Jean-Antoine Verdier

Jean-Antoine Verdier

Jean-Antoine Verdier (born May 2, 1767 in Toulouse , † May 30, 1839 Mâcon ) was a French Général de division .

Life

On February 18, 1785, Verdier volunteered for the army and made a career very quickly; as early as 1792 he was assigned to the aide-de-camp of Marshal Charles Pierre François Augereau .

The following year Verdier fought in front of Figueres (→ Castell de Sant Ferran ). Back in France only briefly, he took part in Napoleon's Italian campaign. He distinguished himself in the capture of Fort Medolano and fought at Castiglione (August 5, 1796), Arcole (November 15/17, 1796) and Rivoli (January 14/15, 1797).

After further promotions, Verdier took part in the Egyptian expedition with its own command under the command of Jean-Baptiste Kléber . He fought at the pyramids (July 21, 1798) and took part in the siege of Acre (March / May 1799). Although badly wounded at the pyramids, he led the defense of Damiette (November 1, 1799). He and 1000 soldiers opposed the landing of around 8000 Janissaries . He fought bravely and received, in addition to another promotion at the request of Napoleon by Kléber, weapons of honor .

Verdier returned to France and went to the Cisalpine Republic under the orders of Marshal Joachim Murat . He later fought alongside André Masséna on the Adige and was wounded again. After his recovery, Napoleon appointed him military governor of Livorno .

When Joseph Bonaparte was made King of Naples , Verdier went with General Jean-Louis-Ebenezer Reynier to Naples . After further promotions, he returned to France in 1807 and joined the Grande Armée . Under Jean Lannes he led his own command and fought near Heilsberg (June 10, 1807) and Friedland (June 14, 1807).

In the following year Verdier was transferred to Spain to strengthen the troops there (→ Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula ). Together with General Jean-Baptiste Bessières , he fought in the summer of 1808 in front of Longroño and Medina del Rio Seco. On June 25, 1808, General Verdier was given command of the French siege army assembled in front of Saragossa , which initiated the bombardment on July 1. In March 1809, General Reille's division took over and began the seven-month siege of Gerona in May under the command of Marshal Gouvion St.-Cyr . Until mid-August he was able to take Fort Montjuich in a battle with the Spaniards under General Alvarez de Castro and force the surrender of the city at the beginning of December. After a further promotion, he joined the staff of Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult and was appointed military governor of Bilbao . In April 1810, Verdier was recalled and was able to return to France.

Under Marshal Charles Nicolas Oudinot , Verdier took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign in 1812 and fought near Klyastitsy (July 28/29, 1812), Polotsk (August 17/18, 1812) and Borodino (September 7, 1812). In the second battle of Polotsk (October 18-20, 1812) he was seriously wounded. By being transported back to France, Verdier was spared the withdrawal of the Grande Armée and the fiasco on the Beresina (November 26th / 28th, 1812).

From May 1813, Verdier was able to take over military duties again. Together with the generals Pierre Guillaume Gratien and Marie-François Royer , he fought under the leadership of Eugène de Beauharnais in Italy. Before Ala (November 1813), Verdier was wounded, but in early 1814 he took command of Philibert Fressinet , Giuseppe Federico Palombini and François Jean-Baptiste de Quesnel . He fought on February 8, 1814 in the Battle of Mincio near Borghetto and was able to return to France in June of the same year.

Verdier no longer took part in the Battle of Paris (March 30, 1814). At the same time as Napoleon's abdication (→ Treaty of Fontainebleau ) he resigned almost all military offices. But when Napoleon had left the island of Elba and his " rule of the hundred days " began, Verdier took on various tasks on the staff of Marshal Guillaume-Marie-Anne Brune and was appointed peer .

He took part in the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) and through his prudence saved Toulon from being plundered. Soon after the Second Peace of Paris (November 20, 1815), Verdier withdrew into private life. King Louis XVIII he was no longer available for any office during or after the Restoration .

Honors

• 1799 honorary weapons
• Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis
• Commander of the Legion of Honor
• 1808 Comte de l'Émpire
• 1808 Ordre de la couronne fer
• January 17, 1815 Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor
• His name can be found on the southern pillar (25th column) of the Triumphal Arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle ( Paris )

literature

• Philip J. Haythornthwaite: Who Was Who in 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 célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851. (2 vol.)
• 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)
• Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book . Greenhill, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .
• Jean Tulard (Ed.): Dictionnaire Napoléon . Fayard, Paris 1995, ISBN 2-213-02286-0 .