Eugène-Casimir Villatte, Comte d'Oultremont (14 April 1770 – 14 May 1834) fought in the French army during the

Wars of the French Revolution 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 ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He rose to command a division at many of the important battles in 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 ...

. His is one of the

names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe The following is a list of the 660 names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them represent generals who served during the French First Republic (1792–1804) and the First French Empire (1804–1815). Underlined names signify ...

Early career

Born in

Longwy Longwy (; older german: Langich, ; lb, label= Luxemburgish, Lonkech) is a commune in the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens'' ...

as part of the House of d'Oultremont, Villatte joined the army and was a

sous-lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 19 ...

(second lieutenant) at the beginning of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. After joining the military in January 1792, his first assignment was as lieutenant of the 13th infantry. In 1795 he served as an aide to

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...

and later as an adjutant-commandant. He rose to the rank of

general of 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 ...

in 1803.

Empire

During the Ulm Campaign in 1805, he commanded a brigade under 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 ...

at the

Battle of Elchingen The Battle of Elchingen, fought on 14 October 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a large part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the arm ...

. Still under Ney, he fought at the Battle of Jena and the capture of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

in 1806. After leading his brigade at the combat of Waltersdorf and the

Battle of Eylau The Battle of Eylau, or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoléon's '' Grande Armée'' and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Benn ...

in February 1807, Villatte was promoted to general of division. He led his troops in a successful defense of the bridge over the Pasłęka (Passarge) River at Spędy (Spanden) on 5 June 1807. In this action, part of the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen, Villatte defeated Michael Szabszinski von Rembow's Prussian-Russian division belonging to

Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq (16 August 1738 – 5 January 1815) was a Prussian cavalry general best known for his command of the Prussian troops at the Battle of Eylau. Biography L'Estocq was born in Celle, Electorate of Hanover, the son o ...

corps. On 5 November 1808, while commanding the 12,000-man 3rd Division of the IV Corps, Villatte was attacked by Joaquin Blake's 24,000-strong Army of Galicia. In the Battle of Valmaseda, he was defeated and lost his baggage, but managed to extricate his soldiers with the loss of only 500 men and one cannon.Smith, p. 269 After his division transferred into Marshal Claude Victor's I Corps, Villatte fought at the

Battle of Espinosa The Battle of Espinosa de los Monteros was a battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 10 and 11 November 1808 at the township of Espinosa de los Monteros in the Cantabrian Mountains. It resulted in a French victory under General Victor again ...

. Still under Victor, he led his division at the battles of

Uclés Uclés is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Cuenca, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 64.61 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 212. History The fortress and town w ...

, Medellin and Talavera in 1809. In 1813, Villatte led a division in the Army of the South at the

Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leadin ...

. In Marshal

Nicolas Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Frenc ...

's reorganized army, he commanded the Reserve Division for the rest of the war. His division was present and/or engaged at the battles of the Pyrenees, the Bidassoa, the Nivelle, the Nive,

Orthez Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of New Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the sm ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

. During the Hundred Days, Villatte remained loyal to the Bourbons. After the Restoration, he served as Inspector General of Infantry and as commander of various military divisions. He died at Nancy in 1834. VILLATTE is etched on Column 2 of the Arc de Triomphe.

Notes

References

* Glover, Michael. ''The Peninsular War 1807-1814.'' London: Penguin, 2001. * Petre, F. Loraine. ''Napoleon's Campaign in Poland 1806-1807''. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd., 1976 (1907). * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Villatte, Eugene-Casimir French generals 1770 births 1834 deaths Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars People from Longwy