David-Maurice-Joseph Mathieu de Saint-Maurice de La Redorte or Maurice Mathieu (20 February 1768 – 1 March 1833) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Mathieu was born into a French noble family and entered the

French Royal Army The French Royal Army (french: Armée Royale Française) was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon Dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude ...

as an Officer cadet in 1783. During the French Revolution he became an aide de camp to General Jean-Antoine Chapsal and subsequently served in several armies of the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

. He was appointed a general of brigade in 1798 and fought against the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and a ...

that year and the next. During the campaign he was badly wounded in the right arm, was promoted to general of division and had to leave the field. In the 1805 campaign, Mathieu was named to command the 2nd Division of the VII Corps under

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

Pierre Augereau. From 1806 to 1807 he served King Joseph Napoleon in the puppet

Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

. In 1808 he was appointed to command the 1st Division of the

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

in Spain. He fought at

Tudela Tudela may refer to: *Tudela, Navarre, a town and municipality in northern Spain ** Benjamin of Tudela Medieval Jewish traveller ** William of Tudela, Medieval troubadour who wrote the first part of the ''Song of the Albigensian Crusade'' ** Battl ...

in November. In 1809 he transferred to Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps and was present at Alba de Tormes. From 1811 to 1813 he commanded a division in the Army of Catalonia, leading his troops at Fort Monjuich,

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

Altafulla Altafulla is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Tarragonès in Catalonia, Spain. The town of Altafulla has a beautifully intact old quarter crowned by the Castle of Altafulla, and an old fishing quarter dating back to the 18th century along ...

, and Tarragona. Under King Louis XVIII of France he served as an inspector general. He switched allegiance to

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 ...

during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

but was soon restored to favor. In 1819 he became Count de La Redorte. After the July Revolution of 1830 he was sworn into the nobility but turned down an army post. He died in Paris in 1833. Mce MATHIEU is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 36.

References

* * * * * * * * Counts of France French generals French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars People from Aveyron 1768 births 1833 deaths Peers of France Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur {{france-mil-bio-stub