Michel Ordener (; 2 September 1755 – 30 August 1811) was a French

general of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army co ...

and a commander in

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 ...

's elite

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, i ...

. Of plebeian origins, he was born in L'Hôpital and enlisted as private at the age of 18 years in the Prince Condé's Legion. He was promoted through the ranks; as

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

of a regiment of ''Chasseurs à Cheval'', he embraced 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

in 1789. He advanced quickly through the officer ranks during 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, Prussia ...

. In 1804, Ordener organized and led the controversial kidnapping of the Duke d'Enghien. In 1805, he commanded a regiment of the Imperial Guard cavalry at several important battles, including the

Battle of Austerlitz 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 i ...

; although he led an energetic and opportune charge, Napoleon noted that Ordener seemed tired and predicted that the general would last only five or six years more. Ordener participated in one more campaign and then accepted a post in the Senate. Napoleon appointed him as Josephine Bonaparte's equerry, supervising the care and maintenance of her horses. He followed this with the post as governor of the Emperor's household in Compiegne, where Ordener died on 30 August 1811.

Career

Although little is known of Ordener's youth, he was the son of commoners and joined the legion of the Prince of Conde (cousin to the king) at the age of 18 (1776). He was assigned as a private of the '' Boufflers Dragoons'', part of this legion. In 1783, he was appointed to the quartermaster corps and in 1787, he was promoted to

. In the early days of the

, he adopted its principles with zeal and enthusiasm. D. E. Madrolle. "Michel Ordener." ''Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne.'' Paris: Joseph Fr. Michaud, Louis Gabriel Michaud, 1844, p. 94. Subsequently, Ordener took part in all the

. In the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...

, he served with distinction in the armies of the Moselle, the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

and in northern Italy. He was promoted to lieutenant in the 10th Regiment ''Chasseurs à Cheval'' (light horse) on 25 January 1792 and captain the following year. In 1796 he was promoted to ''chef de brigade'' of the 10th Regiment. At the

Battle of Lodi The Battle of Lodi was fought on 10 May 1796 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf at Lodi, Lombardy. The rear guard was defeated, but the main body of Johann Peter Beaulie ...

, in northern Italy, despite the ravaging fire of Austrian cannons, Ordener held the famous bridge until the arrival of Napoleon with the rest of the army. Ordener crossed the

Adda river The Adda (Latin ''Abdua'', or ''Addua''; in Lombard ''Ada'' or, again, ''Adda'' in local dialects where the double consonants are marked) is a river in North Italy, a tributary of the Po. It rises in the Alps near the border with Switzerlan ...

with a brigade to encircle and envelope the Austrians at the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, ...

. Afterward, he helped to take Milan. E. Pascallet. ''Revue Générale, Biographique, Historique, Etc. Le Biographe Universel Et L'historien''. Paris. 1846, pp. 244–251. At the onset of the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, N ...

in 1799, when the armies of the Danube and Helvetia were formed, he was assigned to the Army of the Danube under command of Jean Baptiste Jourdan. His 10th Regiment was part of

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr (; 13 April 1764 – 17 March 1830) was a French military commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire. He is regarde ...

's III. Division, and held the far left flank at the

Battle of Ostrach The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first non-Italy-based battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of ...

, 21 March 1799, in southwestern Germany. Although he was wounded on 14 August 1799 in Switzerland, he participated in the

Second Battle of Zurich The Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 September 1799) was a key victory by the Republican French army in Switzerland led by André Masséna over an Austrian and Russian force commanded by Alexander Korsakov near Zürich. It broke the stal ...

in which his 10th ''Chasseurs à Cheval'' routed a division of Russians, a decisive moment in the French victory. Ordener was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of the regiment in 1801 and on 29 August 1803, 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 ...

Duke d'Enghien affair

On Napoleon's orders, Ordener entered into the most controversial action of his career, leading a raid into the sovereign Grand Duchy of Baden to arrest

Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien (''duc d'Enghien'' pronounced ) (Louis Antoine Henri; 2 August 1772 – 21 March 1804) was a member of the House of Bourbon of France. More famous for his death than for his life, he was executed on char ...

, in 1804. Napoleon's orders were specific: Ordener and Armand Augustin Caulaincourt were to take 300 dragoons into the duchy, surround the village of

Ettenheim Ettenheim ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Äddene) is a town in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Ettenheim was founded in the 8th century by Eddo, bishop of Strasbourg, and the was founded at about that time. Ettenheim recei ...

, where the Duke lived, arrest the Duke and Charles Francois Dumouriez, who Napoleon believed was present, and bring both of the men back to France. Ordener and Caulaincourt were instructed also to take their own provisions and to inflict neither harm nor damage on any of the duchy's inhabitants or their property. In the night of 14–15 March, the dragoons crossed the

and surrounded the Duke's lodgings. Dumouriez was not there, nor had he been, but they kidnapped the Duke and took him away to France. Within a few days, the Duke was spirited into the '' Chateau de Vincennes'', on the outskirts of Paris. There he was tried for treason and executed immediately after the verdict. This action, which involved the invasion of a sovereign state, the kidnapping of a duke and a sham trial for treason followed by the man's immediate execution, had political and diplomatic repercussions throughout Europe.

