Biographies : 187
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BiographyBAZAINE, Achille
Achille Bazaine came from a family established in Scy, near Metz. His grandfather was a wine maker who as a result of the Revolution “went up to Paris” to become a Contrôleur-Jaugeur; he also wrote a book on the new metric system that was proving difficult to apply in France. The Larousse dictionary describes the […]
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BiographyBEAUHARNAIS, Eugène de
The infancy of Eugène de Beauharnais and Hortense was much more marked by the death of their father, Alexandre, than by the poor state of relations between their parents. That death brought the siblings not only closer together but also closer to their mother – indeed in his last letter Alexandre had entrusted his children […]
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BiographyBEAUHARNAIS, Hortense de
Hortense’s premature birth, on 10 April, 1783, was the pretext for the separation of her parents, Alexandre and Rose de Beauharnais. Alexandre even initially denied that he was Hortense’s father (though he later recognised her as his), and Hortense was taken by her mother to the Antilles in 1788-1790. Whilst such an experience certainly left […]
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BiographyBEAUHARNAIS, Stéphanie de
Daughter of Claude III de Beauharnais (1756-1819) and his first wife Gabrielle de Lezay-Marnézia – Claude III and Alexandre de Beauharnais (father of Eugène and Hortense) were first cousins, therefore Stéphanie and Eugène and Hortense were second cousins. On the death of her mother, Stéphanie was brought up by the Englishwoman, Lady Bath. She was […]
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BiographyBELLEGARDE, Heinrich von
Heinrich von Bellegarde was born on 29 August, 1756, the son of Saxony’s War Minister. He entered into Austria’s service in 1778 and served with distinction during the campaigns between 1793 and 1795. In 1796, following these campaigns, he was made Feldmarschallleutnant and chief of military staff to Archduke Charles. The following year, he negotiated […]
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BiographyBENEDEK, Ludwig August Ritter von (1804 – 1881), Austrian generalLudwig August Ritter von Benedek (b. 14 July 1804 – d. 27 April 1881), also known as Lajos Benedek, was an Austrian general (Feldzeugmeister) of Hungarian descent, infamous for being the commander of the imperial army in 1866 in the Battle of Königgrätz against the Prussian Army.
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BiographyBENNIGSEN, Levin, Count
A German officer who entered the Russian service in 1773, he attracted the attention of Catherine the Great and he forged himself a reputation during the Polish campaign. He was commander of the Russian forces in 1806 and 1807. Despite a good strategic sense and generally combative attitude, he was beaten at Eylau (8 February, […]
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BiographyBERG, Burhardt Maximovic (Bernhardt Magnus)
BERG, Burhardt Maximovic (Bernhardt Magnus), (b. 19 May, 1764, Derpt – d. 31 July 1838, Vyborg) was born to a German noble family in the Derpt in the Lifland gubernia. At the age of ten, he was enlisted by his family as a sergeant in the Voronezh Infantry Regiment on 20 January 1774. The following […]
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BiographyBERNADOTTE, Jean-Baptiste-Jules
The son of a lawyer from Pau, Bernadotte was an NCO in the pre-revolutionary French Army and commissioned in late 1791. He fought the First Coalition on the Rhine and in the Flanders, leading a brigade at Fleurus and becoming a divisonal general in October 1794, before taking part in the Italian campaigns of 1796-97. […]
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BiographyBERTHIER, Louis-Alexandre"Si j'avais eu Berthier, je n'aurais pas eu ce malheur"; Napoleon on Saint Helena speaking to Las Cases about the defeat at Waterloo.