Louis Marie Joseph Maximilien Caffarelli du Falga

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Louis Marie Joseph Maximilien Caffarelli du Falga

Louis Marie Joseph Maximilien Caffarelli du Falga (born February 13, 1756 in the castle of Falga ( Haute-Garonne ), † April 27, 1799 near Akkon ) was a French général de brigade .

Life

Louis Marie Joseph Maximilien Caffarelli du Falga descended from a noble family originally from Italy and was the oldest of nine children. Among his brothers were Marie François Auguste Caffarelli du Falga (* 1766; † 1849), who also advanced to general, and Louis Marie Joseph Caffarelli (* 1760; † 1845), who became the first Prefect of Brest .

Caffarelli was destined for a military career early on. After attending the royal military school in Sorèze , he switched to a school of the royal genius corps at Mezières . He showed great talent for mathematics, acquired a sound knowledge of ancient and modern history and also devoted himself to the study of philosophy, politics and jurisprudence. After completing his training in Mezières, he got a job with the engineering troops and came to various garrisons. During his stay in Calais and Dunkerque , he acquired a knowledge of the English language, learned to appreciate the works of the Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith and translated his novel The Vicar of Wakefield into French.

When his father died, Caffarelli would have got half of his father's property according to the national laws of Languedoc , but waived this right and shared the inheritance equally with his siblings. He then became a moderate supporter of the French Revolution , which initially accelerated his rise. In April 1791 he was promoted to the rank of Catpitaine and the next year he was an artillery officer in the Army of the Rhine . He was the only senior officer who loudly opposed the removal of the French King Louis XVI on August 10, 1792 . dared to protest, which is why he was released from the army and arrested on the way back to Falga. There he had to serve 14 months in dungeon as a supposed royalist.

After his release, Caffarelli initially worked for the military committee in Paris and, on the recommendation of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès , was able to rejoin the army in April 1795 as chief de bataillon of the Sambre and Maas armies. When he crossed the Rhine not far from Düsseldorf in September 1795 , he was on the left wing of General Jean-Baptiste Kléber's army and contributed significantly to the success of this important operation. He also distinguished himself in the following undertakings, and as a result found the applause and friendship of Jourdan , Bernadotte and Marceau . When the French troops then withdrew to the Nahe , an Austrian army violently harassed the rear lines. Caffarelli therefore took up an infantry battalion on a conveniently located hill on December 16, 1795 and tried to stop the Austrian pursuers from there and thus secure the retreat of his soldiers. Standing at General Marceau's side, however, on December 17th a cannonball smashed his left leg. Grenadiers carried him on a stretcher formed by muskets for eight hours from the battlefield without his wound being bandaged. A medical examination revealed the need for amputation of the injured limb, which was performed in the presence of Jourdan and Bernadotte.

Soon after, Caffarelli returned to Paris for his recovery. From early youth and even during the war, the witty man had been constantly occupied with studies relating in particular to mathematical, political, and philosophical subjects. The essays he published gave him a seat in the National Institute soon after his temporary retirement from active military service . He stimulated u. a. to improve public education.

Caffarelli had received a prosthetic peg leg, became a confidante of Napoleon and took part in his Egyptian expedition . He helped with the preparations for this undertaking and was appointed chief of genius in May 1798 with the rank of général de brigade. In June 1798 participated in the subjugation of Malta and subsequently devoted himself to the research carried out on this expedition in addition to military tasks. He accompanied Dominique-Vivant Denon on his visits to Thebes and other famous ruins. He was also a member of the Commission des sciences et des arts founded by Napoleon . He marched with the army through the desert to Cairo , took part in the Battle of the Pyramids on July 21, 1798 and entered Cairo four days later with the other French soldiers. He improved the defenses of this city as well as the connection of Alexandria to the Nile and contributed significantly to the establishment of the Institut d'Égypte .

In February 1799 Caffarelli took part in the march to Palestine and the attacks that followed on al-Arish , Gaza , Jaffa and other fortified places, from where the Ottomans tried to prevent the further advance of the French to Acre . Nevertheless, on March 18, the Napoleonic troops managed to advance to the latter city. This should be besieged immediately ; Caffarelli and Dammartin undertook the necessary site inspection on March 19. When Caffarelli was inspecting the trenches on April 9, he was hit by a bullet in the right arm. This had to be amputated. Napoleon was now close friends with him, took a great interest in his fate and visited him twice a day. On April 27, 1799, Caffarelli died as a result of the operation. Shortly before his death, he had asked Napoleon to take care of his four brothers, which the French ruler then followed. His demise was regretted by the whole army, which had valued him as a kind and talented man. A tomb was erected for him not far from Acre.

Honors

Bust in the Battle Gallery of Versailles Palace

literature

personal data
SURNAME Caffarelli du Falga, Louis Marie Joseph Maximilien
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French brigadier general
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1756
PLACE OF BIRTH Falga , Haute-Garonne department
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1799
Place of death near Acre