Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais
Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais (born October 16, 1777 in Paris , † January 3, 1809 near Cacabelos , Spain ) was a French général de brigade of the cavalry .
Life
Colbert-Chabanais comes from the old Colbert family ; his father was Maréchal de camp Louis Henri Colbert (1737-1792), his mother his second wife Marie-Jeanne David. Generals Louis-Pierre and Pierre David de Colbert-Chabanais were his brothers.
Colbert-Chabanais joined the army as a volunteer, but was soon appointed as an aide-de-camp on Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy's staff .
When Napoleon started his campaign in Egypt in 1798 , Colbert-Chabanais was there and was able to distinguish himself several times through bravery. During the siege of Acre (March / April 1799) he was seriously wounded and returned, among other things. a. returned to France with General Louis Charles Antoine Desaix .
After his recovery he switched to Napoleon's staff and fought at Marengo (June 14, 1800), Elchingen (October 14, 1805) and Austerlitz (December 2, 1805). Christmas 1805 Colbert-Chabanais was with Colonel Claude Testot-Ferry from Napoleon to St. Petersburg to Czar Alexander I sent.
Upon his return, Colbert-Chabanais came with the rank of Colonel to the lancers of the Guard impériale . During this time he married Marie-Josephine, a daughter of General Jean-Baptiste de Canclaux, and had two sons with her. The family lived on Château du Saussay, owned by the Canclaux family. After his death, after five years of mourning, his widow married the politician Pierre Arnauld de La Briffe on October 20, 1814.
From autumn 1806 Colbert-Chabanais was on the staff of Marshal Michel Ney and fought in Jena (October 14, 1806), Preussisch Eylau (February 7/8, 1807) and Friedland (June 14, 1807).
From 1808 Colbert-Chabanais served in the Napoleonic Wars in Spain. Under the leadership of General Jean-Baptiste Bessières , he took part in the fighting at Medina de Rioseco (July 14, 1808), Bailén (July 18/22, 1808). In the Battle of Tuleda (November 23, 1808) he fought a. a. together Jean Isidore Harispe under the command of Marshal Jean Lannes . In the battle of La Coruña (January 16, 1809) he fought under Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult against the expeditionary army under John Moore .
In the Battle of Cacabelos (January 3, 1809) Colbert-Chabanais was shot by the British sniper Thomas Plunkett. He found his final resting place near the battlefield.
Trivia
The portraitist François Gérard (1770–1837) made a portrait of Colbert-Chabanais for the Battle Gallery (Prinzenflügel) in Versailles Palace .
Honors
- Comte de l'Émpire
- December 11, 1803 Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
- According to a decree of Napoleon of January 1, 1810, a statue of Colbert-Chabanais was to be erected on the Pont de la Concorde (Paris) for perpetual memory; the plan never came to fruition.
- His name can be found on the western pillar (38th column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle (Paris).
literature
- Philip J. Haythornthwaite: Who was who in the Napoleonic Wars . Arms & Armor, London 1998, ISBN 1-85409-391-6 .
- Charles Mullié: Biography of the c'lébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851 (2 vols.).
- Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book . Greenhill, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .
- Charles-Antoine Thoumas: Les toris Colbert. Édouard, Alphonse, Auguste . LCV Services, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-914288-10-7 .
- Peter Young: The bravest of the brave - Ney . In: David Chandler: Napoleon's marshals . Macmillan New York 1987, ISBN 0-02-905930-5 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Colbert-Chabanais, Auguste François-Marie de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French brigadier general of the cavalry |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 16, 1777 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 3, 1809 |
| Place of death | Cacabelos , Spain |