Jean Andoche Junot

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Jean Andoche Junot

Jean Andoche Junot, Duke of Abrantès (born September 24, 1771 in Bussy-le-Grand , Côte-d'Or , † July 29, 1813 in Montbard ) was a French Général de division and adjutant to Napoléon Bonaparte .

Life

Junot studied law and became a soldier at the outbreak of the French Revolution . During the siege of Toulon in 1793, Napoléon made him his adjutant. In this function he accompanied him to Italy in 1796 , and to Egypt and Syria in 1798 and 1799 .

In 1800 Junot became the commandant of Paris , in 1804 Colonel général des hussards (the hussars ) and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor . In 1805 he was sent to Portugal as an envoy , but from there he went to Germany , where he distinguished himself in the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805.

In 1806 Junot was appointed military governor of Paris and in 1807 he was given command of the troops formed at Salamanca to occupy Portugal. With these he reached Lisbon on November 30th with great difficulty , for which he received the title of Duke of Abrantès. On August 30, 1808, he was defeated by the English at the Battle of Vimeiro and had to complete the surrender of Cintra . The French then had to evacuate Portugal.

In 1809 Junot was commander in chief in Bayreuth .

Because he had fallen out of favor with Napoleon, Junot, unlike Napoleon's other long-time companions in arms, was not appointed Marshal of France . Nevertheless, during the Russian campaign in 1812, he was entrusted with command of the Westphalian and Hessian troops, replacing the previous commanders King Jérôme and General Vandamme . His VIII Corps could have stabbed the Russians in the rear at the Battle of Walutino , but refused to attack even when Murat personally asked him to. Perhaps it was the heavy losses that drove Junot into mental illness . He was taken to Montbard and died there on July 29, 1813 after throwing himself out of a window.

His wife Laure Junot wrote memoirs under the title Mémoires (18 volumes, 1831-1834).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch until 1933. 1950; 2nd edition, Ph. CW Schmidt, Neustadt an der Aisch 1978, ISBN 3-87707-013-2 , p. 383 f. and 379.