François-Étienne de Damas (22 June 1764 - 23 December 1828) was a French general.

Life

Damas was born in Paris. Destined by his family for a career in architecture, instead he joined the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. N ...

on 14 July 1789 and served in the ''camp sous Paris'' in 1792. Damas's mathematical knowledge led général Meusnier of the engineers to choose him as his aide-de-camp on coming to take command of Paris. Damas went with Meusnier when Meusnier moved to the armée du Rhin, which was commanded by Custine. He was in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

when it was besieged in 1793 and found himself close to Meusnier when Meusnier was mortally wounded crossing the

Main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries * ...

. Damas was then made an adjudant-général, then chef d'état-major under

Jean-Baptiste Kléber Jean-Baptiste Kléber () (9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. After serving for one year in the French Royal Army, he entered Habsburg service seven years later. However, his plebeian ancest ...

and finally

général de 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 ...

on 6 December. He distinguished himself in the crossing of the

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

, during which he took an Austrian position at bayonet-point and was wounded in the leg by a bullet just as, in the words of

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...

, he was showing the army the path to victory. He was also noted for his conduct at the assault on Alexandria, the capture of

Rosetta Rosetta or Rashid (; ar, رشيد ' ; french: Rosette ; cop, ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ ''ti-Rashit'', Ancient Greek: Βολβιτίνη ''Bolbitinē'') is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The ...

, the battle at Chebreiss, the

battle of the Pyramids The Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was a major engagement fought on 21 July 1798, during the French Invasion of Egypt. The battle took place near the village of Embabeh, across the Nile River from Cairo, but was ...

and the battle at Ghemélié, all during the

French invasion of Egypt The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the p ...

. He also took part in the destruction of the

Mameluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

camp before El-Arichet and caught the plague in Jaffa. He then rose to général de division and commanded part of

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend wikt:downriver, upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. ...

after Kléber's death. After the battle unwisely begun by

Jacques-François Menou Jacques-François de Menou, Baron of Boussay, later Abdallah de Menou, (3 September 1750 – 13 August 1810) was a French statesman and general of Napoleon during the French Revolutionary Wars, most noted for his role in the Egyptian Campaign c ...

, general Damas was ill-treated in the reports back to Paris and disgraced by

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 wh ...

. Damas left the army and was jobless for five years. He was implicated in the trial of

Jean Victor Marie Moreau Jean Victor Marie Moreau (, 14 February 1763 – 2 September 1813) was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte to power, but later became a rival and was banished to the United States. Biography Rise to fame Moreau was born at Morl ...

and only freed at the request of

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the m ...

. When Murat became Grand Duke of Berg in 1806, he made Damas his secretary of state and military commander. He fought in the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

, distinguishing himself 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 Polan ...

. His brother, General

François Auguste Damas François Auguste Damas (October 2, 1773 – September 7, 1812) was a French general of brigade. He was the brother of François-Étienne de Damas. He was killed at the Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the vill ...

, was killed in the same campaign. He then returned to the Duchy of Berg, then in 1815 to France with the title of inspector general of the infantry. The

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

king

Louis XVIII of France Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in e ...

made him a colonel and commander of the garde royale de Paris (later known as the gendarmerie royale). He remained loyal to the king during 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 restorati ...

, during which he served as inspector general of infantry. He held his posts from 1816 until his death in Paris in 1828.

Sources

* ''Dictionnaire Bouillet'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Damas, Francois-Etienne 1764 births 1828 deaths French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Francois-Etienne Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe