Charles Nicolas Oudinot
Charles-Nicolas Oudinot , Duke of Reggio, (born April 25, 1767 in Bar-le-Duc , † September 13, 1847 in Paris ) was a French military leader and marshal of the Empire .
Early career
Charles Nicolas Oudinot was born in 1767 into a merchant family. He should also devote himself to the trade, but felt more inclined towards military life. He joined the French army in 1783 at the age of 16 and became a member of the Médoc regiment . He left this again in 1787 at the request of his family. The outbreak of the French Revolution which followed soon after , for the principles of which he showed himself receptive, however gave him the possibility of new military activity. Through courage and prudence, he succeeded in suppressing an uprising in his hometown. He was then in 1791 commander of the 3rd battalion of volunteers from the Meuse department . With this he defended the Bitsch Castle against the unsuccessful attacking Prussians in 1792 and was appointed Colonel of the Picardy Regiment in September of this year , when its previous commander emigrated. The great bravery with which Oudinot asserted himself with his regiment at Morlautern on May 23, 1794 , completely separated from the rest of the army, for four hours against 10,000 men, mostly cavalry, had his promotion to brigadier general (Général de brigade) for Episode. On August 6, he seized the city of Trier , then joined the Rhine and Moselle Army and was wounded and captured near Neckerau on October 18, 1795, but was soon exchanged. Then he fought with Nördlingen , Donauwörth , Neuburg , Ulm and Ettenheim .
In March 1799 Oudinot took part in the Battle of Feldkirch , after which he was appointed General of the Division (Général de division). As such, he contributed a lot to the victory in the Battle of Zurich , but was shot in the chest there. Hardly recovered, he became chief of staff at André Masséna and participated with this in the defense of Genoa (April – June 1800). During this armed conflict he tried twice to get on a small boat through the English ships blocking the harbor to General Suchet , who was standing on the Var . He finally succeeded in doing this, although he seemed close to doom. Also in 1800 he came to Brune as Chief of Staff , who commanded the army of Italy after Napoleon's departure . In December 1800 he decided the battle of the Mincio with a brave coup d'état by taking away the dangerous battery of the Austrians near Monzambano with some soldiers. Thereupon he brought the news of the armistice concluded after the fall of Verona to Paris .
In the campaigns of 1805, 1806, 1807 and 1809
When Napoleon assembled the large army in 1804 , he formed a 10,000 man strong avant-garde from grenadiers and handed over their command at the same time as the large band of the Legion of Honor to General Oudinot. At the head of this select corps, Oudinot opened the campaign of 1805. He reached Vienna from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Vienna within 45 days , taking part in the battle of Wertingen against an Austrian army on October 8 and on the 5 November fought at Amstetten , where he was wounded. When Oudinot had reached Vienna, Napoleon, who had meanwhile become emperor, ordered him to cross the Danube . He threw the Austrians who had occupied the Tabor Bridge, tore the burning fuse out of the hand of the Austrian artilleryman who wanted to blow up the bridge and then seized the tips of an artillery park of 180 guns and 300 carts. In the battle of Hollabrunn and Schöngrabern (November 16, 1805) Oudinot was wounded again. But already on December 2, 1805 he participated again in the battle of Austerlitz, which ended in a complete French victory .
In February 1806 Oudinot was sent to Neuchâtel to take possession of this county, ceded by the Prussians, as well as of the Valangin on behalf of France. Here he treated the residents so gently that they gave him a sword of honor and honorary citizenship upon his departure. In the 1806 campaign against Prussia, he and his grenadiers formed the reserve and entered Berlin . On February 16, 1807 he defeated a Russian corps under Ivan Nikolajewitsch Essen at Ostrolenka and was then sent to reinforce Marshal François-Joseph Lefebvre , who was besieging Danzig . On June 14th at the Battle of Friedland he kept the Russo-Prussian army under Bennigsen in check until Napoleon came with the main force to complete the victory. After the Peace of Tilsit , Oudinot was appointed count by Napoleon in July 1807 with a grant of 1 million francs in goods. In September 1808 he was appointed governor of Erfurt during the Erfurt Prince Congress .
In 1809, Oudinot opened the campaign against Austria at the head of his grenadier corps, which had now been reinforced to 18 battalions , won on April 19 at Pfaffenhofen , on May 1 at Ried, on May 3 at Ebersberg and on May 13 in Vienna. On May 22, he took command of the II Corps on the Danube in place of the fatally wounded Marshal Lannes in the Battle of Aspern . In the following battle near Wagram , he proved himself on July 5th by moving from Raasdorf to Parbasdorf and was seriously wounded the following day. Oudinot was made Marshal of the Empire by the Emperor on July 12th for his services, and on April 14th, 1810, he was awarded the title of Duke of Reggio and an associated substantial endowment.
In the Russian campaign
When Holland was united with France in 1810, Oudinot was commissioned to occupy this country. He stayed there as commander-in-chief for almost two years, earning the respect of the residents in the process. For example, the magistrate of Amsterdam invited him to lay the foundation stone for a barracks on Charlemagne's day , which would receive his name, and on his departure he was given a richly decorated sword.
In 1812 Oudinot took part in the campaign in Russia as commander of the II Corps of the Grande Armée . The corps he led, which he had organized in Westphalia, consisted of 51 battalions and 20 squadrons. He marched with his corps first to Berlin, where he stayed as governor for two months. After a battle near Klyastitsy , Oudinot's troops evaded to Polotsk in early August . In the early morning of August 17, 1812, the Russian I. Corps under General Wittgenstein attacked the French positions in the Battle of Polotsk and forced the French to retreat. With reinforcements, Oudinot managed to repel the attack. Oudinot had been badly wounded in the shoulder by a cannonball, had to hand over command to General Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr and had himself taken to Vilnius . But since Gouvion Saint-Cyr suffered the same fate and Oudinot learned at the same time of the failures of the Grande Armée and the evacuation of Moscow , he went back to his corps, which only numbered 5,000 men, regardless of his health.
At the end of November 1812, Oudinot advanced from the west to Borissow , located on the Beresina , in order to cover Napoleon's main power against Russian attacks, which was retreating across the river. Although he defeated the division commanded by the Russian general Charles de Lambert four hours away from Borisov, he was unable to prevent the destruction of the Beresina Bridge. He then claimed a shallow part of the river at Studjanka, where two light bridges were built on November 26th in Napoleon's presence. While Oudinot, who crossed over first with his light troops, was holding off the Russian attacks on the other bank, at least part of Napoleon's greatly shrunken army was able to save itself and begin the further retreat. On November 28, Oudinot was injured again on the Berezina and rushed to the village of Pletschenizony, four hours back. No sooner had his wound been bandaged than numerous Cossacks surrounded and invaded the village. His adjutants, servants, some wounded officers and soldiers, a total of about 30 people who were with him, barricade the house and defend themselves with a few pistols and shotguns until they were freed by incoming troops. Oudinot was able to get back to France and needed a longer period of recovery here.
In the wars of liberation
In the campaign of 1813 Oudinot led the XII. Corps. He passed the Elbe on May 11th near Dresden and fought on May 21st in the Battle of Bautzen against Blücher on the extreme right wing. After the battle he stayed in the Bautzen area for four days. Then he went to the Mark Brandenburg , where on May 26th and 27th he had insignificant skirmishes with the Prussian troops of General von Bülow . More important was the battle near Luckau on June 4th , in which he suffered a defeat against Bülow. After the armistice of Pläswitz , Oudinot moved into cantons near Wittenberg . When the hostilities reopened, he was given command of the IV, VII and XII. Corps, which together were about 65,000 men strong. With this military power, he was to lead the Northern Allied Army and take Berlin. In the Battle of Großbeeren he lost again to Bülow on August 23 and had to hand over command to Marshal Ney , with whom he then suffered the defeat at Dennewitz (September 6). In the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig (October 16), Oudinot fought with the Young Guard Division on the southern front near Wachau against Prince von Schwarzenberg and then commanded the rearguard . As a result of his many wounds, he fell seriously ill and was brought to Bar-le-Duc.
