Cambronne
Encyclopedia
Pierre Jacques Étienne Cambronne, later Pierre, Viscount Cambronne (26 December 1770–29 January 1842), was a General
of the French Empire
. He fought during the wars of the Revolution
and the Napoleonic Era
. He was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo
.
(Loire-Atlantique
). He joined the Grenadiers as a volunteer in 1792, serving under Charles François Dumouriez
in Belgium
, in the Vendée
, took part in the battle of Quiberon
, then in the expedition to Ireland
under Hoche
in 1796. He then joined the Army of the Alps under André Masséna
, where he was promoted to command of a grenadier company at the Battle of Zurich
(1799).
In 1800, he commanded a company under Latour d'Auvergne
, and later succeeded him as First Grenadier of France. He was made a Colonel
at the Battle of Jena
in 1806, given command of the 3rd Regiment of the Voltigeurs
of the Guard in 1810, and was made a Baron
the same year. (Voltigeur, a French word meaning vaulter or leaper, was a designation given to elite light infantry
units in the French Army, who acted as advance units of the main column.)
Cambronne then fought in Spain
, then joined La Grande Armée
. In Russia
he commanded the 3rd Regiment of Voltigeurs of the Guard, and took part in the battles of Bautzen
, Dresden
, and Leipzig
, before being promoted to General
.
He became Major
of the Imperial Guard in 1814, and accompanied Napoléon
into exile to the island of Elba
, where he was a military commander. He then returned with Napoléon to France on 1 March 1815 for the Hundred Days, capturing the fortress of Sisteron
(5 March), and was made a Count
by Napoléon when they arrived at Paris
.
After the Battle of Waterloo
, commanding the last of the Old Guard
, he was summoned to surrender by General Colville
. A journalist named Rougement reported Cambronne's reply as "La garde meurt et ne se rend pas !" ("The Guard dies and does not surrender!"). These words became famous and were put on a Cambronne statue in Nantes after his death.
However, Cambronne always denied that he had made the "The Guard dies ..." statement. His reply, according to other sources, was the much more direct "Merde!" ("Shit!"), which he also denied having said. This version of the reply became famous in its own right, becoming known as le mot de Cambronne ("the word of Cambronne") and referred to as such in Victor Hugo
's novel Les Misérables
and Edmond Rostand
's play L'Aiglon
. Later his name would come to be used directly as a polite euphemism ("What a load of old Cambronne!") and was sometimes even as a verb, "cambronniser".
In a series of letters to The Times
it was claimed that British
Colonel Hugh Halkett
, commanding the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade, had already captured Cambronne before any reply (whatever it was) was made. It is known for certain that Cambronne, seriously wounded, was taken prisoner by the British.
Complicating matters is that the "The Guard dies ..." statement has also been ascribed to General Claude-Etienne Michel
. A trial was held between the two families, leaving the attribution undecided.
He was tried for treason
in France, but well defended by the royalist Antoine Pierre Berryer
, he was acquitted on 26 April 1816. He later married Mary Osburn, the Scottish
nurse who had cared for him after Waterloo.
In 1820, Louis XVIII
made him Commandant at Lille
with the rank of Brigadier
, and made him a Viscount
. He retired to his birthplace in 1823, dying there in 1842. A statue of Cambronne was erected in Nantes
in 1848, and a square in Paris
, the Place Cambronne, also commemorates him.
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
of the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
. He fought during the wars of the Revolution
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and the Napoleonic Era
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. He was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
.
Military career
Cambronne was born in NantesNantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
(Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean.-History:...
). He joined the Grenadiers as a volunteer in 1792, serving under Charles François Dumouriez
Charles François Dumouriez
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon.-Early life:Dumouriez...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, in the Vendée
Revolt in the Vendée
The War in the Vendée was a Royalist rebellion and counterrevolution in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the Loire River in western France. The uprising was closely tied to the Chouannerie, which took place in...
, took part in the battle of Quiberon
Invasion of France (1795)
The invasion of France in 1795 or the Battle of Quiberon was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively repulsed on 21 July...
, then in the expedition to Ireland
Expédition d'Irlande
The Expédition d'Irlande was an unsuccessful attempt by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republican group, in their planned rebellion against British rule...
under Hoche
Lazare Hoche
Louis Lazare Hoche was a French soldier who rose to be general of the Revolutionary army.Born of poor parents near Versailles, he enlisted at sixteen as a private soldier in the Gardes Françaises...
in 1796. He then joined the Army of the Alps under André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
, where he was promoted to command of a grenadier company at the Battle of Zurich
Second Battle of Zürich
The Second Battle of Zurich was a French victory over an Austrian and Russian force near Zurich. It broke the stalemate that had resulted from the First Battle of Zurich three months earlier and led to the withdrawal of Russia from the Second Coalition.After he had been forced out of the city in...
(1799).
In 1800, he commanded a company under Latour d'Auvergne
Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne
Théophile Malo Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne was a French officer named by Napoleon "first grenadier of France". He was also a celtomaniac antiquarian who introduced the words "dolmen" and "menhir" into general archaeological usage.- Career :He was born at Carhaix in Brittany, the son of an...
, and later succeeded him as First Grenadier of France. He was made a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
at the Battle of Jena
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia...
in 1806, given command of the 3rd Regiment of the Voltigeurs
Voltigeurs
The Voltigeurs were French military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor Napoleon I.-Etymology:Voltigeurs hold their name from their originally conceived role of cavalry-transported skirmishers: the voltigeurs were intended to jump onto the croup of cavalry horses in order to advance more...
of the Guard in 1810, and was made a Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
the same year. (Voltigeur, a French word meaning vaulter or leaper, was a designation given to elite light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
units in the French Army, who acted as advance units of the main column.)
Cambronne then fought in Spain
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, then joined La Grande Armée
La Grande Armée
The Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain...
. In Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
he commanded the 3rd Regiment of Voltigeurs of the Guard, and took part in the battles of Bautzen
Battle of Bautzen
In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat...
, Dresden
Battle of Dresden
The Battle of Dresden was fought on 26–27 August 1813 around Dresden, Germany, resulting in a French victory under Napoleon I against forces of the Sixth Coalition of Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Field Marshal Schwartzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory was not as complete as it could...
, and Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
, before being promoted to General
Général
Général is the French word for General.In France, Army generals are named after the type of unit they command. In ascending order there are two ranks :* Général de brigade : Brigade General.* Général de division : Divisional General....
.
The hundred days and Waterloo
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
of the Imperial Guard in 1814, and accompanied Napoléon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
into exile to the island of Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
, where he was a military commander. He then returned with Napoléon to France on 1 March 1815 for the Hundred Days, capturing the fortress of Sisteron
Sisteron
Sisteron is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Sisteron is situated on the banks of the River Durance just after the confluence of the rivers Buëch and Sasse...
(5 March), and was made a Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
by Napoléon when they arrived at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
After the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, commanding the last of the Old Guard
Old Guard
The Old Guard were the elite veteran elements of theEmperor Napoleon's Imperial Guard. As such it was the most prestigious formation in Napoleon's Grande Armée....
, he was summoned to surrender by General Colville
Charles Colville
Sir Charles Colville was a British military leader who fought in the Peninsular War and in action near the Battle of Waterloo, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He was the son of John Colville, 8th Lord Colville of CulrossAmong other battles, Colville led the 2nd Brigade in Picton's 3rd...
. A journalist named Rougement reported Cambronne's reply as "La garde meurt et ne se rend pas !" ("The Guard dies and does not surrender!"). These words became famous and were put on a Cambronne statue in Nantes after his death.
However, Cambronne always denied that he had made the "The Guard dies ..." statement. His reply, according to other sources, was the much more direct "Merde!" ("Shit!"), which he also denied having said. This version of the reply became famous in its own right, becoming known as le mot de Cambronne ("the word of Cambronne") and referred to as such in Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's novel Les Misérables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
and Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's play L'Aiglon
L'Aiglon
L'Aiglon is a play in six acts by Edmond Rostand based on the life of Napoleon's son, Napoleon II of France, Duke of Reichstadt. The title comes from a nickname for Napoleon II, the French word for "eaglet" . The title role was created by Sarah Bernhardt in the play's premiere on 15 March 1900 at...
. Later his name would come to be used directly as a polite euphemism ("What a load of old Cambronne!") and was sometimes even as a verb, "cambronniser".
In a series of letters to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
it was claimed that British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Colonel Hugh Halkett
Hugh Halkett
General Baron Hugh Halkett, GCH, CB, was a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars and later a general of infantry in the Hanoverian service.-Early career:...
, commanding the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade, had already captured Cambronne before any reply (whatever it was) was made. It is known for certain that Cambronne, seriously wounded, was taken prisoner by the British.
Complicating matters is that the "The Guard dies ..." statement has also been ascribed to General Claude-Etienne Michel
Claude-Etienne Michel
General Claude-Étienne Michel , an officer in Napoleon's army, was second in command of the Chasseur Division of the Guard and commander of its Brigade of Middle Guard...
. A trial was held between the two families, leaving the attribution undecided.
Further career
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
in France, but well defended by the royalist Antoine Pierre Berryer
Antoine Pierre Berryer
Antoine Pierre Berryer was a French advocate and parliamentary orator. He was the twelfth member elected to occupy seat 4 of the Académie française in 1852.-Early years:...
, he was acquitted on 26 April 1816. He later married Mary Osburn, the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
nurse who had cared for him after Waterloo.
In 1820, Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
made him Commandant at Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
with the rank of Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
, and made him a Viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
. He retired to his birthplace in 1823, dying there in 1842. A statue of Cambronne was erected in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
in 1848, and a square in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the Place Cambronne, also commemorates him.