Claude Ignace François Michaud

Claude Ignace François Michaud (born October 28, 1751 in Chaux-Neuve , † September 19, 1835 in Luzancy ) was a French general. In 1794 he was in command of the Rhine Army, later he was, among other things, Inspector General of the Infantry, Governor of the Hanseatic cities as well as of Berlin and Magdeburg.

Claude Ignace François Michaud

Life

After a careful upbringing, Michaud was slated for a legal career. Against the family's wishes, he joined the French army. He went as a volunteer to a mounted hunter regiment and rose to the rank of sergeant there before returning to civilian life in 1783 due to lack of promotion prospects.

During the French Revolution he became a national guard . In 1791 he was elected captain of his unit . In the same year he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . During the first coalition war he took part in the campaigns of 1792 and 1793 on the Upper Rhine theater of war. He was promoted to Colonel and in May 1793 to Général de brigade . A short time later he became General de division . When the Austrian army attacked the Weißenburg lines on October 13th, he defended the plateau near Bergzabern and was able to return his troops to Weißenburg without major losses . After Jean-Charles Pichegru took command of the army, the French situation in the Rhineland improved. Michaud distinguished himself in the fight against the Austrian army in such a way that he received supreme command of the Rhine Army after Pichegru was recalled.

He commanded about 36,000 men in the campaign of 1794 and had the task of stopping the anticipated advance of the Austrians and Prussians. He won over the Austrians at Schänzel and Trippstadt . After the victory of the Prussians over a French division near Kaiserslautern on May 23, 1794, Michaud had to give up his position between Speyer and Neustadt and retreat to the Landau fortress . The Allies failed to attack him there. Provided with reinforcements, Michaud went on his turn to attack. A first attack was unsuccessful, a second forced the Austrians and Prussians to retreat. In connection with the march of the Moselle Army against Trier and Luxembourg , Michaud took a position between Speyer, Neustadt and Kaiserslautern. There he was attacked and defeated by the Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe on September 19 and 20. However, this had no noteworthy consequences because the Allies withdrew across the Rhine. Michaud left the subsequent enclosure of Mainz to General Sembert. He himself took a bridgehead near Mannheim .

He then resigned from command and became a division commander in the Northern Army. He took Vlissingen and Middelburg and later took over the supreme command in Flanders. Because of an injury, he did not do active duty for a long time. In 1798 he was given supreme command of the Armée d'Angleterre planned for the invasion of Great Britain . In 1800 he fought during the second coalition war in the northern Italian theater of war.

After the Peace of Luneville he was Inspector General of the Infantry. In 1804 he was promoted to Commander of the Legion of Honor and Count of the Empire . In 1805 he was Commander-in-Chief in Holland and later from 1806 Governor of the Hanseatic cities in Northern Germany. Later he was also governor of Berlin and Magdeburg for a short time. Nothing is known about his activities during the wars of 1814/15. After the restoration, Louis XVIII appointed him . to the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor and again to the Inspector of the Infantry. As such, he was dismissed in 1816 and received no new post.

literature

• Military Conversation Lexicon. Volume 5, Adorf 1836, pp. 338-340.
• Pierer's Universal Lexicon. Volume 11, Altenburg 1860, p. 235. (digitized version)