François Étienne de Kellermann
Encyclopedia
Francois Étienne de Kellermann, 2nd Duc de Valmy
(4 August 1770 – 2 June 1835) was a French
cavalry
general
noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars
. He was the son of François Christophe de Kellermann
and the father of the diplomat François Christophe Edmond de Kellermann
.
, Kellermann served for a short time in his father's regiment of Hussars before entering the diplomatic service in 1791. In 1793 he again joined the army, serving chiefly under his father's command in the Alps, and rising in 1796 to the rank of chef de brigade. In the latter part of Bonaparte
's celebrated Italian campaign of 1796-1797 the younger Kellermann attracted the future emperor's notice by his brilliant conduct at the forcing of the Tagliamento. He was made general of brigade immediately, and continued in Italy after the Peace of Campo Formio
, being employed successively in the armies of Rome and Naples under Macdonald
and Championnet
.
At the Battle of Marengo (1800)
, he commanded a heavy cavalry brigade under the First Consul and he initiated and carried out one of the most famous cavalry charges of history, which, with Desaix
's infantry attack, regained the lost battle and decided the issue of the war. On this occasion, Kellermann's depleted cavalry brigade, joined by a few squadrons of dragoons and other elements, in a perfectly timed charge, rode down three Austrian grenadier battalions. Then, he rapidly reformed his troopers, charged and routed an Austrian dragoon regiment. The dragoons stampeded through the Austrian array, causing a general rout.
He was promoted general of division at once, but as early as the evening of the battle he resented what he thought to be an attempt to belittle his exploit. A heated controversy followed as to the influence of Kellermann's charge on the course of the battle, and in this controversy he displayed neither tact nor forbearance. However, his merits were too great for his career to be ruined either by his conduct in the dispute or by the frequent scandals, and even by the frauds, of his private life.
in command of a light cavalry division on the left flank. In Portugal
under Jean-Andoche Junot
, Kellermann led the grenadier reserve at the Battle of Vimeiro
and used his considerable diplomatic skills in negotiating the Convention of Cintra. At the Battle of Alba de Tormes
on 28 November 1809, he led 3,000 troopers in a brilliant cavalry charge that routed Duke Del Parque's Spanish army. He served with distinction on other occasions in the Peninsular War
. His rapacity was more than ever notorious in Spain, yet Napoleon met his unconvincing excuses with the words, "General, whenever your name is brought before me, I think of nothing but Marengo."
He was on sick leave during the Russian expedition of 1812, but in 1813 and 1814 his skill and leading were as conspicuous as ever. He retained his rank under the first Restoration, but joined Napoleon during the Hundred Days
, and commanded the III Cavalry Corps in the Waterloo campaign.
He led his squadrons in a famous cavalry charge
at the Battle of Quatre Bras
on 16 June 1815. In this action, Kellermann was peremptorily ordered by Marshal Michel Ney
to make a frontal charge on the Anglo-Allied line with the 770 troopers of Guiton's cuirassier brigade. Against cavalry doctrine, Kellermann called for an immediate gallop so that his men would not see how badly they were outnumbered. In four separate charges, the 8th and 11th Cuirassiers broke the 69th Foot
and captured a color, scattered a Hanoverian battalion and sent the 33rd and 73rd Foot
fleeing for the safety of a nearby wood. The horsemen briefly seized the crucial crossroads, but the odds were too great. Unhorsed, Kellermann narrowly escaped by holding onto the stirrup of one of his cavalrymen.
At Waterloo
, he was wounded. Initially, Kellermann's two divisions were deployed in support of the infantry in the left center of the line. Early on, cuiassiers -- either Kellermann's or Milhaud
's -- destroyed a carelessly deployed Hanoverian infantry battalion. In the afternoon, Ney sent the III Cavalry Corps into a mass attack against the British infantry squares between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte. At some time in the late afternoon, cuirassiers -- possibly Kellermann's -- rode down the 5th and 8th King's German Legion battalions. But the futile and repeated charges against the main Allied line failed to break a single square and used up the magnificent French cavalry.
Kellermann was disgraced at the second Restoration, and, on succeeding to his father's title and seat in the Chamber of Peers
in 1820, at once took up and maintained till the fall of Charles X
in 1830 an attitude of determined opposition to the Bourbons. He died on 2 June 1835.
Valmy
Valmy is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.-Geography:The town stands on the west flank of the Argonne massif, mid-way between Verdun and Paris, near Vouziers.-History:...
(4 August 1770 – 2 June 1835) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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...
general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. He was the son of François Christophe de Kellermann
François Christophe de Kellermann
François Christophe Kellermann or de Kellermann, 1st Duc de Valmy was a French military commander, later the Général d'Armée, and a Marshal of France...
and the father of the diplomat François Christophe Edmond de Kellermann
François Christophe Edmond de Kellermann
François Christophe Edmond de Kellermann, 3rd Duc de Valmy was a French statesman, diplomat in the July Monarchy, and a historian of politics....
.
Early life and French Revolutionary Wars
Born in MetzMetz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, Kellermann served for a short time in his father's regiment of Hussars before entering the diplomatic service in 1791. In 1793 he again joined the army, serving chiefly under his father's command in the Alps, and rising in 1796 to the rank of chef de brigade. In the latter part of Bonaparte
Bonaparte
The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804, a French military leader who rose to notability out of the French Revolution and transformed the French Republic into the First French Empire within five years of his coup d'état...
