Jean Dominique Compans

Jean Dominique Compans

Jean Dominique Compans (born June 26, 1769 in Salies-du-Salat , † November 10, 1845 in Blagnac ) was a French Général de division .

Life

Compans came from a wealthy family who had envisaged him for a career in the church, but Compans chose to do military service. Enthusiastic about the ideals of the revolution , he joined the army as a volunteer on October 2, 1789. He was soon able to distinguish himself through bravery and was promoted to Capitaine in 1792 .

In the following year Compans switched to the Italian Army and fought there under the leadership of Général Jacques François Dugommier in the Battle of Montebello (June 9, 1800) and the Battle of Marengo (June 14, 1800). After the Treaty of Luneville (February 9, 1801), he was stationed with his troops near Cuneo for some time , but was then able to return to France in 1803.

After further promotions, Compans came to Napoleon's staff with the rank of Général de brigade and fought at Austerlitz (December 2, 1805) and Jena (October 14, 1806). He was seriously wounded off Austerlitz and was only able to return to work in the autumn of 1806.

Compans acquired the Château de Blagnac in 1810 and married Louise-Octavie Lecocq there the following year, with whom he had two children: Napoléon Dominique (1813–1847) and Louise-Adolphine (1816–1878).

Compans took part in the Russian campaign in 1812 under the leadership of Général Louis-Nicolas Davout . He was in command of the Battle of Mogilev , fought in the Battle of Smolensk (17/18 August 1812), the Battle of Borodino (7 September 1812) and in the Battle of the Berezina (26/28 November 1812) ).

The following year he fought in the Battle of Bautzen (May 20/21, 1813). In the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig (October 16/19, 1813) he commanded the 20th Infantry Division in the 6th Corps of Maréchal Marmont . Here he was badly wounded.

It was a few months before Compans could return to the General Staff. In 1814 he fought in the Battle of Fère-Champenoise (March 25, 1814), the Battle of Claye (March 28, 1814) and the Battle of Paris (March 30, 1814). After Napoleon's abdication (→ Treaty of Fontainebleau ), Compans King Louis XVIII joined. on.

When Napoleon had left the island of Elba and his " rule of the hundred days " began, Compans switched back to the emperor and joined the Grande Armée . When he returned to Paris after the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) , he was arrested for this. After his renewed oath of allegiance to the House of Bourbon , King Louis XVIII appointed him . into the jury that was supposed to judge Marshal Michel Ney .

Around 1820 Compans resigned all of his offices and retired into private life. He settled in Blagnac, where he died on November 10, 1845 at the age of 76. After a large funeral service in Blagnac, the coffin was brought to Salies-du-Salat, where Compans found its final resting place in the local cemetery.

Honors

• 1801 Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
• June 14, 1804 Commander of the Legion of Honor
• July 11, 1807 Grand Officier of the Legion of Honor
• June 24, 1808 Comte de l'Émpire
• April 3, 1813 Grand Cross of the Ordre de le Réunion
• February 14, 1815 Chevalier des Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis
• In 1851, his hometown Salies-du Salat erected a monument in his honor - created by Bernard Griffoul-Dorval (1788–1861) - on avenue de la Paix .
• In 1864 the Rue Compans in the 19th arrondissement of Paris was named after him.
• The towns of Blagnac and Salies-du-Salat each named a street, the Rue Compans , after him.
• His name can be found on the eastern pillar (15th column) of the Triumphal Arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle (Paris)

literature

• David Chandler: The campaigns of Napoleon . Weidenfeld, London 1993, ISBN 0-297-81367-6 (reprint of the London 1966 edition).
• 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 vols.).
• 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 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ She died in 1816 giving birth to her daughter.
2. ↑ Napoleon was his godfather .
3. ↑ On August 20, 1836, she married the historian and politician Henri Ternaux (1807–1864) in Paris .

Web links

• Monument of General Compans in the Avenue de la Paix , Salies-du-Salat.