Jean Louis Debilly
Encyclopedia
Jean Louis Debilly, General of Brigade in the Grande Armée, was born 30 July 1763 in Dreux
, Eure-et-Loire, France, and died 14 October 1806, in the French victory over the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. On 14 June 1804, he was awarded the Commanders Cross of the Legion of Honor.
. In June he entered the army, and was promoted to adjutant general. Debilly declined a proffered promotion to remain as General Kléber
's chief of staff. He served for a brief time with Army of England, until the Directory abandoned the project. He was transferred to Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
' s Army of the Danube
, where he filled several roles: as commander of cavalry, he supported Dominique Vandamme
's detached flank maneuver on Stuttgart
, and he was a commander of the left column of the III. Division of the Army at the first Battle of Stockach
. He was badly wounded at the French defeat at the First Battle of Zurich
in early June 1799, and was unable to ride a horse for several months. Massena promoted him to brigadier general, and assigned him to a staff position as chief artillery and engineers of the III. Division.
In 1806, Debilly was still a brigade commander, but in the I. Division of the I. Corps of Marshal Louis Nicholas Davout. The 10,000-man I. Division on the French left flank at Auerstadt. Jean Louis Debilly commanded the leading brigade of French infantry marching on Hassenhausen in late morning of 14 October. Facing a cavalry charge, Debilly ordered the infantry to form defensive squares
. The infantry absorbed the brunt of a triple Prussian cavalry charge; when the Prussian cavalry recoiled under heavy musketry-fire, the brigade reformed its line and marched against the supporting Prussian infantry, pushing them back to Lissbach. In the course of this advance, Debilly was killed.
, Eure-et-Loire.
Jean Louis Debilly married, first, Jeanne Chénnard, and second, Marie-Barbe Saum. His first son, Charles-Louis Debilly, born in 1790, became a page of Napoleon and was raised to the rank of chevalier in 1813; this son married one of the daughters of Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière. Another son, Eduard Louis Daniel Debilly (1802–1874) was general of pont et chasséuse (bridges and pavement). There are some claims that he was also a scientist.
Dreux
Dreux is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-History:Dreux was known in ancient times as Durocassium, the capital of the Durocasses Celtic tribe. Despite the legend, its name was not related with Druids. The Romans established here a fortified camp known as Castrum...
, Eure-et-Loire, France, and died 14 October 1806, in the French victory over the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. On 14 June 1804, he was awarded the Commanders Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Military service
When the French Revolution began in 1789, Jean Louis Debilly was a professor of mathematics in Paris. He joined the Parisian National Guard artillery in 1792, and served for six weeks as provisional commander of the artillery defending the coast at BrestBrest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
. In June he entered the army, and was promoted to adjutant general. Debilly declined a proffered promotion to remain as General Kléber
Jean Baptiste Kléber
Jean Baptiste Kléber was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. His military career started in Habsburg service, but his plebeian ancestry hindered his opportunities...
's chief of staff. He served for a brief time with Army of England, until the Directory abandoned the project. He was transferred to Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
Army of the Danube
The Army of the Danube was a field army of the French Directory in the 1799 southwestern campaign in the Upper Danube valley. It was formed on 2 March 1799 by the simple expedient of renaming the Army of Observation, which had been observing Austrian movements on the border between First...
, where he filled several roles: as commander of cavalry, he supported Dominique Vandamme
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
's detached flank maneuver on Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, and he was a commander of the left column of the III. Division of the Army at the first Battle of Stockach
Battle of Stockach (1799)
On 25 March 1799, French and Austrian armies fought for control of the geographically strategic Hegau region in present day Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names: First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen...
. He was badly wounded at the French defeat at the First Battle of Zurich
First Battle of Zürich
The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreated beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his...
in early June 1799, and was unable to ride a horse for several months. Massena promoted him to brigadier general, and assigned him to a staff position as chief artillery and engineers of the III. Division.
In 1806, Debilly was still a brigade commander, but in the I. Division of the I. Corps of Marshal Louis Nicholas Davout. The 10,000-man I. Division on the French left flank at Auerstadt. Jean Louis Debilly commanded the leading brigade of French infantry marching on Hassenhausen in late morning of 14 October. Facing a cavalry charge, Debilly ordered the infantry to form defensive squares
Infantry square
An infantry square is a combat formation an infantry unit forms in close order when threatened with cavalry attack.-Very early history:The formation was described by Plutarch and used by the Romans, and was developed from an earlier circular formation...
. The infantry absorbed the brunt of a triple Prussian cavalry charge; when the Prussian cavalry recoiled under heavy musketry-fire, the brigade reformed its line and marched against the supporting Prussian infantry, pushing them back to Lissbach. In the course of this advance, Debilly was killed.
Family
The Debilly family dates to the thirteenth century, when it is mentioned in papers documenting feudal obligations of an écuyer Robert De Billy (squire Robert de Billy) in 1202. Over the course of centuries, the family's fortunes rose and fell; in the late seventeenth century, part of the family emigrated to Canada. Another part, from which Jean Louis Debilly descended, settled near DreuxDreux
Dreux is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-History:Dreux was known in ancient times as Durocassium, the capital of the Durocasses Celtic tribe. Despite the legend, its name was not related with Druids. The Romans established here a fortified camp known as Castrum...
, Eure-et-Loire.
Jean Louis Debilly married, first, Jeanne Chénnard, and second, Marie-Barbe Saum. His first son, Charles-Louis Debilly, born in 1790, became a page of Napoleon and was raised to the rank of chevalier in 1813; this son married one of the daughters of Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière. Another son, Eduard Louis Daniel Debilly (1802–1874) was general of pont et chasséuse (bridges and pavement). There are some claims that he was also a scientist.