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List Of French General Officers (Peninsular War)
The following list of French general officers (Peninsular War) lists the ''générals'' (''général de brigade'' and ''général de division'') and '' maréchals d'Empire'', that is, the French general officers who served in the First French Empire's ''Grande Armée'' in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War (1808–1814). The rank given refers to that held until 1814. The list includes foreign nationals who fought in French military units. Overview Napoleon had intended the campaign on the Peninsula to be a walkover, but what he would come to call the Spanish Ulcer, ended up with him having had to send in thirteen of his ''maréchals'' (ten of whom were of the first promotion – of fourteen – and included Soult, one of only six men to have been appointed Marshal General of France in the history of France), as well as two "honorary" marshals, Kellermann and Lefebvre, and enter Madrid himself. Apart from the original 28,000 troops that had entered Spain under Junot, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Général
is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level officers in the other uniformed services. General officers Army History The French army of the monarchy had several ranks of general officer: * ("brigadier of the armies of the King"): a rank in a grey area of seniority, conferred on certain colonels who were in command of a brigade (''cf.'' the grey area of the naval "commodore" rank given to certain captains, the equivalent of army full colonels, who had been in command of a group of ships and over the captains of the group's other ships). These officers wore a colonel's uniform with a star on the shoulder straps. This rank was abolished in 1788. * ("field marshal"(major general)): the first substantive rank of general. The wore a special uniform, blue and red, with a single bar of gold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Tarragona (1811)
In the siege of Tarragona, Catalonia, from 5 May to 29 June 1811, Louis Gabriel Suchet's French Army of Aragon laid siege to a Spanish garrison led by Lieutenant General Juan Senen de Contreras. A British naval squadron commanded by Admiral Edward Codrington harassed the French besiegers with cannon fire and transported large numbers of reinforcements into the city by sea. Nevertheless, Suchet's troops stormed into the defenses and killed or captured almost all the defenders. The action took place at the port of Tarragona, Catalonia, on the east coast of Spain during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Background The French conquest of Aragon had started with the Siege of Tortosa. Siege Emperor Napoleon offered Suchet a marshal's baton if he could capture Tarragona, so the French general pursued his goal vigorously. He methodically overran the city's outer works as he drove his siege parallels forward. The French general easily fended off weak attempts to rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Field Officer
A senior officer is an officer of a more senior grade in military or other uniformed services. In military organisations, the term may refer to any officer above junior officer rank, but usually specifically refers to the middle-ranking group of commissioned officers above junior officer ranks but below flag officer, flag, general officer, general or air officer, air rank. In most countries, this includes the military rank, ranks of lieutenant commander/major/squadron leader, commander/lieutenant colonel/wing commander and captain (naval), naval captain/colonel/group captain, or their equivalents. In some countries, it also includes brigadiers and Commodore (rank), commodores. Sometimes, particularly in the army, this grade is referred to as field-grade officers, field officers or officers of field rank. Historically, a regiment or battalion's field officers made up its command element. Canada In the Canadian Armed Forces, the term "senior officer" (french: officier supérieur) i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wounded In Action
Wounded in Action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight. Generally, the Wounded in Action are far more numerous than those killed. Common combat injuries include second and third degree burns, broken bones, shrapnel wounds, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, nerve damage, paralysis, loss of sight and hearing, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and limb loss. For the U.S. military, becoming WIA in combat generally results in subsequent conferral of the Purple Heart, because the purpose of the medal itself (one of the highest awards, military or civilian, officially given by the American government) is to recognize those killed, incapacitated, or wounded in battle. NATO's definitions Wounded in action A battle casualty other than '' killed in action'' who has incurred an injur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Arroyo Dos Molinos
The Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos took place on 28 October 1811 during the Peninsular War. An allied force under General Rowland Hill trapped and defeated a French force under General Jean-Baptiste Girard, forcing the latter's dismissal by the Emperor Napoleon. A whole French infantry division and a brigade of cavalry were destroyed as viable fighting formations. Background In the middle of October, 1811 a French division under the command of Jean-Baptiste Girard crossed the River Guadiana at Mérida and campaigned in Northern Extremadura. Major-General Rowland Hill consulted with Lieutenant-General Wellington and received permission to use his 2nd Division to pursue Girard. Upon learning that the French had halted at the village of Arroyo dos Molinos, near Alcuéscar, Hill force-marched his troops for three days in poor weather so as to catch the French before they moved on. By the evening of the 27 October, Hill's forces had reached a point four miles from the French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosper Louis, 7th Duke Of Arenberg
