Gabriel Barbou des Courières

Gabriel Barbou des Courières

Gabriel Barbou des Courières (also d'Escourières, born November 23, 1761 in Abbeville , † December 6, 1827 in Paris ) was a French Général de division .

Life

He came from the Barbou family of printers and volunteered for the Régiment d'Artois on May 14, 1779 , where he was promoted to Sous-lieutenant in 1782 . In 1788 he was made a lieutenant and in 1791 with his regiment transferred to Saint-Domingue . Here he stayed from January 1791 to July 1792. He then returned to France and was appointed Adjudant-général of the Sambre Ardennes Army ( Armée des Ardennes ) and the Sambre Maas Army ( Armée de Sambre-et- Meuse ). In 1793 he served in the Armée du Nord , where he was promoted to Chef de brigade in 1794 . Barbou took part in the Battle of Fleurus , the siege of Le Quesnoy , Landrecies , Valenciennes and Condé . Promoted to Général de brigade in the same year , he was assigned to General Bernadotte's division and took part in the 1795 and 1796 campaigns.

The following year Barbou was appointed Chief of Staff of the Sambre Maas Army. On September 23, 1898 he was posted to the Batavian Army (Armée de Batavie) under General Angerau , in which he remained until 1801. In the same year he was busy clearing up the difficulties that had arisen in Brabant in the course of the drafts for military service. It was important to him to settle this matter without undue harshness, which earned him certain sympathies.

In 1799 he fought in North Holland under the command of General Brune and distinguished himself in the battle near Bergen op Zoom and the Battle of Castricum . For his services he was promoted to Général de division .

Then he was reassigned to General Augereau and the "Hanover Army" ( Armée de Hanovre ). In 1801 he took part in the campaign to Franconia . At the end of the year he was given command of the 17th Division, where he was able to restore order in the Le Midi region after unrest. He later replaced Marshal Ney in Switzerland , then received command of a division in the Boulogne camp and followed Bernadotte in October 1805 as commander of the Armée de Hanovre .

During the advance of the Russian and Swedish troops in the course of the Third Coalition War , Barbou withdrew to the Hameln Fortress , where he held the position until the Peace of Bratislava . During this time he also held the position of an Imperial Commissioner (Commissaire de l'Empereur) for the Hanoverian territories .

Back in France he was given command of a division under General Dupont in the war against Spain in 1807 . Here he distinguished himself in the battle at the bridge of Alcalá de Henares and was involved in the capture of Córdoba on June 8, 1808. In the same year he was captured by Spain after the Battle of Bailén , but returned to France after a short time. Here he was posted to the Italian Army ( Armée d'Italie ) under the command of General Eugène de Beauharnais . In Venice he resisted Austrian attacks and was able to maintain his position in the city even after the victory of the Austrians in the Battle of Sacile on April 16, 1809.

Then he was in Tyrol to put down the Andreas Hofer uprising. In 1810 he was given command of the permanent Ancona square , which he held until 1812.

After the fall of Napoleon , he returned to France and was taken over by King Louis XVIII. awarded the Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis . Later he was appointed Grand Officier of the Legion of Honor .

During the reign of the Hundred Days he was from March 20, 1815 commander of the 13th Division ( 13ème division militaire ).

After the return of the Bourbons ( Second Restoration ) he was granted a pension on September 4, 1815, with which he finally retired from active military service.

Special honor

Barbou's name was engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. He is on the north pillar in the sixth column in third place.

literature

• Charles Mullié: Biography of the célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850. Poignavant et Cie 1852