Jacques Charles Dubois

Jacques Charles Dubois , Baron de Thainville, called Dubois-Thainville (born November 27, 1762 in Reux , today in the Calvados department , † January 14, 1847 in Sens , Yonne department ) was a French general of the cavalry .

Live and act

At the age of 19, Dubois volunteered for the army on March 5, 1781. He received his basic military training in the 5e régiment de dragons , where he soon learned of the ideas of the French Revolution .

When Napoleon commissioned General Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc to set up an expeditionary army in 1792 , Dubois immediately volunteered. Leclerc was supposed to use this punitive expedition to suppress the uprisings under Toussaint Louverture in Saint-Domingue on the island of Hispaniola , but he died there shortly before the entire company failed (→ Haitian Revolution ).

Back in France fought Dubois under Jean-Baptiste Camille de Canclaux , later Lazare Hoche , the uprising of the Vendée . It was valiant, and several promotions and transfers followed. As an officer in the staff of General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (→ Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse ) he fought a. a. before Würzburg (September 1-3, 1796) and was wounded there.

After his recovery, Dubois was transferred to Italy, where he a. a. participated in battles near Trebbia (June 19, 1799) and Novi (August 5, 1799).

After a short time in France he came to East Prussia and fought at Preussisch Eylau (February 7/8, 1807). Napoleon was made aware of Dubois and ennobled him to "Baron de Thainville". In order to avoid confusion of the names, Dubois was called Dubois-Thainville from this time on . He fought near Aspern (May 21/22, 1809) and Wagram (July 5/6, 1809) and was wounded again.

With the rank of brigadier general, Dubois took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign and fought at the Battle of the Beresina (November 26-28, 1812). Dubois survived the retreat to France, but lost most of his troops.

After a short time in his homeland, Dubois supported General Louis-Nicolas Davout in the siege of Hamburg (December 1813 / May 1814) and was then able to stay in France until September 1 of the same year. He did not take part in the Battle of Paris (March 30, 1814); only when Napoleon had left the island of Elba and the rule of the Hundred Days began, he actively rejoined the Grande Armée .

In the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) he was wounded again and, after his recovery, sent into provisional retirement on October 6, 1815. Dubois settled in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne ( Département Yonne ) and withdrew into private life.

During the July Revolution of 1830 he was temporarily entrusted with various military tasks, including a. with the leadership of a division. On May 1, 1832, Dubois was given military honors into final retirement. He settled in Sens, where he died on January 14, 1847 at the age of 85. His tomb is in the old cemetery of Sens; it is designed in the Egyptian style.

Honors

• 1804 Knight of the Legion of Honor
• March 17, 1808 baron de l'Émpire
• 8 October 1811 Officer of the Legion of Honor
• April 20, 1831 Commander of the Legion of Honor
• His name can be found on the southern pillar (9th column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle (Paris).

literature

• 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 célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850, vol. 1 . Poignavant, Paris 1851
• Stephen Pope: The Cassell dictionary of the Napoleonic wars . Cassell, London 1999, ISBN 0-304-35229-2 .
• Georges Six: Dictionnaire biographique des géneraux & amiraux français de la révolution et de l'émpire. 1792-1814 . Saffroy, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-901541-06-2 (unchanged reprint of the Paris 1934 edition)

Web links

• Short biography of Jacques Charles Dubois (English)