Biographies : 101
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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.
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BiographyBESSIERES, Jean-Baptiste, Duc d’Istrie, Marshal
“If Bessières is a marshal, then everyone can be one.” Such were Marmont‘s words. Napoleon was perhaps fairer to him when, on St Helena he wrote “Bessières had a cold sort of bravery, and was calm admist the fighting. He had very good eyes, and was very experienced at cavalry manouvres, best suited to commanding […]
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BiographyBlücher von Wahlstadt (Wahlstatt), Generalfeldmarschall Gebhard Leb(e)recht Fürst (1742-1819)
Generalfeldmarschall Gebhard Leb(e)recht Fürst Blücher von Wahlstadt (Wahlstatt) (1742-1819) The most successful and famous Prussian Army field commander of the period, Blücher was perhaps the most single-mindedly aggressive general employed by any belligerent. An uncomplicated, energic and outspoken leader, oblivious to personal danger, he has a place in German popular culture comparable with that of […]
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BiographyBOUDET, Jean
Jean Boudet was born in 1769 and was a dragoon in the Ancien Régime Penthièvre regiment by 1785. However, in 1788, he was relieved from duty following a desertion plot that he did not reveal. He returned to the army in 1792 and became lieutenant in the 7e bataillon des volontaires de la Gironde. He […]
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BiographyBRUNE, Guillaume-Marie-Anne‘Il s'est perdu dans mon esprit à cause de sa conduite avec le roi de Suède dans les affaires de Stralsund. Un maréchal de France valait un roi de Suède! Je rends justice au maréchal Brune, il a bien fait en hollande; la bataille Alkemaar…
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BiographyBRUNSWICK-LÜNEBURG, Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of
Born in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, Karl Wilhelm was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1780 until his death and ruled over the Wolfenbüttel subdivision of the duchy. Until Valmy and Jena, Karl was considered a master of the warfare of the period. He was also a cultured and benevolent despot in the model of Frederick the Great. He […]
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BiographyBülow von Dennewitz, General der Infanterie Friedrich Wilhelm Graf (1755-1816)General der Infanterie Friedrich Wilhelm Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (1755-1816)
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BiographyBUXHÖWDEN, Frederick Wilhelm
Frederick Wilhelm Count von Buxhöwden was an Estonian German. He was born in Magnusdal on the island Mohn bei Ösel, Estonia, 14 September, 1750, and he died in his chateau, Lohde, in Estonia on 23 August, 1811. He undertook his military training in St Petersburg and became an officer in 1769 during the Turkish war. […]
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BiographyCANROBERT, François Certain
François Certain Canrobert was born in the Lot département of France on 27 June, 1809, into a wealthy bourgeois family. Both his father and his grandfather were lawyers, and the name Certain had been added to the family name by Canrobert's father at the end of the Ancien Régime period. Antoine Certain de Canrobert, François' […]