Pierre-François Percy (28 October 1754 – 18 February 1825) was a French doctor and surgeon. He was surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon's ''

Grande Armée ''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empi ...

'' during the Napoleonic campaigns in Germany and Poland, and present at the Battles of

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

and

Friedland Friedland may refer to: Places Czech Republic * Frýdlant v Čechách (''Friedland im Isergebirge'') * Frýdlant nad Ostravicí (''Friedland an der Ostrawitza'') * Frýdlant nad Moravicí (''Friedland an der Mohra'') France * , street in P ...

Biography

Pierre-François Percy, was born on 28 October 1754 in Montagney,

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

(now in Haute-Saône). His father, Claude Percy, was a surgeon in the village and had previously served as a surgeon in the French army. The house where Percy was born still features a plaque commemorating his achievements. Percy died on 18 February 1825 and was buried at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. He had no children.

Career

After studying in Besançon, Percy was named surgeon-major of the Berry cavalry regiment in 1782. During the wars of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and Empire, he invented a new kind of

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

usable on the battlefield known as a "wurst", as well as the cork-balls and the surgical quiver. He served on the main battlefields of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

and became chief surgeon of the

, but had to leave the army after 1809 because of ocular problems. His replacement as chief surgeon of the Grande Armée was

Nicolas Heurteloup Nicolas Heurteloup was a French military physician and surgeon. He was born on 26 November 1750 in Tours (Indre-et-Loire ) and died in Paris on 27 March 1812. He succeeded Pierre-François Percy (1754–1825) as chief surgeon of the Grande Armé ...

(1750-1812).Napoleon & Empire Personalities
Nicolas Heurteloup (1750-1812) Baron of the Empire He resumed service in 1814 and his conduct earned him the esteem of the Allied armies. Percy had to retire during the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

and died in Paris on 18 February 1825. Percy was member of the Academy of Sciences, Academy of Medicine, Commander of 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 ...

and Baron of the Empire.

Legacy

Percy's name features on the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

in Paris.

He is shown in the French painter

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was given title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the French R ...

's 1808 painting ''

Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau ''Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau'' (french: Napoléon sur le champ de bataille d'Eylau) is an oil painting of 1808 by French Romantic painter Antoine-Jean Gros. Completed during the winter of 1807–1808, the work became an icon of the em ...

''. Percy is presented on the left of the Emperor, signalling to a medical aide who is bandaging a Lithuanian hussar.

Works

Percy is perhaps best-known for his '' Journal des Campagnes'', which was published in 1904 by the

Franc-comtois Frainc-Comtou (french: franc-comtois) is a Romance language of the '' langues d'oïl'' language family spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France and in the Canton of Jura and Bernese Jura in Switzerland. Sample vocabulary References Bi ...

historian Émile Longin. The ''Journal'' is a regular account of Percy's life on campaign in the

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. Some manuscripts were lost in the 79 years between the surgeon's death and the publication of the ''Journal''; however, Percy's writings on the 1806 and 1807 campaigns in Germany and Poland are almost complete. The ''Journal'' also includes notes from the 1799 and 1800 campaigns in Helvetia and Germany, the 1805

Austerlitz campaign The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in ...

, and the campaign in Spain (1808-1809). Percy's ''Journal'' describes the often-terrible conditions of army life and military surgery, and the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of major battles.

Sources

Biography of Pierre-François Percy
on the Napoleon & Empire website (in English). *Percy's Campaign Journal (in French) on archive.org 1754 births 1825 deaths First French Empire 19th-century French physicians 18th-century French physicians Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Members of the French Academy of Sciences People from Haute-Saône Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe {{France-med-bio-stub