Henri François Marie Charpentier (; 23 June 1769 – 14 October 1831) became a French

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

and a division commander during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. In 1791 he joined a volunteer battalion and later became a staff officer. He served as

Jacques Desjardin Jacques Desjardin () or Jacques Jardin or Jacques Desjardins; (9 February 175911 February 1807) enlisted in the French royal army as a young man and eventually became a sergeant. During the first years of the French Revolutionary Wars he enjoyed ve ...

's chief of staff when that general served as commander of the right wing of the

Army of the North The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...

during the battles of Grandreng,

Erquelinnes Erquelinnes (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Located on the border with France, where the commune of Maubeuge lies, Erquelinnes had a total resident population of 9,549, in 2006. The total area is ...

and

Gosselies Gosselies (; ) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowl ...

in 1794. Next year he was

Jacques Maurice Hatry Jacques Maurice Hatry (; Strasbourg, 12 February 1742 – Paris, 30 November 1802) was a French general. A colonel on the outbreak of the French Revolution, he rose to général de division in 1794 and fought with distinction in the armée du ...

's chief of staff during the Siege of Luxembourg. He was promoted to general of brigade and fought at the Trebbia and Novi in 1799 and fought at Montebello and Marengo in 1800.

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

appointed him

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 corps ...

in 1804. In 1806 Charpentier became chief of staff to

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French statesman and military officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, ...

in Italy but later fought at

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

in Spain in 1808. Serving under Eugène again, in 1809 he was present at

Sacile Sacile (; , Liventino: ; Western Friulian: ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone, in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is known as the "Garden of the " after the many palaces that were cons ...

Caldiero Caldiero is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about east of Verona. Caldiero borders the following municipalities: Belfiore, Colognola ai Colli, Lavagno, San ...

, the Piave, Tarvis, Raab and

Wagram Deutsch-Wagram (literally "German Wagram", ), often shortened to Wagram, is a village in the Gänserndorf District, in the state of Lower Austria, Austria. It is in the Marchfeld Basin, close to the Vienna city limits, about 15 km (9 mi) north ...

. During the 1812

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

, he fought at

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. In 1813 he led an infantry division in the

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

Lützen Lützen () is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Lützen is situated in the Leipzig Bay, approximately southwest of the Leipzig city limits and northeast of Weißenfels. The town has access to the Bun ...

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

, Katzbach,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

and

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

. In 1814 he led a Young Guard division at Craonne,

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The Ancient Diocese of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held s ...

, Fère-Champenoise and

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 ...

. His surname is one of the

names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe The following is a list of the 660 names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them represent generals who served during the French First Republic (1792–1804) and the First French Empire (1804–1815). Underlined names signify t ...

, on Column 26.

References

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charpentier, Henri Francois Marie 1769 births 1831 deaths French generals Commanders of the Legion of Honour French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars People from Soissons Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe Counts of the First French Empire