Biographies : 101
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BiographyCésar-Charles-Etienne, comte GUDIN DE LA SABLONNIÈRE (1768-1812), division generalBorn in Montargis (French department of the Loiret) on 13 February 1768, died in Smolensk from wounds received in Valoutina on 22 August 1812. Was a noble and son of an officer in the Artois regiment; his uncle became General Étienne Gudin.
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BiographyCHERNICHEV, Aleksander
Alexander Chernichev was born into a prominent Russian noble family. He took part in the 1805 – 1807 campaigns distinguishing himself at Austerlitz and Friedland, before being dispatched on diplomatic missions to France in 1808. He combined a sense of superiority in his own abilities, flourishing in society, with the qualities of an excellent military […]
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BiographyCHICHAGOV, Pavel Vasilievich
Pavel Chichagov was the son of a prominent Russian admiral. He studied in the Navy Corps, before serving in the Life Guard Preobrazhensk Regiment as a sergeant in 1779. He participated in the campaign in the Mediterranean from 1782 – 1784 before becoming a naval lieutenant on 17 September 1783 and captain lieutenant on 25 […]
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BiographyCORNWALLIS, Charles
Born in London, 1738, Charles Mann, 2nd Marquis of Cornwallis, participated in the American War of Independence (1775-1783). Despite his victories at Camden (1780) and Guilford Courthouse (1781), his capitulation at Yorktown in the face of the Franco-American forces under Rochambeau and Washington on 19 October, 1781, led directly to American independence via the Treaty of […]
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BiographyCOUSIN DE MONTAUBAN, Charles Guillaume
Cousin-Moutauban was born on 24 June, 1796, the son of Jean-Antoine Cousin-Montauban and Appoline de Launay. In July 1814 he volunteered for and was admitted into the Gardes du corps de Monsieur (the King's brother's personal guard corps), and on 13 December, 1815, he made Second Lieutenant in the 3e régiment de cuirassiers. In 1820, […]
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BiographyDAVOUT, Louis Nicolas (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823)
Arguably the finest corps commander among Napoleon’s marshals, Davout was born in Burgundy to a minor noble family, and followed his father to the royal cavalry in 1788. Though a supporter of the French Revolution, he was dismissed from the regular army in 1791, but immediatelty elected colonel in command of a volunteer battalion. He […]
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BiographyDECAEN, Charles-Mathieu-Isidore
Fact file Born Caen, 13 April, 1769, died of cholera, La Barre (near Montmorency, Seine-et-Oise), 9 September, 1832 Cannonier de 2e classe in the Corps de Cannoniers, Brest, 27 July, 1787 Sergeant-major in the 4e Bataillon du Calvados, 14 September, 1792 Served in the Armée du Nord and then the Armée du Rhin, 1793, notably […]
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BiographyDU PIN, Charles Louis Désiré
Although a marginal figure, particularly amongst other officers of the period, Colonel Du Pin’s importance and reknown was to prove considerable, far exceeding that of many generals who refused to associate with him. Most famously, he was a key but controversial figure in the French intervention in Mexico. Born in Lasgraisses (Tarn) on 28 December, […]
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BiographyDU TAILLIS, Adrien-Jean-Baptiste-Amable Ramond du Bosc (1760-1851), general, Comte
Born into a noble family and a pupil from the engineers' school, Du Taillis joined the Volontaires Nassau-Siegen corps in 1779. On 1st September, 1789, he was capitaine-adjudant-major in the 3rd Battalion of the 6th division of the Garde nationale de Paris. On 3rd August, 1791, he was incorporated into the 14th light infantry battalion […]
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BiographyDUROC, Géraud-Christophe-Michel, général (1772-1813), GRAND MARÉCHAL DU PALAIS
Duroc (Géraud-Christophe-Michel, Duc de Frioul), General from 1772-1813. Duroc embarked on a military career as a cadet at the beginning of 1789. He was driven out of the army and then emigrated in 1792, however he soon returned to France and reassumed his military career. After having been promoted to Lieutenant of Artillery in 1793 […]