Campaigns in Austria and Prussia

In 1805, Ordener participated in the campaign against Austria as commander of a regiment of horse grenadiers of the Imperial Guard. At the

, he led a decisive and energetic charge.St. Hilaire, "Military Household of the Emperor." Sixth Book, 1806
Napoleon Series
Robert Burnham, editor in chief. September 2005. Accessed 18 May 2010. He executed this, upon order of Napoleon, with impetuosity; this was the charge that pushed the Russians onto the ice and during which, French sources maintain, 40,000 Russians drowned and another 30,000 were taken prisoner. E. Pascallet. ''Revue Générale, Biographique, Historique, Etc. Le Biographe Universel Et L'historien''. Paris. 1923, p. 245. Although this charge garnered for Ordener his promotion to general of division, Napoleon commented that Ordener was worn out. He followed this observation with the frequently quoted prediction, "I think we have no more than five or six years left of him." In the 1806 campaign against Prussia, Ordener commanded a division of the elite Imperial Guard cavalry. After this campaign, he became a senator and was appointed to first equerry to the Empress Josephine. In this responsibility, he supervised the care of the empress's horses, and acted as her senior aid. Michel Ordener's daughter, Josephine-Eugenie Ordener, was one of Josephine Bonaparte's

ladies-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

. He also received the

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

. In December 1808, Ordener was raised to

Count of the Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both before and since, Napoleon found that t ...

by Napoleon. The following year, Napoleon nominated him as governor for the imperial

Château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...

of Compiegne, where he died in 1811 of an attack of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

. He is buried at the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

. Charles Mullié "Michel Ordener." ''Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850,'' Paris, 1852.

François Joseph Lefebvre François Joseph Lefebvre ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820), Duc de Dantzig, was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon. Ea ...

, Duke of Danzig, another of Napoleon's generals of plebeian origins and with whom Ordener had developed a long-standing friendship, gave the

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as ...

"It is not because of simple regrets and because of honorable mourning that we must recognize the services of a warrior who has dedicated his whole life to his fatherland and his prince. Let us give public testimony to his virtues, to his merit, to all the qualities that have made him esteemed by the Emperor and that have rendered him dear to his friends and to his family. Let us praise him today at least, because his modesty can no longer prevent us, and let us not fear to offend a virtue that he has loved so much during his life."

Family

Michel Ordener married Madeleine-Françoise Walter while he served in the quartermaster corps. They had two children, a daughter mentioned above, and a son. The son, also named Michel, was born in Huningue, on 2 (or 3) April 1787 Henri Lot. ''Les deux généraux Ordener''. Paris: Roger et F. Chernoviz, 1910. p. 59. and attended the special military academy at

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

from which he graduated on 8 December 1803 with the grade of sous-lieutenant (second lieutenant) and an assignment to the 24th Regiment of Dragoons. He also took part in the expedition to Spain and the subsequent invasion of Portugal in 1808.Biographie des membres du Sénat
Paris. Michel Lévy frères. 1852. pp. 198–202. He was promoted to colonel and ''chef de brigade'' of the 30th Regiment of Dragoons. The Dragoons received battle honors for their participation at the Battle of Borodino. He was wounded on 28 November 1812 in the withdrawal from Russia, at the

Battle of Berezina The Battle of (the) Berezina (or Beresina) took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Wittgenstein and Admiral Chichagov. Napoleon was retreating back toward Pola ...

, and again prior to Napoleon's abdication, at the Battle of Montmartre. He later fought at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. Despite his record in the Napoleonic wars and his father's common origins, he remained at his rank of colonel at the Bourbon Restoration, was confirmed as the second Count Ordener, and was acknowledged as a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. Michel Ordener Jr., married Marie-Francoise-Pauline Legouis in 1829 Fontaine-Daniel (Cistercian abbey). ''Cartulaire de l'abbay cistercienne de Fontaine-Daniel.'' Mayenne, Impr. Poirier-Béalu, 1896, p. 399. and died in 1875.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* ''Biographie des membres du Sénat.'' Paris. Michel Lévy frères. 1852. * Broughton, Tony. "French Dragoons and the Colonels Who Led Them 1792–1815: 30th Regiment of Dragons" September 2000 and "The ''Garde Imperiale'' and Its Commanders during the Period 1804–1815 The Cavalry Regiments." February 2003. In Military Organization, Strategy and Tactics
Napoleon Series
Robert Burnham, editor in chief. Accessed 16 May 2010. * Fontaine-Daniel (Cistercian abbey). ''Cartulaire de l'abbay cistercienne de Fontaine-Daniel.'' Mayenne: Impr. Poirier-Béalu, 1896. * Kagan, Frederick. ''The End of the Old Order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801–1805.'' Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press, 2006, * Lot, Henri. ''Les deux généraux Ordener''. Paris: Ro Roger et F. Chernoviz, 1910. * Madrolle, D. E. "Michel Ordener." '' Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne.'' Paris: Joseph Fr. Michaud, Louis Gabriel Michaud, 1844, * Masson, Frédéric. ''Joséphine répudiée (1809–1814).'' Paris, P. Ollendorff,

900 __NOTOC__ Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate * Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...

* Mullié Charles. "Michel Ordener." ''Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850,'' Paris, 1852. * Pascallet. ''Revue Générale, Biographique, Historique, Etc. Le Biographe Universel Et L'historien''. Paris. 1846 * St. Hilaire, "Military Household of the Emperor." Sixth Book, 1806
Napoleon Series
Robert Burnham, editor in chief. September 2005. Accessed 18 May 2010. * Tallyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de. ''Memoirs of the Prince de Talleyrand.'' New York: AMS Press, 1973, . * Wairy, Louis Constant Wairy; Walter Clark. ''Recollections of the private life of Napoleon.'' Akron Ohio: Saalfield Pub, 1904, 1913. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ordener, Michel French generals French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Commanders in the French Imperial Guard 1811 deaths 1755 births People from Forbach Burials at the Panthéon, Paris Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe