Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes
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Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes or Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes (14 September 1773, in Paris – 22 April 1822) became a
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and a general during the Napoleonic Wars. He later emigrated to the United States.


French Revolutionary Wars

He joined the army in 1792, and served with the armies of the North, of the
Sambre et Meuse The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...
and Rhine et Moselle in the various campaigns of the French Revolution. Six years later he had become captain and aide-de-camp to General
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 who ...
. At the Battle of Marengo in June 1800 he won further promotion.


Empire

Under the Empire, Lefebvre-Desnouettes fought with distinction at the Battle of Elchingen in 1805. Later that year, he became colonel after the Battle of Austerlitz. He served also in the Prussian campaigns of 1806–1807. He was promoted to
general of brigade Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
in September 1806 and general of division in November 1807. He was created a count of the Empire in March 1808. Sent with the army into Spain, he conducted the first and unsuccessful Siege of Saragossa. Later he commanded the IV Corps in several actions in Spain. On 29 December 1808, he was taken prisoner in the action of Benavente by the British cavalry under Henry Paget (later Lord Uxbridge, and subsequently Marquess of Anglesey). For over two years Lefebvre-Desnouettes remained a prisoner in England, living on parole from
Norman Cross Prison Norman Cross Prison in Huntingdonshire, England, was the world's first purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp or "depot", built in 1796–97 to hold prisoners of war from France and its allies during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic War ...
at
Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
with his wife Stephanie. In 1811 he broke his parole, an act which greatly offended British public opinion, and escaped; in the invasion of Russia in 1812, he led the Guard ''Chasseurs à cheval'' cavalry. In 1813 and 1814, he and his men distinguished themselves in most of the great battles, especially
Brienne The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château. Counts of Brienne * Engelbert I * Engelbert II * Engelbert III * Engelbert IV * Walter I (? – c. 1090) * Erard I (c. 1090 – c. 1120?) * Walter II ...
(where he was wounded),
La Rothière La Rothière () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Population See also * Communes of the Aube department *Parc naturel régional de la Forêt d'Orient Orient Forest Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc natur ...
, Montmirail, Vauchamps and
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. He joined Napoleon in 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 ...
and was appointed commander of the Guard Light Cavalry Division, which he commanded at the
Battle of Quatre Bras The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, as a preliminary engagement to the decisive Battle of Waterloo that occurred two days later. The battle took place near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras and was contested between ele ...
. At the battle of Waterloo he was taken prisoner and placed under the guard of a single Dragoon, on his solemnly pledging his honour that he would not attempt to escape. When the Dragoon had taken him to the place where he was to be received, and had taken the saddle off his own horse, the General clapped spurs to his horse, and rode off, but the Dragoon, as quick as lightning, followed him on horseback, gave him a cut with his sabre on the forehead, and brought him back.


Later career and death

For his part in the Hundred Days he was condemned to death by the royalists, but he escaped to the United States and spent the next few years farming in the ill-fated Vine and Olive Colony, beginning in 1817. His frequent appeals to Louis XVIII eventually obtained his permission to return. However, the vessel on which he was returning to France, the American packet ''Albion'' of the Black Ball line, went down off the coast of Ireland on 22 April 1822. Mr Everart, the only passenger surviving reported that the general had been injured in the wreck and presumed drowned, the bodies washing up over a number of weeks were not identifiable. His body is one of those buried in Templetrine Graveyard in County Cork, near Kinsale.


Tributes

He is recognized as LEFÈBVRE-DESNte on the 31st column of 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.Information on the 'Pain de Sucre' from visit and inscription on monument. His widow had an obelisk, known as the "''Pain de Sucre''" ( Sugarloaf) due to its shape and frequent re-painting in white, erected to his memory and that of the sailors who perished with him. It stands above the sea on the crest of a low hill in Sainte-Adresse, now a suburb of Le Havre, and doubled as a navigation mark helping other sailors avoid the hazards in the approach to the port.


See also

* List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea


References


External links

* Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998.
Charles Lefebvre Desnouettes Letters, 1818-1819.
Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre-Desnouettes, Charles 1773 births 1820s missing person cases 1822 deaths Commanders in the French Imperial Guard French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars French emigrants to the United States French generals French prisoners of war Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days Military personnel from Paris Missing person cases in Ireland Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe People lost at sea