Jean-Baptiste Girard (General)

Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Girard

Jean-Baptiste Girard (born February 21, 1775 in Aups , † June 27, 1815 in Paris ) was a general of Napoleonic France and baron of the French Empire .

Live and act

Jean-Baptiste Girard was born in Aups in the Var in the south of France .

At the age of 18, on September 27, 1793, Jean-Baptiste Girard voluntarily joined the French army and was initially assigned to the 1st battalion of the Barjots (Var) district. After further stations, he served in the French Armée d'Italie (Italian army) from the spring of 1794 . He held the rank of lieutenant in 1796 and 1797 respectively . At Brenta he was injured in fighting. On September 23, 1802 Girard was employed by the Italian Republic .

Jean-Baptiste Girard was appointed Officer of the Legion of Honor on June 14, 1804 and Chief of Staff on June 20, 1804 in Paris. On September 1, 1805, he was part of Joachim Murat's staff in the Grande Armée . On December 25, 1805, Girard was appointed commander of the Legion of Honor. It was in 1806 as Deputy Chief of Staff Cavalry - Reserve . On November 13th, 1806 Jean-Baptiste Girard was appointed Brigadier General, from December 31st he was employed in the 8th Corps of the Grand Army.

On October 26, 1808 Jean-Baptiste Girard became the Baron of the Empire France ( baron d'empire ) ennobled . He fought repeatedly in Spain . He was slightly wounded in the Battle of Ocaña on November 19, 1809 and made major general on December 17 of the same year . He was also involved in the siege of Badajoz in February 1811. On March 19, 1811, he was appointed Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.

He was recalled from Spain to take part in the Russian campaign in 1812 and took over the 28th Division in the IX. Marshal Victor's corps operating on the Daugava line. Because his troops had remained largely intact during the fighting, Girard had to lead the attack on Smoljany on November 14th and help the main army withdrawing from the Berezina . Girard received the Grand Cross of the Order of Réunion ( Grand-croix de l'Ordre de la Réunion ) on April 3, 1813 . In the Battle of Großgörschen on May 2, 1813, he was injured again by several bullets.

In 1813, on August 24th, during the wars of liberation in the run-up to the Battle of Hagelberg near and in the village of Zitz, there was fighting between the Prussian and French units of General Jean-Baptiste Girard. The memorial for the Wars of Liberation was later erected on this occasion .

On August 27, 1813 between 11,500 Prussian soldiers under General Karl Friedrich von Hirschfeld and Russian support under General Alexander Tschernyschow on the one hand and 10,000 French under Jean-Baptiste Girard and Saxon contingents on the other side to the battle on the Hagelberg . The Battle of Hagelberg was one of the first operations of the newly created Landwehr . Girard was injured and captured. In 1814 he was able to return to France and subsequently received half a salary.

After Napoleon Bonaparte returned from his exile from Elba during the reign of the Hundred Days , Jean-Baptiste Girard immediately rejoined him. On June 16, 1815, Girard was seriously wounded by Prussian fire during the Battle of Ligny near the village of Saint-Amand . After being transported back to Paris, he died of his injuries on June 27th. Before his death, he is said to have been appointed Duke of Ligny ( Duc de Ligny ) by Napoleon on June 21, 1815 .

Jean-Baptiste Girard was married to Perla Consolo. He had two daughters, the older one named Désirée. A third daughter, Alfrède, was born on February 14, 1816 after his death. Jean-Baptiste Girard's name is recorded in the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile , in the triumphal arch of Paris.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Barthold von Quistorp, Ernst Wiehr: History of the Northern Army in 1813. 396 to 397.
2. ↑ JEAN BAPTISTE GIRARD. AUPS (VAR) 1775-1815 PARIS. In: napoleon-monuments.eu. Retrieved March 31, 2019 (French). 
3. ↑ Jean-Baptiste GIRARD (1775 - 1815). Heros de la bataille de Ligny. In: ligny1815.org. Retrieved March 31, 2019 (French).