Louis André Bon (25 October 1758 in

Romans-sur-Isère Romans-sur-Isère (; Occitan: ''Rumans d'Isèra''; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Geography Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère, northeast of Valence. There are more than 50,000 ...

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

– 19 May 1799 in

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

) was a French general of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

, best known for his participation in the 1798 French invasion of Egypt.

Life

He first enrolled very young in the régiment Royal-Infanterie, and took part in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Commanding a battalion of national volunteers in 1792, he rejoined Dugommier on the frontier between France and Spain, soon becoming

chef de brigade Chef de brigade was a military rank in the French Royal Artillery and in the revolutionary French armies. Before the revolution ''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to major in the French Royal Corps of Artillery. Each regiment of artillery was divi ...

, fighting bravely at the siege of Bellegarde and being promoted to général de brigade. He fought under Bonaparte and Augereau in the Army of Italy and was wounded whilst urging on his men on the bridge at Arcole. After the peace of Campo Formio, he commanded the 8e division militaire (

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

), where he brought an end to the disorders caused by the White Terror, as he also did at

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...

. Promoted to général de division, he set out for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, distinguishing himself before

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, making a vital contribution to the capture of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

(by attacking an important enemy position), acting as one of the commanders of the left wing at the Battle of the Pyramids and contributing to the unexpected success at Mont-Thabor (in attacking the rear of the enemy attacked from the front by Kléber). He also fought at the taking of

El-Arich ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ar, العريش ' , ''Hrinokorura'') is the capital and largest city (with 164,830 inhabitants ) of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the entire Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Mediter ...

, the raising of the siege of Gaza and the capture of

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

. He was finally mortally wounded before the walls of Saint-Jean-d'Acre, on 10 May 1799, at the head of his grenadiers, at the foot of the breach, in the last assault on the town.

Family

14 years later Napoleon (now emperor) visited the

école militaire de Saint-Germain École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savo ...

and asked for the name of one of the students he had just reviewed - it was general Bon's son. On being asked by Napoleon, "Where is your mother?", he replied "In Paris, on a fourth floor, where she is dying of hunger". Napoleon instantly granted the general's widow an allowance, and created her son baron de l'Empire, also granting him an allowance.

Distinctions

* He is one of the 558 officers whose names are engraved 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'' ...

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bon, Louis Andre 1758 births 1799 deaths People from Romans-sur-Isère French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French Republican military leaders killed in the French Revolutionary Wars French generals French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe