Jean-Joseph Gauthier

Jean-Joseph Gauthier (born April 30, 1765 in Septmoncel , † November 26, 1815 in Ruffey-sur-Seille ) was a French général de brigade in the coalition wars .

He was the cousin of Jean-Pierre Gauthier , who called himself “Leclerc” or “Gauthier-Leclerc” for better differentiation.

Life

On August 15, 1791 he joined the 7 ^e bataillon de volontaires du Jura (7th volunteer battalion of the Jura department ) as a volunteer . As early as November 24, 1791, he was given the position of sergent major (about: company sergeant ). During the 1792 campaign with the Armée du Rhin , he was appointed Adjudant sous-officier (Adjutant-Unteroffizier) the following year . He was able to distinguish himself in the battle of Hondschoote , as well as in the siege of Maubeuge on October 16, 1793.

Promoted to lieutenant in the Armée du Nord on May 11, 1794 , he fought in the Vendée uprising . On August 2, 1794 Général Lecourbe was appointed aide de camp of his friend and took part in the campaigns of the following five years in the Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse , the "Armée du Rhin" and the Armée d'Helvétie . It was then promoted to Capitaine in the function of aide de camp (Capitaine aide de camp) . On March 13, 1799, he gathered around 20 soldiers from different units and attacked at their head an 800-strong Austrian column that had to surrender. On April 6, he attacked an enemy group at the head of a division of grenadiers and was able to destroy them completely. This earned him a promotion to chief de bataillon on the battlefield and a letter of appreciation from the board of directors .

On December 4, 1799, Gauthier was promoted to Chef de brigade , and on February 20, 1800, he was given command of the 38 ^e demi-brigade d'infanterie . In the following three years he took part in the campaigns of the Armée du Rhin and the Armée de l'Ouest . In 1801 he was in Vannes and in the following two years in Brest . In 1803 he was named as Colonel des 37 ^e régiment d'infanterie . On December 11 of the same year he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor , which was increased to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honor on June 14, 1804. At the same time he became a member of the electoral college of the Jura department .

General de l'Empire

From 1805 to 1806 Gauthier belonged to the Armée d'Italie and then moved to the Grande Armée in 1807 . In 1809 he was with the 3rd Division of the 4th Army Corps in Germany. His services in the battle of Essling led to his appointment as Baron de l'Empire (Baron of the Empire) on December 19 with a grant of 4000 Francs annuity . On August 6, 1811, he was promoted to Général de brigade and served in Illyria . During the campaign in Dalmatia (1813-1814) he defended the fortified Cattaro against attacks by British-Montenegrin troops. After he had to surrender on January 3, 1814, he was finally able to return to France in February 1814 in a prisoner exchange.

In March 1814 he was in the Armée de Lyon during the French campaign . During the time of the First Restoration , he took command of the Ain department , King Louis XVIII. awarded him on August 20, 1814 the level of Chevalier des Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis . In March he escorted the returned Emperor Napoleon to Paris . In May he was appointed commander of the 1st Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division in the 2nd Corps in the Armée du Nord . In this capacity he was involved in the summer campaign of 1815 in Belgium.

On June 15, 1815, he was hit in the lower abdomen by a musket ball fired from a great distance. On August 31, 1815, Gauthier was released home.

He died on November 26, 1815 of the wound he suffered on June 15 and was buried in Ruffey-sur-Seille .

Strangely enough, his name is not found on any of the panels in the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile .

literature

• Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1814: Eberle to Exelmans . Retrieved December 8, 2013.
• Les généraux français et étrangers ayant servis dans la Grande Armée . Retrieved December 8, 2013.
• Fastes de la Légion-d'honneur, biography de tous les décorés accompagnée de l'histoire législative et réglementaire de l'ordre . A. Lievyns, Jean-Maurice Verdot & Pierre Bégat, Volume 3. Retrieved December 8, 2013.