Charles Abel Douay (2 March 1809 – 4 August 1870) was a general in the French army during the reign of the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
. He commanded troops in numerous French campaigns in Europe and overseas. He was killed in battle at the age of sixty-one, near
Wissembourg
Wissembourg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Weisseburch'' ; German: ''Weißenburg'' ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
It is situated on the li ...
during the
Franco-Prussian War.
Early life and career
Charles Abel Douay was born in the city of
Draguignan
Draguignan (; oc, Draguinhan) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Ar ...
on 2 March 1809.
[EB (vol.7, ed.9), p. 583.] He became a well-known and well-respected military officer, described roundly as an "able" and "intrepid"
[Williams, p. 150.] soldier. He served in
Algeria
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, relig ...
, in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
and in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
in 1859.
[
He was the elder brother of General ]Félix Charles Douay
Felix may refer to:
* Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name
Places
* Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen
* Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, S ...
(1816–1879), who was also a distinguished career officer.[Zola, p. 62.] (Because of their similar names and overlapping careers, the elder Douay is most frequently referred to as "Abel Douay".) At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, Abel Douay had already settled into his position as president of the military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
at Saint-Cyr.[Wawro, p. 96–97.]
Death
Recalled to active duty at the outbreak of war in 1870, the academy president was given command of a division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
under Marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
Patrice de Mac-Mahon
Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta (; 13 June 1808 – 17 October 1893) was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1 ...
at the frontline,[ and on the first day of the first battle of the war, Abel Douay was killed in combat, hit by an ]artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
explosion.[Horne, p. 271.] The subsequent Battle of Wissembourg (4 August 1870) proved a disaster for the French. Demoralized by the loss of their commander,[ Douay's outnumbered division fell back. By the end of the month, a crushing loss at the ]Battle of Sedan
The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...
eliminated Mac-Mahon's entire army and, with it, the Second French Empire
The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Empire, Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the French Second Republic, Second and the French Third Republic ...
.
Battle of Wissembourg
On 3 August 1870, the 61-year-old Abel Douay led the forward division of Mac-Mahon's army group, a force of approximately 8,600,[Howard, p.100.] into the frontier town of Wissembourg in Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, the border region between the two combatant nations.[Howard, p. 100–101.] Faulty intelligence had characterized the Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
ns' border positions as weak and unready,[ and Abel Douay's superiors felt confident that he could repulse any enemy probes while making use of the town's badly needed food and resources.][ Though the logistical benefit of the seizure of Wissembourg's stores was keenly appreciated at first, the tactical and strategic drawbacks quickly became known: the town, a flat lowland place with antiquated seventeenth-century fortifications,][ faced thickly wooded countryside which would help cover the advance of the attackers.][Ollier, p. 25.] At 8:30am the next day, batteries of undetected Prussian artillery began pummelling the French position, and though Abel Douay attempted a rapid defensive posture,[ the advantage of surprise had been devastatingly complete. The massive scale of the attack quickly became apparent – total Prussian forces are estimated between 50,000][Howard, p. 102.] to 80,000.[ By mid-morning Abel Douay was already organizing for a withdrawal when he was killed by a burst of artillery.][ Some writers have mistakenly reported that he was hit by gunfire,] but most historians concur that he died from a shell which exploded in the nearby ammunition magazine of one of the French grapeshot cannon. The withdrawal turned into a rout, with over a thousand French soldiers dead and a thousand more taken prisoner.[
]
Aftermath
The death of Abel Douay was a deeply demoralizing blow to the French army and gave a profound shock to the nation at large.[ Few, however, were as shocked as Napoleon III, who immediately issued a flurry of new orders reconstituting the army's command structure and strategic guidelines.
General Félix Douay was stationed along the same front as his older brother and fought at Sedan until the final surrender. He too served as a field commander, leader of the French 7th Corps.
Twenty years after the battle, an apocryphal story was published in Germany proffering a different end for Abel Douay: a German "eyewitness" claimed that the general had been shot by one of his own men, allegedly for ordering the French retreat.] This story perhaps derived from the reported words of Frederick III who, advancing through the battlefield, had come upon Abel Douay's corpse and made the bald observation that the general had died beyond the range of German rifle fire. A solemn portrayal of this scene was later created by the Prussian history painter
History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
Anton von Werner.
General Abel Douay is buried in a stately tomb just outside Wissembourg together with many of his fallen soldiers. A large monument to the battle was erected near his tomb at the end of the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.[Hallays, pp. 300–301.]
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
* ''Service historique de la défense
In France, the Defence Historical Service (''Service historique de la défense'' or ''SHD'') is the archives centre of Ministry of Defence and its armed forces. It was set up by decree in 2005.
The SHD consists of the "Centre historique des ar ...
'' – File of General Charles Abel Douay (7 Yd 1428)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douay, Abel
1809 births
1870 deaths
French generals
French military personnel of the Crimean War
French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur