Dominique Vandamme

Dominique Joseph René Vandamme
Dominique Joseph René Vandamme
	General of Division
Commands held	I Corps; III Corps
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars; Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Legion of Honour (Grand Cross)

General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg (5 November 1770, in Cassel, Nord – 15 July 1830) was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a dedicated career soldier with a reputation as an excellent division and corps commander. However, he had a nasty disposition that alienated his colleagues, and would publicly criticize Napoleon, who never appointed him marshal.^[1]

Biography

Vandamme enlisted in the army in 1786 and rapidly rose through the ranks. At the outbreak of the

Marshal Soult's IV Corps in the charge that captured the Pratzen Heights.^[3] For his leadership he was awarded the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour.^[2]

In 1806-7 his forces besieged

Breslau, and after finally taking it he ordered the fortifications to be levelled. He was named Count of Unsebourg by Napoleon I after the Silesian campaign during the War of the Fourth Coalition.^[4] In the campaign of 1809, he led a small allied corps from Württemberg in the battles of Abensberg, Landshut, and Eckmühl.^[5]

Reportedly a brutal and violent soldier, renowned for insubordination and looting, Napoleon is said to have told him, "If I had two of you, the only solution would be to have one hang the other". Napoleon later also commented:

"If I were to launch a campaign against Lucifer in Hell, Vandamme would be at my back."^[6]^[7]

In the campaign of 1813, Vandamme's

Louis XVIII. He was thus free of all obligations towards the Bourbons, and when Napoleon returned, joined him without hesitation. The emperor made him a peer of France.^[2]

In the

Louis XVIII of France, Vandamme was exiled to America and settled in Philadelphia amongst other French military exiles.^[9] General Vandamme was allowed to return to France by the ordinance of 1 December 1819. He was re-established in the service in the Ètat-major Général, until his final retirement on 1 January 1825. Afterwards, he lived alternatively in Cassel and Ghent, occupying himself with the writing of his memoirs. He died in his native Cassel, aged 59.^[2]

VANDAMME is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.

Notes

^ John G. Gallaher, Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (2008).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandamme, Dominique René, Count". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 885.
^ Christopher Duffy, Austerlitz 1805, Archon Books, Hamden, CT, USA, 1977, pp 105-07, 113-21
^ 19 March 1808, confirmed by patent dated 1 April 1809. (Gallaher 2008, p. 185)
^ David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1966, pp 680-83
^ Horne (2014).
ISBN 9781612003337
.

^ Chandler, pp 911-12

^ John G. Gallaher, Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (2008). excerpt

References

Berthezène, Pierre (1855), Souvenirs militaires de la République et de l'Empire, vol. 2, Paris, p. 279{{ISBN 2-914288-24-7 )
Gallaher, John G. (2008), Napoleon's Enfant Terrible. General Dominique Vandamme, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-3875-6 Rosengarten, Joseph George (1907), French colonists and exiles in the United States, Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott, pp. 166–167
Further reading Gallaher, John G. Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (2008). excerpt Horne, Alistair (1996), How far from Austerlitz, Macmillan Authority control databases International FAST ISNI VIAF National France BnF data Germany Israel Belgium United States Netherlands Poland People Netherlands 2 Deutsche Biographie Other SNAC IdRef

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dominique_Vandamme&oldid=1208776488"

[1] John G. Gallaher, Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (2008).

[EB1911-2] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandamme, Dominique René, Count". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 885.

[3] Christopher Duffy, Austerlitz 1805, Archon Books, Hamden, CT, USA, 1977, pp 105-07, 113-21

[4] 19 March 1808, confirmed by patent dated 1 April 1809. (Gallaher 2008, p. 185)

[5] David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1966, pp 680-83

[6] Horne (2014).

[7] ISBN 9781612003337
.

[8] Chandler, pp 911-12

[9] John G. Gallaher, Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (2008). excerpt

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