Colonel General (France)
Encyclopedia
A Colonel General was an officer of the French army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

 during the Ancien Régime, Napoleonic era
Napoleonic Era
The Napoleonic Era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative Assembly, and the third being the Directory...

 and the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon 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...

.

The positions were not military ranks, but rather offices of the crown
Great Officers of the Crown of France
The Great Officers of the Crown of France, known as the Grand Dignitaries of the Empire during the French Empire, were the most important officers of state of the royal court in France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration. They were appointed by the French monarch, with all but the...

. The position was first created under François I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...

. The Colonels General served directly below the Marshals 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...

, and they were divided by their branch of service. By the end of the Ancien Régime, the Colonels General were:
  • Colonel General of the Infantry
    Infantry
    Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

  • Colonel General of the Cavalry
    Cavalry
    Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

  • Colonel General of the Dragoon
    Dragoon
    The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...

    s
  • Colonel General of the Hussards
  • Colonel General of the Cent-Suisses and Grisons
  • Colonel General of the Gardes Françaises
    Gardes Françaises
    The Gardes Françaises was one of the two non-ceremonial infantry regiments in the "Maison du Roi" of the French Army under the Ancien Régime. The other regiment was the Gardes Suisses, which made the Gardes Françaises the only one recruited from France.-History:The regiment was created in 1563 by...



Judging the position of Colonel General of the Infantry to be too powerful, Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

 suppressed the position in 1661 and only appointed Colonel Generals of honorific branches like the Colonel General of the Dragoons (created in 1668), the Colonel General of the Cent-Suisses and Grisons, who oversaw the Swiss regiments of the Maison du Roi
Maison du Roi
The Maison du Roi was the name of the military, domestic and religious entourage around the royal family in France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration; the exact composition and duties of its various divisions changed constantly over the Early Modern period...

, and the Colonel of the Gardes Françaises. The position was reinstated under Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

.

All the offices of Colonel General were eliminated at the time of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, but they were reinstated by Napoleon I
Napoleon I
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...

. Under the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon 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...

, certain titles were accorded to members of the royal family. After 1830, the position was eliminated.

Infantry

  • 1546 : Jean de Taix
  • Charles de Cossé-Brissac
  • 1547 : Gaspard de Coligny
    Gaspard de Coligny
    Gaspard de Coligny , Seigneur de Châtillon, was a French nobleman and admiral, best remembered as a disciplined Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion.-Ancestry:...

    , Admiral of France
    Admiral of France
    The title Admiral of France is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of Marshal of France.The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible...

  • 1555 : François de Coligny, seigneur d'Andelot
  • 1558 : Blaise de Montluc, 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...

  • 1560 : Charles de La Rochefoucauld, seigneur de Randan
  • 1562 : Sébastien de Luxembourg, duc de Penthièvre
  • Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac
  • 1569–1581 : Philippe Strozzi, seigneur d'Épernay and de Bressuire
  • 1581–1642 : Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette
    Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette
    Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette , created Duke of Épernon, was a powerful member of the French nobility at the turn of the 17th century. He was deeply involved in plots and politics throughout his life....

    , duc d'Épernon
  • 1642–1661 : Bernard de Nogaret, duc d'Épernon
  • 1721–1730 : Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans
  • 1780–1790 : Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé

Cavalry

  • 1548–1549 : Charles de Cossé, comte de Brissac
  • 1549 : Claude de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale
  • 1558 : duc de Nemours
  • 1569–1571 : François de Lorraine, duc de Guise
  • 1571–1572 : Charles de Montmorency, duc de Damville, 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...

  • 1572–1574 : Guillaume de Montmorency, seigneur de Thuré
  • 1574–1585 : duc de Nemours
  • 1585–1586 : duc d'Aumale, 1585
  • 1586–1588 : maréchal de La Guiche
  • 1588–1589 : Charles de Valois, duc d'Angoulême
  • 1589–1595 : duc des Ursins
  • 1595–1604 : comte d'Auvergne
  • 1604–1616 : duc de Nemours
  • 1616–1618 : Charles de Valois, duc d'Angoulême
  • 1618 : François de Valois, comte d'Alès
  • 1618–1626 : duc de Rohan
  • 1626–1643 : Louis de Valois, comte d'Alès
  • 1643–1653 : Louis Emmanuel de Valois, duc d'Angoulême
  • 1653–1657 : Louis de Lorraine, duc de Joyeuse
  • 1657–1675 : Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne-Bouillon, vicomte de Turenne
  • 1675–1705 : Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • 1705–1740 : Henri Louis de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • 1740–1759 : Godefroy Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • 1759–1790 : marquis de Béthune

Dragoons

  • 1668–1672 : Antonin Nompar de Caumont, duc de Lauzun
  • 1672–1678 : Nicolas d'Argouges, marquis de Rannes
  • 1678–1692 : Louis François de Boufflers, 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...

  • 1692–1703 : René de Froulay, comte de Tessé
    René de Froulay de Tessé
    René de Froulay, comte de Tessé was a French Marshal and diplomat.- Military career :Tessé was born at Le Mans...

    , 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...

    , général des Galères
  • 1703–1704 : Antoine V de Gramont
    Antoine V de Gramont
    Antoine V de Gramont , Duke of Guiche, French military figure and member of the Gramont family. He was the oldest child of Antoine Charles IV de Gramont and Marie Charlotte de Castelnau. At the age of thirteen, he became a musketeer and by 1687 he had become head of his regiment and had married the...

    , 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...

    , colonel général des Gardes Françaises
  • 1704–1734 : François de Franquetot de Coigny
    François de Franquetot de Coigny
    François de Franquetot de Coigny was a Marshal of France, Count, and from 1747, the Duke of Coigny.He was born in the Coigny château near Coutances, Normandy as son of Robert-Jean de Coigny, and Marie-Françoise de Matignon. His uncle was Charles-Auguste de Goyon-Matignon, Marshal of France and his...

    , 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...

  • 1734–1754 : Jean Antoine François de Franquetot, duc de Coigny
  • 1754–1771 : Marie Charles Louis d'Albert, duc de Chevreuse and de Luynes
  • 1771–1783 : François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny
    François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny
    François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny, 1er duc de Coigny was a Marshal of France.The grandson of another Marshal of France, François de Franquetot de Coigny, he entered the musketeers at age fifteen. When he was eleven, his father, Jean, Marquis de Coigny , was killed in a duel...

  • 1783–1790 : Louis joseph Charles Amable d'Albert, duc de Chevreuse and de Luynes

Cent-Suisses et Grisons

  • 1568–1596 : Charles de Montmorency, duc de Damville, Marshal of France
  • 1596–1605 : baron Harlay de Sancy
  • 1605–1614 : Henri, duc de Rohan
    Henri, duc de Rohan
    Henri de Rohan, Viscount then Duke of Rohan , later duke of Rohan, French soldier, writer and leader of the Huguenots, was born at the Château de Blain , in Brittany....

  • 1614–1632 : François de Bassompierre
    François de Bassompierre
    François de Bassompierre was a French courtier.The son of Christophe de Bassompierre , he was born at the castle of Haroué in Lorraine...

    , Marshal of France
  • 1632–1642 : César, marquis de Coislin
  • 1642–1643 : marquis de La Châtre
  • 1643–1647 : François de Bassompierre
    François de Bassompierre
    François de Bassompierre was a French courtier.The son of Christophe de Bassompierre , he was born at the castle of Haroué in Lorraine...

    , Marshal of France
  • 1647–1657 : Marshal de Schomberg
  • 1657–1674 : comte de Soissons
  • 1674–1710 : Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine
  • 1710–1755 : Louis Auguste, Prince of Dombes
  • 1755–1762 : Louis Charles, Count of Eu
  • 1762–1771 : Étienne François de Choiseul-Stainville, duc de Choiseul
  • 1771–1790 : Charles Philippe, Count of Artois
    Charles X of France
    Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

    , brother of Louis XVI
    Louis XVI of France
    Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....


Gardes-Françaises

  • 1661–1671 : Antoine, duc de Gramont
  • 1672–1692 : François d'Aubusson, duc de La Feuillade
  • 1692–1704 : Louis François, duc de Boufflers
  • 1704–1717 : Antoine de Gramont, duc de Guiche
  • 1717–1741 : Louis Antoine Armand, duc de Gramont
  • 1741–1745 : Louis, duc de Gramont
  • 1745–1788 : Louis Antoine de Gontaut, duc de Biron

Colonels General of the Napoleonic era

  • Carabiniers: Louis Bonaparte
    Louis Bonaparte
    Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...

    , king of Holland and Constable of the Empire
  • Chasseurs à cheval: Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, then Emmanuel, comte de Grouchy
  • Cuirassier
    Cuirassier
    Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...

    s: Laurent, comte Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, then Augustin, comte Belliard
  • Dragoon
    Dragoon
    The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...

    s: Louis, comte Baraguey d'Hilliers
    Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
    thumbLouis Baraguey d'Hilliers was a French Army general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the father of Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, a Marshal of France.-French Revolution:...

    , then Étienne-Marie-Antoine Champion, Comte de Nansouty
    Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty
    Count Étienne-Marie-Antoine-Champion de Nansouty was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars who rose to the rank of General of Division in 1803 and subsequently held important military commands during the Napoleonic Wars. Of noble Burgundian descent, he was a student at...

     (1813-1814)
  • Imperial Guard
    Imperial Guard
    The Imperial Guard was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle...

    : Edouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph 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:...

    , then Louis Gabriel Suchet
    Louis Gabriel Suchet
    Louis Gabriel Suchet, 1st Duc d'Albufera was a Marshal of France and one of Napoleon's most brilliant generals.-Early career:...

  • Grenadiers à pied of the Imperial Guard: Louis Nicolas Davout
    Louis Nicolas Davout
    Louis-Nicolas d'Avout , better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Era. His prodigious talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the title "The Iron Marshal"...

  • Hussards: Jean Andoche Junot
  • Suisses: Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Vice-Constable of the Empire, then Jean Lannes
    Jean Lannes
    Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...

    , duc de Montebello

Colonels General of the Restoration

  • Carabiniers: Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, eldest son of Charles X
    Charles X of France
    Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

  • Chevau-légers-lanciers: Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, younger son of Charles X
    Charles X of France
    Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

  • Cuirassier
    Cuirassier
    Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...

    s: Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême
  • Garde Nationale: Charles Philippe, Count of Artois
    Charles X of France
    Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

    , brother of 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...

  • Suisses: Henri, grandson of Charles X
    Charles X of France
    Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

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