Jean-Baptiste Dominique Rusca (; 27 November 1759 – 14 February 1814) was born in the

County of Nice The County of Nice (; ; Niçard ) was a historical region of France and Italy located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent to the modern arrondissement of Nice. It was part of the Savoyard state within the Holy Roman Emp ...

, part of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

. By profession a medical doctor, he advocated the cause of the French Revolution and was expelled by the Sardinian authorities. In 1793, he treated the French sick and wounded during the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

and was appointed to command a

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

battalion. He later fought in the Army of Italy and the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees before returning to Italy. By the time of the Montenotte Campaign in 1796, he was a

general officer 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 ...

leading major units. He was captured by the Austrians during the 1799 Italian campaign at the Battle of the Trebbia. After commanding garrisons for several years, he led a division in Italy during the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in Central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Emp ...

. He was killed in action at the Battle of Soissons during the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, Russian Empire, Russia, History of Spain (1808– ...

. Rusca is one of the

names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe The following is a list of the 660 names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them represent generals who served during the French First Republic (1792–1804) and the First French Empire (1804–1815). Underlined names signify t ...

Notes

References

* Bowden, Scotty & Tarbox, Charlie. ''Armies on the Danube 1809''. Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press, 1980. * Boycott-Brown, Martin. ''The Road to Rivoli.'' London: Cassell & Co., 2001.
Broughton, Tony. ''Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1814: Bache to Beysser''
* Mullié, Charles. ''Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850''. 1852. * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998. Italian generals French generals 18th-century French physicians French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars French military personnel killed in the Napoleonic Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1759 births 1814 deaths Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe People from the Kingdom of Sardinia {{france-mil-bio-stub