Joseph Bernelle (5 October 1785

Versailles, France Versailles () is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the Fren ...

7 January 1871

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

) was a French

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officer who commanded the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

during the

Carlist War The Carlist Wars () were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 187 ...

Early Years and Grande Armée service

He was born in 1785 to

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Pierre-Antoine and his wife, Lady Marguerite Desnoyers. He entered the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1801 and was commissioned as sous-lieutenant in 1803. He participated in the Italian Campaigns of the

French Consulate The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...

and

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 E ...

from 1811. He was present at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. He eventually obtained the rank of

Chef de brigade Chef de brigade was a military rank in the French Royal Artillery and in the revolutionary French armies. Before the revolution ''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to major in the French Royal Corps of Artillery. Each regiment of artillery was divi ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and Aide de Camp to General Curial.

The Foreign Legion

In 1830 the French invaded Algeria and disbanded the seven regiments of Swiss and Germans in the French Army. The Legion was formed on 10 March 1831. The Legion was initially formed of the following battalions. *1st, 2nd and 3rd - trained ex-soldiers from the Swiss and Hohenlohe regiments. *4th -

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

(disbanded in Feb 1834 to release them for service at home in the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy: the conservative and devolutionist ...

) *5th -

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

ns and

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

*6th -

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

Belgians Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...

*7th/4th -

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

(not completed until February 1834, whereupon it replaced the Spanish 4th. In Spring of 1835, the French Government handed the use of the Legion to the Spanish Government in order to fight

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

. Colonel Bernelle was given command and the local rank of General. He landed his troops on 17 August 1835 at

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

, where he had command of 123 officers and 4,000 men. He soon disbanded the nationally organized battalions and embraced the policy of amalgamation, with French as a common tongue. It 1836, Bernelle organized an artillery battery and three squadrons of Polish Lancers. On 24 May 1836, Bernelle and his men, " attacked Carlists threatening the garrison at Zubiri, northeast of

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

near Larrasoaña. Fighting in heavy snow the Carlists were driven off with over 100 casualties, and 30 prisoners executed as a reprisal...." On 26 April, they defeated another Carlist force at the Battle of Terapegui, and again at 2nd Zubiri. Despite his successes, Bernelle was withdrawn 'due to complains about the neglect of his men. He was relieved by Colonel Joseph Conrad who was killed in action by the Carlists on 2 June 1837 at the Battle of Barbastro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernelle, Joseph École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni 1785 births 1871 deaths Officers of the French Foreign Legion Spanish generals French generals French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Military personnel of the First Carlist War