Charles-Marie Denys, comte de Damrémont (8 February 1783 – 12 October 1837) was a French general and military governor of

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

. He was killed in combat during the siege of Constantine.

Early life

Charles-Marie Denys was born in

Chaumont, Haute-Marne Chaumont, also known Chaumont-en-Bassigny (), is a commune of France, and the prefecture of the Haute-Marne department. , it has a population of 21,847. The city stands on the river Marne and is situated on the Paris-Est–Mulhouse-Ville rail ...

on 8 February 1783. His father was Antoine Denys de Damrémont (1730-1807) who belonged to a family of merchants from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and who got rich in forges in the 17th century.

Military training

He entered the military school at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

in 1803. After graduating from the school on 1804 he became a lieutenant in the 12th regiment of chasseurs à cheval.

Campaigns of Napoleon

He took part in the Wars of the

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

and

Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, ...

s. In 1807 he became aide-de-camp to General Defrance and afterwards to Marshal Marmont. In 1811 and 1812 Damrémont served in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

but in 1813 he transferred to the

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

with which he fought in the campaigns in Germany (1813) and France (1814). During the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), 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 of King Louis XVIII o ...

Damrémont became a colonel. On 25 April 1821 Damrémont was promoted to

Maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

. In 1823 he was given command of a unit in the 5th Corps in the

Army of the Pyrenees One of the French Revolutionary armies, the Army of the Pyrenees (''Armée des Pyrénées'') was created by a decree of the National Convention dated 1 October 1792 and formed out of the right wing of the Armée du Midi. At the outbreak of the W ...

, which took part in the

French invasion of Spain The "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" was the popular name for a French army mobilized in 1823 by the House of Bourbon, Bourbon King of France, Louis XVIII, to help the Spanish Bourbon royalists restore King Ferdinand VII of Spain to the ...

. From 1823 to 1829 he served as inspector of the infantry and was named as a member of various military commissions.

Conquest of Algeria

In 1830 he commanded an infantry brigade in the French invasion of Algeria. On 13 December 1830 Damrémont was promoted to lieutenant-general.

Back to France

After his participation with the

troupes coloniales The ''Troupes coloniales'' (, "Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' (,"Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the colonial troops of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900, these troops wer ...

at the start of the

French conquest of Algeria The French conquest of Algeria (; ) took place between 1830 and 1903. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Regency of Algiers, and the French consul (representative), consul escalated into a blockade, following which the Jul ...

, Damrémont returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he was given command of the 8th military division in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 6 February 1832. On 15 September 1835 he was named

Pair de France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

Governor of Algeria

On 12 February 1837 Damrémont was appointed governor-general of

. He was appointed to this strategic post after General Bertrand Clauzel (1772–1842) failed in 1836 during the First Battle of Constantine. Governor Damrémont had in his new mission to gather reinforcements and adequate resources in order to succeed in the conquest of the Constantinois region. The major opponents to French control In Algeria were Ahmed Bey (1786-1851) in the Constantinois, with the

Emir Abdelkader Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhyi al-Din (6 September 1808 – 26 May 1883; '), known as the Emir Abdelkader or Abd al-Qadir al-Hassani al-Jaza'iri, was an Algerian religious and military leader who led a struggle against the French colonial invasion of ...

(1808–1883) in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

ia. Of these the War Ministry prioritised Ahmed Bey as to restore French honour following the defeat of Clauzel. Alger geographie

Setting conditions for the siege of Constantine

Mitidja

General Damrémont spent the first half of 1837 in partial engagements with rebels affiliated with Emir Mustapha (1814–1863) in the Algerian Sahel and Mitidja. Indeed, the Emir Mustapha organized from his stronghold of

Médéa Médéa () is the capital city of Médéa Province, Algeria. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers. The present-day city is situated on the site of an ancient Roman military post and has a history dating back to the 10th century. The ...

in the

Titteri The Titteri (, ) is a historical region in Algeria. It is located in the mountainous area of the southern Tell Atlas in the Atlas Mountains. Geography The Titteri was a former administrative division of the Regency of Algiers. It is located in ...

massif, guerrilla attacks against the French camps in Mitidja and harassed the villagers who came to collaborate with the colonial authorities. This conflicting situation at the gates of the

Casbah of Algiers The Casbah of Algiers, commonly referred to as the Casbah (Arabic: القصبة, Al-qaṣabah, meaning "citadel"), corresponds to the old town or Medina quarter, medina of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is a historic district that has been l ...

caused worry and hassle in Damrémont which could not quickly organize decisive expeditions and military campaigns outside the Mitidja. But the Khachna and Djurdjura mountains were formidable barriers to the passage of his army and the terrain enabled the Kabyle tribes and the

marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...

s of the zawiyas belonging to the

Rahmaniyya The Raḥmâniyya (Arabic: الرحمانية) is an Algerian Sufi order (tariqa or brotherhood) founded by Kabyle religious scholar Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Azhari Bu Qabrayn in the 1770s. It was initially a branch of the Khalwat ...

