Louis Klein
Encyclopedia
Louis Klein served in the French military during the French Revolutionary Wars
and the Napoleonic Wars
as a general of cavalry
.
Initially part of the house guard at the royal residences for Louis XVI, Klein left the military in 1787. During the French Revolution
, he enlisted and rose rapidly from a lieutenant
to a brigadier general
; he participated in the French invasion of southwestern Germany in 1796, and was part of the Army of the Danube
in 1799. His cavalry played critical roles in the battles of Austerlitz
and Jena and Auerstadt. Following the Prussian campaign, he retired from active service, entered politics, and performed administrative duties in Paris.
Klein served in the French Senate, and voted for Napoleon Bonapartes abdication in 1814; he did not participate in the Hundred Days
and Louis XVIII of France
raised him to the French peerage upon the second restoration.
began in 1789, he rejoined the military and in 1792, he was listed as an infantry lieutenant
in the Army of the North. His cavalry regiment participated in the Battle of Fleurus
.
, where he replaced Adjutant-General Michel Ney
.
Klein was appointed general of division in 1799 and crossed the Rhine at Kehl
in Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
s Army of the Danube
. He commanded the right flank of the Advance Guard, under command of François Joseph Lefebvre
. His command included the 4th and 5th Hussar Regiments, the 17th Dragoons, the 1st Chasseurs à cheval, a light horse regiment, two companies of horse artillery, two of foot artillery, and a company of sappers. At the Battle of Ostrach
, Klein's cavalry helped to secure the village of Hosskirch, a strategically important forward post, prior to the general engagement. After the French losses at Ostrach and the subsequent Battle of Stockach
, Jourdan ordered a general withdrawal to the Black Forest
. The reserve cavalry and most of Klein's division crossed the mountains and quartered near Offenburg
, where their horses could find better forage. Despite the organized withdrawal and the relatively secure positions on the western side of the Black Forest, the army was in shambles. Jourdan placed his chief of staff
Jean Augustin Ernouf
in provisional command and went to Paris to complain about the state of his army, its equipment and its provisions. Discipline in the ranks disintegrated. Most of the divisional generals left their posts, except for Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino
, Joseph Souham
, Dominique Vandamme
and Klein. In May, Andre Massena
received overall command of both the Army of the Danube and the Army of Helvetia
; Klein's column joined Massena near Zurich.
In May 1799, Klein led a cavalry division of 2,010 prior to the Battle of Winterthur
. A few days later, he commanded the cavalry reserve against the Archduke Charles
and the Austrian army at the First Battle of Zurich
. Charles' superior numbers and position forced the French to retreat from Zurich, taking up position on the western side of the Limmat
River. In September, he again commanded the cavalry reserve, the VII. Division, of 3,696 on the left (west) bank of the Aar river. He was responsible for guarding the Frick valley (Fricktal
). There, as the dispositions developed for the Second Battle of Zurich
on 25 September, Klein remained under direct command of Massena. Klein prepared to support either the troops of Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge
or Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
, on the north or south flanks respectively, as required. The Austrian assault fell hardest on Mortier, who was driven back from the strategically placed Dietikon
. Klein's reserve enabled the French to retake and hold the village. This convinced the Russian commander in Zurich, Alexander Korsakov
, that he should draw his troops back to the city fortifications. Later, as Korsakoff relinquished these, the Russians executed a confused withdrawal to Constance
. In the chaos, Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan's division, supported by Klein's reserve, pressed the Coalition forces hard at the west end of Constance, by the bridge to the abbey at Petershausen
. They nearly captured the Prince Condé and the Duke d'Enghien themselves. Although the French took many prisoners, including many of the Army of Condé
, the French emigrant army, these prisoners were not massacred whole-sale, as had happened after earlier battles. Klein and Mortier issued instructions, which were supported by Massena, that the émigré
s be assigned Russian names—they were, after all, under Russian pay and wearing the Russian cockade in their caps—and treated with dignity; they were eventually exchanged for French officers held prisoner by the Austrians and Russians.
Returning to France after the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, Klein remained inactive for several months. In 1802 he was recalled to military service as Inspector of Cavalry. He was given command of the 1st Division of Dragoons and in 1804 was made a Grand Officer of the Legion d'honneur
.
, although his dragoons were with Mortier and Gazan immediately prior to the engagement.
Klein's division was part of the decisive defeat of the Austrian and Russian force at the subsequent Battle of Austerlitz
three weeks later. Initially, his dragoons, assigned to support Friant's division, occupied a position of observation on the Marchfeld. The rest of his dragoons remained near Stockerau
, just to the west of Vienna, and these dragoons, plus Louis-Nicolas Davout's, François Antoine Louis Bourcier
's and Marc Antoine Beaumont's divisions of dragoons, formed a cordon between Pohrlitz
and Pressburg, and could move either west or east, depending on the actions of the Archduke Charles
or the Russian commander Kutuzov. Consequently, Klein's dragoons, held the road between Austerlitz and Vienna, eliminating a possible Austrian retreat.
In the War of the Fourth Coalition
, Klein fought in the Grande Armée under command of Joachim Murat
. After the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt, Klein was with his division of dragoons in the village of Weissensee
, the only escape route open to the Prussian General Blücher
. Blücher was surprised to find Klein in possession of the village, but convinced him an armistice has been concluded between Prussia
and Napoleon. Reports differ on the conduct of Klein and Blücher. William Milligan Sloane insists that Frederick William III of Prussia
was with Blücher and that only the old general's bluff prevented the King's capture. Some historians assert that Klein believed him, and learned too late that he had been deceived. Others assert that Klein's force was too weak to resist the greater Prussian numbers. He had only 800 cavalry and Antoine Lasalle, to the west, had two regiments. Blücher had either 7,000, according to Charles Mullié, or more than 12,000 Prussian infantry, artillery and horse. Regardless, Klein and Lasalle either pragmatically maintained the fiction or fell for the ruse; Blücher and his Prussians passed through the village. Charles Mullié maintains that Klein vowed revenge; with his division, he pursued and attacked Blücher force the following day. He took 10 Prussian standards and 1,000 prisoners, including a general officer, although he did not capture Blücher. Frances Lorraine Petrie gives that credit to Soult, and so does Adolphe Thiers
; furthermore, Petre maintains, Klein's dragoons were sent to guard the communications lines between Erfurt
and Weimar
, where several groups of Prussians had skirmished with the French rear guard.
He remained in the Senate until April 1814, when he voted for Napoleon's abdication. In 1814, during the Bourbon Restoration
, he was named a knight of the Order of Saint Louis
. He did not support Napoleon's return in the Hundred Days
. In the Second Restoration, Louis XVIII raised him to the French peerage.
(Meurthe), in the Lorraine
region. He married 7 January 1783 to Marie-Agathe Pierron, with whom he had a son Edouard Marie Arsène (17841843). Edouard had two daughters, Arsène Louise Marie, born 1820, married Mathieu Prosper Morey; and Louise Françoise Clémence, born in Hebreville, 1825, married in Paris to Henri Tollier.
In 1808, Klein divorced Pierron, with the Emperor's permission, and on 2 July of that year remarried to Caroline of Valangin-Arberg, daughter of the Countess of Arberg, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais
. In this marriage, he had a son, Eugene Joseph Napoleon, who was born in 1813 in Paris and died in 1872 without issue. Louis Klein died 2 November 1845 in Paris.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and 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...
as a general of 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...
.
Initially part of the house guard at the royal residences for Louis XVI, Klein left the military in 1787. During 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...
