General Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet (9 May 1772,

Le Quesnoy Le Quesnoy (; ) is a commune and small town in the east of the Nord department of northern France. It was part of the historical province of French Hainaut. It is known for its fortifications, dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. ...

– 28 October 1837,

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 ...

) was a French army general. He fought in 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 ...

as a division commander in Italy and in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

Empire

Mermet commanded a dragoon division in Marshal

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 ...

's army during the 1805 Italian campaign. In 1806, still commanding his cavalry division (23rd, 29th and 30th Dragoon Regiments), he was present at the siege and capture of the fortress of Gaeta, on the west coast of Italy. During the second French invasion of Portugal in 1809, Mermet led a division under Marshal Nicolas Soult. He fought at the

First Battle of Porto In the First Battle of Porto (29 March 1809) the First French Empire, French under Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, Marshal Soult defeated the Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese, under General Parreiras, outside the city of Porto during the Peninsul ...

on 28 March and the

Battle of Grijó A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

on 11 May. Before the Second Battle of Porto his unit was sent away to guard Soult's artillery and baggage. Mermet led his infantry division at the Battle of Serem at Vouga and Marnel Rivers. In the third French invasion of Portugal, Mermet commanded the 2nd Division in Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

's VI Corps. He fought at the sieges of

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca (province), Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky r ...

and Almeida, the Battle of the Côa and the

Battle of Bussaco The Battle of Buçaco () or Bussaco was fought on 27 September 1810 during the Peninsular War in the Portuguese mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, resulting in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army. Havin ...

in 1810. During the retreat from Portugal, Mermet participated in actions at Redinha and Foz do Arouce as part of Ney's rear guard. Mermet led his division in Maj-General Louis Loison's VI Corps at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro in May 1811. At the

Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813), a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British, Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese and Spanish Empire, Spanish army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess of Wellington bro ...

in June 1813, he led a light cavalry division in Maj-Gen Honoré Reille's Army of Portugal.

References

* Glover, Michael, ''The Peninsular War 1807–1814'' Penguin, 1974. * Smith, Digby, ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book'' Greenhill, 1998.

External links

Les 660 noms inscrits sur l'Arc de Triomphe de Paris
His is one of 660 names on 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 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mermet, Julien Augustin Joseph 1772 births 1837 deaths French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars People from Le Quesnoy Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe