François-Xavier Octavie Fontaine (7 November 1762, in Saint-Remy, Haute-Saône – 17 May 1812, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) served in the French military in the American War of Independence, 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 ...

, 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 ...

Biography

Fontaine enlisted in 1778 and participated in the American Revolution from 1779 to 1782, under command of Rochambeau. In particular, he distinguished himself at the

Siege of Pensacola The siege of Pensacola was a siege fought in 1781, the culmination of Spain's conquest of the British province of West Florida during the Gulf Coast campaign. Background When Spain entered the War in 1779, Bernardo de Gálvez, the energeti ...

in 1781. Wounded at the Siege of Menin, receiving a bayonet stab in the chest. On 1 May 1793, he was appointed

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the 19th Regiment of Chasseurs, and campaigned in

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

during the revolt. He was also part of the expedition to Ireland. At the

Battle of Ostrach The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first non-Italy-based battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of ...

, he was attached to the Advanced Guard, commanded by

François Joseph Lefebvre François Joseph Lefebvre ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820), Duc de Dantzig, was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon. Ea ...

, and he was caught between the Austrian and French fire at the village of Hosskirch; his troops took heavy casualties. Unable to escape from the village without being defeated, he took advantage of a thick fog to hide his column. He maneuvered through the channel of the

Ostrach Ostrach is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Ostrach lies between the Danube and Lake Constance, about halfway between Sigmaringen and Ravensburg. It lies on the brook of the same name ...

and managed to join with the 2nd Division at Riedhausen. Jourdan praised him for his coolness and courage under fire in this dangerous and difficult withdrawal. Later that same year, while in the Army of the Rhine, he was at the siege of Philipsburg. Following the campaigns against Austria and Prussia in 1805 and 1806, he went to Spain, where he participated in the Peninsular War. He returned to France in 1810; Napoleon raised him to ''baron of the empire'' and he died in Paris, 17 May 1812.

References

*''This article incorporates text from the French Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontaine, Francois-Xavier Octavie 1762 births 1812 deaths People from Haute-Saône French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars