Guillaume Latrille de Lorencez

Guillaume Latrille de Lorencez

Guillaume Latrille de Lorencez (born April 21, 1772 in Pau , † October 1, 1855 in Bar-le-Duc ) was a Général de division in the French Revolutionary Wars .

Life

Latrille de Lorencez comes from a wealthy family of the béarnaiser landed gentry. He was the son-in-law of Marshal Charles Nicolas Oudinot and thus also the brother-in-law of General Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot .

On December 12, 1791, Latrille de Lorencez - convinced of a military career - entered the army at the age of 19 and became an enthusiastic supporter of Napoleon . He fought in the Revolutionary Wars and was soon able to distinguish himself through bravery. As early as 1793 he served in the position of a major and with effect from September 23 of the same year he moved as aide-de-camp to the staff of Marshal Charles Pierre François Augereau .

Latrille de Lorencez fought near Ulm (October 16/19, 1805), Austerlitz (December 2, 1805) and Jena (October 19, 1806). On February 10, 1807 he was promoted to Général de brigade and as such he was wounded in the Battle of Wagram (July 5/6, 1809).

After his recovery, Latrille de Lorencez moved to the état-major de l'armée (General Staff of the Army) from Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier to Bavaria, who led the Grande Armée against the Austrians.

Later Latrille de Lorencez was sent to war in Spain . Under the leadership of Marshal Michel Ney , he took part in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (April / June 1810) and fought under André Masséna near Buçaco (September 27, 1810).

Latrille de Lorencez fought further battles on Gévora (February 19, 1811), Oñoro (May 3/5, 1811) and La Albuera (May 16, 1811). He also took part in the sieges of Tarragona (May / June 1811), Badajoz (March / April 1812) and Ciudad Rodrigo (January 1812).

After the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) Latrille de Lorencez behaved neutrally and was therefore entrusted by King Charles X with more political-administrative tasks. The highlight of this was his appointment as inspector général d'infanterie in 1816 . He held this office until 1826. He then resigned all of his offices over time, but was not officially retired until August 15, 1839.

Guillaume Latrille de Lorencez settled in Bar-le-Duc and died there on October 1, 1855 at the age of 83; he also found his final resting place there.

Honors

• June 29, 1809 Baron de l'Émpire
• 11th September 1813 Comte de l'Émpire
• His name can be found on the western pillar (32nd column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle ( Paris )

literature

• Bon Pierre de Bourgoing (ed.): Souvenirs militaires du général comte de Lorencez . Éditions Paul, Paris 1902.
• David 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 .
• Kevin F. Kiley: Once there were titans. Napoleon's generals and their battles. 1800-1815 . Greenhill, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-85367-710-6 .
• Charles Mullié: Biography of the c'lébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851 (2 vols.).