Gabriel Gaspard Bernon

Gabriel Gaspard Achille Adolphe Bernon, Baron de Montélégier , called Gabriel Gaspard Bernon (born January 6, 1780 in Romans-sur-Isère , † November 2, 1825 in Bastia ) was a French general of the cavalry .

Live and act

Bernon came from a family with Swiss roots; u. a. he was related to the banker Pierre-François Choullat (1684-1765). At the age of seventeen he volunteered in the army and joined a hussar regiment.

He became a supporter of Napoleon early on and when Napoleon was planning his campaign against Egypt in 1798 , Bernon immediately volunteered. As adjutant to General Louis-André Bon (1758–1799) he took a. a. in the Battle of the Pyramids (July 21, 1798).

Bernon made a career very quickly: Lieutenant (1798), Capitaine (1800) and Colonel (1810). After the battle of Preussisch Eylau (February 7th / 8th, 1807) he came as an aide-de-camp to the "duc de Dantzig", General François-Joseph Lefebvre (→ Republic of Danzig ).

In 1810 he moved to General Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult and helped to enforce Napoleonic politics in Spain.

As a général de brigade he fought at Brienne (January 29, 1814) and was wounded in the process. He was able to return to his troops in time for the Battle of Paris (March 30, 1814). After Napoleon's abdication (→ Abdication ), Bernon switched to the Bourbons and supported King Louis XVIII. In the summer of 1814 he was appointed as aide-de-camp to Charles Ferdinand d'Artois ; Bernon was supported by his adjutant Jean Pons Viennet . When Napoleon left the island of Elba and his " rule of the hundred days " began, Bernon accompanied King Louis XVIII. by Ghent into exile.

After returning from Ghent, Bernon came to the Guard Royale with the rank of Lieutenant General (→ Maison militaire du roi de France ). In 1823 he was appointed military governor of the island of Corsica . Bernon died on November 2, 1825 while preparing a festival in honor of Saint Charles. He found his final resting place in the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Bastia) across from General Charles-Louis de Marbeuf (1712–1786).

Honors

• August 15, 1809 baron de l'Émpire
• 1813 Military Merit Order of the Kingdom of Bavaria
• January 8, 1814 Commander of the Legion of Honor
• July 8, 1814 Chevalier des Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis
• His name can be found on the south pillar (29th column) of the Triumphal Arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle ( Paris )

literature

• David G. Chandler : The campaigns of Napoleon . Weidenfeld, London 1993, ISBN 0-297-81367-6 (reprint of the London 1966 edition).
• Philip J. Haythornthwaite: Who was who in the Napoleonic Wars . Arms & Armor, London 1998, ISBN 1-85409-391-6 .
• Charles Mullié: Biography of the célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851 (2 vols.).
• Georges Six: Dictionnaire biographique des généraux & amiraux français de la Révolution et de l'Émpire. 1792-1814 . Saffroy, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-901541-06-2 (reprint of the Paris 1934 edition)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Awarded by King Maximilian I Joseph .