William Corbet (17 August 1779 – 12 August 1842) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

soldier in the service of France. In September 1798 he accompanied

Napper Tandy James Napper Tandy (February 1739 – 24 August 1803) was a United Irishman who experienced exile, first in the United States and then in France, for his role in attempting to advance a republican insurrection in Ireland with French assistance. ...

in an aborted French mission to Ireland in support of the United Irish insurrection. After two years of incarceration, he escaped from Ireland and served in the campaigns of

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 ...

reaching the rank of colonel. In 1831, under the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 F ...

, he was employed in the French expedition to Greece. He returned to France in 1837, retiring with the rank of Major-General.

Ireland and the 1798 Rebellion

He was born in Ballythomas,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

as a branch of the

Corbet family The Corbet family is an English family of Anglo-Norman extraction that became one of the most powerful and richest of the landed gentry in Shropshire. They trace their ancestry to two barons found in the 1086 Domesday Book and probably derive fr ...

Protestant family. In 1798, as a member of the

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...

, he was expelled from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

with

Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Protes ...

and others for treasonable activities, and went instead to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In September of the same year, he joined a French military force under

with the rank of Captain and sailed from Dunkirk with arms and ammunition for Ireland. The expedition had to turn back following the defeat of

General Humbert General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert (22 August 1767 – 3 January 1823) was a French military officer who participated in several notable military conflicts of the late 18th and early 19th century. Born in the townland of La Coâre Saint-Nabord, ...

and arriving in

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they were handed over to the British authorities and taken to Ireland, where they were imprisoned in

Kilmainham Jail Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leade ...

Service under Napoleon

Corbet escaped in 1803 and returned to France. He was appointed professor of English at the military college of St Cyr. Later that year he became a captain in the Irish Legion. Following the death of his brother Thomas (who was also in the Legion) in a duel with another officer, he was transferred to the 70th Regiment of the line, where he served in Massena's expedition to Portugal, and distinguished himself in the retreat from

Torres Vedras Torres Vedras () is a municipality in the Portuguese district of Lisbon, approximately north of the capital Lisbon in the Oeste region, in the Centro of Portugal. The population was 83,075, in an area of . History In 1148, Afonso I took th ...

and the battle of

Sabugal Sabugal () is a city and a municipality in the District of Guarda, Portugal. A border municipality with Spain, the population of the municipality in 2011 was 12,544, in an area of 822.70 km2. The city proper, located along the Côa river, has ...

. After the

battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

he was appointed chef de bataillon of the 47th regiment and served until 1813 when he was summoned to Germany to join the staff of

Marshal Marmont Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...

. He served at the battles of Lutzen,

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and others and was made a commander of the

Legion of Honour 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 December 1814, he was naturalised as a French citizen. In 1815, after the abdication of

he was promoted to colonel and chief of staff to General d'Aumont at Caen.

Morea expedition

In the period of the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * ...

, his friendship with the opposition leader, General Foy, placed him under some suspicion, but in 1828 he was selected by Marshal Maison to accompany him on an expedition against Ibrahim Pasha in

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...

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. After serving as governor of

Navarino Navarino or Navarin may refer to: Battle * Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino, Greece, now known as Pylos Geography * Navarino, Wisconsin, a town, United States * Navarino (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community, Unite ...

Messinia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

, and

Nafplio Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

, he relieved

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

from the attack of Kolocotronis, who was then acting in the interest of Russia and Count Capo d'Istria, and defeated him.

Last years

In 1837 he returned to France where, with the rank of Major-General, he was commander in the region of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

. He died at Saint-Denis in 1842. The Irish novelist

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the n ...

based the main theme of her novel ''Ormond'' on Corbet's 1803 escape from Kilmainham.

References

* Henry Boylan, ''A Dictionary of Irish Biography'', Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1978 * Richard Hayes, ''A Biographical Dictionary of Irishmen in France'', MH Gill & Sons Ltd. Dublin 1949 * *Alfred Webb, "General William Corbet", ''A Compendium of Irish Bibliography'', 1878. https://www.libraryireland.com/biography/GeneralWilliamCorbet.php
Charles Mullié, ''Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850'', 1852
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbet, William Military personnel from County Cork 1779 births 1842 deaths 19th-century Anglo-Irish people 18th-century Anglo-Irish people French generals Order of Saint Louis recipients Commanders of the Legion of Honour Irish soldiers in the French Army Irish emigrants to France Irish Protestants Naturalized citizens of France Alumni of Trinity College Dublin United Irishmen