Marie Louis Hercule Hubert Corbineau (10 April 1780 – 5 April 1823) was a French soldier of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Biography

Corbineau was born in

Marchiennes Marchiennes () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It was fictionally portrayed in Émile Zola's Germinal. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord depar ...

, the youngest son of Jean-Charles Corbineau, Inspector General of the King's Stables in the

Généralité ''Recettes générales'', commonly known as ''généralités'' (), were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are often considered to prefigure the current ''préfectures''. At the time of the French Revolution, there ...

of Tours and bailiff-general of Marchiennes Abbey, and his wife Mary-Louise-Magdeleine Varlet. His older brothers Jean and

Claude Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

were also army officers, and together the three men were known as ''les trois Horaces'' ("the three

Horatii In the ancient Roman legend of the kingdom era, the Horatii were triplet warriors who lived during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. The accounts of their epic clash with the Curiatii and the murder of their sister by Publius, the sole survivor ...

"). Corbineau volunteered for service in the Navy on 1 April 1793, when only 12 years old, to save his father from persecution by the revolutionaries. After serving aboard the privateer ''Requin'' and the

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

''Naïade'', he then entered the Army, as a private soldier in the ''Légion des Francs'', serving in the Army of the North. He transferred to the cavalry of the ''Légion des Francs'', and was promoted to '' sous-lieutenant'' on 20 September 1796. With his brother

, he participated in the expedition to Ireland in December 1796. Promoted to lieutenant on 30 October 1797, he served in campaigns with the Army of Helvetia and the Army of the Rhine, joining the 7th Regiment of Hussars on 29 July 1798, and transferring the 5th Regiment of Chasseurs on 5 April 1800. Corbineau distinguished himself at the battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800. He served as '' adjudant-major'' from 2 April 1802, and was promoted to '' capitaine'' on 16 March 1804. On 5 November 1804 he was made a Legionnaire of the Legion of Honour. Corbineau entered the Imperial Guard on 12 September 1805, where he served in the ''

Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale The Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard () constituted a light cavalry regiment in the Consular, then Imperial Guard during the French Consulate and First French Empire respectively. They were the second senior "Old Guard" cavalry regiment of ...

'' successively as an ''adjoint à l'état-major'' (assistant to the Staff), then ''adjudant-major'', and finally as a '' chef d'escadron''. He fought at the battles of Austerlitz (2 December 1805), afterwards receiving promotion to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

(18 December 1805), and also at Jena (14 October 1806), Eylau (7/8 February 1807)—where he was wounded in the right thigh, and his older brother

was killed—and

Friedland Friedland may refer to: Places Czech Republic * Frýdlant v Čechách (''Friedland im Isergebirge'') * Frýdlant nad Ostravicí (''Friedland an der Ostrawitza'') * Frýdlant nad Moravicí (''Friedland an der Mohra'') France * , street in P ...

(14 June 1807). Napoleon Wagram

He was awarded the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour on 17 November 1808, and promoted to colonel on 13 June 1809. At the battle of Wagram (5–6 July 1809), while his regiment attacked a battery, Corbineau's right knee was shattered by a musket ball, necessitating the amputation of his leg at the thigh, putting an end to his military career. Corbineau recovered in hospital alongside his friend

Pierre Yrieix Daumesnil Pierre Yrieix Daumesnil (14 July 1776 – 17 August 1832) was a French soldier in the armies of Napoleon during the first Empire and Restoration, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general. He lost his left leg after he was wounded in t ...

, who had suffered a similar wound. One night, Daumesnil heard what sounded like water dripping. He called out to Corbineau, but got no reply. Despite his unhealed amputation, Daumesnil crawled out of his bed and found that Corbineau's wound was haemorrhaging badly. Daumesnil crawled out of the room and down two flights of stairs to call for help before passing out. Doctors arrived, and both men's lives were saved. In honour of Corbineau's and Daumesnil's service, Napoleon left them on the roll of the Chasseurs, despite the fact that neither served with the regiment again. Corbineau returned to France and was given the post of '' Receveur Général des Finances'' (Receiver General of Finances) for the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Seine-Inférieure on 14 March 1810, based at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. He was made a

Baron of the Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both before and since, Napoleon found tha ...

on 1 June 1810, and was also a member of the Electoral College of the Northern Department. In 1814, after the First Restoration, Corbineau was transferred to the department of the Marne, where he died on 5 April 1823.

Personal life

In 1810 Corbineau married Reine Rose Kermarec de Travrou, the daughter of a former member of Parlement of Brittany, and had a son, Eugène-Hercule, and a daughter, Adèle-Marie, who married the Comte de Champagny (son of the Duke of Cadore) in Paris on 30 July 1836.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * *

External links

Corbineau's coat of arms at Héraldique Napoléonienne

Corbineau's documents at the
Archives Nationales
Corbineau's biography at http://www.ecole-superieure-de-guerre.fr/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbineau, Hercule 1780 births 1823 deaths People from Marchiennes Barons of the First French Empire French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Officiers of the Légion d'honneur