Guillaume Dode de la Brunerie (April 30, 1775 – February 28, 1851) was a Marshal of France. On February 12, 1812, he married the daughter of Marshal Pérignon, ''Agathe-Virginie''.

Early life and French revolutionary wars

Guillaume Dode was born in Saint-Geoire-en-Valdaine in the department of the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Grenoble. Soon after the ending of his studies in 1793, he was conscripted in the French revolutionary army as a private. In March 1794, Dode was promoted to lieutenant and sent to the Military School of Engineers in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

. By December, Dode left the school for a posting in the '' Army of the Rhine''. By August 1795, Dode was promoted to captain. In 1796, Dode was employed at

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

, Kaiserslautern and

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; old ...

for the fortification of these towns. The same year he assisted in preparing the Rhine crossing at

Kehl Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some municipal servicesfor exa ...

for Moreau's army. By January 1797, one of the bridgeheads created by Dode was under Austrian siege that lasted 200 days and Dode participated in the defense of the bridgehead until the Austrian's were forced to retire. In January 1798, Dode joined the ''

Army of England Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom at the start of the War of the Third Coalition, although never carried out, was a major influence on British naval strategy and the fortification of the coast of southeast England. French attempt ...

''. However, this army was ultimately not used to invade the British isles but was sent to the Orient were under

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

it invaded

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. In Egypt he was employed in fortifying Gizeh,

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. Promoted to major in 1801, Dode stayed in Egypt until the French forces there capitulated, only returning to France in November 1801. In 1802 and 1803, Dode was employed in fortifying the Channel coast near Cape Gris-Nez.

Napoleonic wars

During the campaign of 1805, Dode joined the Grande Armée and was employed in Marshal Lannes's V Corps. Dode was with Lannes and Joachim Murat when they famously captured a bridge over the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

by bluffing the Austrian commander Auersperg into believing a cease fire had been signed. The French then rushed the bridge and captured it before the Austrians could blow it up. Dode didn't participate directly in the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz ...

as he was posted in the rear of the army as a support. In December, Dode was promoted to colonel and attached as head of the engineers to Marshal Lefebvre's Corps. However, for the campaign of 1806, Dode was again made head of the engineers on Lannes' staff, a function which saw his participation in the battles of Saalfeld and

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. After Jena, Dode was sent to repair a bridge over the Elbe and prepare the crossing of the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows ...

. Dode then took part in the battles of

Pułtusk Pułtusk (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( ...

and Ostrolenka. In 1807 he was attached to the staff of Marshal Mortier and in 1808 he was made a baron. When his uncle died and willed him his estate "Brunerie", Dode adopted this and attached it to his own name, from then on being named ''"Dode de la Brunerie"''. In late 1808, Dode de la Brunerie was sent to Spain. He participated in the sieges of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Ara ...

and of

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populati ...

. He was then promoted to ''général de brigade'' and made head of the engineers staff of the '' Army of Spain''. Dode de la Brunerie served in battles near Almonacid and Ocana until he was recalled to France. In 1812, Dode de la Brunerie was made head of the engineers in the III Corps under Marshal Ney. He successively fought under Marshals

Oudinot Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Count Oudinot, 1st Duke of Reggio (25 April 1767 in Bar-le-Duc – 13 September 1847 in Paris), was a Marshal of the Empire. He is known to have been wounded 34 times in battle, being hit by artillery shells, sabers ...

, Gouvion Saint-Cyr and Victor in Russia, where he fought at Polotsk and the crossing of the Beresina. In 1813 he commanded the engineers in Lauriston's Corps and later the engineers of Augereau's Corps and of Gouvion Saint-Cyr's Corps. When the latter was besieged in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, Dode de la Brunerie was unable of rejoining his corps and he was the attached to Victor's Corps. After the defeated army returned to France, he was sent to the '' Army of Italy'' under Prince Eugène until the war's end.

The Restoration

Recalled to France upon the accession of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...

to the throne of France, he was made a member of the commission responsible for making decisions on request concerning the service records of émigrés. In August, he was promoted to lieutenant-general. When Napoléon returned from Elba, Dode de la Brunerie served as commandant of engineers under the Bourbon army opposing the emperor. Napoleon wanted to confirm him in his positions but Dode de la Brunerie refused to be employed during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoratio ...

as he had given his oath of loyalty to

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

. In 1816, Dode de la Brunerie was made one of four Inspector-Generals of the engineers. He served on various committees during the next five years. In 1823 Bourbon France decided to intervene in Spain and Dode de la Brunerie was made commandant of engineers of the French army in Spain. In Spain he served in the siege of Cadiz and at the Battle of Trocadero. In 1825 Dode de la Brunerie was made Viscount of Martignac by letters patent. In 1828 he became a member of the Superior War Council and in 1830 he again was made inspector-general of engineers.

July monarchy and latter years

When the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first in 1789. It led to ...

broke out and Charles X abdicated, the new king Louis-Philippe retained Dode de la Brunerie in all his functions. In 1837, he was made inspector of the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

and in 1840 he became president of the Committee of Fortifications. In 1841 he was put in charge of the building of the fortifications of Paris by the minister of war Soult. The construction of the Parisian fortification took seven years to complete and cost approximately 140 million francs and gave Dode de la Brunerie the nickname of being the ''Vauban of Modern Times''. On September 17, 1847 both Reille and Dode de la Brunerie were made Marshals of France, with Dode being the first engineer so honored since the great Vauban. When the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

erupted, Dode de la Brunerie decided to retire to private life. Dode de la Brunerie died February 28, 1851 in Paris. He is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery. His name is mentioned on the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

References

Biography of Dode de la Brunerie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dode de la Brunerie, Guillaume 1775 births 1851 deaths People from Isère Barons of the First French Empire Politicians from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy Marshals of France French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of Saint Louis Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe