Jean-Jacques Desvaux de Saint-Maurice
Jean-Jacques Desvaux de Saint-Maurice (born June 26, 1775 in Paris , † June 18, 1815 near Waterloo , Belgium ) was a French general de division of the artillery .
Life
Desvaux is a son of Jacques-Philippe Des Vaux, Seigneur de Saint-Maurice etc. etc. and Angélique Melin. Between 1786 and 1790 he attended the Collège de Juilly and then became a cadet at the École d'artillerie de Châlons . Immediately afterwards he was transferred to General François-Christophe Kellermann in 1792 . Under his command he fought at Aiguebelle and took part in the siege of Lyon (September / October 1793).
After further promotions, Desvaux fought with the rank of captain at Boulou (October 14/15, 1793). He took part in the Italian campaign in 1796/97 and fought bravely at Novi (August 15, 1799), Trebbia (June 17/9, 1799) and Mincio (December 25, 1800).
On January 25, 1804 he was appointed as aide-de-camp to General Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont and in the following year he was promoted to the Général de brigade .
Under Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier , Desvaux fought near Raab (June 14, 1809) and Wagram (July 5-6, 1809).
He took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign in 1812 and was again able to distinguish himself through bravery at Borodino (September 7, 1812) and at Beresina (November 26/28, 1812).
After the battle of Paris (March 30, 1814) and Napoleon's abdication (→ Treaty of Fontainebleau ), Desvaux, as an admirer of the emperor, behaved neutrally towards the House of Bourbon . When Napoleon had left the island of Elba and his rule of the Hundred Days began, Desvaux immediately rejoined him. Desvaux commanded the artillery in the Battle of Waterloo and was killed in an attack near Mont Saint-Jean.
Desvaux was married to Céleste-Charlotte Souverbie and had two children with her: Charles-Antoine-Jacques (1812-1865) and Angélique-Célestine-Augusta.
Honors
- December 11, 1803 Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
- June 14, 1804 Officer of the Legion of Honor
- Commander of the Legion of Honor
- October 30, 1810 Baron de l'Émpire
- 1814 Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis
- His name can be found on the north pillar (10th column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle (Paris).
- A barracks in Stenay ( Département Meuse ) bears his name
literature
- Karl Bleibtreu : Marshals, generals, soldiers of Napoleon I. VRZ-Verlag, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-931482-63-4 . (Reprint of the Berlin 1899 edition)
- Alfredo Fierro et al. a .: Histoire et Dictionnaire du Consulat et de l'Émpire . Laffont, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-221-05858-5 .
- Kevin F. Kiley: Once there were titans. Napoleon's generals and their battles 1800–1815 . Greenhill, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-85367-710-6 .
- A. Liévyns et al. a .: Fastes de la Légion-d'honneur. Biography de tous les décorées accompagnée de l'histoire législative et règlementaire de l'ordre, vol. 3 . Bureau de l'Administration, Paris 1844.
- Charles Mullié: Biography of the célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851. (2 vol.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Desvaux de Saint-Maurice, Jean-Jacques |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French Artillery Divisional General |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 26, 1775 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 18, 1815 |
| Place of death | Waterloo, Belgium |