Antoine de Gontaut, Duke of Biron, Marshal of France, portrait engraving

Louis Antoine de Gontaut-Biron, duc de Biron (1700–1788) was Duke of Biron and a French military leader who served with distinction under

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

, and was made a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

in 1757. He was the fourth son of

Charles-Armand de Gontaut, duc de Biron Charles Armand de Gontaut, duc de Biron (5 August 1663 — 23 July 1756), great-grandson of Armand de Gontout-Biron, was a French military leader who served with distinction under Louis XIV and Louis XV, and was made a Marshal of France by the lat ...

, and Marie-Antoinette, Duchesse de Lauzun. He joined the army as an adolescent. He fought in Italy (attack on the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

castle,

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a '' comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Histor ...

and the

Battle of San Pietro The Battle of San Pietro, also known as the Battle of Crocetta or the Battle of Parma was a battle fought on 29 June 1734 between troops of France and Sardinia on one side, and Habsburg Austrian troops on the other, as part of the War of Poli ...

). In the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George ...

, he participated in 1741 in the invasion of

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...

and the Siege of Prague, where he was badly wounded. In 1745, during the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by ...

, he became a hero, when he took over the command of a regiment of

Gardes Françaises The French Guards (french: Régiment des Gardes françaises) were an elite infantry regiment of the French Royal Army. They formed a constituent part of the Maison militaire du roi de France ("Military Household of the King of France") under the ...

after its commander had been killed, and saved the difficult situation the regiment was in. He became Marshal of France at the beginning of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

. Biron was very popular amongst his soldiers. It is said that some of his men risked their lives to save his, when in 1770 Biron was caught in a

stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

caused by fireworks. In 1753, he bought the

Hôtel Biron The Hôtel Biron, known initially as the Hôtel Peyrenc-de-Moras and later as the Hôtel du Maine, is an ''hôtel particulier'' located at 77 rue de Varenne, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, that was built from 1727 to 1732 to the designs of t ...

from Anne, Duchess of Maine, which still can be visited today as it houses the

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin ( en, Rodin Museum) in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as ...

. After his death, the title of ''Duc de Biron'' passed to his nephew

Armand Louis de Gontaut Armand Louis de Gontaut (), duc de Lauzun, later duc de Biron, and usually referred to by historians of the French Revolution simply as Biron (13 April 174731 December 1793) was a French soldier and politician, known for the part he played in ...

External links

Dynasty of Gontaut
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gontaut, Louis Antoine De 1700 births 1788 deaths Biron, Louis Antoine de Gontaut Louis Antoine de Gontaut Louis Antoine 18th-century peers of France