, he enlisted and rose rapidly from a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
to a brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
; he participated in the French invasion of southwestern Germany in 1796, and was part of the Army of the Danube
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...
in 1799. His cavalry played critical roles in the battles of Austerlitz
Battle 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...
and Jena and Auerstadt. Following the Prussian campaign, he retired from active service, entered politics, and performed administrative duties in Paris.
Klein served in the French Senate, and voted for Napoleon Bonapartes abdication in 1814; he did not participate in 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 Louis XVIII of France
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...
raised him to the French peerage upon the second restoration.
Military career
Initially, Klein served in the royal house guard for the King of France, holding the prestigious position as guard of the gate. He left military service in 1787. After the French RevolutionFrench 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...
began in 1789, he rejoined the military and in 1792, he was listed as an infantry lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Army of the North. His cavalry regiment participated in the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
.
French Revolutionary Wars
By 1795, Klein was a brigadier general in the Army of Sambre-et-MeuseArmy of Sambre-et-Meuse
The Army of Sambre-et-Meuse is the best known of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining three forces: the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of Moselle, and the right wing of the Army of the North. It had a brief but celebrated existence...
, where he replaced Adjutant-General 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...
.
Klein was appointed general of division in 1799 and crossed the Rhine at Kehl
Kehl
Kehl is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg.-History:...
in 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...
s Army of the Danube
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...
. He commanded the right flank of the Advance Guard, under command of François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
. His command included the 4th and 5th Hussar Regiments, the 17th Dragoons, the 1st Chasseurs à cheval, a light horse regiment, two companies of horse artillery, two of foot artillery, and a company of sappers. At the Battle of Ostrach
Battle of Ostrach
The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles, over the French forces, commanded by Jean...
, Klein's cavalry helped to secure the village of Hosskirch, a strategically important forward post, prior to the general engagement. After the French losses at Ostrach and the subsequent 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...
, Jourdan ordered a general withdrawal to the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
. The reserve cavalry and most of Klein's division crossed the mountains and quartered near Offenburg
Offenburg
Offenburg is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With about 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city and the capital of the Ortenaukreis.Offenburg also houses University of Applied Sciences Offenburg...
, where their horses could find better forage. Despite the organized withdrawal and the relatively secure positions on the western side of the Black Forest, the army was in shambles. Jourdan placed his chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
Jean Augustin Ernouf
Jean Augustin Ernouf
Jean Augustin Ernouf was a French general and colonial administrator of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He demonstrated moderate abilities as a combat commander; his real strength lay in his organizational and logistical talents...
in provisional command and went to Paris to complain about the state of his army, its equipment and its provisions. Discipline in the ranks disintegrated. Most of the divisional generals left their posts, except for Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino
Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino
Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, , was a general and politician of France. Born in the Savoy, he was the son of a low-ranking officer in the Habsburg military. In 1789, during the French Revolution, he went to France, where he received a commission in the French Army...
, Joseph Souham
Joseph Souham
Joseph Souham was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was born at Lubersac and died at Versailles.-French revolutionary years:...
, Dominique Vandamme
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
and Klein. In May, Andre Massena
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
received overall command of both the Army of the Danube and the Army of Helvetia
Army of Helvetia
The Army of Helvetia, or , was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 8 March 1798 from the remnants of the first unit to be known as the armée du Rhin...
; Klein's column joined Massena near Zurich.
In May 1799, Klein led a cavalry division of 2,010 prior to the Battle of Winterthur
Battle of Winterthur (1799)
The Battle of Winterthur was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube and elements of the Habsburg army, commanded by Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze, during the War of the Second Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The small town of Winterthur lies northeast of...
. A few days later, he commanded the cavalry reserve against the Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
and the Austrian army 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...
. Charles' superior numbers and position forced the French to retreat from Zurich, taking up position on the western side of the Limmat
Limmat
The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. It is the continuation of the Linth river, known as Limmat from the point of effluence from Lake Zurich, in the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, after 35 km reaching the river Aare...
River. In September, he again commanded the cavalry reserve, the VII. Division, of 3,696 on the left (west) bank of the Aar river. He was responsible for guarding the Frick valley (Fricktal
Fricktal
The Fricktal region is the northwest finger extending from the Swiss canton of Aargau. It is situated in Northwestern Switzerland east of Basel, between the High Rhine forming the border with Germany in the north and the Jura Mountains in the south. The Fricktal contains the districts of...
). There, as the dispositions developed for the Second Battle of Zurich
Second Battle of Zürich
The Second Battle of Zurich was a French victory over an Austrian and Russian force near Zurich. It broke the stalemate that had resulted from the First Battle of Zurich three months earlier and led to the withdrawal of Russia from the Second Coalition.After he had been forced out of the city in...
on 25 September, Klein remained under direct command of Massena. Klein prepared to support either the troops of Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge
Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge
Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge , was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
or Édouard 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:...
, on the north or south flanks respectively, as required. The Austrian assault fell hardest on Mortier, who was driven back from the strategically placed Dietikon
Dietikon
Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area.- Geography :...
. Klein's reserve enabled the French to retake and hold the village. This convinced the Russian commander in Zurich, Alexander Korsakov
Alexander Korsakov
Alexander Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian General remembered as an unlucky assistant to Alexander Suvorov during his Swiss expedition of 1799–1800....
, that he should draw his troops back to the city fortifications. Later, as Korsakoff relinquished these, the Russians executed a confused withdrawal to Constance
Constance
Constance is a female given name that derives from Latin and means "constant." Variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, Constanze, Constanza, Stanzy, and Konstanze.Constance may refer to:-People:*Constance Bennett , American actress...
. In the chaos, Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan's division, supported by Klein's reserve, pressed the Coalition forces hard at the west end of Constance, by the bridge to the abbey at Petershausen
Petershausen
Petershausen is a municipality in the district of Dachau in Bavaria in Germany....
. They nearly captured the Prince Condé and the Duke d'Enghien themselves. Although the French took many prisoners, including many of the Army of Condé
Army of Condé
The Army of Condé was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had been formed by the Comte d'Artois and Mirabeau-Tonneau...
, the French emigrant army, these prisoners were not massacred whole-sale, as had happened after earlier battles. Klein and Mortier issued instructions, which were supported by Massena, that the émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
s be assigned Russian names—they were, after all, under Russian pay and wearing the Russian cockade in their caps—and treated with dignity; they were eventually exchanged for French officers held prisoner by the Austrians and Russians.
Returning to France after the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, Klein remained inactive for several months. In 1802 he was recalled to military service as Inspector of Cavalry. He was given command of the 1st Division of Dragoons and in 1804 was made a Grand Officer of the Legion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Napoleonic Wars
In 1805, Klein's division was part of the newly-created VIII. Corps, under command of Édouard Mortier; the role of the Corps was to patrol and secure the northern shore of the Danube river, limiting the Austro-Russian activity. Napoleon incorrectly assumed that the Russians and the Austrians would make a stand near St. Polten, northwest of Vienna. Klein's entire regiment of dragoons patrolled the northern Danube shore, while the rest of his division, the last in the extended line of march, was more than a day behind Maxime Gazan's lead division. Klein's division did not take part in the Battle of DürensteinBattle of Dürenstein
The Battle of Dürenstein , on 11 November 1805, was an engagement in the Napoleonic Wars during the War of the Third Coalition...
, although his dragoons were with Mortier and Gazan immediately prior to the engagement.
Klein's division was part of the decisive defeat of the Austrian and Russian force at the subsequent Battle of Austerlitz
Battle 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...
three weeks later. Initially, his dragoons, assigned to support Friant's division, occupied a position of observation on the Marchfeld. The rest of his dragoons remained near Stockerau
Stockerau
Stockerau is a town in the district of Korneuburg in Lower Austria, Austria.Leisure facilities are various: wellness centre, sports centre with three gyms, judo and table tennis gym, skittle alley and football stadium...
