Marie Schellinck (25 July 1757,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

– 1 September 1840,

Menen Menen (; french: Menin ; vls, Mêenn or ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Menen proper and the towns of Lauwe and Rekkem. The city is situated on the French/ ...

), also known as Shelling, was a Belgian soldier who fought in the French Revolution.

Life

Disguised as a man, Schellinck enlisted 1792 in the 2nd Belgian battalion of the French army. She most notably took part at the

battle of Jemappes The Battle of Jemappes (6 November 1792) took place near the town of Jemappes in County of Hainaut, Hainaut, Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium), near Mons during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. One of th ...

in the same year, where she was severely wounded. Four days after the battle, 10 November, she was made sub-lieutenant. She left military service in 1795/96 when she married lieutenant Louis-Joseph Decarmin. She followed him during the Italy campaign and, after his resignation from service in January 1808, settled with him in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

.Léonce Grabilier: ''Jeanne Schellinck''
in: '' L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux'' , 1909

Legend of her Legion of Honor

A Marie''-Jeanne'' Schellinck is often reported to have been decorated with the

Legion of Honor 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 ...

in June 1808 by Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte 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 wh ...

himself before he rode into Ghent and thus having been the first woman with that merit. This legend is embellished with an impressive list of battles where she was supposed to have fought (Jemappes, Arcole, Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena-Auerstedt and in the Poland campaign 1807), as well as a rousing speech Napoleon gave the assembled soldiers.''La Belgique militaire''
in: '' L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux'', 25. November 1885 In 1890, the first image was fabricated that was supposed to show the ceremony. Many repetitions of the legend also allege that Schellinck's service record and testimony from military comrades and commanders resulted in her being granted a pension of 667 livres per year for her service to France. That story has been proven inaccurate: Napoleon I never distinguished a woman with the Legion of Honor and was located in

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

in Southern France in June 1808. The first woman decorated with the Legion of Honor was Angélique Brûlon, who received the Legion of Honor from

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

in 1851.declaration on the website of the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schellinck, Marie 1757 births 1840 deaths Female wartime cross-dressers Military personnel from Ghent Women in 18th-century warfare Women in 19th-century warfare Women in war in France French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars French female military personnel