Regardless of this, Oudinot took over command of the young guard again in early 1814 and was involved in the battle of Brienne with the Rottembourg infantry division at the end of January . Oudinot attacked the allies at La Rothière in early February , but was turned away and took up a new defensive position between Guignes and Mormant. On February 10th the division was at Champaubert and on February 13th it fought with the Bavarians under Wrede at Cutrelles and evaded to Provins . On February 19, 1814 Oudinot went back with the VII Corps at Bray on the southern bank of the Seine and was subordinated to MacDonald . On February 27, Oudinot defended at Bar-sur-Aube , but was surrounded by Wittgenstein and Wrede and had to retreat to Troyes , which had to be evacuated on March 4. On March 22nd, Oudinot occupied the north bank of the Aube opposite Arcis-sur-Aube . Oudinot then advanced on the road to Saint-Dizier to retake the place; on March 27th he took back Bar-le-Duc, but Napoleon was ready to abdicate.
Among the Bourbons
After Napoleon I abdicated , Oudinot joined Louis XVIII. who entrusted him with the military government of the fortress of Metz . When Napoleon returned from Elba and took over the rule of the Hundred Days , Oudinot tried in vain to keep his troops for the king's cause and therefore withdrew to Montmorency to his estates. After the restoration of the Bourbons , Oudinot was appointed commander of the Paris National Guard and given the dignity of a pair and minister of state. He also received the title of major-général in the royal guard . On August 14, 1817 King Friedrich Wilhelm III awarded him . of Prussia the Order of the Black Eagle .
In the campaign in Spain in 1823, Oudinot led the 1st Corps and was severely criticized by the Liberal Party. He entered Madrid with this corps and was appointed governor. He later returned to Paris. After the July Revolution of 1830 he retired into private life, but joined the July dynasty . 1839 appointed him Louis-Philippe I for Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor and in 1842 the governor of the Hôtel des Invalides .
Charles Nicolas Oudinot died on September 13, 1847 at the age of 80 in Paris. His hometown erected a statue for him. His son Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot (1791–1863) was also a general.
Others
Oudinot was described as a simple, brave and fun-loving officer, he is said to have been wounded no fewer than 34 times during his active service. It was said of him: He was the typical front general of extremely mediocrity, but well-behaved and loyal, and actually only noteworthy because of his multiple wounds.
Awards
- 1803: Knight of the Legion of Honor
- 1804: Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor
- 1805: Grand aigle of the Legion of Honor (Grand Chancellor 1839–1842)
- 1807: Grand Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order
- 1817 Order of the Black Eagle
His name is entered on the triumphal arch in Paris in the 13th column.
literature
- Désiré Lacroix: The marshals of Napoleon I. Transferred by Oskar Marschall von Bieberstein; Published by Heinrich Schmidt & Carl Günther, 1898
- Carl Bleibtreu: Marshals, generals, soldiers of Napoleon I. 2nd edition, Alfred Schall publishing house, Berlin, before 1911
- Jürgen Sternberger: The marshals of Napoleon . Pro Business, Berlin 2008. ISBN 978-3-86805-172-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ David G. Chandler: The Campaigns of Napoleon , New York 1973, p. 847
- ↑ Louis Schneider: The book of the black eagle. Duncker, Berlin 1870, p. 207 (31).
- ^ Hillbrand: The battles near Feldkirch 1799, Oudinot biography on page 42, Öst. Bundesverlag Vienna 1984 series of military historical publications, issue 52
- ↑ Rudolf von Kramer and Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: VIRTUTI PRO PATRIA - The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, War Acts and Book of Honor 1914-1918 , self-published by the Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, Munich 1966, p. 443
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Oudinot, Charles Nicolas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Oudinot, Charles-Nicolas duc de Reggio |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French military leader and Marshal of France |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 25, 1767 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bar-le-Duc |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 13, 1847 |
| Place of death | Paris |