Claude-Victor Perrin
Claude-Victor Perrin Duke of Belluno | |
---|---|
Minister of War | |
In office 14 December 1821 – 19 October 1823 | |
Preceded by | Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg |
Succeeded by | Ange Hyacinthe Maxence de Damas |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Branch/service | Army |
Years of service | 1781–1830 |
Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
Commands | X Corps I Corps IX Corps II Corps |
Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno (French pronunciation: [klod viktɔʁ pɛʁɛ̃]; 7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1807 by Emperor Napoleon I.
Early life
Victor was born in Lamarche on 7 December 1764 to Charles Perrin and Marie Anne Floriot.[1] In 1781, he enlisted in an artillery regiment in Grenoble as a drummer,[1][2] and after ten years' service he applied for and received his discharge.[1] In Valence, on 16 May 1791 he married Jeanne Josephine Muguet, by whom he had issue which was extinct in the male line by 1917.
French Revolutionary Wars
War of the First Coalition
In February 1792, Victor joined his hometown's
For his actions at Toulon, Victor received a provisional promotion to brigade general. Afterwards, he was sent to the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees and fought in the War of the Pyrenees from 1794 to 1795, where he served in the sieges of Collioure, Roses, and fought with distinction at the Battle of the Black Mountain in November 1794. Confirmed in his rank in June 1795, he returned to the Army of Italy, fighting at the Battle of Loano in November 1795.[2]
Victor served brilliantly in the
War of the Second Coalition
Victor then returned to France and was made commander of the 2nd military division in Nantes in March 1798, but was soon back in the Army of Italy. He served in the Italian campaign of 1799, and was present at the defeats of Trebbia (June 17–19), where he was injured, and Genola (November 4). The following year, he led his division at Montebello and distinguished himself at the Battle of Marengo.[2]
Appointed general-in-chief of the Army of Batavia in July 1800, Victor held this command until August 1802, when he was named commander of a planned expedition to Louisiana. However, due to the disaster of that of Saint-Domingue, the expedition was cancelled and Victor returned to his previous command in June 1803. In that year he married for a second time in June at 's-Hertogenbosch to Julie Vosch van Avesaat (1781–1831), by whom he had an only daughter who died unmarried and without issue. In February 1805, he was appointed Ambassador to Denmark.[2]
Napoleonic Wars
War of the Fourth Coalition
On the outbreak of hostilities with
In March 1807, Victor laid siege to
Peninsular War
After the
After the French victory at the
Russian campaign and War of the Sixth Coalition
In 1812, Victor was recalled to France to head the
During the French campaign of 1814, Victor was one of the generals who distinguished himself alongside Napoleon. Initially stationed with his 2nd Army Corps in Strasbourg, his outnumbered troops withdrew until late January before the advancing Coalition armies. He took part in the battles of Brienne and La Rothière, and on February 17 his troops routed Pahlen's Russian corps at the Battle of Mormant, taking 3,000 prisoners and seizing 16 artillery pieces.[2]
On 18 February 1814, Victor arrived too late at the Battle of Montereau.[5] The result was a scene of violent recrimination and his supersession by the emperor,[5] who transferred his command to General Étienne Maurice Gérard. Nevertheless, he was put at the head of two divisions of the Young Guard the same day. He was wounded by a gunshot at the Battle of Craonne on 7 March, which forced him to walk on crutches for three months.[2]
Bourbon Restoration and later life
Upon Napoleon's defeat in April 1814, Victor transferred his allegiance to the restored
When the second restoration followed the
In 1821, Victor was appointed
Personal life
Victor first married Jeanne-Josephine Muguet in May 1791 and had four children:
- Victorine (1792–1822)
- Charles (1795–1827)
- Napoléon-Victor (1796–1853)
- Eugène (1799–1852)
His second marriage was to Julie Vosch van Avesaet in June 1803 (1781–1831), with whom he had a daughter:
- Stephanie-Josephine (1805–1832)
Evaluation
Victor had mixed military talents. He was an excellent organizer and tactician. During his time in Spain he destroyed entire Spanish armies with Cannae-like envelopments and even fought Wellington to a virtual tactical draw at Talavera. However he was a timid strategist often afraid of taking risks. Nevertheless, he recognized new developments in warfare and implemented them throughout his career. At the Beresina River in 1812, he made excellent use of reverse slope defenses showing that he learned something from Wellington.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c Dunn-Pattison, Richard. Napoleon's Marshals.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Société d'Etudes Historiques Révolutionnaires et Impériales (6 March 2017). "5e bataillon des Bouches-du-Rhône". Bataillons de volontaires nationaux. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- OCLC 54946742.
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 47.
- ^ a b "Claude Victor-Perrin, duke de Bellune | French general". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
Attribution:
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Victor-Perrin, Claude". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–47. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Claude Perrin Victor Papers Archived 2020-04-06 at the Wayback Machine at The Historic New Orleans Collection