Jean Mathieu Seras or Serras (16 April 1765 – 14 April 1815) was born in northwest Italy, but adhered to 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 ...

and joined the French army. He became a division commander in the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

under

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 ...

and led troops in Italy and Spain. Seras 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 25.

Italy 1799

Seras led a brigade in Louis Lemoine's division at the

Battle of Novi The Battle of Novi (15 August 1799) saw a combined army of the Habsburg monarchy and Russian Empire, Imperial Russians under Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov attack a First French Republic, Republican French army under General Barthélemy Cather ...

on 15 August 1799. His brigade included two battalions each of the 20th and 34th Line Infantry Demi-Brigades and 3 squadrons of the 1st Hussar Regiment. In this sanguinary combat, the French suffered losses of 1,500 killed, 5,500 wounded, and 4,500 captured, along with 37 cannons and eight colors. The victorious Austro-Russian army lost 900 killed and 4,200 wounded, plus three guns and 1,400 men captured.

Spain 1810

Seras was sent to Spain with a new 8,000-man division from France in spring 1810. The division consisted of the French 113th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the Polish 4th Vistula Legion, the 4th Battalions of the French 12th Light, 32nd Line, and 58th Line Infantry Regiments, and four provisional battalions. Though the unit was nominally French, the 113th Line was recruited from Italians when the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...

was annexed to the French Empire. Seras joined

François Étienne de Kellermann François Étienne de Kellermann, 2nd Duke of Valmy (4 August 1770 – 2 June 1835) was a French cavalry general noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars. He was the son of François Christophe de Kellermann and the fa ...

's command in the

Province of León León (, , ; ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the cap ...

Italy 1813

When

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

reorganized the Army of Italy in the summer of 1813, Seras was appointed to command the Reserve Division. In August, the division consisted of three brigades and one battery of 6-pound field pieces. The 1st Brigade was made up of one battalion of the 14th French Light Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the 4th Provisional Croatian Regiment, and four battalions of the 1st Foreign Regiment. The 2nd Brigade comprised two battalions of the 2nd Foreign Regiment and one battalion each of the 6th French Line, 2nd Italian Light, 1st Italian Line, and 6th Italian Line. The 3rd Brigade had one battalion each of the 35th and 36th French Light, and the 131st, 132nd, and 133rd French Line. Seras was named governor of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in late 1813. He reported that he used French troops to repair the field works and make counterattacks because his Italian soldiers were prone to desertion as soon as they got outside the fortifications. Venice's powerful garrison was allotted enough provisions and supplies to hold out for six months. There were four zones of defense under Generals of Brigade René Joseph Dupeyroux, Dupérè, Jean Jacques Schilt, and

Charles Daurier Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

. Dupeyroux held the coast from the

Adige The Adige (; german: Etsch ; vec, Àdexe ; rm, Adisch ; lld, Adesc; la, Athesis; grc, Ἄθεσις, Áthesis, or , ''Átagis'') is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the prov ...

to the Malamocco River, Dupérè defended the mouth of the Malamocco and several nearby villages, Daurier was responsible for the Venice itself, and Schilt patrolled the city's outskirts.

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Italy 1799

Spain 1810

Italy 1813

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Further reading