General Louis Pierre Montbrun
Profile
by Terry J. Senior (UK)
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Louis-Pierre was the first of four children born to Jean-Joseph de Montbrun and his wife Marie Arvieu. Some historians have it that the Montbruns had four boys, but in fact they had two boys and two girls. After Louis-Pierre came the first girl, Jacquette-Felicite, then a second boy Alexandre who was born on the 2 nd February 1775 and the family, a distinguished one, was completed when Marie gave birth to another girl they called Marie-Louise.
Montbrun, who had received a very good education, enlisted on the 5th May 1789 at the age of 19 in the Chasseurs-a-Cheval d’Alsace, which later became the 1er Regiment de Chasseurs-a-Cheval. He rose steadily through the non-commissioned ranks and became a sous-lieutenant on the 12th September 1794.
Capitaine
After a short period, the Metz born Republican General Antoine Richepance appointed the now 24 year old Montbrun as his aide de camp in l’Armee de Sambre et Meuse. At Altendorf on the 27th July 1796 Montbrun performed with great distinction and having been slightly wounded and thrown from his horse he was promoted provisional lieutenant on the field of battle. This promotion was confirmed by the all powerful Directory on the 16th August of the same year. Further advancement to Capitaine was confirmed on the 31st March the following year.
Richepance who, like his Commandeur-en-Chef, General Victor-Emmanuel LeClerc, was to die prematurely at the age of 32, from yellow fever while serving in the Santo Domingo, had a very high opinion of Montbrun’s abilities as a cavalry soldier.
Montbrun next saw service with both l’Armée de Mayence and then l’Armée du Rhin et Moselle between 1798 and 1801. It was with the first of these postings that Montbrun made the acquaintance of the highly respected 38 year old Republican officer General Jean-Victor Moreau. who also became a close personal friend, a connection through which perhaps, the highly promising officer was later to suffer.
In an action on the Nidda close to Frankfurt on the 6th October 1799 he again performed with gallantry and panache, taking the bridge, which resulted in Moreau appointing him Chef d’Escadron, again on the field of battle. Six days later in a further clash at Gross-Gereau he took two sabre wounds, the first to his face and the other to his left arm. Following confirmation of his promotion to Chef-d’Escadron, on 5th March 1800, he was posted to the 5e Regiment des Dragons.
The posting transpired to be of short duration and just six weeks later he was back with his former regiment the 1er Chasseurs-a-Cheval. On 16th May he gave another distinguished performance at Erbach and followed this with a successful defensive action at Kirchberg on 5th June. Then, on 15th of the same month the General-en-Chef de l’Armee du Rhin Moreau recommended him yet again, this time to provisional Chef de Brigade his regiment forming part of the light cavalry brigade of General Louis-Nicolas Davout’s III Corps.
After another very short posting, this time to the 8e Regiment des Hussards during which his promotion was ratified, he returned once more to the 1er Chasseurs-a-Cheval on the 28th November 1800 as Colonel of the regiment. Then came a period of relative quiet from 1803 to mid
1805 in camp at Bruges in the Parisien born General Jean-Baptiste-Theodore Viallannes brigade still forming part of the by now Marechal Davout’s III Corps de la Grande Armee.
Montbrun again displayed great skill and bravery during the encounter at Ried on 30th October when his 1er Chasseurs-a-Cheval routed an entire Austrian infantry brigade. Around this time his command successfully repulsed a sortie from the garrison of Ulm attempted by the encircled Austrians, and then at Austerlitz on 5th December of the same year he carried out a number of well executed charges and cut up a number of Russian regiments.
However, during this period, his scrupulously honest Corps commander, Davout received a complaint from an unknown source that Montbrun had demanded large financial contributions from the districts his regiment had traversed. Davout gave Montbrun a very severe dressing down and ordered all levies to be re-paid. Captain E W Sheppard in his article on Montbrun published in “The Cavalry Journal” Vol XX number 78 dated October 1930 in which this incident is recorded stated that Davout is alleged to have told Montbrun “If I had two men of your sort in my Army Corps, I’d shoot one”.
That is very strange, as they are exactly the same words claimed to have been uttered by Napoleon himself to the swashbuckling and unruly infantry commander General Dominique-Joseph Rene Vandamme. Captain Sheppard is also one of those who state that the Montbrun’s had four boys. Sheppard adds that the culprit over the levied monies was probably a subordinate and not Montbrun himself.