's celebrated Italian campaign of 1796-1797 the younger Kellermann attracted the future emperor's notice by his brilliant conduct at the forcing of the Tagliamento. He was made general of brigade immediately, and continued in Italy after the Peace of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
, being employed successively in the armies of Rome and Naples under Macdonald
Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald
Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald, 1st duke of Taranto was a Marshal of France and military leader during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Family background:...
and Championnet
Jean Étienne Championnet
Jean Étienne Vachier, called Championnet , French general, enlisted in the army at an early age and served in the Great Siege of Gibraltar....
.
At the Battle of Marengo (1800)
Battle of Marengo (1800)
The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy...
, he commanded a heavy cavalry brigade under the First Consul and he initiated and carried out one of the most famous cavalry charges of history, which, with Desaix
Louis Charles Antoine Desaix
Louis Charles Antoine Desaix was a French general and military leader. According to the usage of the time, he took the name Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux.-Biography:...
's infantry attack, regained the lost battle and decided the issue of the war. On this occasion, Kellermann's depleted cavalry brigade, joined by a few squadrons of dragoons and other elements, in a perfectly timed charge, rode down three Austrian grenadier battalions. Then, he rapidly reformed his troopers, charged and routed an Austrian dragoon regiment. The dragoons stampeded through the Austrian array, causing a general rout.
He was promoted general of division at once, but as early as the evening of the battle he resented what he thought to be an attempt to belittle his exploit. A heated controversy followed as to the influence of Kellermann's charge on the course of the battle, and in this controversy he displayed neither tact nor forbearance. However, his merits were too great for his career to be ruined either by his conduct in the dispute or by the frequent scandals, and even by the frauds, of his private life.
Napoleonic Wars
Unlike his father's, his title to fame did not rest on one fortunate opportunity. Though not the most famous, he was perhaps the ablest of all Napoleon's cavalry leaders, and distinguished himself at the Battle of AusterlitzBattle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
in command of a light cavalry division on the left flank. In Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
under Jean-Andoche Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès was a French general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
, Kellermann led the grenadier reserve at the Battle of Vimeiro
Battle of Vimeiro
In the Battle of Vimeiro the British under General Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro , near Lisbon, Portugal during the Peninsular War...
and used his considerable diplomatic skills in negotiating the Convention of Cintra. At the Battle of Alba de Tormes
Battle of Alba de Tormes
In the Battle of Alba de Tormes, fought on November 26, 1809, a French army commanded by Major General Jean Marchand routed Lieutenant-General Duke del Parque's retreating Spanish army during the Peninsular War.-Strategic situation:...
on 28 November 1809, he led 3,000 troopers in a brilliant cavalry charge that routed Duke Del Parque's Spanish army. He served with distinction on other occasions in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. His rapacity was more than ever notorious in Spain, yet Napoleon met his unconvincing excuses with the words, "General, whenever your name is brought before me, I think of nothing but Marengo."
He was on sick leave during the Russian expedition of 1812, but in 1813 and 1814 his skill and leading were as conspicuous as ever. He retained his rank under the first Restoration, but joined Napoleon during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, and commanded the III Cavalry Corps in the Waterloo campaign.
He led his squadrons in a famous cavalry charge
Charge (warfare)
A charge is a maneuver in battle in which soldiers advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of most battles in history...
at the Battle of Quatre Bras
Battle of Quatre Bras
The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815.- Prelude :...
on 16 June 1815. In this action, Kellermann was peremptorily ordered by Marshal Michel Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
to make a frontal charge on the Anglo-Allied line with the 770 troopers of Guiton's cuirassier brigade. Against cavalry doctrine, Kellermann called for an immediate gallop so that his men would not see how badly they were outnumbered. In four separate charges, the 8th and 11th Cuirassiers broke the 69th Foot
69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot
The 69th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1758 and amalgamated into The Welsh Regiment in 1881....
and captured a color, scattered a Hanoverian battalion and sent the 33rd and 73rd Foot
73rd Regiment of Foot
The 73rd Regiment of Foot also known as MacLeod's Highlanders after its founder John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod, was an infantry regiment of the British Army.- History :- First raising :...
fleeing for the safety of a nearby wood. The horsemen briefly seized the crucial crossroads, but the odds were too great. Unhorsed, Kellermann narrowly escaped by holding onto the stirrup of one of his cavalrymen.
At Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, he was wounded. Initially, Kellermann's two divisions were deployed in support of the infantry in the left center of the line. Early on, cuiassiers -- either Kellermann's or Milhaud
Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
Édouard Jean-Baptiste Milhaud was a French politician, Général de Division, and comte d'Empire.-French Revolutionary wars:...
's -- destroyed a carelessly deployed Hanoverian infantry battalion. In the afternoon, Ney sent the III Cavalry Corps into a mass attack against the British infantry squares between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte. At some time in the late afternoon, cuirassiers -- possibly Kellermann's -- rode down the 5th and 8th King's German Legion battalions. But the futile and repeated charges against the main Allied line failed to break a single square and used up the magnificent French cavalry.
Kellermann was disgraced at the second Restoration, and, on succeeding to his father's title and seat in the Chamber of Peers
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
in 1820, at once took up and maintained till the fall 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...
in 1830 an attitude of determined opposition to the Bourbons. He died on 2 June 1835.