Jean Joseph Guieu, also Jean Guyeux, (30 September 1758 – 5 October 1817) joined the French royal army and quickly rose in rank during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. He fought in the War of the Pyrenees against

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and became 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 ...

. After transferring to Italy, he held important commands under

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 ...

in the Italian campaign of 1796-1797. He retired from the army in 1803 and his surname is one of the Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.

Early career

Born at Champcella,

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

, France in 1758, Guieu enlisted in the French artillery in 1774. In 1791 he served as captain of a volunteer battalion in the Army of the Alps. Between 1793 and 1795 he fought under Pierre Augereau in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. On 4 October 1793, he was appointed

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 ...

and on 25 December he was promoted general of brigade. From 29 April to 1 May 1794, he led a brigade under Augereau at the Battle of Boulou. He also fought at the Battle of the Black Mountain in November 1794. After the

Peace of Basel The Peace of Basel of 1795 consists of three peace treaties involving France during the French Revolution (represented by François de Barthélemy). *The first was with Prussia (represented by Karl August von Hardenberg) on 5 April; *The s ...

with

in July 1795, he transferred to the Army of Italy.Chandler, p 189

Italy

Guieu commanded a brigade in Jean Sérurier's division during the Montenotte Campaign in April 1796. During the action at San Michele Mondovi on 19 April, his brigade flanked the

Sardinians Sardinians or Sards are an Italians, Italian ethno-linguistic group and a nation indigenous to Sardinia, an island in the western Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean which is administratively an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special st ...

out of position, though the Sardinians later drove the French back when they dispersed to plunder the village. During the

Battle of Mondovì The Battle of Mondovì was fought on 21 April 1796 between the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte and the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi. The French victory meant that they had put the Li ...

on 21 April, Guieu's brigade played a prominent role and helped capture the village of Vicoforte. During the first Austrian attempt to relieve the Siege of Mantua, Guieu led a brigade in Pierre Sauret's division. Surprised by the attack of Peter Ott on 29 July, Guieu rallied 400 men and withdrew to the Palazzo Martinengo in the village of

Salò Salò (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the Governance#Seat of government, seat of government of th ...

. Though without food, Guieu withstood a siege by Joseph Ocskay's brigade until the 31st, when Sauret drove the Austrians away after a sharp action. During the

Battle of Lonato The Battle of Lonato was fought on 3 and 4 August 1796 between the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte and a corps-sized Austrian column led by Lieutenant General Peter Quasdanovich. A week of hard-fought actions that began o ...

on 3 August, Guieu led Sauret's division when the latter was injured. He recaptured Salò and attacked Gavardo from the east. Though driven back on Salò, he held his ground. The presence of a French division so close to the Austrian line of retreat helped Peter Quasdanovich make up his mind to withdraw in the early hours of 4 August. On the first day of the Battle of Arcola, Bonaparte ordered Guieu to take the 18th and 25th Demi-Brigades across the Adige River at a ferry near Albaredo d'Adige. Guieu successfully carried out this assignment and drove the Austrians out of Arcole late on the evening of 15 November. Bonaparte later withdrew the troops and the village had to be fought over on the following two days. On 6 December, Guieu received promotion to

general of 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 ...

. In March 1797, he led a division in driving the Austrian army out of northeast Italy, fighting at

Sacile Sacile (; , Liventino: ; Western Friulian: ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone, in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is known as the "Garden of the " after the many palaces that were cons ...

and seizing Palmanova. He helped

André Masséna André Masséna, prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli (; born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817), was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshal of the ...

and Sérurier trap the division of Adam Bajalics near Tarvisio.Smith-Kudrna, ''Bajalics''

Later career

Guieu's active service ended in 1799 and retirement from the army followed in 1803. He died at

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

in 1817. The name GUYEUX is inscribed on the 24th column of the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Footnotes

References

Books

* Boycott-Brown, Martin. ''The Road to Rivoli.'' London: Cassell & Co., 2001. * Chandler, David. ''Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars.'' New York: Macmillan, 1979.

External links

The Names of 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guieu, Jean Joseph 1758 births 1817 deaths People from Hautes-Alpes French generals French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe