François-Amable Ruffin
François-Amable Ruffin , more rarely François Amable Ruffin (born August 31, 1771 in Bolbec , Seine-Maritime Department , † May 15, 1811 in Portsmouth , southern England ) was a French infantry general .
Live and act
In September 1792, Ruffin volunteered for the army. He was soon able to distinguish himself there and was also promoted very quickly. In the following year he came - already with the rank of lieutenant colonel - to the staff of General Jean Augustin Ernouf (1753-1827) and fought under his command a. a. at Hondschoote (September 8, 1793).
A short time later, Ruffin joined General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan as an aide-de-camp . After a brief interlude in the Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse , he moved back to his old position with General Jourdan and stayed there until the spring of 1797. He was then granted a one-year vacation at Halbsold . Ruffin spent most of that year in Paris , where he was personally introduced to Napoleon Bonaparte .
In 1799 Ruffin moved to General Michel Ney's staff, also as an aide-de-camp . After his promotion to chef de brigade ( colonel ), he joined the Armée du Rhin in 1800 and took a. a. participated in the fighting at Messkirch (May 5, 1800), Ampfing (December 1, 1800) and Hohenlinden (December 3, 1800).
In early 1805 Ruffin was promoted to général de brigade and in August of the same year he joined the staff of General Nicolas-Charles Oudinot . Under his command he fought u. a. near Ostrolenka (February 16, 1807) and Friedland (June 14, 1807).
After a short stay in Paris, Ruffin was commanded to Spain (→ Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula ). Under Marshal Claude-Victor Perrin , he fought at Somosierra (November 30, 1808), Uclés (January 13, 1809), Medellín (March 29, 1809) and Talavera (June 27-28, 1809).
In the Battle of Barrosa (March 5, 1811) Ruffin was seriously wounded and was captured by the British while still on the battlefield. He was brought to England on the British hospital ship HMS Gorgon and died of his injuries in Portsmouth harbor while still on the ship. Ruffin was buried in Portsmouth Cemetery, exhumed on November 4, 1845, and brought back home. His grave can be found in the cemetery of his hometown.
Honors
- December 25, 1805: Commander of the Legion of Honor
- 1807: Military Order of St. Heinrich
- 1808: Comte de l'Émpire
- On July 14th ( national holiday ) 1881, the year of his hundredth birthday, a memorial plaque was placed on the house where he was born.
- The house where he was born is one of the monuments historiques of France.
- His name can be found on the western pillar (37th column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
literature
- Karl Bleibtreu : Marshals, Generals, Soldiers Napoleon I. VRZ-Verlag, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-931482-63-4 (unchanged reprint of the Berlin 1899 edition)
- Charles Mullié: Biography des célébrités militaires des amrées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850, Vol. 2 Poignavant, Paris 1852.
- Georges Six: Dictionnaire biographique des généraux et amiraux français de la Révolution et de l'Émpire 1792–1814 . Saffroy, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-901541-06-2 .
- Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic wars data book . Greenhill Books, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .
Web links
- François-Amable RUFFIN (1771-1811) (French)
- Maison natale du général Ruffin - Monument historique de Bolbec - Actuacity (French)
- General François-Amable Ruffin (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ruffin, François-Amable |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ruffin, François Amable |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French general of the infantry |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 31, 1771 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bolbec , Seine-Maritime department |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 15, 1811 |
| Place of death | Portsmouth , southern England |