General Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet (born Le Quesnoy

Le Quesnoy

Le Quesnoy is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Le Quesnoy's inhabitants are known as Quercitains.- Economy :The town of Le Quesnoy has somehow missed much of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike the neighboring towns of Valenciennes or Maubeuge, iron/steel works did not take hold...

 9 May 1772 – died 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...

 28 October 1837) fought in the Napoleonic Wars

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...

 as a division commander in Italy and in the Peninsular War

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...

.

Empire

Mermet commanded a dragoon division in Marshal 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....

's army during the 1805 Italian campaign. In 1806, still commanding his cavalry division (23rd, 29th and 30th Dragoon Regiments), he was present at the siege and capture of the fortress of Gaeta, on the west coast of Italy.

During the second French invasion of Portugal in 1809, Mermet led a division under Marshal Nicolas Soult. He fought at the First Battle of Porto

First Battle of Porto

In the First Battle of Porto the French under Marshal Soult defeated the Portuguese, under General Parreiras, and the British Army, outside the city of Porto during the Peninsular War...

 on 28 March and the Battle of Grijó

Battle of Grijo

The Battle of Grijó was a battle that ended up in victory for the Anglo-Portuguese Army commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley over the French army commanded by Marshal Nicolas Soult during the second French invasion of Portugal in the Peninsular War...

 on 11 May. Before the Second Battle of Porto his unit was sent away to guard Soult's artillery and baggage.

In the third French invasion of Portugal, Mermet commanded the 2nd Division in Marshal Michel Ney

Michel Ney

Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...

's VI Corps. He fought at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

In the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal Michel Ney took the fortified city from Field Marshal Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti on 9 July 1810 after a siege that began on 26 April...

 and Almeida

Siege of Almeida

The Siege of Almeida may refer to one of a number of historical events including:* Siege of Almeida , during the Seven Years' War* Siege of Almeida , during the Peninsular War* Siege of Almeida , during the Peninsular War...

, the Battle of the Côa and the Battle of Bussaco in 1810. During the retreat from Portugal, Mermet participated in actions at Redinha

Battle of Redinha

The Battle of Redinha was a rearguard action which took place on March 12, 1811, during Masséna's retreat from Portugal, by a French division under Marshal Ney against a considerably larger Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington. Challenging the Allies with only one or two divisions, Ney's 7,000...

 and Foz do Arouce as part of Ney's rear guard.

Mermet led his division in Maj-General Louis Loison

Louis Henri Loison

Louis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for...

's VI Corps at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro

Battle of Fuentes de Onoro

In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro , the British-Portuguese Army under Viscount Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.-Background:...

 in May 1811. At the Battle of Vitoria

Battle of Vitoria

At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...

 in June 1813, he led a light cavalry division in Maj-Gen Honoré Reille

Honoré Charles Reille

Honoré Charles Michel Joseph Reille was a Marshal of France, born in Antibes.Reille served in the early campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars under Dumouriez and Masséna, whose daughter Victoire he married. In 1800, Reille was appointed commander of the Italian city of Florence...

's Army of Portugal.

External links

• Les 660 noms inscrits sur l'Arc de Triomphe de Paris His is one of 660 names on the Arc de Triomphe
  Arc de Triomphe
  -The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
  
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