Grande Armée
''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empi ...
, was born 30 July 1763 in
Dreux
Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.
Geography
Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...
,
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
at the
Battle of Jena–Auerstedt
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (; older spelling: ''Auerstädt'') were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Pruss ...
. On 14 June 1804, he was awarded the Commanders Cross of the
Legion of Honor
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 ...
.
Military service
When the French Revolution began in 1789, Jean Louis Debilly was a professor of mathematics in Paris. He joined the Parisian National Guard artillery in 1792, and served for six weeks as provisional commander of the artillery defending the coast at
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 ...
. In June he entered the army, and was promoted to adjutant general. Debilly declined a proffered promotion to remain as General Kléber's chief of staff. He served for a brief time with Army of England, until the Directory abandoned the project. He was transferred to
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...
's Army of the Danube, where he filled several roles: as commander of cavalry, he supported
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg (5 November 1770, Cassel, Nord15 July 1830) was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a dedicated career soldier with a reputation as an excellent divisio ...
's detached flank maneuver on
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, and he was a commander of the left column of the III. Division of the Army at the first Battle of Stockach. He was badly wounded at the French defeat at the
First Battle of Zurich
The First Battle of Zurich, from 4 to 7 June 1799, forced French General André Masséna to yield the city of Zurich to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles, and to retreat beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions, whi ...
in early June 1799, and was unable to ride a horse for several months. Massena promoted him to brigadier general, and assigned him to a staff position as chief artillery and engineers of the III. Division.
In 1806, Debilly was still a brigade commander, but in the I. Division of the III. Corps of Marshal
Louis-Nicolas Davout
Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and t ...
. The 10,000-man I. Division on the French left flank at Auerstadt. Jean Louis Debilly commanded the leading brigade of French infantry marching on Hassenhausen in late morning of 14 October. Facing a cavalry charge, Debilly ordered the infantry to form defensive squares. The infantry absorbed the brunt of a triple Prussian cavalry charge; when the Prussian cavalry recoiled under heavy musketry-fire, the brigade reformed its line and marched against the supporting Prussian infantry, pushing them back to Lissbach. In the course of this advance, Debilly was killed.
Family
The Debilly family dates to the thirteenth century, when it is mentioned in papers documenting feudal obligations of an ''écuyer'' Robert De Billy (squire Robert de Billy) in 1202. Over the course of centuries, the family's fortunes rose and fell; in the late seventeenth century, part of the family emigrated to Canada. Another part, from which Jean Louis Debilly descended, settled near
Dreux
Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.
Geography
Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...
Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière
Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière (; October 29, 1765 – April 9, 1845) was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
Gazan started his military career as a cannonier in the French Coast ...
. Another son, Eduard Louis Daniel Debilly (1802–1874) was general of ''ponts et chaussées'' (bridges and pavement). There are some claims that he was also a scientist.Rodolphe Töpffer, Jacques Droin, Danielle Buyssens, Jean-Daniel Candaux. ''Correspondance complète.'' (''Complete correspondence of Rodolphe Töpffer''). Genève: Droz, 2002, volume 1 , p. 254.