Jacques Gervais, baron Subervie (; 1 September 1776,
Lectoure
Lectoure (; Gascon: ''Leitora'' ) is a commune in the Gers department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France.
It is located north of Auch, the capital of the department, south of Agen and approximately northwest of Toulouse.
In 1 ...
,
Gers
Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...
– 10 March 1856) was a French
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
and
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
.
Military career
Subervie served as a French commander during the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, during which he mainly commanded
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
troops.
Subervie was promoted
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
on 27 December 1805 and appointed to command the 10th
Chasseurs à Cheval
''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action.
History
This branch of the French Army o ...
Regiment.
On 21 March 1809 while in pursuit of a Spanish army, Subervie's 10th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment fell into a deadly ambush. Spanish General Henestrosa noticed that the 10th Chasseurs had outstripped the other regiments in
Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle
Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle (; 10 May 17756 July 1809) was a French cavalry general during the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Often called "The Hussar General," he first gained fame for his rol ...
's division. Henestrosa concealed the Almanza and Infante Cavalry Regiments on either side of the main road near the village of Miajadas. When Subervie ordered his horsemen to charge a troop of Spanish horsemen that were deployed on the highway, he found his regiment surrounded by the Almanza and Infante Regiments. The 10th Chasseurs lost one officer and 62 men killed and 70 wounded before they fought their way out of the trap. In the
Battle of Medellín
In the Peninsular War, the Battle of Medellín was fought on 28 March 1809 and resulted in a victory of the French under Marshal Victor against the Spanish under General Don Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta. The battle marked the first major ...
on 28 March, Lasalle's four light cavalry regiments drove off the Spanish right wing cavalry and then charged the infantry. After putting up a good fight, the infantry finally took to its heels. A French participant recorded that the chasseurs were particularly brutal during the pursuit of the fleeing Spanish, cutting them down without mercy in revenge for their drubbing at Miajadas.
At the
Battle of Talavera
The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish ...
on 27–28 July 1809, Christophe Antoine Merlin's cavalry brigade consisted of the 10th and 26th Chasseurs à Cheval, Polish Lancer and Westphalian
Chevau-léger
''Chevau-légers'' ( from French ''cheval''—horse—and ''léger''—light) was a generic French name for light cavalry and medium cavalry.
Their history began in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the heavy cavalry forces of the ...
Regiments. Toward the end of the battle, the British army commander
Sir Arthur Wellesley
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...
directed William Anson's cavalry brigade to charge the French. About in front of the French defenders, the 1st Hussars of the
King's German Legion
The King's German Legion (KGL; ) was a formation of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Consisting primarily of expatriate Germans, it existed from 1803 to 1816 and achieved the distinction of being the on ...
and the British
23rd Light Dragoons
The 23rd Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army which existed several times.
1st existence
It was created in 1781 as the 23rd Regiment of (Light) Dragoons by Sir John Burgoyne, Bt. at Bedford but renumbered in 1786 as the 19 ...
charged into a hidden watercourse which lamed many horses and threw their riders to the ground. Quickly reforming, the Germans and the two left wing squadrons of the 23rd LD charged the French infantry drawn up in squares and were driven away. The two right wing squadrons rode around the squares and charged Merlin's cavalry brigade. The 10th and 26th Chasseurs in the front line drew aside, letting the 23rd LD gallop past. After the two British squadrons crashed into the Westphalians in the second line, 10th and 26th Chasseurs charged their enemies from the rear. Only a few British horsemen escaped the trap. The 23rd Light Dragoons lost 207 killed, wounded and captured out of 450 horsemen in the battle.
Subervie was made a
Baron of the Empire
As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles in a newly established ' (imperial nobility) to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution.
Like many others, both befo ...
Battle of Dresden
The Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle took place around the city of Dresden in modern-day Germany. With the recent addition of Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in t ...
on 26–27 August 1813, Subervie led the 9th Light Cavalry Division in the V Cavalry Corps under Pierre Claude Pajol. Only the 26th and 27th Chasseurs à Cheval were engaged. At the
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...
on 16–19 October 1813, Subervie's 9th Light Cavalry Division was 1,700-strong. Stanislaus Klicky's brigade consisted of the 3rd Hussars and 27th Chasseurs à Cheval while Jacques Laurent Vial's brigade was made up of the 14th and 26th Chasseurs à Cheval and the 13th Hussars.
He was made
general de division
Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps g ...
in early April 1814, a promotion which was annulled a couple of days later.
During the
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...
, Subervie was given the 5th cavalry division (1,487 men and 6 guns) in the I Cavalry Corps of General Pajol with which he served in the
Battle of Ligny
The Battle of Ligny, in which French troops of the under the command of Napoleon I defeated part of a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, was fought on 16 June 1815 near Ligny in what is now Belgium. The result was a tactical victor ...
. Detached from his parent corps, Subervie's division accompanied the Army of the North and
Napoléon
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 a series of mi ...
to
Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces
* Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Australia
* Waterloo, New South Wale ...
. At Waterloo, after the emperor noted that the Prussians were marching to aid the
Duke of Wellington
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
, he was sent together with
Lobau
The Lobau () is a floodplain in Vienna, Austria. Located in the south-east of the city, on the northern bank of the Danube, it is a part of the Danube-Auen National Park.
History
Before 1870
The Danube meandered through the flat Marchfeld ...
's VI Infantry Corps to hold the French right flank while the emperor faced Wellington. In this capacity he was involved in fighting the
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
ns around
Plancenoit
Plancenoit (; ) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Lasne, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium.
The hamlet of Marache is on its territory.
The village was a key strategic point during the Battle of Wa ...
.
He was laid off at the
Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to:
France under the House of Bourbon:
* Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815)
Spain under the Spanish Bourbons:
* Ab ...
and retired in 1825.
Later life
Elected in 1834, he was continually reelected until 1848, except between 1839 and 1842, and was part of the liberal opposition.
For elections to the
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
, he was elected as a Republican by the department of
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.Inspector-General of cavalry in 1840. He served as the
Provisional Government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
of the
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic ( or ), officially the French Republic (), was the second republican government of France. It existed from 1848 until its dissolution in 1852.
Following the final defeat of Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle ...
's Minister of War from February 25, 1848 to March 20, 1848.
He resigned March 19, when he was appointed Chancellor of the Legion of Honor.
Subervie was a Grand Officier of the ''
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
'' and held the title of ''
Baron d’Empire
As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles in a newly established ' (imperial nobility) to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution.
Like many others, both befo ...
'' during the
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...
.
After the coup of December 2, Subervie retired from public life and died in 1856.