Étienne Hastrel de Rivedoux
Encyclopedia
Étienne d'Hastrel de Rivedoux was a general of the First French Empire
who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars
and the Napoleonic Wars
. He was born 4 February 1766 at Pointe-aux-Trembles
in Quebec
, which was then the British colony, Province of Québec, the son of an officer in the French military. His father had served in India during the Seven Years War, and later in Quebec.
The son of rural nobility, he attended the Royal Military School in Paris as a gentleman-cadet. After his graduation, Hastrel occupied several junior positions. During the French Revolution
in 1789, and its subsequent political and social upheavals, he affirmed his loyalty to France. Described by his colleagues as naturally talented, quickly moved into the ranks of the general staff, filling increasingly important positions in several French field armies, including the Army of the Rhine, the Army of the Danube
, the Army of Helvetia
, and the Grande Armée. He also managed an autonomous division of engineers and sappers during the Peninsular War
.
After the Bourbon Restoration
, he retained his titles and honors. He was recalled from retirement in 1830, during the July Revolution
. He died 19 September 1846 at Versailles
.
His mother, Marie Anne Lienard de Boisjoly married his father, Christophe Claude d'Hastrel, a gentleman from the Île de Ré
, a small island off the coast of France near La Rochelle
, on 12 February 1760 in Neuville
. The senior d'Hastrel was a captain in the Languedoc
Regiment, in a company of grenadiers. He participated in the Siege of Pondicherry
in the Seven Years War.Christophe d'Hastrel returned to France around 1766. He died in Pondicherry (India) on 1 July 1782. Marcel Fournier. Etienne d'Hastrel's elder brother, Jacques Bruno D'Hastrel, ecuyer (equerry), Chevalier, and Lord of Rivedoux, was a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis
. Upon their father's death in 1782, he inherited the family estates and titles.
Etienne Hastrel was married twice, first in 1796 to his cousin Marie-Josephe d'Hastrel Rivedoux (b. 1767), who died 18 January 1801. He married later to an Alsatian, Louise Zäpffel or Zöpffel, the sister of Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke
. He and his second wife had a son, Adolphe Hastrel de Rivedoux
(1805–1875), artillery captain and traveler, but best known as a painter and print maker.
during the turmoil immediately following the Revolution, particularly divisive in the military. Some of soldiers, and indeed of some of the officers, suspected the loyalty of fellow officers remained with the old regime. Hastrel worried that the officers could no longer command the obedience of the troops, and recounted in his journal:
He was promoted to captain with the campaign of the Vosges
on 13 April 1792. He participated in the engagements at Frankfurt am Main and Hochheim
and Siege of Mainz (1793), and a small engagement at Bingen
. Subsequently he was named adjutant staff major of the Army of the Rhine on 11 July 1793.
In 1799, he was appointed to Jean Baptiste Jourdan's general staff of the Army of the Danube
, garrisoned initially in Strasbourg
. After crossing the Rhine in early March, the Army engaged Archduke Charles'
Austrian troops at the battles of Ostrach
and Stockach
. Following defeat at Ostrach, the army was reorganized with the Army of Helvetia
, under command of Andre Massena
. Hastrel received a staff appointment in Milan
.
François Antoine Louis Bourcier
served with Hastrel in the Army of the Danube. In 1800, he described Hastrel to François Nicolas Fririon:
In 1804, Etienne Hastrel became a member of the Legion of Honor. For the campaigns of 1805 against Austria, of 1806 against Prussia, and of 1807 against Poland, he served on the staffs of Antoine-François Andréossy
. While in Warsaw in 1807, he was promoted to general of brigade. Upon his return to Germany, Hastrel was appointed to the staff of the Prince of Ponte-Corvo, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, on 20 August 1809 and, later, to the staff of Nicolas Oudinot
in Holland. Etienne Hastrel also served as the military governor of Neumarkt, in Küstrin
, Pomerania
, 15 February 1807 to May 1807, and in the military government of Hamburg. In 1809, Napoleon sent Etienne Hastrel to Spain, to command the engineer park attached to French army. This included three companies of miners, nine companies of sappers, a battalion of mariners, another of sailors, four companies of pontonniers (bridge builders), four companies of pioneers (engineers), two companies of artillery, and park's own medical detachment, close to 5,000 men. On June 1810, he was rewarded as Commander of the Legion of Honor.
As chief of general staff of the Provisional Army of Germany, and later major general (after 1811) he was appointed 13 March 1812 as director-general of military conscription, a position which he held until the peace of 1814.
upon the restoration and placed him command of the military of the Vosges
in October. During the Hundred Days
, Napoleon appointed him as director of the Ministry of War.
In 1816, the King appointed him to various inspector generalships from 1816 to 1823, and he retired in 1825. During the July Revolution
of 1830, he was recalled to the general staff, but he retired permanently in 1832. He became a grand officer of the Legion of Honor on 8 May 1835. During his retirement, he wrote his memoires, which were published in 1833.
He died 19 September 1846 at his home in Versailles
and is buried at Cemetery of Notre Dame, at Versailles. Sixty-one of his letters, written between 1806 and 1841, are preserved at the Public Library of France, under the title Belgique, Les fètes de Bruges.
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...
who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars
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 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...
. He was born 4 February 1766 at Pointe-aux-Trembles
Pointe-aux-Trembles
Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization of districts and municipalities as boroughs....
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, which was then the British colony, Province of Québec, the son of an officer in the French military. His father had served in India during the Seven Years War, and later in Quebec.
The son of rural nobility, he attended the Royal Military School in Paris as a gentleman-cadet. After his graduation, Hastrel occupied several junior positions. During the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1789, and its subsequent political and social upheavals, he affirmed his loyalty to France. Described by his colleagues as naturally talented, quickly moved into the ranks of the general staff, filling increasingly important positions in several French field armies, including the Army of the Rhine, the Army of the Danube
Army of the Danube
The Army of the Danube was a field army of the French Directory in the 1799 southwestern campaign in the Upper Danube valley. It was formed on 2 March 1799 by the simple expedient of renaming the Army of Observation, which had been observing Austrian movements on the border between First...
, the Army of Helvetia
Army of Helvetia
The Army of Helvetia, or , was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 8 March 1798 from the remnants of the first unit to be known as the armée du Rhin...
, and the Grande Armée. He also managed an autonomous division of engineers and sappers during 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...
.
After the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, he retained his titles and honors. He was recalled from retirement in 1830, during the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
. He died 19 September 1846 at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
.
Family
Étienne d'Hastrel descended from a family of rural notables. He was the son of Christophe Claude d'Hastrel of Rivedoux, a second son of the Lord of Rivedoux, Pierre Bruno d'Hastrel. His paternal great grandparents, Jean-Baptiste Hastrel St-Léger-en-Bray from Picardy and Maria Bruno or Bruneau were married in La Flotte-en-Ré, 24 July 1684.His mother, Marie Anne Lienard de Boisjoly married his father, Christophe Claude d'Hastrel, a gentleman from the Île de Ré
Île de Ré
Île de Ré is an island off the west coast of France near La Rochelle, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....
, a small island off the coast of France near La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
, on 12 February 1760 in Neuville
Neuville, Quebec
Neuville is a village on the north shore of the Saint Laurence River, just west of Quebec City, part of the Portneuf Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1684, and has remained quite picturesque throughout these years....
. The senior d'Hastrel was a captain in the Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
Regiment, in a company of grenadiers. He participated in the Siege of Pondicherry
Siege of Pondicherry (1760)
The 1760–1761 Siege of Pondicherry was a conflict in the Third Carnatic War, part of the global Seven Years' War. Lasting from 4 September 1760 to 15 January 1761, British land and naval forces besieged and eventually compelled the surrender French forces defending the French colonial outpost of...
in the Seven Years War.Christophe d'Hastrel returned to France around 1766. He died in Pondicherry (India) on 1 July 1782. Marcel Fournier. Etienne d'Hastrel's elder brother, Jacques Bruno D'Hastrel, ecuyer (equerry), Chevalier, and Lord of Rivedoux, was a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis
Order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis was a military Order of Chivalry founded on 5 April 1693 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis . It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles...
. Upon their father's death in 1782, he inherited the family estates and titles.
Etienne Hastrel was married twice, first in 1796 to his cousin Marie-Josephe d'Hastrel Rivedoux (b. 1767), who died 18 January 1801. He married later to an Alsatian, Louise Zäpffel or Zöpffel, the sister of Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke
Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke
Henri-Jacques-Guillaume Clarke, 1st Count of Hunebourg, 1st Duke of Feltre , born in Landrecies, was a Marshal of France and French politician of Irish descent.Clarke entered the French army in 1782...
. He and his second wife had a son, Adolphe Hastrel de Rivedoux
Adolphe Hastrel de Rivedoux
Adolphe Hastrel de Rivedoux was a 19th century engraver and painter. Well known for his travels and his writing, he is best known as an artist. His father, Etienne Hastrel de Rivedoux was a general of division in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
(1805–1875), artillery captain and traveler, but best known as a painter and print maker.
Military career
Étienne d'Hastrel was admitted to the Royal Military School in Paris as a gentleman-cadet, with the rank of sous-lieutenant on 11 September 1781. When he graduated on 8 May 1784, he joined the Artois Regiment—later the 48th Infantry Regiment—as a lieutenant. He was present at RennesRennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
during the turmoil immediately following the Revolution, particularly divisive in the military. Some of soldiers, and indeed of some of the officers, suspected the loyalty of fellow officers remained with the old regime. Hastrel worried that the officers could no longer command the obedience of the troops, and recounted in his journal:
"The reception of the tri-color occasioned a scene of insubordination, which deprived us of several officers and served as a pretext to the revolutionaries to inspire defiance among the soldiers. At the moment when the flag was blessed and given to the battalion, the commander gave the orders to leave the church, but the soldiers would not budge. Stirred up by the youths who had assisted with the ceremony, they declared that they would not leave the old flag to be hung from the church vaults.... We could not enforce our commands....Seeing his authority ignored, the commander left the church and was followed by six or seven other officers. Then Capitaine Sermizelles, who had stayed, took the flag and gave it to the priest to be hung in the church.... [T]he battalion...returned to the barracks in order."
He was promoted to captain with the campaign of the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
on 13 April 1792. He participated in the engagements at Frankfurt am Main and Hochheim
Hochheim am Main
Hochheim am Main is a town in the Main-Taunus district of the state of Hessen, Germany. It is located near the right bank of the Main River three miles above the branch into the Rhine, as well as on the German Framework Road....
and Siege of Mainz (1793), and a small engagement at Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
. Subsequently he was named adjutant staff major of the Army of the Rhine on 11 July 1793.
Promotions
Honors
|
In 1799, he was appointed to Jean Baptiste Jourdan's general staff of the Army of the Danube
Army of the Danube
The Army of the Danube was a field army of the French Directory in the 1799 southwestern campaign in the Upper Danube valley. It was formed on 2 March 1799 by the simple expedient of renaming the Army of Observation, which had been observing Austrian movements on the border between First...
, garrisoned initially in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. After crossing the Rhine in early March, the Army engaged Archduke Charles'
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
Austrian troops at the battles of Ostrach
Battle of Ostrach
The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles, over the French forces, commanded by Jean...
and Stockach
Battle of Stockach (1799)
On 25 March 1799, French and Austrian armies fought for control of the geographically strategic Hegau region in present day Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names: First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen...
. Following defeat at Ostrach, the army was reorganized with the Army of Helvetia
Army of Helvetia
The Army of Helvetia, or , was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 8 March 1798 from the remnants of the first unit to be known as the armée du Rhin...
, under command of Andre Massena
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
. Hastrel received a staff appointment in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
François Antoine Louis Bourcier
François Antoine Louis Bourcier
François Antoine Louis Bourcier was a French cavalry officer and divisional general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
served with Hastrel in the Army of the Danube. In 1800, he described Hastrel to François Nicolas Fririon:
-
"The talents he has received from nature have been expanded by a careful education. His activities and services as the deputy of the general staff should make him eligible for promotion to a superior rank."
In 1804, Etienne Hastrel became a member of the Legion of Honor. For the campaigns of 1805 against Austria, of 1806 against Prussia, and of 1807 against Poland, he served on the staffs of Antoine-François Andréossy
Antoine-François Andréossy
Antoine-François, comte Andréossy was a French general and diplomat of noble origin and Italian descent.-Biography:...
. While in Warsaw in 1807, he was promoted to general of brigade. Upon his return to Germany, Hastrel was appointed to the staff of the Prince of Ponte-Corvo, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, on 20 August 1809 and, later, to the staff of Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio , was a Marshal of France.-Early life:...
in Holland. Etienne Hastrel also served as the military governor of Neumarkt, in Küstrin
Neumark
Neumark comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany.Neumark may also refer to:* Neumark, Thuringia* Neumark, Saxony* Neumark * Nowe Miasto Lubawskie or Neumark, a town in Poland, situated at river Drwęca...
, Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, 15 February 1807 to May 1807, and in the military government of Hamburg. In 1809, Napoleon sent Etienne Hastrel to Spain, to command the engineer park attached to French army. This included three companies of miners, nine companies of sappers, a battalion of mariners, another of sailors, four companies of pontonniers (bridge builders), four companies of pioneers (engineers), two companies of artillery, and park's own medical detachment, close to 5,000 men. On June 1810, he was rewarded as Commander of the Legion of Honor.
As chief of general staff of the Provisional Army of Germany, and later major general (after 1811) he was appointed 13 March 1812 as director-general of military conscription, a position which he held until the peace of 1814.
Bourbon restoration
Louis XVIII named him a Knight of Order of Saint LouisOrder of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis was a military Order of Chivalry founded on 5 April 1693 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis . It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles...
upon the restoration and placed him command of the military of the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
in October. During the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, Napoleon appointed him as director of the Ministry of War.
In 1816, the King appointed him to various inspector generalships from 1816 to 1823, and he retired in 1825. During the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
of 1830, he was recalled to the general staff, but he retired permanently in 1832. He became a grand officer of the Legion of Honor on 8 May 1835. During his retirement, he wrote his memoires, which were published in 1833.
He died 19 September 1846 at his home in Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
and is buried at Cemetery of Notre Dame, at Versailles. Sixty-one of his letters, written between 1806 and 1841, are preserved at the Public Library of France, under the title Belgique, Les fètes de Bruges.