Louis-Pierre Montbrun

Louis Pierre Montbrun

Louis-Pierre Montbrun (born March 1, 1770 in Florensac ; † September 7, 1812 near Borodino ) was a French general and one of the better-known cavalry leaders Napoleon I during the coalition wars.

Life

origin

He was born in 1770 as the fourth of nine children from the marriage of judge Jean-Joseph de Montbrun (May 14, 1735 - October 2, 1818) and Rose Marie Arvieu (1740 - January 16, 1822) in Florensac, Hérault . A younger brother Alexandre (1775-1821) later became commander of the 7th Cavalry Chasseur Regiment and rose in 1812 to the rank of brigadier general . Montbrun's military career began on May 5, 1789 when he joined the Alsatian Jäger Regiment. The youngest brother Auguste served in the cavalry chasseur regiment with the rank of sergeant and died on April 26, 1800 in Offenburg of an injury.

Early military career

During the first years of the Revolutionary War, Montbrun served in the Northern and Moselle Army, in 1794 he switched to the Sambre Army and later to the Maas Army. On July 27, 1796 he was promoted to lieutenant . Montbrun first caused a sensation on August 9, 1796 at the Battle of Altendorf: Although slightly wounded, he continued to fight the enemy, thus preventing General Richepanse from falling into enemy captivity.

The army commander General Moreau then appointed Montbrun to command a cavalry squadron. In 1798 he was transferred to the Rhine Army with the rank of captain . On October 5, 1799, his troops formed a bridgehead at Nidda near Frankfurt , which he defended against 2000 Austrians. He later distinguished himself on October 12, 1799 at Groß-Gerau and on May 16, 1800 at Erbach , where he led an attack. When he was promoted to colonel , on June 15, 1800, he was simultaneously in command of the 1st Cavalry Chasseur Regiment, with which he proved himself on July 8, 1800 before Ulm , which General Richepanse was besieging. In the summer of 1803, under Marshal Davout, stood with his cavalry in the field camp of Bruges . On December 11, 1803 he became a Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor . For his brilliant attacks during the Battle of Ried and his participation in the Battle of Austerlitz , Montbrun was promoted to Général de brigade on December 24, 1805 . Shortly afterwards he was transferred to the Army of Naples . After briefly serving under General Reynier , he was placed under General Espagnes' command until he was recalled in September 1806. Transferred to the Grande Armée at the end of 1806 , Vandame commanded the cavalry division in the Corps together with General Minucchi, consisting of the French and Württemberg cavalry regiments in the winter campaign in Silesia. On November 30, 1806 he defeated the troops of Prince von Anhalt-Pless near Ohlau and brought in 1,800 prisoners and 7 artillery pieces. On March 17, 1807, he led the light cavalry brigade in the 5th Army Corps. June 11, 1807, he distinguished himself when taking the Drewkenow Bridge over the Omulew.

During his time in Bayonne his brigade fought in Spain without his leadership and Napoleon, dissatisfied with Montbrun, considered removing him from office. When Montbrun realized the seriousness of his situation, he immediately rushed to the theater of war with the aim of rehabilitating himself with the emperor. On November 30, 1808, at the Battle of Somosierra, he led one of the most famous cavalry attacks in the coalition wars. When the exhausted French infantry were no longer able to attack the Spaniards holed up behind a steep ridge, which they holed up behind a steep ridge, Montbrun had the Polish Guard Lancers lead an attack, which stormed a Spanish 15 cm battery. On December 4, his cavalry entered Madrid and broke the resistance there, while he had to cut his way through the enemy population with his saber.

On March 9, 1809 he received the rank of Général de division and took part in the campaign of 1809 in Germany and Austria. From March 30th he commanded a division of the light cavalry in the Davout Corps. He distinguished himself on April 22nd in the Battle of Eggmühl , on April 25th in the battle of Nittenau and on June 7th at Rabnitza. On June 13, 1809, on the eve of the Battle of Raab , he encountered enemy cavalry near Sazuak with the avant-garde . When he attacked the enemy, he would have been surrounded if the infantry under General Durutte had not come to the rescue in time. On June 16, his outposts were suddenly attacked by 600 Austrian horsemen with infantry support; Montbrun stood at the head of the regiment and attacked the enemy with impetuosity and threw him back on the walls of Komorn .

On April 10, 1810, Montbrun was given command of the entire cavalry of the Massena Army in the Portuguese theater of war. From July 24th to August 28th, 1810, his cavalry took part in the siege of Almeida , which broke through the British positions on September 29th after the Battle of Busaco . In the battle of Fuentes de Onoro (May 5, 1811) Montbrun led 2,400 horsemen to attack and smashed three British squares , breaking the entire right wing of the enemy army. On September 25, he led another attack at El Bodón. Thereafter, Montbrun and his cavalry were transferred to the army in Aragon in eastern Spain. On behalf of General Suchet he was supposed to try to take Alicante , but here he failed and had to withdraw. Many military historians later accused him of negligence in maintaining discipline, but they also did not believe at that point that the French troops isolated in Spain could last long in the impoverished country.

Death in the Russian campaign

General Montbrun returned to France in January 1812, and the next month he took command of the II Cavalry Corps in Murat's Cavalry Reserve . He served in the Russian campaign and fought and won east of Vilna near Swentziany and then later near the Daugava . Shortly after the beginning of the Battle of Borodino (September 7, 1812), Montbrun was hit directly in the stomach by an enemy musket ball. He should still say "Good shot!" called and then fell off the horse. A few hours later he was dead and General Caulaincourt took command, only to be killed within a few hours.

family

Montbrun married Marie Madeleine Morand on March 1, 1809 in Paris (May 11, 1789 in Besançon - March 22, 1870 in Paris ), daughter of Major General Joseph Morand (then governor of Corsica). The couple had two children:

• Antoine Louis Napoleon (June 25, 1810 - October 9, 1897)
• Louise Clarisse (January 28, 1813 - March 26, 1835)

literature

• David Chandler: Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars , Macmillan Publishing Co., New York 1979.
• Six, Georges Six: Dictionnaire Biographique des Généraux & Amiraux Français de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1792–1814), Gaston Saffroy, Paris 2003
• Charles Mullie: Biography of Military Celebrities of the Land and Sea Armies from 1789 to 1850 , Paris 1852.

Web links

• Charles Mullié: biography on fr.wikisource.org.
• Biography of Nathan D. Jensen (English)