Marc Armand Elisée Scherb (25 April 1747 in

Westhoffen Westhoffen (; german: Westhofen im Elsass; gsw-als, Westhofe) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. History From 1236 Westhofen was a fief of the Holy Roman Empire to the Lords of Lichtenberg, ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

– 2 July 1838 in Westhoffen), was a brigadier general in 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 ...

Family

He was the son of John Scherb, a notary, born 6 July 1712. His brother Leopold (31 May 1776 – 24 May 1842) was a colonel of cuirassiers; Revue d'Alsace
''Scherb''
Fédération des sociétés d'histoire et d'archéologie d'Alsace, 1876. Volume 27, p. 142. Leopold ended his career as a ''chef d'escadron''.Leopold-Elisee Scherb, chef d'scadron, d 24 May 1842. Upon his death, his widow and children obtained rights to his military pension of 500 francs: Widow, Marie-Antoinette-Reine Kein, b. 13 August 1787, Strasbourg. Children: Raymond Leopold b. 27 Jan 1811, Neuviller, Victoire-Marie-Josephine-Francoise, Marie-Elise-Marguerite born 18 June 1817, Saverne; Caroline Victoire-Leopoldine, b. 4 Nov 1827, Saverne. Ancestry.com. ''France, Civil and Military Pensions, 1836–1862''. (Bulletin des Lois) atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. Série 9, Vol. 24, N° 673–696

Service

Scherb was a cadet in the Infantry Regiment Anhalt on 20 October 1766 and lieutenant on 16 October 1768. In 1769, Scherb served in military during the

French conquest of Corsica The French conquest of Corsica was a successful expedition by French forces of the Kingdom of France under Comte de Vaux, against Corsican forces under Pasquale Paoli of the Corsican Republic. The expedition was launched in May 1768, in the a ...

. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 14 January 1777, and to

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 ...

on 16 September 1778. As

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, he commanded a battalion of

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word '' grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited fr ...

s under General

Adam Philippe Custine Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine (4 February 174028 August 1793) was a French general. As a young officer in the French Royal Army, he served in the Seven Years' War. In the American Revolutionary War he joined Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, c ...

on 20 October 1792. As adjutant general, he was brigade leader on 8 March 1793. He was wounded in his right foot by shrapnel and a shot broke his left leg, and subsequently served at the headquarters in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

in 1793. He also commanded the second column of the

garrison on 22 July 1793; subsequently he commanded the garrison 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 *Brest, ...

on 17 August 1793. He was charged with suppressing the revolt in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

, in particular at the Battle of Savenay, on 13 July 1794. The representatives on mission of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle appointed him provisionally as brigadier general on 6 December 1794. He commanded the Second Brigade, in the division of

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr (; 13 April 1764 – 17 March 1830) was a French military commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire. He is regarded ...

, at Mainz on 4 January 1795. His appointment as brigadier was confirmed by the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

on 13 June 1795. Eugène Fieffé
Histoire des troupes étrangères au service de la France: ''Scherb''
Dumaine, 1854. Volume 2, p. 348. As part of Pierre Anton Courtot's eighth division at

on 29 October 1795, he was under the command of

Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, (23 August 1747, Craveggia – 28 June 1816, Paris), was a general and politician of France. Born in the Savoy, he was the son of a low-ranking officer in the Habsburg military. In 1789, during the French Revolut ...

in the Army of the Rhine and Moselle on 30 December 1795 and Guillaume Philibert Duhesme's sixth division in April 1796. As commander at

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

on 27 April 1796, he crossed the Rhine to watch

Philippsburg Philippsburg () is a town in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Before 1632, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim". The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1371–1718. The town is named after ...

on 19 July 1796. Throughout the summer of 1796 he remained at Bruchsal, responsible for observation of the garrisons of

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

and Philippsburg. In September 1796, it appeared that he would be cut off from the corps of

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 ...

, which was retreating toward France north of the Mainz, and

Jean Victor Marie Moreau Jean Victor Marie Moreau (, 14 February 1763 – 2 September 1813) was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte to power, but later became a rival and was banished to the United States. Biography Rise to fame Moreau was born at Morla ...

, who was retreating through the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

; he withdrew toward

Kehl Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some munic ...

. During the withdrawal he skirmished with

Franz Petrasch Franz, Freiherr von Petrasch (1746 – 17 January 1820) was an Austrian general officer serving in the Austrian Empire during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was the third generation of a bourgeois family in which two brothers, seeking adventure ...

until he was cut off from Kehl by the Austrian corps. He was named Chevalier of Order of Saint-Louis on 10 April 1791 and Officer of the

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

on 15 June 1804.

Citations, notes and references

Citations

Notes

References

* Revue d'Alsace
''Sherb''
Fédération des sociétés d'histoire et d'archéologie d'Alsace, 1876. * Eugène Fieffé
''Histoire des troupes étrangères au service de la France: Scherb''
Dumaine, 1854. Volume 2, p. 348 {{DEFAULTSORT:Scherb, Marc Amand Elisee 1747 births 1838 deaths People from Bas-Rhin French generals French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars