Guillaume Philibert Duhesme

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Battle of Diersheim, by Charles Thévenin
Nickname(s)Le Général Baïonnette
Born(1766-07-07)7 July 1766
Mercurey, France
Died(1815-06-20)20 June 1815
Waterloo, Belgium
Cause of deathDeath in combat
Buried
Duhesme Mausoleum
Allegiance
BranchFrench Army
Service years1791–1815
Wars
Awards
Signature

Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme, (French pronunciation:

general, politician and writer during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. He was a commander of the Imperial Guard, Governor of Catalonia and a Peer of France. Napoleon wrote that "he was a fearless soldier, covered with wounds and of the greatest bravery, an accomplished general, who always stood firm in good and bad fortune". Duhesme is widely regarded as one of the greatest infantry
generals of the Napoleonic Wars.

Revolution

Duhesme was born in a family of the

Schelde and at the Battle of Villeneuve rallied the fleeing infantry. The French grenadiers became discouraged and abandoned their ranks. Duhesme, wounded by two shots, knelt down to support himself, presented the point of his saber to the fugitives, and managed to restore order and gain some advantage over the enemy, for which action he was made brigadier general
.

He also contributed greatly to the victory at the

Championnet, participated at the siege of Naples and took control of Calabria and Apulia. He was awarded, by decree of April 8, 1800, a full armor of honor for his conduct during the capture of Naples. He then captured Suze, defeated the enemy at Bussolino
, pursued them as far as San-Ambrosio, and took 400 prisoners, on October 29, 1799. He then met the enemy entrenched at Pignerol, disrupted them and captured Saluces on November 1, 1800.

In 1800, Duhesme led a corps in Napoleon's Army of the Reserve in the Marengo campaign. At first this command included the divisions of Louis Boudet and Louis Henri Loison. After a brilliant campaign that included the capture of Milan and other cities, his corps was made up of Loison, Lorge and Lapoype's divisions. When Napoleon fought Melas's Austrian army at Marengo, Duhesme's corps defended the Po valley.

He was made commander of the 19th military division on September 19, 1801. He became President of the Saône-et-Loire electoral college on November 7, 1803 and a decree of Napoleon made him a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Empire

Duhesme grave in Ways (Genappe, Belgium)

In 1805, he commanded the 4th division under André Masséna during the Battle of Caldiero. In 1806, Duhesme was part of the army responsible for the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples. At the time, he published a highly regarded essay titled Précis historique de l'infanterie légère, (reprinted in 1814) following which he was elected honorary associate member of the Academy of Lyon on December 23, 1806,

In 1808, Duhesme led a corps in

Marshal Augereau of allowing plundering and other transgressions, he was recalled in disgrace. The general came to Paris to justify himself, but was ordered to leave the capital immediately. He obeyed and went to Rouen. After lengthy investigations had shown the accusations to be unfounded, Duhesme was given the superior command of the fortress of Kehl
in 1813.

In 1814 he commanded a division under

Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon. Following Napoleon I's first abdication in 1814, he was made Inspector General of Infantry under the Bourbon Restoration and a Knight of Saint Louis by Louis XVIII
.

Hundred Days

In 1815, he joined Napoleon after his return from Elba and was made a Peer of France and commander of the Young Guard Division of the Imperial Guard. He fought heroically at the head of this elite troop at Ligny and on June 18, 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo. During the fifth storm of Plancenoit by the Prussians, the Guard was surrounded in their positions and eliminated, with neither side asking for nor offering quarter. The Young Guard suffered 96% casualties and Duhesme was seriously wounded in the head. He insisted on keeping command, and an aide-de-camp helped him stay in the saddle, but he was too badly wounded and was taken prisoner by the Prussians. He was transported to the Auberge du Roy d'Espagne in Genappe, where he died 2 days later with Field Marshal Blücher at his side. He was the last French general to die in the Napoleonic Wars.

Account of his death

An incident is recorded in contemporary accounts as indicative of the Brunswickers' attitude during the Battle of Waterloo. General Duhesme who was then commanding the French rearguard was standing by the gate of an inn in

Duke of Brunswick the day before yesterday and thou also shalt bite the dust". This account of the death of Duhesme was also propagated in the histories based on Napoleon's, Victor Hugo's, Pierre Larousse's and Arthur Gore's account of the affair, but it was refuted by a relative of Duhesme and his aide-de-camp on the day, who said he was mortally wounded at Waterloo and captured in Genappe where he was cared for by Prussian surgeons until he died during the night of 19/20 June.[1][2]

Family

He married Marie Magdeleine Burger (1776-1857) on November 17, 1797. They had three children:

Works and legacy

  • His name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe, 8th column, north side.
  • Duhesme wrote a noted tract, Essai historique de l'infanterie légère (Historical Essay on Light Infantry) (Lyon 1806; 3. Aufl., Par. 1864)
  • Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables describes Duhesme's death: "The general of the Young Guard, Duhesme, nabbed at the door of an inn in Genappe, handed over his sword to a hussar of Death, who took the sword and killed the prisoner. Victory was completed by the assassination of the vanquished."[3]
  • Napoleon would later write in his Mémoires that "He was a fearless soldier, covered with wounds and of the greatest bravery, a consummate general, who always stood firm in good and bad fortune."
  • Many streets, monuments and lakes in France, Belgium and Canada were named after him.

Notes

  1. ^ Charras, Jean Baptiste Adolphe (1863). Histoire de la campagne de 1815: Waterloo (in French). F.-A. Brockhaus.
  2. ^ Cruysen, Yves Vander (9 December 2023). "Bataille de Waterloo : le général Duhesme, vraiment assassiné?". La Libre.be (in French). Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. ^ Les Misérables translated by Julie Rose (Modern Library Classics)

References

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