Prosper Louis, 7th Duke of Arenberg (28 April 1785, Enghien – 27 February 1861) was the Duke of Arenberg, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the 13th Duke of Aarschot, 2nd Duke of Meppen and 2nd prince of Recklinghausen.StaffThe dukes of Arenberg. Accessed 7 July 2008StaffDucal and princely families of Belgium: House of Arenberg Accessed 7 July 2008 In 1801, , Prosper's father, lost the former Duchy of Arenberg on the left bank of the Rhine but receive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portuguese Legion (Napoleonic Wars)
The Portuguese Legion ( French: ''Légion portugaise''; Portuguese: ''Legião Portuguesa'') was a 9,000 men strong Portuguese military unit integrated in the army of the First French Empire, formed after the French occupation of Portugal in 1807. The Legion was created by order of Napoleon from 12 November 1807. Organization began in February 1808, with the best units of the disbanded Portuguese Army, including the elite Legion of Light Troops. It set out for Salamanca in April 1808, crossing Spain until arriving in France. During the crossing of Spain, many of its soldiers defected, returning to Portugal and joining the Portuguese resistance against the French occupation. The Portuguese Legion took part in the French campaigns in Germany, Austria and Russia, suffering heavy casualties. It fought at the battles of Wagram, Smolensk, Borodino (Moscow) and Berezina. The Legion was disbanded on 5 May 1814, with only about 1,000 of its original 9,000 soldiers surviving and returnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedro De Almeida Portugal, 3rd Marquis Of Alorna
D. Pedro de Almeida Portugal, 3rd Marquis of Alorna (16 January 1754 – 2 January 1813) was a Portuguese general who served in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Military career In November 1793, Almeida was an adjutant general. He commanded Portuguese forces in Spain, fighting against the French. In 1798, he became the commander of a unit of light troops known as the Alorna Legion. Almeida was promoted to major general in 1799. He began conspiring with the French, and helped force the Portuguese court to flee to Brazil in 1807. He was promoted to lieutenant general in October of that year, and charged with the defense of Elvas. However, under the orders of the prince regent, he was forced to surrender Elvas to the Spanish on 2 December 1807. Almeida was governor of the Alentejo province until 22 December 1807, when Jean-Andoche Junot, the invading French general, made him inspector general and commander of all Portuguese forces stationed in the provinces of Beir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Bayonne
The Battle of Bayonne (14 April 1814) saw the French garrison of Bayonne led by General of Division Pierre Thouvenot launch a sortie against a besieging force of British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops commanded by Lieutenant General John Hope. The fighting marked the last major battle of the Peninsular War and occurred after unofficial news of Napoleon's 4 April abdication reached the opposing forces. Thouvenot's reasons for initiating the sortie are not clear because there was apparently nothing for the French to gain by fighting. After the French enjoyed initial success, Allied forces drove them back inside Bayonne with heavy losses on both sides. The Allies initiated the Siege of Bayonne by mounting a complex land-sea operation that bridged the Adour estuary downstream from Bayonne. Allied positions already faced the south side of Bayonne, so crossing the Adour allowed Hope's troops to also close off the north side of Bayonne, completely investing the city. Once Bayonne wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Nive
The Battles of the Nive (9–13 December 1813) were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army on French soil in a series of battles near the city of Bayonne. Unusually, for most of the battle, Wellington remained with the Reserve delegating command to his senior Lieutenant-Generals Rowland Hill and John Hope. Background Wellington's army had successfully pushed the French army out of Spain, over the Pyrenees, and into south-west France. After his defeat at Nivelle, Marshal Soult fell back to a defensive line south of the town of Bayonne along the Adour and Nive rivers. The rivers and the Bay of Biscay near Bayonne form a rough Greek letter Pi (π). The left vertical leg is the coast, the right vertical leg is the Nive and the crossbar is the Adour. Bayonne is located where the Nive joins the Adour. Initially, Wellington's army was confined to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Nivelle
The Battle of Nivelle (10 November 1813) took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops (20,000 of the Spaniards were untried in battle) were in hot pursuit of Marshal Soult who had 60,000 men to place in a 20-mile perimeter. After the Light Division, the main British army was ordered to attack and the 3rd Division split Soult's army in two. By two o'clock, Soult was in retreat and the British in a strong offensive position. Soult had lost another battle on French soil and had lost 4,500 men to Wellington's 5,500. Background In the Siege of San Sebastian, the Anglo-Portuguese stormed and captured the port at the beginning of September 1813. In the Battle of San Marcial on 31 August, Soult failed to break through the Spanish defences in his final attempt to relieve the siege. The French army then fell back to defend the Bidassoa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Bidassoa (1813)
In the Battle of the Bidasoa (or the Battle of Larrun) on 7 October 1813 the Allied army of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington wrested a foothold on French soil from Nicolas Soult's French army. The Allied troops overran the French lines behind the Bidassoa River on the coast and along the Pyrenees crest between the Bidasoa and La Rhune (Larrun). The nearest towns to the fighting are Irun on the lower Bidassoa and Bera on the middle Bidasoa. The battle occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. Wellington aimed his main assault at the lower Bidasoa, while sending additional troops to attack Soult's centre. Believing his coastal sector secure, Soult held the right flank with a relatively weak force while concentrating most of his strength on his left flank in the mountains. However, the British general obtained local intelligence that indicated that water levels on the lower river were much lower than the French suspected. After careful plann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
