Biographies

Jean Rapp was born on 27 April, 1771, in Colmar (Haut-Rhin), into a bourgeois family. Although two of his uncles served in the royal army, Rapp’s parents, being Lutherans, wanted him to become a pastor. A difficult but incredible strong child, he was not cut out for a sedentary profession and in 1788 enrolled in […]

The future Maréchal was born in Paris on 30 July, 1794: his birth certificate indicates that he was the “son of Marie-Louise-Augustine Chenié, artist and of Michel-Louis-Etienne Desrichards, employee in the Armée du Nord”. In actual fact, his father was Michel-Louis-Etienne Regnaud (1760-1819): Desrichards was the name of the property that belonged to his father's […]

A promising start Honoré Reille was born on 1 September, 1775, into a bourgeois family, and began his military career at the age of fourteen by volunteering for the Garde Nationale d'Antibes in 1789. He became a grenadier in the 1er bataillon du Var on 1 October, 1791 and served under Dumouriez in 1792. His […]

Fact file Born Metz, 25 March, 1770, died Basse Terre (Guadeloupe) 3 September, 1802. Son of a pennant bearer of the Régiment des dragons de Boufflers Son of the regiment, officially joined the Régiment de Conti-Cavalerie, 22 August, 1774 Joined the Chasseurs d'Alsace (later the 1er chasseurs à cheval), 20 October, 1785 Maréchal des logis, […]

Born 21 July, 1754, in Zizenow in Pomerania, died in Haseley, Pomerania, 13 January 1823. Almost the model of an 18-century Prussian infantry general, renowned for his dislike of the French and a very lively spirit, Rüchel began his military career at the Berlin cadet school on 14 January 1767. His first rank was as Fahnenjunker […]