General de Brigade
Following Austerlitz Montbrun received his promotion to General de Brigade on 25th December 1805 and three weeks later, was transferred to l’Armee de Naples serving successively in the Divisions of General Jean-Louis-Ebenezer Reynier and then General Jean-Louis-Brigitte d’Espagne thus missing part of the Prussian campaign.
He rejoined le Grande Armee on 1 st September 1806 as Commandeur de la Cavalerie Legere du 5e Corps comprised mostly of Wurttembergers under Vandamme and then 9e Corps under the orders of Napoleons youngest brother Jerome Roi de Westphalie operating in Silesia.
Montbrun ended the year at the siege of Breslau in December 1806/January 1807 during the course of which he achieved minor successes at Strehlen and Ohlau on the 23 rd and 29th December respectively.
On the 17th March 1807 Montbrun assumed command of the Cavalerie du 5e Corps de la Grande Armee taking over from the 36 year old General Cesar-Alexandre Debelle, Baron de La Gachetiere who had been transferred to General Edouard-Jean-Baptiste Milhaud’s 3e Division des Dragons. Montbrun again displayed flair and ability during the re-capture of the camp at Borki on the 11th June. Although it appears he remained in garrison for the remainder of 1807 and the first part of 1808, he received a string of rewards. The first was an annual pension of 4,000 francs drawn on Westphalia, this was followed by him being decorated with le Grand Croix de l’Ordre Militaire de Wurtemberg then on 19th March he was elevated to the Imperial nobility being created Baron de l’Empire.
In September of 1808 he left the garrisons of Silesia and travelled to Spain where he replaced General Louis-Chretien Beaumont de Carriere as Commandeur de la Cavalerie Legere de la 1er Corps of le Marechal Victor - then, two weeks later on the 9th October he was seconded for another very brief spell to the Division of his friend, the legendary hussar commander General Antoine-Charles-Louis LaSalle.
On the 30th November 1808 came one of the most talked about incidents of the entire but unsuccessful campaign in the Peninsular. The Emperor himself had decided to enter Spain and as his accompanying army progressed towards Madrid, it was held up by Spanish defenders at a narrow pass known as the Somo Sierra. The advance of the army had been brought to a complete standstill. The Pass was some two kilometres in length very uneven and strewn with rocks, winding upwards to a height of almost 1500 metres and narrowing in places to no more than three metres in width.
The Cheveau-legers Polonaise were given the task of attacking the narrow ravine which was defended at the summit by a strong Spanish contingent of some 13,000 men, with thirteen (some say 16) canon expertly placed to provide a converging fire, plus a large number of sharpshooters located on both flanks. The Spanish commander was 33 year old General Benito San Juan.
The Emperor ordered infantry elements to assist the Polish by attacking from both sides and thereby drawing attention from the main thrust being made by the Polish cavalry.
The first charge failed and the Polish were driven back suffering some 40 casualties in dead and wounded in the process. Montbrun, who was present, but without a command at that time was called upon by the Emperor to lead a second charge. With his squadrons reformed, well spaced he urged his men in a second assault up the narrow defile towards the defenders whose guns continued to spit death and destruction. Despite losing significant numbers of casualties including Major (later General) Philippe-Paul Segur, a volunteer who suffered two wounds, the depleted but victorious squadrons reached the top of the pass and overran the guns as the Spanish defenders fled in total disorder down the far side of the mountain leaving their guns, their dead and wounded but taking their hapless commander with them. They later turned on San Juan, beat him mercilessly and then hung him near to Talavera. He was still alive when the advancing French units reached him but died a few hours later.
For Montbrun, it was another stunning success against an enemy who had deployed their men and guns expertly to make them almost impregnable. The Chevaux-Legers Polonaise had been brilliant and in recognition of their achievement the regiment was there and then raised to Imperial Guard status. Montbrun left Spain with Napoleon in January 1809 and returned to Paris where on 1st March he married the very pretty and charming 19 year old Marie-Madeleine-Anatole Morand the daughter of the highly experienced infantry commander General Joseph Morand.
General de Division
Louis-Pierre’s promotion to General de Division was received a few days later on 9th March, then, within a day or two he took command of the 2e Division de Cavalerie Legere in le Marechal Jean-Baptiste Bessieres Cavalerie Reserve de la Grande Armee. Montbruns command consisted of six regiments of light cavalry totalling 2,470 sabres. Having then.joined Davout as Commandeur de Cavalerie Legere du 3e Corps de l’Armee and with Melun born General Charles-Claude Baron Jacquinot and General Pierre-David (but known as Edouard) de Colbert-Chabanais as his brigade commanders, he served at Thann, Schierling, Eckmuhl (after which he led the troops of Lannes Corps into the town of Ratisbonne), Nittenau, Raab, Acs, Wagram and Znaim and all this from 19th April through to mid July 1809.
This hectic period of activity was followed by another spate of honours. On 9th July he was decorated as Chevalier de la Couronne de Fer, then he received another annual pension of 10,000 francs drawn on the reserves of Hanover. His elevation to Comte de l’Empire took place on the 15th August and was confirmed by letters patent dated 15th October. This was followed by the award of yet another annual pension of 10,000 francs drawn this time on the reserves of Galicia. On 16th March 1810 Montbrun was sent to Braunau to meet Marie-Louise the Archduchess of Austria, who was travelling to Paris for her forthcoming marriage to Napoleon. During this duty Montbrun was received also by King Maximillien of Bavaria who decorated him with the Grand Cordon de l’Ordre Militaire. and then the Persian Ambassador presented him with a beautiful sabre the hilt of which was encrusted with precious gems.
Then came a period of inactivity until the 17th April 1810 when he took command of la Cavalerie de l’Armee du Portugal.
He was present at the siege of Almeida from 24th July to 28th August the same year and covered the retreat of the army, then played an instrumental part in turning the English position on the 27th September after the battle of Busaco. On the 12th March 1811 he was before Coimbra and was present at the battle of Fuentes d’Onoro on the 5th May where he lead his squadrons in successive charges against the right wing of the English and had le Marechal Jean-Baptiste Bessieres, duc d’Istrie had been prompt in committing his Cavalerie de la Garde Imperiale in support of Montbrun the English would have sustained a very serious set-back. This was not the first time, nor would it be the last that Bessieres had been slow to act. I think that the real culprit this time was General Louis Lepic who commanded the Grenadiers a Cheval. It was he who told Montbrun that he accepted orders only from his commander le Marechal Bessieres and until such time as an order was received from him, his regiments would be going nowhere.
It was about this time that the lethargic and casual le Marechal Andre Massena, Prince d’Essling who was spending more and more time with his mistress, Madame Henriette Leberton who was the sister of one of his ADC’s, was dismissed. He was a mere shadow of his earlier years of triumph, was replaced by the younger le Marechal Auguste-Frederic-Louis Viesse de Marmont duc de Ragusa as Commandeur de l’Armee du Portugal and very soon Montbrun was further advancing his prestige with a brilliant victory at El Bodon on 25th September.
In December the same year he joined le Marechal Louis-Gabriel Suchet in l’Armee d’Aragon for a short time to reinforce the French before Alicante which they failed to take. A few weeks later he rejoined l’Armee de Portugal before being recalled to France in readiness for the planned Russian campaign. In these legions he was given command of the 2e Corps de Reserve de Cavalerie de la Grande Armee under the Emperors brother in law, the flamboyant, dashing but reckless Prince Joachim Murat, Roi de Naples.
Cavalry Corp Commander
Montbrun's impressive and powerful command consisted of a light and two heavy divisions of cavalry comprising 2e Division de Cavalerie Legere under the command of the Corsican born General Horace-Francois-Bastien Comte Sebastiani de la Porta who’s brigade commanders were 35 year old General Jean-Marie-Noel Delisle Falcon Saint Genies who lead the 1re brigade, General Andre Burthe who commanded the 8e brigade, the division was completed by 26 year old General Philippe-Antoine d’Ornano’s 16e brigade legere.
The 2e Division de Cuirassiers under General de Division, the Laon born Pierre Comte Watier de Saint Alphonse comprising the brigade of General Louis Chretien de Beaumont Carriere, the 3e brigade under General Jean-Louis Baron Richter and the 2e brigade of General Joseph-Philippe-Marie Baron Dornez.
The Corps was completed by the 4e Cuirassier Division under the command of 41 year old General de Division Jean-Antoine-Marie Defrance with brigades under General Louis-Claude Chouard (2e Carabiniers) the 2e brigade (Cuirassiers) under General Pierre-Louis-Francois Paultre de LaMotte and the 1re brigade de Carabiniers lead by General the 54 year old veteran Joseph Baron Bouvier des Eclaz. This magnificent command totalled around 10,200 sabres in 53 squadrons.
Napoleon ordered Montbrun to take Vilnius but did not tell Murat who seeing Montbrun’s regiments preparing to leave, asked where he was going. Montbrun told him of the Emperors orders, but Murat told him not to bother as he would execute the order himself. The problem was that he did no such thing and when Napoleon found that his instructions had not been executed, took Montbrun to task and gave him a severe dressing down. Montbrun did attempt to explain what had happened but the Emperor shouted him down. Meanwhile, Murat standing nearby and hearing all that was going on remained silent and did nothing to come to Montbruns aid. Napoleon really believing that Montbrun had let him down badly, never forgave him.
Montbrun recorded a small insignificant victory at Sventsiany on 3 rd July and another on the Disna two days later. Present at Smolensk when the city fell after a fierce battle in which the Russians were beaten. On September 4th Montbruns force clashed with and defeated elements of the
Russian rearguard at Gridnovo.
Cannon
Early morning on the 7th September Montbrun was out reconnoitering the Russian positions mounted on his horse at a walk when he was struck in the abdomen by a chance three pound ball which penetrated his abdomen and lodged in his body close the region of the kidneys. His wife who had followed the army was nearby and was taken to where her stricken husband was lying but he died later the same day at the small hamlet of Vlaskovo. He was 42 years of age.
Louis-Pierre Montbrun was over six feet tall, very slim with dark curly hair. He was a powerful man with a moustache and a neat goatee beard beneath his lower lip. He was brave to excess, tireless and an aggressive leader. He was a compassionate man and like his colleague General Etienne-Marie-Antoine Champion de Nansouty he cared very much for those who served under him. He was known to suffer from gout which caused him severe discomfort at times. He possessed a very loud stentorian voice. Some historians allege that he was known to have stooped to looting from time to time but this does not seem in character.
He was of a tempestuous nature and the Emperor on occasions had great difficulty in controlling him. He was an extremely talented man and considered by many to be one of only three very gifted commanders capable of controlling massed cavalry, the other two being the legendary hussar Antoine LaSalle and the third, Francois-Etienne Kellermann, the 2 nd duc de Valmy. Montbrun had many admirers including Ney, Davout, Edouard de Colbert-Chabanais, Moreau, d’Hautpoul, Foy, Richepanse, Moreau and Marmont. Montbrun’s younger brother Alexandre was promoted to General de Brigade on 12th October 1812. He survived the rigours and dangers of the now famous or even infamous retreat and fought through Saxony and France. He was brought before a Commission of Enquiry having evacuated Moret and the area of Fontainebleau without offering any resistance. He was acquitted and when Napoleon abdicated he offered his services to the Bourbons. On the Emperors return from Elba, he rallied to him and during the 100 days commanded a cavalry depot . He died in Paris on the 29th September 1821 aged just 46.
Louis-Pierre who had also been decorated as Grand Officier de la Legion d’Honneur, and Commandeur de l’Ordre des Deux Siciles had two children. Louis-Anatole-Napoleon, who became Comte de Montbrun and Page de la Roi Charles X and a daughter Louise-Clarisse, born in Paris in 1812 and who married Paul Baron de Bourgoing, but died at Dresden on 26th March 1835 aged just 23.
On hearing of Montbruns death, the Emperor ordered that Mme la Comtesse Montbrun should be given a pension, usually only reserved for the wives of le Marechaux. The Generals widow Marie-Madeleine-Anatole later contracted a second marriage to Louis-Marie-Veron Baron de
Farincourt who was also to become a General. Louis-Pierre Montbrun was one of the most illustrious soldiers of the entire Napoleonic period and he had many horses killed under him in battle. His name is engraved on the east face of l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
A bust of the General is to be found in the la Galerie de la Cour d’Honneur at Les Invalides. According to informants, a portrait of Montbrun hangs in the Municipal Council Chambers at Florensac.
A cavalry training college located at Saumur bears his name.
Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars by David Chandler
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Louis-Pierre Montbrun was one of the most talented and skilful cavalry commanders of the entire Napoleonic period and was born in the small town of Florensac in the Departement of Herault in southern France. Florensac has a population of some 3,000 and lies approximately 800 kilometres slightly to the southeast of Paris and 50 km directly west of the city of Montpellier.