General Jean-Toussaint
Arrighi de Casanova
Duc de Padoue
by Terry J. Senior, UK
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Although he never quite reached the heights of a LaSALLE, PAJOL or MONTBRUN, he was nevertheless a loyal and capable commander of no mean ability. Brave, and tactically sound he was not afraid to exercise his own initiative if he thought the situation deemed it necessary.
He was born on the 8th March 1778 at 1, place du Poilu in Corte on the island of Corsica (in the same house in which Joseph BONAPARTE, was also born). He was one of four children, born to Hyacinthe, an Advocate to the King, and his wife Antoinette BENIELLI, a cousin by marriage of Laeticia RAMOLINO - the mother of NAPOLEON.
Hyacinthe, the eldest of seven children was himself born in March 1748 and he and Antoinette married at Ajaccio in October 1774. The origins of the family are traced back hundreds of years and the two names of ARRIGHI and CASANOVA came together in 1635 when Antonio ARRIGHI married Catherina de CASANOVA. The family were given the right to use the name ARRIGHI DE CASANOVA when the Municipal Officers of Corte passed a Decree on the 31st August 1772. Jean-Toussaint was the youngest child of the family, another boy Ambroise also took a military career and was an officer when he was killed at the battle of Vimiero in Portugal on the 21st August 1808. A third boy, Antoine-Francois-Andre too became a soldier. He went to Santo Domingo as ADC to General en Chef Victor-Emmanuel LECLERC, and like his commander, died from Yellow Fever on the island. The only other child, a girl, Marianne-Isabelle-Celeste died when she was only three years of age.
Jean-Toussaint, when he was just nine, became a pupil of l’Ecole Militaire de Rebais in the Departement of Seine et Marne in 1787. Six years later, in 1793 he went to study at l’Universite de Pise and received a good education. It was on the 30th November 1796 that the 18 year old enlisted as a sous lieutenant in the 3e Compagnie Franche du Departement de Liamone and the following month was promoted to Lieutenant. Given a staff posting with l’Armee d’Italie he spent some time acting as Secretary to Joseph BONAPARTE who was, Ambassador to Rome and Parma. He was then posted to the staff of the 75e demi brigade de ligne. There was, at that time, a period of unrest in Rome during which some rioting occurred.
The young officer was on duty in the city centre on 27th December 1797, with the 16 year old Eugene de BEAUHARNAIS, ADC to General BONAPARTE. They were supporting the talented and promising 28 year old Lyon born General Leonard DUPHOT, and trying to quell fighting between the Papal forces and the general population. The General, who was engaged and due to be married two days later, to Desire CLARY one of the daughters of the rich Marseilles businessman, was shot in the chest, and then received a series of bayonet wounds from which he died. Desire, a few years later became Queen of Sweden following her marriage to le Marechal Jean-Baptiste-Jule BERNADOTTE, Prince de Pontecorvo.
On the 6th February 1798 ARRIGHI was given a staff appointment with l’Armee d’Italie, and then, four months later, a similar appointment with l’Armee d’Orient then assembling at Toulon for the impending invasion of Egypt. Having arrived in that country, he was, on the 12th August 1798 present at Salahieh where the invading French forces were opposed by a horde of Mamelukes. The young officer performed well but suffered a severe sabre wound to the head during the fighting. However, it proved not to be serious and his overall conduct during the battle so impressed General BONAPARTE
that he promoted him to Capitaine while still on the field of battle.
He was then temporarily seconded as ADC to General BONAPARTE’s Chef d’Etat Major, General Louis-Alexandre BERTHIER in the 15,000 strong Army for the expedition to Syria and took part in the assault and blockade of El Arish from the 14th to the 20th February 1799. ARRIGHI was then engaged in the initial assault on Jaffa on the 8th March and was the first Frenchman to enter the
city. He later received news that the Directoire Executif had on the 17th of the month confirmed his promotion to Capitaine.
The highly promising officer then joined the extremely talented commander, perhaps even the greatest of all Napoleonic soldiers, the Lectoure (Gers) born Gascon, General Jean LANNES under whom he served at the siege of Saint Jean d’Acre which commenced on the 18th March and lasted until the 20th May 1799 when the French abandoned their attempts to take over the heavily fortified town.
During one assault General Geraud-Christophe-Michel DUROC, a friend of LANNES and first ADC to BONAPARTE sustained a serious injury to his right thigh caused when a shell exploded nearby. Fortunate for him the highly skilled surgeon Jean-Dominique LARREY was present and applied expert treatment after first cleaning the wound. Then the massive frame of General Andre BON arrived as another casualty but he stoutly refused treatment to his shattered lower abdomen and was soon to die from the effects of gangrene. It was seconds later that ARRIGHI sustained a very serious wound to his neck, when a bullet cut through his right carotid artery and he fell to the ground blood spurting in great jets from his wound.
A quick thinking LANNES, together with the assistance of another equally intelligent young soldier applied the first aid and attempted to staunch the heavy flow of blood. But neither gave the young ADC any chance of survival. However, luck was on ARRIGHI’s side, the remarkable LARREY was still there to tend him and he did indeed survive. In his Memoirs, General Auguste de COLBERT
CHABANAIS referring to ARRIGHI’s wound, stated that it was usually fatal and that it was a miracle that he survived. By strange coincidence LANNES himself was also later, during the same siege, struck in the neck by a bullet, which shaved his neck vertebrae and caused him for the rest of his life to hold his head slightly to the left.
Half way through the siege, General BONAPARTE had to detach part of his command under the highly capable and popular General Jean-Baptiste KLEBER to confront a 25,000 strong Turkish army at Mount Tabor on 16th April 1799. It was only after BONAPARTE himself arrived on the scene with reinforcements that the French completed the destruction of their Turkish opponents.
The siege of Saint Jean d’Acre then resumed but without further progress and on the 20th May the French abandoned the seige and commenced their journey back across the burning sands to Egypt and ARRIGHI went with them. He then left Egypt at the suggestion of the Commander in Chief on account of the seriousness of his wounds.
About the same time BONAPARTE himself, without warning, suddenly departed for France on the frigate “La Muiron” taking with him a number of very senior officers including BERTHIER, LANNES, MURAT, CAULAINCOURT, MARMONT, BESSIERES ANDREOSSY and DUROC. Command of l’Armee d’Orient then devolved to the talented but unsuspecting and bemused KLEBER.
ARRIGHI appointed ADC to Chef d’Etat Major BERTHIER remained at this post for the battle of Marengo on 14th June 1800 in l’Armee de la Reserve where he again performed with great distinction.
Later the same year, on 11th October he was promoted to Chef d’Escadron and then posted to the staff of the 9e Regiment des Dragons at that time commanded by Colonel Horace-Francois Bastien
SEBASTIANI DE LA PORTA before moving, on the 3 November 1801 to the 1re Regiment des Dragons under Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Theodore VIALLANES. Recalled to Paris on 3rd August 1803, he was made Chef de Brigade in the same regiment with effect from 31st of the month and then began a period of service with l’Armee des Cotes de l’Ocean, which lasted from 1803 to 1805.
During this period, on the 25th December 1804 he was decorated as Commandant de la Legion d’Honneur, just three weeks after NAPOLEON’s coronation as Emperor. During the period 1805/1807, the fast rising officer served with the Grande Armee and at Wertingen where Austrian troops under the Archduke FERDINAND and General Karl Freiherr von Leiberich MACK were defeated by the French on 8th October 1805. ARRIGHI again suffered a number of sabre wounds, some to his head but none proved serious. He led his squadrons of the 1re and 2e Regiments des Dragons with great élan and during the battle smashed two regiments of Austrian cuirassiers and then seized six cannon from a battalion of Hungarian Grenadiers. He was also present at the great battle of Austerlitz on the 2nd December 1805 before being appointed Commandant at Augsbourg on the 13th of the same month.
