Esprit Espinasse

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esprit Espinasse

Esprit Charles Marie Espinasse (born April 2, 1815 in Castelnaudary , Aude , † June 4, 1859 in Magenta (Lombardy) ) was a French general .

Life

Esprit Charles Marie Espinasse received his military education since 1833 in the Military School of Saint-Cyr , joined in 1835 as Sous-Lieutenant ( Lieutenant ) in the 47th regiment of the line and came in 1837 as a Lieutenant ( Lieutenant ) to the Foreign Legion in Algiers . Here in 1842 he acquired the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor through rare courage . In 1845 he distinguished himself as chief of a battalion of the Zouave regiment in the campaign against the Kabyle , in particular in the attack on Beni Slem.

In July 1851 Espinasse was promoted to colonel of the 42nd Infantry Regiment. As such, he blew up the National Assembly on the orders of Prince-President Louis Napoleon during his coup d'état of December 2, 1851, and suppressed several attempts at revolt in Paris the following day . Furthermore, he was with General Canrobert at the head of the revision commissions, which had to report on the 50,000 to 60,000 judgments that the military courts passed on the opponents of the coup, and he proceeded with great severity. Thereupon he was appointed Brigadier General and Adjutant Louis Napoleon in May 1852 , who as French Emperor named Napoléon III. assumed.

At the beginning of the Crimean War , Espinasse commanded the first infantry brigade, undertook the unsuccessful reconnaissance in the Dobruja in August 1854 and lost a large part of his troops to the efforts of the march and the outbreak of cholera . Health concerns forced him to return briefly to France. However, in October 1854 he was again at the head of the first brigade of the first infantry division and was forwarded to the Crimea in the spring of 1855 . He distinguished himself on August 16, 1855 in the Battle of the Chernaya and was appointed division general on August 29 . As such, he fought with great bravery on September 8, 1855, when he stormed the Malakov . Through these acts he earned the Commander's Cross of the Legion of Honor, the English Bath Order and the Sardinian Medal of Valor.

When Napoleon III. After the unsuccessful assassination attempt by the Italian Felice Orsini on January 14, 1858, the government of France tried to organize militarily, he transferred the Ministry of the Interior to Espinasse on February 7, 1858 , with which the newly formed Ministry of Public Security was merged. As Minister of the Interior , Espinasse implemented the so-called security law in such a draconian and cruel manner that he soon aroused general dissatisfaction and met public resistance. On June 14, 1858, he was forced to resign. Thereupon Napoleon III appointed him. to the senator .

At the beginning of the campaign in Italy in 1859, Espinasse received command of the 2nd Division of the 2nd Army Corps under Patrice de Mac-Mahon , crossed the Ticino at Turbigo on June 3 , 1859 and participated in the assault on Magenta on June 4, 1859 . As he and his Zouaves were about to storm a house occupied by Tyrolean hunters at the entrance to the village, a bullet threw him to the ground. He was only 45 years old. The emperor had his body buried in the Invalides at Paris.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Espinasse, esprit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Espinasse, Esprit Charles Marie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French general
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH Castelnaudary
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1859
Place of death Battle of Magenta , fallen