André Poncet (30 July 1755 – 23 July 1838) commanded a French infantry division during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. He joined the

French Royal Army The French Royal Army (french: Armée Royale Française) was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon Dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude ...

in a famous regiment and fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Becoming a

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

in early 1794, he fought at Fleurus, Maastricht and other actions. He led a division in the Rhine Campaign of 1795 at Höchst and in the Rhine Campaign of 1796 at Limburg. Afterward, he held interior posts until his retirement from the military in 1811. He became mayor of his home town of

Pesmes Pesmes () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following is a list of the 539 communes in the French department of Haute-S ...

. When it was occupied by the Austrians in 1814, he was arrested and confined in the Palanok Castle in distant

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

for five months. He became a farmer and died in 1838 after returning to France. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 6.

References

* * * * French generals French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People from Haute-Saône 1755 births 1838 deaths Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe {{mil-hist-stub