Raphaël Vienot (31 August 1804 – 2 May 1855) was colonel of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

who particularly illustrated himself during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

while leading the assault of his regiment. He is the patron of a promotion at the ().

Military career

Born in Fontainebleau in 1804, Raphaël Vienot was admitted to the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (, , abbr. ESM) is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ''Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre'', litera ...

in 1823, after nine years of studies at the Prytanée National Militaire () of La Flèche. He graduated as a sous-lieutenant and was assigned to the 4th Line Infantry Regiment () where he served for more than twenty years. In 1846, Vienot was designated as chef de bataillon at the 20th Light Infantry Regiment (). In 1852 he joined the

1st Foreign Regiment The 1st Foreign Regiment () is a depot regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is located at Aubagne. The regiment is also responsible for running special institutions of the Legion. These include the magazine ''Képi Blanc'', the ...

1^er RE of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel . On 5 September 1854, during the

(), Vienot was appointed regimental commander. During April 1855, he led a vigorous attack by French and allied troops on the fortified works outside

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

(). During the night of 1-2 May 1855 Vienot launched an assault with his regiment on Fort () Schwartz. The Russian defenders were overcome by the legionnaires, but Colonel Viénot was shot in the forehead while leading his men. During this assault fourteen of the eighteen legion officers involved were also

. Vienot was the second regimental commander of the

to be

while at the head of his men; after Colonel Conrad.

Posterity

His name was given a couple of years after his death to the main garrison quarter of the Legion () at Sidi bel-Abbès in

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 ...

then in 1962, to the modern base of the

1^er RE, at

Aubagne Aubagne (; according to the classic norm or according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2020, the commune was awarded three flowers by the ...

in France. He was chosen as the patron for the 2006-2008 promotion (graduation class) of St Cyr: Corniche Brutionne.

References

Sources

* Répertoire des chefs de corps * Centre de documentation de la Légion étrangère * Répertoire des citations (BCAAM) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vienot, Raphaël 1804 births 1855 deaths People from Fontainebleau Officers of the French Foreign Legion French military personnel of the Crimean War French military personnel killed in action

Military career

Posterity

See also

References

Sources