Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Timbrune de Thiembronne, Comte de Valence (22 September 1757 – 4 February 1822) commanded French troops 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 ...
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 ...
. A nobleman, 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 ...
as a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of cavalry in 1778. By the time 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
he commanded a cavalry regiment. Valence led troops at
Valmy
Valmy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in north-eastern France.
Geography
The town stands on the west flank of the Forest of Argonne, Argonne massif, midway between Verdun-sur ...
in 1792 and was soon appointed to command the
Army of the Ardennes
The Army of the Ardennes (''armée des Ardennes'') was a French Revolutionary Army formed on the first of October 1792 by splitting off the right wing of the Army of the North, commanded from July to August that year by La Fayette. From July to ...
. He led the right wing at
Neerwinden
Neerwinden is a village in Belgium in the province of Flemish Brabant, a few miles southeast of Tienen. It is now part of the municipality of Landen.
The village gave its name to two great battles. The Battle of Neerwinden (1693), first battle w ...
. Becoming involved in
Charles Francois Dumouriez
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
's failed plot to seize control of the army, he defected in April 1793.
Valence returned to France during an amnesty and was elected to the
Sénat conservateur
The (from French language, French: "Conservative Senate") was an advisory body established in France during the French Consulate, Consulate following the French Revolution. It was established in 1799 under the Constitution of the Year VIII f ...
in 1805. Emperor
Napoleon
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 who ...
named him to lead an infantry division 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 ...
where he led Polish troops at
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region.
History
It was founde ...
and
Almonacid in 1809. He commanded a heavy cavalry division during the
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
leading his horsemen at
Borodino
The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon ...
and
Vyazma
Vyazma (russian: Вя́зьма) is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast, and Mozhaysk. Throu ...
. He served with
Paul Grenier and
Horace Sébastiani in 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 restoration ...
. After the Bourbon Restoration he entered the
Chamber of Peers in 1819 and died in 1822. VALENCE 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 tho ...
, on Column 4.
References
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French generals
French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Counts of the First French Empire
People from Agen
Members of the Sénat conservateur
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
Peace commissioners of the French Provisional Government of 1815
1757 births
1822 deaths
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