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Dominique Louis Antoine Klein (19 January 1761 – 2 November 1845) served in the French military 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 ...
and 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 general of
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 ...
. Initially part of the house guard at the royal residences for
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
, Klein left the military in 1787. During the French Revolution, he enlisted and rose rapidly from a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
to a brigadier general; he participated in the French invasion of southwestern Germany in 1796, and was part of the Army of the Danube in 1799. His cavalry played critical roles in the battles of Austerlitz and Jena and Auerstadt. Following the Prussian campaign, he retired from active service, entered politics, and performed administrative duties in Paris. Klein served in the French Senate, and voted for
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 ...
s abdication in 1814; he did not participate in 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 ...
and
Louis XVIII of France Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 â€“ 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 ...
raised him to the French peerage upon the second restoration.


Military career

Initially, Klein served in the royal house guard for the King of France, holding the prestigious position as guard of the gate. He left military service in 1787. After the French Revolution began in 1789, he rejoined the military and in 1792, he was listed as an infantry
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the
Army of the North The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...
. His cavalry regiment participated in the Battle of Fleurus. Eudoxe Soulié; Musée national de Versailles et des Trianons. ''Notice des peintures et sculptures composant le Musée Impérial.'' Versailles : Montalant-Bougleux, 1854–1855, v. 1, p. 358.


French Revolutionary Wars

By 1795, Klein was a brigadier general in the
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse The Army of Sambre and Meuse () was a field army of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of the Moselle and the right wing of the Army of the North. I ...
, where he replaced Adjutant-General
Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 â€“ 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 ...
.Louis Hennequin. ''Zürich. Masséna en Suisse, messidor an vii-brumaire an viii (juillet-octobre 1799)''. Paris, Nancy, Berger-Levrault, 1911. p. 179. Klein was appointed general of division in 1799 and crossed the Rhine at
Kehl Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...
in
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (; 29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I i ...
s Army of the Danube. He commanded the right flank of the Advance Guard, under command of
François Joseph Lefebvre François Joseph Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820) was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by N ...
. His command included the 4th and 5th Hussar Regiments, the 17th Dragoons, the 1st ''
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 ...
'', a light horse regiment, two companies of horse artillery, two of foot artillery, and a company of
sappers 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, ...
. At the Battle of Ostrach, Klein's cavalry helped to secure the village of Hosskirch, a strategically important forward post, prior to the general engagement. After the French losses at Ostrach and the subsequent Battle of Stockach, Jourdan ordered a general withdrawal to the
Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...
. The reserve cavalry and most of Klein's division crossed the mountains and quartered near
Offenburg Offenburg (; "open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in south-western Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrat ...
, where their horses could find better forage. Despite the organized withdrawal and the relatively secure positions on the western side of the Black Forest, the army was in shambles. Jourdan placed his
chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
Jean Augustin Ernouf in provisional command and went to Paris to complain about the state of his army, its equipment and its provisions. Discipline in the ranks disintegrated. Most of the divisional generals left their posts, except for Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, Joseph Souham, Dominique Vandamme and Klein.Phipps, p. 62 In May, Andre Massena received overall command of both the Army of the Danube and the Army of Helvetia; Klein's column joined Massena near Zurich.Phipps, p. 97. In May 1799, Klein led a cavalry division of 2,010 prior to the Battle of Winterthur. A few days later, he commanded the cavalry reserve against the Archduke Charles and the Austrian army at the First Battle of Zurich. Charles' superior numbers and position forced the French to retreat from Zurich, taking up position on the western side of the
Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...
River. In September, he again commanded the cavalry reserve, the VII. Division, of 3,696 on the left (west) bank of the
Aar The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...
river. He was responsible for guarding the Frick valley ( Fricktal).Phipps, pp. 129–133 There, as the dispositions developed for the
Second Battle of Zurich The Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 September 1799) was a key victory by the Republican French army in Switzerland led by André Masséna over a Russian force commanded by Alexander Korsakov near Zürich. It broke the stalemate that had ...
on 25 September, Klein remained under direct command of Massena. Klein prepared to support either the troops of Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge or Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, on the north or south flanks respectively, as required. The Austrian assault fell hardest on Mortier, who was driven back from the strategically placed
Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The ...
. Klein's reserve enabled the French to retake and hold the village. This convinced the Russian commander in Zurich, Alexander Korsakov, that he should draw his troops back to the city fortifications. Later, as Korsakoff relinquished these, the Russians executed a confused withdrawal to Constance. In the chaos, Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan's division, supported by Klein's reserve, pressed the Coalition forces hard at the west end of Constance, by the bridge to the abbey at Petershausen. They nearly captured the Prince Condé and the Duke d'Enghien themselves. Although the French took many prisoners, including many of the
Army of Condé The Army of Condé () was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several Émigré armies of the French Revolutionary Wars, émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had b ...
, the French emigrant army, these prisoners were not massacred whole-sale, as had happened after earlier battles. Klein and Mortier issued instructions, which were supported by Massena, that the
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...
s be assigned Russian names—they were, after all, under Russian pay and wearing the Russian cockade in their caps—and treated with dignity; they were eventually exchanged for French officers held prisoner by the Austrians and Russians.Phipps, p. 159–161. Returning to France after the
Peace of Lunéville Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such a ...
in 1801, Klein remained inactive for several months. In 1802 he was recalled to military service as Inspector of Cavalry. He was given command of the 1st Division of Dragoons and in 1804 was made a Grand Officer of the
Legion 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
.