Sufi brotherhood to resist a future attack on Constantine. On 8 May 1837, the attack on Reghaïa in Mitidja occurred, against a colonial farm of 3000 hectares in area by the Kabyles of Beni Aïcha,

Issers Isser, formerly spelled Issers (, ) is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in Boumerdès Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 27,990. As of the latest census it has 32,580 residents. Isser is located on the ...

and Amraoua. General Damrémont responded to the disarray which settled in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

among the French, the day after the raid on Reghaïa, to organize a punitive expedition to pacify the eastern region of Mitidja which borders the

Kabylia Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is ...

of rebels subservient to the Emir Mustapha and the marabouts.

Kabylia

Governor Damrémont decided in the aftermath of the Mitidja troubles to task General Alexandre Charles Perrégaux with a mission to subdue the coastal town of Dellys from where the Amraoua Kabyles had used as a base to devastate the French agricultural concession in the Mitidja. Instructions were given to General Perrégaux to divide the

involved in this punitive expedition against the Kabyles into two distinct military columns. The first maritime column was to be commanded by Perregaux himself, and was going to embark on 17 May 1837 on ships from the port of Algiers in order to land on the shore of Oued Isser then move forward to disembark in the port of Dellys. The second column of infantry and cavalry, which was to be commanded by Colonel Maximilien Joseph Schauenburg (1784-1838), would also begin a sustained march on 17 May 1837 from Boudouaou to reach the Col des Beni Aïcha to meet the naval forces disembarked from Perrégaux in the

valley in order to continue the expedition to the Amraoua dens around the Casbah of Dellys.

Peace with Abdelkader

Damrémont took advantage of the presence of General Bugeaud (1784–1849) in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

to send him to

ia to attack the capital of the

Emirate of Abdelkader The Emirate of Mascara or Emirate of Abd al-Qadir, was a sovereign country founded by Abdelkader al-Jazairi, Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi with the allegiance of the people of Algeria to resist the French conquest of Algeria with its first capital at ...

in order to open up the region of Algérois with the strategic goal of bringing about stability in western Algeria so that Damrémont could devote himself to preparing the ultimate expedition against Constantine. Bugeaud was successful and would win a victory against the Emir at the Sikkak river, in turn leading to the Treaty of Tafna. Damrémont allowed by the peace with

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

to concentrate greater force to the east to his objective

Constantinois

La prise de Constantine 1837 par Horace Vernet

In October 1837 Damrémont commanded an expedition against Constantine. During the siege Damrémont was hit in the head by a bullet and mortally wounded during the evening of 12 October. He was replaced by general Valée who continued the attack and proceeded to capture the city on the 13th.

Burial

Damrémont was buried in a ceremony at

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

, which also saw the premiere of

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

Awards

Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont was decorated with several medals during his military career, including: * Officer of the ''

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

'', decorated with this medal since 15 September 1827.

Family

Damrémont married Clémentine Baraguey d'Hilliers (25 October 1800–4 February 1892), the daughter of General

Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers (; 13 August 1764 – 6 January 1813) was a French Army general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the father of Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, a Marshal of France, and the father-i ...

, on 7 February 1819. The couple had two children: * Auguste-Louis-Charles, born 11 December 1819 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and died in 1884. * Henriette-Françoise-Clémentine, born 11 March 1824 also in Paris and died in 1898.

Gallery

File:Photo aérienne de Reghaia.jpg, First Raid on Reghaïa (1837) File:Col de Ténia.jpg, Expedition of the Col des Beni Aïcha (1837) File:Photo boudouaou marine 08102014.jpg, First Battle of Boudouaou (1837) File:Oued Isser واد يسر - panoramio.jpg,

First Battle of the Issers The First Battle of the Issers in May 1837, during the French conquest of Algeria, pitted the troupes coloniales under General Alexandre Charles Perrégaux, Perrégaux and Colonel Maximilien Joseph Schauenburg, Schauenburg against the troops of K ...

(1837) File:Sidi Soussan à Dellys.jpg, First Assault of Dellys (1837)