François Etienne Kellermann

The revolution

It began its military career, while entering as second lieutenant the regiment of hussards, ordered by his father François Christophe Kellermann whom it left quickly, to follow in 1791, the Chevalier of Ternau, appointed ambassador with the the United States.

Returned in France in 1793, it went near his father, who was going to take again the command of the army of the Alps and Italy; became its assistance-of-camp, made in this quality the Campagne of the Alps, attended the Siège of Lyon, and shared the disgrace of his/her father when Robespierre made it imprison with the Prison of the Abbey.

Of return to Metz, near his uncle, Mister de Marbois, it was put itself in a state of arrest to have corresponded, about his father, with the mistress of the hotel of the Princes, which had had cowardice to deliver his correspondence to the police force.

Questioned by Barthelemy, mayor of Metz, it exposed the facts with frankness, supported that it had always been animated patriotic feelings, and managed to be justified by calling upon a writing which it had published in his return of America, in which it made the greatest praise of the free constitutions of the United States.

Freed some time after, Kellermann went to Grenoble, and claimed near the deputies of the Convention, Albitte, Nioche, Dubois-Crancé, the command of the battalion of the hunters of the Hautes-Alpes, of which it was titular. On their refusal, it entered like volunteer the 1 {{er}} Régiment of Hussards.

After the widening of his father, it took again the command of its battalion which was at that time with Cagliano, close to the Cape Vado, not far from Savone, and little time after the functions of assistance-of-camp with the rank of Chef of brigade.

Named adjudant-general it accepted the order to go to join the general-in-chief Napoleon Bonaparte, whom it followed to Lodi, with Milan and Pavia.

Passed then with the division of the general Masséna, it was charged, by this general, several recognitions, and was with him with Bassano, with Arcole, Rivoli, and the Prise of Mantoue.

In the passing of Tagliamento, in the year V, it was wounded several blows of saber in the load which it carried out with the general Dugua.

Charged with going to present to the Directory the flags conquered on the enemy, it was high with the Brigadier general rank of on the formal request for Bonaparte. It did not have whereas twenty-six years.

Kellermann ordered the avant-garde of division Macdonald, at the time of the entry of the general Mack in Italy; and made, under the orders of Championnet, this countryside or 15.000 French dispersed 60.000 Napolitain S, supported innumerable masses of insurrectionists. Placé in front of the village of Nepi, the 23 frimaire year VII (December 13rd 1798), it resisted the first column, which attacked it with resolution, and having with him only two battalions, three squadrons of hunters and two light pieces of artillery, it managed to put in rout 8.000 men.

However the enemy general, determined to take his revenge, walked again against Kellermann, which had hardly 600 men of infantry, 150 horses of the 19 {{E}} of Hunters and 2 parts of gun. After having supported this attack with its accustomed bravery, it charged the Neapolitan column, put it in escape, seized its boxes, its crews, the treasure of the army, then arrived under the walls of Rome, where it had not hesitated to penetrate to remove the king de Naples, if it had fears only the troops of the general Burkard, joined together with those of the count Roger of Damas, emigrated French, did not come to cut the retirement to him while being reformed behind him.

Wanting to punish Viterbe which had revolted, it moved on this city, and having met on its Roger road of Damas to the head of 6.000 men, it demolished it and obliged it to seek its safety in the escape.

Deprived of these helps, Viterbe went, and the French, prisoners since one month in this city, were returned to freedom; and Kellerman moved towards Rome to join the army which was moving on Naples. Arrived the 4 pluviôse year VII pennies the walls of Naples, the general-in-chief gave the responsability Kellermann to go side of the sea to seize strong del Ovo and Nuovo Manor house, whom it carried with the bayonet.

He penetrated the first in the middle of the city with a small number of men, seized the central point of resistance of Lazzaroni, known as the Luogo degli Studi , dispersed this troop of rebels and advanced towards the Saint-Elme castle to deliver the Neapolitan patriots who had taken refuge there. The following day, it accepted the order to go down in Naples to take possession of the castle of Egg, the only strengthened place which was not still occupied by our troops.

Obliged to go to the baths Aix-en-Provence, following violent a Neuralgia, it was there for some time, when Bonaparte approached miraculeusement with Fréjus.

Charged, in year VIII, by the First Consul, of a brigade of large cavalry to the army of Italy, it fought with it with Marengo. Kellermann “wire” was made known the June 14th 1800 with Marengo with the load of Cavalerie which it led to the head of 400 men and which decided victory; it is following this action that it was named major general.

The Kellermann general decided by this load of one of the most astonishing victories of French military annals.

Major general the 16 messidor Year VIII, it accepted, the 23 vendémiaire An XII, the Légion of honor, was in charge of an inspection of troops with horse of the Armée with Italy, and accepted the command of the cavalry during the invasion of Hanover.

Empire

In the Year XIV, it united the Large army the day before the Bataille of Austerlitz where it ordered the cavalry of Ier Army corps under the marshal Bernadotte. The speed of its movements having attracted the regiment of the hulans large duke Constantin through the French battalions, this regiment perishes almost whole shot with bearing end, and the Essen general, who had led it, was mortally struck.

He will be then in the Iberian peninsula under the command of Junot. In 1807 it was in charge of the command of a division under Junot, with the army expeditionary of Portugal. It takes part the August 21st 1808 in the Bataille of Vimeiro against the Anglo-Portuguese forces; it is him which will be, following this defeat, charged by Junot with requesting a suspension of fighting.

Junot joins together all the generals in a council of war in which one examined the situation of the French Army, it was decided that one would try a negotiation with the English, waited until one could not, with 20.000 men, to be maintained in a country in insurrection and in the presence of a quadruple army of the Frenchwoman. The Kellermann general, in whom it skill did not yield it to the value, was designated to fulfill this difficult mission.

Consequently, it went the August 23rd to the English general headquarter, where it was accepted by the enemy generals with the greatest distinction.

As soon as the Convention of Curved had been ratified, the French Army embarked, the September 30th, on English vessels with its weapons, its ammunition, its luggage, and returned very whole in the Peninsula one month after in being left.

In 1809, it replaced the marshal Bessières in the command as a chief of the septentrional army of Spain, and united with the body of the marshal Ney in Galicia, with which it carried out the invasion of the Asturies, and beat the army joined together by the marquis of Romana.

It fought with Alba de Tormes, where it gained, eight days after the Bataille of Ocaña, an advantage not less decisive.

The general Marchand having beaten the Duc LED Parks this one, being reinforced, advanced on Salamanque with an army of 40.000 men. The Kellermann general, informed of this event, gave up all his positions, except Valladolid, reached the November 26th the avant-garde of the duke del Parque to the Carpio, and forced it to be withdrawn on Salamanque.

The 28, at two hours after midday, he united the rear-guard of the Spanish body, which was folded up in the direction of Alba de Tormès, where the duke del Parque had given an opinion.

At the time when the enemy columns were formed, it precipitated on them with its frightening cavalry, made a dreadful carnage, removed their flags, their artillery to them, and dispersed of it in wood, in the close vines, those which it could not reach.

Intended to belong to the forwarding of Moscow, the Kellermann general was stopped in way by a grave disease when it went in all haste to the Large army.

In 1813 it made the Campagne of Saxony with the body of the Maréchal Ney, of which it ordered the avant-garde with the Combat of Rippach. With the battles of Lützen, it supported the first shock of the enemy, was wounded and had three horses killed under him.

With the Battle of Bautzen, it carried, with the head of the avant-garde of the marshal Ney, the village of Klix, where it had two more horses killed under him.

Lastly, with the battles of Wachau, in October, it collapsed, with the cavalry Polish E, the division of the cuirassiers of the general Lewachow; but, pulled by its heat, it fell in the middle of three divisions from Austrian cavalry from reserve, which took it in side, and, carrying the disorder in its rows, forced it to be withdrawn on the heights of Wachau.

In 1814, with the business of Mormant, it beat the troops of the count de Pahlen, and seized 11 parts of gun, 40 boxes and 20.000 infantrymen.

To the Combat of Saint-Dizier, it contributed to put in rout the columns of Winzingerode, which had to suffer considerably from the reiterated loads of the French cavalry.

Restoration

After having adhered to the acts of the Senate, it was, by royal decree of the May 6th 1814, named member of the council of the war for the royal guard.

General inspector for the organization of the cavalry in the places of Lunéville and Nancy, on June 1st, it accepted the Croix of Saint-Louis the 2, and, the 23 of the same year, the large cord of the Légion of honor.

It ordered, at the time of the return of the isle of Elba of the Emperor, a division of cavalry to the army that the Duc of Berry was to oppose to Napoleon.

Member of the Room of the Pars, during the Hundred Days, Napoleon entrusted the command of a body to him, of large cavalry, with which it took a glorious share in the countryside of June. In 1815, it receives the command of IIIe Corps of cavalry with which it takes share with the battles of the Four-Arm and of Waterloo.

One knows that at the time of this last battle, having been placed under the orders of the marshal Ney, it will try to moderate the heats of its chief while being opposed, without success, with the unwise loads and disordered impetuses by this one.

The Ney marshal, that Napoleon had charged with fighting the English army, had remained part of the day under the influence of a continual irresolution. If, as of ten hours of the morning, it had gone on the position of the Four-Arms, occupied by the 3rd Belgian division, no doubt that it had not crushed this division, and that it had not managed to make undergo the same fate with the other army corps anglo-Dutchwoman which advanced separately, harassed with tiredness, on the roadways of Bubble and Brussels.

With return to Paris, it was charged, some time after, with the generals Gerard and Haxo, to bring to Louis XVIII the tender of the Armée with the Loire.

After having inherited the title duke and peerage of the marshal his father, Kellermann died the June 2nd 1835 of an affection of liver.

References

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