Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle

Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux, Comte de Bordesoulle

Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux, Comte de Bordesoulle (born April 4, 1771 in Luzeret , † October 3, 1837 in Fontaine-Chaalis ), was a French nobleman and general who fought as a cavalry leader in the coalition wars from 1793 to 1815.

Life

Military career

Bordesoulle began his military service on April 27, 1789 when he joined the Armée du Rhin . He fought from 1792 to 1801 in the French Revolutionary Wars and was successively with the Armée du Rhin , the Armée de Rhin-et-Moselle , the Armée d'Allemagne and the Armée d'Angleterre . Bordessoulle, who was wounded several times, was promoted to Sous-lieutenant in August 1794 , then to Lieutenant in July 1796 and to Capitaine in January 1798 . He rose rapidly in his career, was appointed leader of a squadron in the 6 ^e régiment de hussards in May 1799 and received a saber of honor for his bravery in 1802 . He fought in the Battle of Novi on August 15, 1799 and was wounded again during the retreat of the Italian army.

In 1803 and 1804 he was in the field camp near Bruges with the invasion army that had been concentrated for England . In the campaign from 1805 to 1807 he fought in Austria, Prussia and Poland in the association of the 2nd Corps and was promoted to Colonel . On December 27, 1805 he was appointed chief of the 22 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval . On December 2, he fought in the Battle of Austerlitz , before moving to the 4th Corps under Soult in October 1806 . On June 9, 1807, at the head of his regiment, he crossed Guttstädter Strasse, stormed and smashed a Russian battalion and received two bayonet wounds on his right forearm and chest. He distinguished himself the following day in the Battle of Heilsberg and on June 12th in the Battle of Friedland and on June 25th was appointed chief of light equestrian associations (first with the 9th Hussars, then with the 7th and 20th Chasseurs). On August 1, his troops were transferred to the Corps of General Brune and in December he was transferred to the light cavalry in the defense of Danzig .

On September 21, 1808 he was ordered to go to Bayonne and in November he was appointed commander of the 2nd Chasseur Cavalry Brigade (cavalry reserve of the Armée d'Espagne) within the Lasalle division. In December he defeated the remnants of Castaño's army around Madrid and on March 28, 1809 contributed to the victory of the French in the Battle of Medellín , in which he was awarded the 5 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval and 10 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval 6000 threw back Spanish infantrymen, although Bordesoulle had received orders from the Duke of Belluno to withdraw.

On May 25, 1809, he was transferred to the Armée d'Allemagne to command a cavalry brigade in the 4th Corps under Massena . Bordessoulle replaced Colonel Fouler as chief of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Cuirassier Division. He was wounded on July 6, 1809 at the Battle of Wagram and appointed Baron of the Empire by Napoleon in May 1810 . He was used in the observation corps in Holland in May 1810 and took command of the 3rd light cavalry brigade of the Armée d'Allemagne on December 2nd. Bordessoulle commanded several light cavalry brigades in Germany until 1812, in between he spent in November 1811 with the occupation corps on the Elbe . This observation corps soon became a corps of the Grande Armée .

Russian War and Restoration

During the French invasion of Russia in 1812 he led the 2nd light cavalry brigade of the 1st Corps under Marshal Davout. On June 30, he fought the avant-garde of the Russian army under Barclay de Tolly near Soleschniki and on July 23 he took over the vanguard of Prince von Eckmühl , which consisted of the 3 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval and an infantry regiment. At the head of this avant-garde, he occupied Mogilev and took 900 prisoners , captured enemy magazines and supplies, including 600 oxen intended for the army of Prince Bagration . He then fought in the Battle of Smolensk and on September 7th at Borodino and in the Battle of Krasnoi (where his cavalry brought in 8 cannons and 1,500 prisoners).

He was promoted to Général de division on December 4, 1812 and took over the 1st Cuirassier Division of the 1st Cavalry Corps, which he led in all major battles in Saxony in 1813 . In May 1813, he took part in the Battle of Großgörschen and Bautzen . As a baron of the empire, he was already confirmed with a grant ; on May 14, 1813, he was appointed commander of the Legion of Honor . In the battle of Dresden (August 26th) he led several energetic attacks, threw back 12 attacks by the enemy infantry carts and took 6,000 prisoners. He also fought in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig (October 16-19), where he provided new evidence of his bravery, and in the Battle of Hanau , where he was able to cover a largely orderly retreat. In November 1813, instead of General Sébastiani, the 2nd Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée was subordinated to him.

As commander of the 2nd Cavalry Divisions led into the battle of Champaubert and was involved in the success against Blücher near Vauchamps on February 12th . A few days later he defeated allied forces at Villeneuve (February 17) and took part in the brief retaking of Reims. In March he fought in the battle of Fère-Champenoise and on March 30th with the heavy cavalry division of the 1st Corps in the battle of Paris . During the restoration of the Bourbons , Bordesoulle was retained due to its noble origins and in May 1814 was appointed Inspector General of the Cavalry. On June 2, he was made Knight of the Order of Saint Louis and on August 23, he was appointed Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. After Napoleon's return from Elba, Bordesoulle provisionally took over the cavalry squadrons of the 2nd Military Division on March 12, 1815, who set out for Châlons and were confirmed in this role by the royal government on March 16. He followed the fled Louis XVIII. to Ghent , where he became Chief of Staff of the Comte d'Artois on June 25, 1815 .

post war period

After the reign of the Hundred Days he returned to France with the Duke of Berry in July 1815 and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor by the King on August 13, and on September 8 he was appointed reorganizer of the cavalry and commander of the guard cavalry. Bordesoulle was elected deputy to Indre from 1815 to 1816, and on October 12th was appointed a member of the commission charged with investigating the conduct of the officers during the Hundred Days.

On May 13, 1816, he was appointed Knight of the Military Order de Saint-Louis and exchanged his imperial baron title for that of a royal comte. From June 2, 1817, he acted as honorary adjutant of the Comté d'Artois, on October 25th he became a member of the Committee of Inspectors General and on July 2, 1820 he was appointed privy councilor of the Comté d'Artois. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Louis on May 1, 1821, and was appointed governor of the École polytechnique on September 17, 1822 , maintaining his previous position in the royal guard. In 1823 he took part in the Spanish expedition, on February 16 Bordesoulle was appointed commander in chief of the guards in the Armée des Pyrénées. He organized the bombing and blockade of Cadiz and was mentioned in official dispatches on August 31 for the capture of Trocadéro. His advice to the Comté d'Artois was decisive for many official acts that were friendly to the supporters of the Freedom Party. In December he took command of the cavalry division of the Royal Guard again. Under the new King Charles X, he became a member of the Supreme War Council in 1828.

During the revolution he tried in vain to obtain the king's decisions in July 1830 and retired to Saint-Cloud, ready to defend himself. Despite the disbanded royal guard, he continued from Rambouillet, his command until August 21, and then submitted to the new citizen-king Louis-Philippe. He was placed on the Army's reserve list on February 7, 1831, and retired in March 1832. He died in Fontaines-Chaalis in 1837, ten kilometers southeast of Senlis .

literature

• Charles Mullié: "Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle" from Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850, 1852
• Robert et Cougny: Dictionnaire des parlementaires français , Paris 1889.