Napoleonic Wars

In 1805, Klein's division was part of the newly created VIII. Corps, under command of
Édouard Mortier Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne ...
; the role of the Corps was to patrol and secure the northern shore of the
Danube river The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...
, limiting the Austro-Russian activity. Napoleon incorrectly assumed that the Russians and the Austrians would make a stand near St. Pölten, northwest of Vienna. Klein's entire regiment of dragoons patrolled the northern Danube shore, while the rest of his division, the last in the extended line of march, was more than a day behind Maxime Gazan's lead division. Klein's division did not take part in the Battle of Dürenstein, although his dragoons were with Mortier and Gazan immediately prior to the engagement. Klein's division was part of the decisive defeat of the Austrian and Russian force at the subsequent
Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...
three weeks later. Initially, his dragoons, assigned to support Friant's division, occupied a position of observation on the Marchfeld. The rest of his dragoons remained near
Stockerau Stockerau () is a town in the district of Korneuburg (district), Korneuburg in Lower Austria, Austria. Stockerau has 16,974 inhabitants, which makes it the largest town in the Weinviertel. Stockerau is also called "Lenaustadt" (Lenau Town) because ...
, just to the west of Vienna, and these dragoons, plus
Louis-Nicolas Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (; 10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, was a French people, French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolution ...
's, François Antoine Louis Bourcier's and Marc Antoine Beaumont's divisions of dragoons, formed a cordon between Pohrlitz and
Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
, and could move either west or east, depending on the actions of the Archduke Charles or the Russian commander Kutuzov. Consequently, Klein's dragoons, held the road between Austerlitz and Vienna, eliminating a possible Austrian retreat. In the
War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...
, Klein fought in the
Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...
under command of
Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...
. After the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt, Klein was with his division of dragoons in the village of Weissensee, the only escape route open to the Prussian General Blücher. Blücher was surprised to find Klein in possession of the village, but convinced him an armistice has been concluded between
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, ...
and Napoleon. Reports differ on the conduct of Klein and Blücher. William Milligan Sloane insists that
Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...
was with Blücher and that only the old general's bluff prevented the King's capture. Some historians assert that Klein believed him, and learned too late that he had been deceived. Others assert that Klein's force was too weak to resist the greater Prussian numbers. He had only 800 cavalry and Antoine Lasalle, to the west, had two regiments. Blücher had either 7,000, according to Charles Mullié, Charles Mullié.
Dominique Louis Antoine Klein
"
Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850.
' 1851–52.
or more than 12,000 Prussian infantry, artillery and horse. Regardless, Klein and Lasalle either pragmatically maintained the fiction or fell for the ruse; Blücher and his Prussians passed through the village. Charles Mullié maintains that Klein vowed revenge; with his division, he pursued and attacked Blücher force the following day. He took 10 Prussian standards and 1,000 prisoners, including a general officer, although he did not capture Blücher. Frances Lorraine Petrie gives that credit to
Soult Marshal General of France, Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as P ...
, and so does
Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( ; ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...
; furthermore, Petre maintains, Klein's dragoons were sent to guard the communications lines between
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
and
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
, where several groups of Prussians had skirmished with the French rear guard.Petrie, p. 214.
Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( ; ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...
. ''History of the consulate and the empire of France under Napoleon''. D. Forbes Campbell and John Stebbing (trans.). London: Chatto & Windus; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1893–1894, OCLC 12606477, vol. 4, p. 300.


