Antoine-François Brenier de Montmorand (12 November 1767 at

Saint-Marcellin, Isère Saint-Marcellin () is a commune in the Isère department, in southeastern France, 51 km from Grenoble. The town is served by a railway station, on the line from Valence to Grenoble. Population Twin towns Saint-Marcellin is twinned wit ...

– 8 October 1832) served as a French

general of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army co ...

during the period of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

and became an officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Early career

Brenier enlisted in 1786 and gained rapid promotion during the period of 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 France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

, becoming an aide-de-camp in 1792 and in 1793 a

Chef de brigade Chef de brigade was a military rank in the French Royal Artillery and in the revolutionary French armies. Before the revolution ''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to major in the French Royal Corps of Artillery. Each regiment of artillery was divi ...

(colonel) in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees (''Armée des Pyrénées orientales''). He served with distinction in various campaigns of the Revolutionary Wars, in Italy and in Holland. In 1799 he became

Général de brigade Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

. From 1801 to 1807 he served in administrative posts.

Peninsular War

At the start of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, Brenier was assigned to Jean Andoche Junot's army for the 1807 Invasion of Portugal. During the

Battle of Vimeiro In the Battle of Vimeiro (sometimes shown as "Vimiera" or "Vimeira" in contemporary British texts) on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-Gene ...

on 20 August 1808, Brenier's brigade made the opening attack against the British held ridge, but it was driven back. Later General Jean-Andoche Junot ordered Brenier to take his Brigade on a flanking manoeuvre, he chose to take a even longer route to avoid narrow paths, this made his men arrive late, after Jean-Baptiste Solignac's Brigade had been defeated. Brenier ordered his dragoons forward but they were driven off and the rallying British including the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot drive his brigade off with accurate volley fire, which wounded Brenier and led to him being captured by the 71st Regiment. Wounded and captured by the British, he returned to France from captivity in 1809. In 1810 he again went to Portugal, serving under Marshal

André Masséna André Masséna, Prince of Essling, Duke of Rivoli (born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817) was a French military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.Donald D. Horward, ed., trans, annotated, The Fre ...

. After the first Siege of Almeida, Brenier became its governor and held the post during Massena's unsuccessful third French invasion of Portugal in 1810-1811. After the French army's retreat from Portugal,

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

's British army blockaded Almeida. While marching to Brenier's relief, Massena failed to fight his way past Wellington in the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro. During the night of 10 May 1811 Brenier threaded his 1,400-man garrison through the lines of the 13,000-strong British investment force in the second Siege of Almeida. His engineers set explosives which demolished the fortifications after his men got away. During the pursuit he lost 360 men, but the pursuing British ran into an ambush set by some troops of

Jean Reynier Jean Louis Ebénézer Reynier (14 January 1771 – 27 February 1814) was a Swiss- French military officer who served in the French Army under the First Republic and the First Empire. He rose in rank to become a general during the French Revolu ...

's II Corps and the rest of Brenier's soldiers safely reached French lines. Wellington wrote, "I have never been so much distressed by any military event as by the escape of even a man of them." This brilliant exploit earned Brenier promotion to general of division. During the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, ...

, Brenier's 4,300-man 6th Division arrived inopportunely at the unfolding disaster on the left flank. Wellington's forces had just crushed the divisions of Jean Guillaume Barthélemy Thomières and Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune when Brenier's men came up, winded from a rapid march. Still in battalion columns, the division was first swamped with fleeing troops from Maucune's division, then beset by a brigade of British heavy dragoons led by John Le Marchant. Attacked before they could form square, Brenier's battalions were overrun and routed. However, some troops managed to rally in a forest and emerged from the woods in battle order. The heavy dragoons attacked again, this time breaking the division for good, but Le Marchant was killed in the action.Gates, p 355

Later career

Brenier played an honorable part in the campaign of 1813. Leading the 9th Division in Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one o ...

's III Corps, he was severely wounded at the Battle of Lützen in Saxony on 2 May 1813. In 1814 he became commander of the 16th military district and supervised the fortification of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

. Afterwards he took over the command of the city of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, where his actions during the Hundred Days earned him a sword of honour voted him by the municipal council. Brenier became a Count, the Inspector General of the Infantry from 1816 to 1818, and the supreme commander in Corsica from 1820 to 1823. He retired in 1827 and died on 8 October 1832. His name appears on the west side of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, on Column 35.

Promotions

* 1 September 1795 :

of the 14th Regiment (14th half-brigade) of Line Infantry * 1 January 1797 : Chef de brigade of the 63rd Regiment (63rd half-brigade) of Line Infantry * 15 June 1799 :

* 26 March 1811 :

Général de division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

Honours

* 12 February 1812 : Baron of the Empire * 18 December 1813 : Officer of the

Notes

References

* Gates, David. ''The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War''. London: Pimlico, 2002. * Glover, Michael. ''The Peninsular War 1807-1814.'' London: Penguin, 2001. * Horward, Donald D. (ed.) ''The French Campaign in Portugal 1810-1811: An Account by Jean Jacques Pelet.'' Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1973.
Mullié, Charles. ''Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850''. 1852.
* Zimmermann, Dick, "The Battle of Fuentes de Onoro," Wargamer's Digest magazine, March 1979. *https://www.dukeofwellington.org/post/the-battle-of-vimeiro-21-august-1808

External links

(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brenier De Montmorand 1767 births 1832 deaths People from Saint-Marcellin, Isère Barons of the First French Empire Politicians from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy French generals French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe