern Spain, but lost decisively at the Battle of Salamanca as France ultimately lost the war in Spain. At the close of the War of the Sixth Coalition, Marmont went over to the Bourbon Restoration in France, Restoration and remained loyal to the Bourbons through the Hundred Days. This gave Marmont a reputation as a traitor among the remaining Bonapartism, Bonapartists, and in French society more broadly. He led the royalist Paris garrison during the July Revolution in 1830, but his efforts proved incapable of quelling the revolution, leading King Charles X of France, Charles X to accuse Marmont of betraying the Bourbons as he had betrayed the Bonapartes. Marmont departed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques MacDonald
Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related to the surname by the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Origins The origin of this surname comes from the Latin ' Iacobus', associated with the biblical patriarch Jacob. Ancient history A French knight returning from the Crusades in the Holy Lands probably adopted the surname from "Saint Jacques" (or "James the Greater"). James the Greater was one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles, and is believed to be the first martyred apostle. Being endowed with this surname was an honor at the time and it is likely that the Church allowed it because of acts during the Crusades. Indeed, at this time, the use of biblical, Christian, or Hebrew names and surnames became very popular, and entered the European lexicon. Robert J., a Knight Crusader ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz (; 10 April 1769 – 31 May 1809), was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals, and is regarded by many as one of history's greatest military commanders. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant". A personal friend of the emperor, he was allowed to address him with the familiar '' tu'', as opposed to the formal '' vous''. Early life Lannes was born in the small town of Lectoure,Dunn-Pattison, p. 117. in the province of Gascony in Southern France. He was the son of a small landowner and merchant, Jeannet Lannes (1733–1812), son of Jean Lannes (d. 1746), a farmer, and his wife, Jeanne Pomiès (d. 1770), and paternal grandson of Pierre Lane and wife Bernarde Escossio (both died in 1721), and wife Cécile Fouraignan (1741–1799), daughter o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820) was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon. Early life Lefebvre was born on 28 May 1755 in Rouffach, Alsace, the son of a miller and retired hussar. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by an uncle who, himself a priest, unsuccessfully tried to lead him to a career in the church. After working as a clerk to the prosecutor of Colmar, Lefebvre enlisted in the French Guards in 1773. As a commoner, Lefebvre had little prospect for advancement; he was promoted to corporal in 1777 and to sergeant in 1788. In 1783 he married Cathérine Hübscher, with whom he had 14 children, although all predeceased him. According to Louise Fusil his last son, a general, died in Vilna on 19 December 1812. Lefebvre was in Paris at the time of the Storming of the Bastille in 1789 and, like h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Christophe De Kellermann
François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann or de Kellermann, 1st Duke of Valmy (; 28 May 1735 – 23 September 1820) was a French military commander, later the Général d'Armée, a Marshal of the Empire and freemason. Marshal Kellermann served in varying roles throughout the entirety of two epochal conflicts, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Kellermann is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3. Early life François Christophe de Kellermann came from a Saxon family, which was long settled in Strasbourg and ennobled. He was the only son of a family living in the French province of Alsace. His father was François de Kellermann (or Johann Christoph Edler von Kellermann) and his mother, Baroness Marie Magdalene von Dyhrn. Military career prior to the Revolution The fifteen-year-old François Kellermann entered the French Army as a cadet volunteer with a hussar regiment: the ''Régiment de Loweridath''. He was commissioned as an ens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (; 29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in 1804. He was also a Jacobin politician during the Directory phase of the French Revolution, serving as member of the Council of Five Hundred between 1797 and 1799. One of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary Army, Jourdan is best remembered in the Revolution for leading the French to a decisive victory over the First Coalition at the Battle of Fleurus, during the Flanders campaign. Under the Empire he was rewarded by Napoleon with the title of Marshal and continued to hold military assignments, but suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Vitoria, which resulted in the Empire's permanent loss of Spain. In 1815 he became reconciled with the Bourbon Restoration, and later supported the July Revolution and served ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emmanuel De Grouchy
Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David. The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of the birth of the Messiah and the fulfillment of Scripture in the person of Jesus. ''Immanuel'' "God ( El) with us" is one of the "symbolic names" used by Isaiah, alongside Shearjashub, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, or Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom. It has no particular meaning in Jewish messianism. In Christian theology by contrast, based on its use in Isaiah 7:14, the name has come to be read as a prophecy of the Christ, following Matthew 1:23, where ''Immanuel'' () is translated as (KJV: "God with us"), and also Luke 7:14–16 after the raising of the dead man in Nain, where it was rumoured throughout all Judaea that "God has visited his people" (KJV). Isaiah 7–8 Summary The setting is the Syro-Ephraimite War, 735-734 BCE, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis-Nicolas Davout
Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (; 10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, was a French people, French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. His talent for war, along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the nickname "The Iron Marshal" (''Le Maréchal de fer''). He is ranked along with Marshals André Masséna, Louis-Gabriel Suchet, and Jean Lannes as one of Napoleon, Napoleon's finest commanders. His loyalty and obedience to Napoleon were absolute. During his lifetime, Davout's name was commonly spelled Davoust - this spelling appears on the Arc de Triomphe and in much of the correspondence between Napoleon and his generals. Early life Davout was born in the small village of Annoux, Yonne, as the eldest son of Jean-François d'Avout (1739–1779), a cavalry officer and his wife (married in 1768) Françoise-Adélaïde Min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurent De Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr (; 13 April 1764 – 17 March 1830) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was a made a Marshal of the Empire in 1812 by Emperor Napoleon, who regarded him as his finest general in defensive warfare. Gouvion Saint-Cyr showed an early interest in drawing, but with the onset of the French Revolution, he joined the French Revolutionary Army in September 1792 and experienced a meteoric rise through the ranks. Promoted to general of division in June 1794, he fought the Austrians in Germany and Italy under the command of generals Moreau and Jourdan. After a period in administrative roles, Gouvion Saint-Cyr was appointed Colonel General of the cuirassiers in 1804. He served as commander-in-chief of the camp of Boulogne from 1806 to 1808 and was then sent to Spain, where he scored a series of victories at the head of the Army of Catalonia. He took command of the V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Jean-Baptiste Bessières, duc d'Istrie (; 6 August 1768 – 1 May 1813) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon in 1804. Born into the ''petite bourgeoisie'', Bessières began his military career during the French Revolution and was promoted to captain in the 22nd Chasseur à cheval Regiment. He was noticed during the Italian campaign of 1796–1797 by General Napoleon Bonaparte, who appointed him commander of the corps of mounted guides. In this capacity, Bessières participated in the Egyptian campaign until 1799, before being made a general under the Consulate for his distinguished service at the Battle of Marengo. He was elevated to the dignity of Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and took command of the cavalry of the Imperial Guard. A brilliant cavalry officer, Bessières distinguished himself in most of the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars, notably at Austerlitz, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