Administrative and political duties

Following the Prussian campaign, Napoleon appointed Klein as governor of the Imperial palace. In 1807, Klein was called to the Senate. In 1808, he was raised by letters of patent to a count of the empire and awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Bavarian Lion. In 1812, he was placed in command of the recruitment and training of a cohort of the National Guard. He remained in the Senate until April 1814, when he voted for Napoleon's abdication. In 1814, during the Bourbon Restoration, he was named a knight of the
Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis () is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the fi ...
. He did not support Napoleon's return in 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 ...
. In the Second Restoration,
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 â€“ 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...
raised him to the French peerage.


Family and personal life

Louis Klein was born on 25 January 1761 in Blâmont (Meurthe), in the
Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
region. He married 7 January 1783 to Marie-Agathe Pierron, with whom he had a son Edouard Marie Arsène (17841843). Edouard had two daughters, Arsène Louise Marie, born 1820, married Mathieu Prosper Morey; and Louise Françoise Clémence, born in Hebreville, 1825, married in Paris to Henri Tollier. Albert Révérend, vicomte. ''Titres, anoblissements et pairies de la restauration 1814–1830.'' Paris, Chez l'auteur et chez H. Champion, 1901—06, volume 4, p. 95. In 1808, Klein divorced Pierron, with the Emperor's permission, and on 2 July of that year remarried to Caroline of Valangin-Arberg, daughter of the Countess of Arberg, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais. In this marriage, he had a son, Eugene Joseph Napoleon, who was born in 1813 in Paris and died in 1872 . Louis Klein died 2 November 1845 in Paris.


Sources


Notes and citations


Bibliography

* de Genouillac, Henri Gourdon . ''Dictionnaire des anoblis, 1270-1868, suivi du Dictionnaire des familles.'' Paris, Bachelin-Deflorenne, 1875. * Goetz, Robert. ''1805: Austerlitz.'' Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2005. ,. * Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste, ''A Memoir of the operations of the army of the Danube under the command of General Jourdan, taken from the manuscripts of that officer.'' London: Debrett, 1799. * Kessinger, Roland
Order of Battle, Army of the Danube
Stockach: Roland Kessinger & Geert van Uythoven. Accessed 14 April 2010. * Milligan, Sloane William. ''The Life Of Napoleon Bonaparte.'' New York: Century, 1911, OCLC 10388397, Volume II. * * Petre, Francis Loraine. ''Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia.'' London, John Lane; New York, John Lane Co., 1907, OCLC 1817897. * Phipps, Ramsay Weston. ''The Armies of the First French Republic.'' Volume 5: "The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the coup d'état of Brumaire, 1797–1799", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939. * Révérend, Albert (vicomte). ''Titres, anoblissements et pairies de la restauration 1814–1830.'' Paris, Chez l'auteur et chez H. Champion, 1901—06, volume 4. * Soulié, Eudoxe; Musée national de Versailles et des Trianons. ''Notice des peintures et sculptures composant le Musée Impérial.'' Versailles: Montalant-Bougleux, 1854–1855, v. 1. * Smith, Digby. ''Napoleonic Wars Databook.'' London: Greenhill Publishing Co., 1998, . * Thiers, Adolphe. ''History of the consulate and the empire of France under Napoleon''. D. Forbes Campbell and John Stebbing (trans.). London: Chatto & Windus; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1893–1894, OCLC 12606477, vol. 4 *
LEONORE Data Base
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Louis 1761 births 1845 deaths People from Meurthe-et-Moselle French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights of the Order of Saint Louis Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe