Étienne Maurice Gérard
Encyclopedia
Étienne Maurice Gérard, comte
Gérard (4 April 1773 17 April 1852) was a French general and statesman. He served under a succession of French governments including the ancien regime monarchy, the Revolutionary governments, the Restorations, the July Monarchy
, the First and Second Republics, and the First Empire
(and arguably the Second
), becoming Prime Minister briefly in 1834.
, he joined a battalion of volunteers
in 1791, and served in the campaigns of 1792–1793
under Generals Charles François Dumouriez
and Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
.
In 1795, he served Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
as aide-de-camp
. In 1799 he was promoted chef d'escadron, and in 1800 colonel
.
and Jena, and was made Brigadier General
in November 1806, and for his conduct in the battle of Wagram
he was created a baron
of the First French Empire
.
In the Spanish campaign of 1810 and 1811
, Gérard gained special distinction at the battle of Fuentes de Onoro
; and in the expedition to Russia he was present at the battle of Smolensk
and the battle of Valutino
, and displayed such bravery and ability in the battle of Borodino
that he was made général de division
. He won further distinction in the disastrous retreat from Moscow.
, he took part in the battle of Lützen
and the battle of Bautzen
, as well as in the operations of Marshal Macdonald
, and at the battle of Leipzig
(in which he commanded the XI Corps) he was gravely wounded. After the battle of Bautzen, he was created by Napoleon
a count
of the Empire.
In the Six Days Campaign
of 1814, and especially at La Rothière
and the battle of Montereau
, he won still greater distinction.
, he was named by King Louis XVIII
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and chevalier of St Louis
. During the Hundred Days
, Napoleon made Gérard a Peer of France
and placed him in command of the IV Corps of the Army of the North. In this capacity Gérard took a brilliant part in the battle of Ligny
, and on the morning of 18 June he was foremost in advising Marshal Grouchy
to march to the sound of the guns to aid the emperor at Waterloo
. Having failed in this he took part in the battle of Wavre
.
Gérard retired to Brussels
after the fall of Napoleon, and did not return to France until 1817. He sat as a member of the Restoration's Chamber of Deputies
in 1822–1824, and was re-elected in 1827.
Gérard took part in the July Revolution
of 1830, after which he was appointed minister of war and named a Marshal of France
. On account of his health he resigned the office of War Minister in the following October.
to withdraw from Belgium
(see Belgian Revolution
). In 1832 he commanded the besieging army in the notorious scientific siege
of the citadel of Antwerp.
He was again chosen war minister in July 1834, and served as Prime Minister of the July Monarchy
, but resigned in the following October. In 1836 he was named grand chancellor of the Legion of Honor in succession to Marshal Mortier
, and in 1838 commander of the National Guards of the Seine
département, an office which he held until 1842. He became a senator of the Second Empire
in 1852 (before it was formally instituted), and died in the same year.
.
Comte
Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...
Gérard (4 April 1773 17 April 1852) was a French general and statesman. He served under a succession of French governments including the ancien regime monarchy, the Revolutionary governments, the Restorations, the July Monarchy
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
, the First and Second Republics, and the First 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...
(and arguably the Second
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
), becoming Prime Minister briefly in 1834.
Early life and career
Born at Damvilliers, in LorraineLorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
, he joined a battalion of volunteers
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army is the term used to refer to the military of France during the period between the fall of the ancien regime under Louis XVI in 1792 and the formation of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary...
in 1791, and served in the campaigns of 1792–1793
French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1792
The French Revolutionary Wars began in 1792.-Preparations:France declared war on Austria on 20 April 1792. But Prussia and other powers had allied themselves with Austria in the expectation of conflict, and thus France faced a coalition and not a single power at the moment when the "emigration",...
under Generals 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...
and Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
.
In 1795, he served Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
as aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
. In 1799 he was promoted chef d'escadron, and in 1800 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...
.
Rise to prominence
He distinguished himself at the battles of AusterlitzBattle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
and Jena, and was made Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
in November 1806, and for his conduct in the battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
he was created 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"...
of the First 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...
.
In the Spanish campaign of 1810 and 1811
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...
, Gérard gained special distinction 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:...
; and in the expedition to Russia he was present at the battle of Smolensk
Battle of Smolensk (1812)
The Battle of Smolensk, the first major battle of the French invasion of Russia took place on August 16–18, 1812, between 175,000 men of the Grande Armée under Napoleon Bonaparte and 130,000 Russians under Barclay de Tolly, though only about 50,000 and 60,000 respectively were actually engaged...
and the battle of Valutino
Battle of Valutino
The Battle of Valutino took place on 18 August 1812, between Marshal Ney's corps, about 30,000 strong, and a strong rear-guard of General Barclay de Tolly's army of about 40,000, commanded by the General himself. The Russians were strongly posted in marshy ground, protected by a small stream...
, and displayed such bravery and ability in the battle of Borodino
Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
that he was made général de division
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....
. He won further distinction in the disastrous retreat from Moscow.
Campaigns of 1813–1814
In the campaign of 1813, in command of a divisionDivision (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
, he took part in the battle of Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1813)
In the Battle of Lützen , Napoleon I of France lured a combined Prussian and Russian force into a trap, halting the advances of the Sixth Coalition after his devastating losses in Russia. The Russian commander, Prince Peter Wittgenstein, attempting to undo Napoleon's capture of Leipzig, attacked...
and the battle 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...
, as well as in the operations of Marshal Macdonald
Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald
Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald, 1st duke of Taranto was a Marshal of France and military leader during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Family background:...
, and at the battle of 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...
(in which he commanded the XI Corps) he was gravely wounded. After the battle of Bautzen, he was created by Napoleon
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...
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...
of the Empire.
In the Six Days Campaign
Six Days Campaign
The Six Days Campaign was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris....
of 1814, and especially at La Rothière
Battle of La Rothiere
The Battle of La Rothière was fought on 1 February 1814 between the French Empire and allied army of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and German States previously allies with France. The French were led by Emperor Napoleon and the coalition army was under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher...
and the battle of Montereau
Battle of Montereau
The Battle of Montereau was fought near Montereau-Fault-Yonne on 18 February 1814 and resulted in the victory of the French under Napoleon Bonaparte against the Austrians and the Württembergers under the King of Württemberg.- Background :...
, he won still greater distinction.
Restoration and July Revolution
After the first Bourbon RestorationBourbon 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 was named by King 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...
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and chevalier of St 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...
. 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 made Gérard a Peer of France
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
and placed him in command of the IV Corps of the Army of the North. In this capacity Gérard took a brilliant part in the battle of Ligny
Battle of Ligny
The Battle of Ligny was the last victory of the military career of Napoleon I. In this battle, French troops of the Armée du Nord under Napoleon's command, defeated a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, near Ligny in present-day Belgium. The bulk of the Prussian army survived, however, and...
, and on the morning of 18 June he was foremost in advising Marshal Grouchy
Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy
Emmanuel de Grouchy, 2ème Marquis de Grouchy was a French general and marshal.-Biography:Grouchy was born in Paris, the son of François-Jacques de Grouchy, 1st Marquis de Grouchy and intellectual wife Gilberte Fréteau de Pény . His sister was Sophie de Condorcet, a noted femininist...
to march to the sound of the guns to aid the emperor at 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...
. Having failed in this he took part in the battle of Wavre
Battle of Wavre
The Battle of Wavre was the final major military action of the Hundred Days campaign and the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on 18-19 June 1815 between the Prussian rearguard under the command of General Johann von Thielmann and three corps of the French army under the command of Marshal Grouchy. A...
.
Gérard retired to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
after the fall of Napoleon, and did not return to France until 1817. He sat as a member of the Restoration's Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of France
Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
in 1822–1824, and was re-elected in 1827.
Gérard took part in 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, after which he was appointed minister of war and named a Marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
. On account of his health he resigned the office of War Minister in the following October.
Belgian campaign and later distinctions
However, in 1831 he took the command of the Northern Army, and was successful in forcing the army of the NetherlandsUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
to withdraw from 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...
(see Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
). In 1832 he commanded the besieging army in the notorious scientific siege
Siege of Antwerp (1832)
The siege of the citadel of Antwerp took place after fighting in the Belgian Revolution ended. It occurred from 15 November to 23 December 1832 and faced off Dutch troops occupying Antwerp's citadel against France's Armée du Nord...
of the citadel of Antwerp.
He was again chosen war minister in July 1834, and served as Prime Minister of the July Monarchy
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
, but resigned in the following October. In 1836 he was named grand chancellor of the Legion of Honor in succession to Marshal Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, 1st Duc de Trévise was a French general and Marshal of France under Napoleon I.-Biography:...
, and in 1838 commander of the National Guards of the Seine
Seine (département)
Seine was a département of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. Its préfecture was Paris and its official number was 75. The Seine département was abolished in 1968 and its territory divided among four new départements....
département, an office which he held until 1842. He became a senator of the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
in 1852 (before it was formally instituted), and died in the same year.
Marriage and descendants
Gérard married Rosemonde de Valence. Their granddaughter was Rosemonde GérardRosemonde Gérard
Louise-Rose-Étiennette Gérard, known as Rosemonde Gérard was a French poet and playwright. She was the wife of Edmond Rostand , and was a granddaughter of Étienne Maurice Gérard, who was a Marshal and a Prime Minister of France.Gérard is perhaps best known today as the author of the...
.