, just to the west of Vienna, and these dragoons, plus Louis-Nicolas Davout's, François Antoine Louis Bourcier
François Antoine Louis Bourcier
François Antoine Louis Bourcier was a French cavalry officer and divisional general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
's and Marc Antoine Beaumont's divisions of dragoons, formed a cordon between Pohrlitz
Pohorelice (Brno-Country District)
Pohořelice is a town in Brno-Country District, South Moravian Region, Czech Republic. It has a population of 4,414 . It lies on the Jihlava River in the wine region of Mikulov.- External links :...
and Pressburg, and could move either west or east, depending on the actions of the Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
or the Russian commander Kutuzov. Consequently, Klein's dragoons, held the road between Austerlitz and Vienna, eliminating a possible Austrian retreat.
Promotions & Awards
|
In the War of the Fourth Coalition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
, Klein fought in the Grande Armée under command of Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
. After the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt, Klein was with his division of dragoons in the village of Weissensee
Weißensee, Thuringia
Weißensee is a town in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 6 km northwest of Sömmerda, and 25 km north of Erfurt.-History:...
, the only escape route open to the Prussian General Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
. Blücher was surprised to find Klein in possession of the village, but convinced him an armistice has been concluded between Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Napoleon. Reports differ on the conduct of Klein and Blücher. William Milligan Sloane insists that Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
was with Blücher and that only the old general's bluff prevented the King's capture. Some historians assert that Klein believed him, and learned too late that he had been deceived. Others assert that Klein's force was too weak to resist the greater Prussian numbers. He had only 800 cavalry and Antoine Lasalle, to the west, had two regiments. Blücher had either 7,000, according to Charles Mullié, or more than 12,000 Prussian infantry, artillery and horse. Regardless, Klein and Lasalle either pragmatically maintained the fiction or fell for the ruse; Blücher and his Prussians passed through the village. Charles Mullié maintains that Klein vowed revenge; with his division, he pursued and attacked Blücher force the following day. He took 10 Prussian standards and 1,000 prisoners, including a general officer, although he did not capture Blücher. Frances Lorraine Petrie gives that credit to Soult, and so does Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
; furthermore, Petre maintains, Klein's dragoons were sent to guard the communications lines between Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
and Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
, where several groups of Prussians had skirmished with the French rear guard.
Administrative and political duties
Following the Prussian campaign, Napoleon appointed Klein as governor of the Imperial palace. In 1807, Klein was called to the Senate. In 1808, he was raised by letters of patent to a count of the empire and awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Bavarian Lion. In 1812, he was placed in command of the recruitment and training of a cohort of the National Guard.He remained in the Senate until April 1814, when he voted for Napoleon's abdication. In 1814, during 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...
, he was named a knight of the Order of Saint Louis
Order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis was a military Order of Chivalry founded on 5 April 1693 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis . It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles...
. He did not support Napoleon's return in 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...
. In the Second Restoration, Louis XVIII raised him to the French peerage.
Family and personal life
Louis Klein was born in 25 January 1761 in BlâmontBlâmont
Blâmont is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.The Château de Blâmont is the medieval castle below which the city grew.-See also:*Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department...
(Meurthe), in the Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
region. He married 7 January 1783 to Marie-Agathe Pierron, with whom he had a son Edouard Marie Arsène (17841843). Edouard had two daughters, Arsène Louise Marie, born 1820, married Mathieu Prosper Morey; and Louise Françoise Clémence, born in Hebreville, 1825, married in Paris to Henri Tollier.
In 1808, Klein divorced Pierron, with the Emperor's permission, and on 2 July of that year remarried to Caroline of Valangin-Arberg, daughter of the Countess of Arberg, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
. In this marriage, he had a son, Eugene Joseph Napoleon, who was born in 1813 in Paris and died in 1872 without issue. Louis Klein died 2 November 1845 in Paris.