1806 commenced with him being granted a pension of 12,000 francs financed by the Imperial Treasury. Later that same year, on 19th May ARRIGHI was made Major-Colonel des Dragons de la Garde which subsequently proved to be very difficult for le Marechal Jean-Baptiste BESSIERES in his post as Colonel General de Cavalerie de la Garde Imperiale. While BESSIERES was absent
on duty elsewhere, the strong minded, ferociously ambitious ARRIGHI effected a complete change in the appearance of the newly formed Dragons de la Garde by modernising the hairstyles and dispensing with the old fashioned queues and powdering. He also brought about certain changes to the uniforms, all of which caused extreme annoyance to BESSIERES and other senior officers who still preferred the old-fashioned dress regulations.
However, the deed was done, although through his actions ARRIGHI had made himself a few enemies of those who resented, what they considered, high handed and unauthorised action on his part.
There followed service in both the Prussian and Polish campaigns of 1806 and 1807. He was present at Friedland on the 14th June 1807, and a few days later, on the 25th, was made General de Brigade at the age of 29. He retained command of the Dragons de la Garde Imperiale.
He was awarded an annual income of 130,000 francs drawn on the Grand Duche de Berg and then another award of 70,000 francs financed by l’Ost Frise. Both of these awards were declared on the 17th March 1808 but even these were eclipsed by his appointment as duc de Padoue three days later. The patents confirming this appointment were forthcoming on the 24th April.
The highly ambitious ARRIGHI together with his command, then received a posting to Spain where they took part in the action at Benevente on the 29th December in which English cavalry commanded by General Lord Henry PAGET, including elements of the 10th Hussars, captured the highly talented General Charles LEFEBVRE-DESNOETTES when that officer made the most serious error of his career. He was at that time the biggest prize ever taken by the British in the wars against NAPOLEON and was paroled at Cheltenham from where he made his successful escape in late 1811.
With Austria continuing to make hostile threats and postures, NAPOLEON, shortly left Spain for Germany in order to deal with that country and in his preparations withdrew certain forces including those under ARRIGHI. Present at Aspern-Essling in May of 1809 and advanced to General de Division he assumed command of the 3e Division des Cuirassiers replacing the likeable giant General Jean-Louis-Brigitte d’ESPAGNE the popular Auch born cavalry commander who had been mortally wounded leading his glittering squadrons in action on the 21st May. The stricken officer suffering horrific wounds was carried, wrapped in his bloodstained cloak to the isle of Lobau where he died and was subsequently buried.
ARRIGHI took over the Division, which consisted of two brigades, each of two regiments, making a total of 16 squadrons together with two 8lb horse artillery batteries totalling 12 guns. The regiments were the 4e, 6e, 7e and 8e Cuirassiers, their brigade commanders being General Nicolas Baron REYNAUD and General Albert-Louis-Emmanuel FOULER Comte de Relingue who suffered several
wounds at Essling and was taken prisoner.
For the confrontation with the Austrians at Wagram in July of 1809, REYNAUD retained his command, his regimental commanders being Colonel Francois-Cajetan BORGHESE Prince ALDOBRANDINI (4e Cuirassiers), Colonel Francois-Charles-Jean HAUGERANVILLE Baron d’AVRANGES (6e Cuirassiers). General FOULER previous commander of the 2e Brigade was replaced by General Etienne Tardif BORDESSOULE Comte de POMMEROUX whose Regimental commanders were Colonel Jacques-Charles DUBOIS (7e Cuirassiers) and Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Gabriel Baron MERLIN (8e Cuirassiers). He had under his command a total of 2,330 men and six guns. During the campaign the Division lost three officers killed and 24 wounded including Colonel MERLIN. ARRIGHI’s performance at Wagram could be called no better than average. First he failed to make his initial objective and was forced to retire his regiments, partially, it must be said, because of the terribly unsuitable terrain his squadrons had to cover. However, the results of his actions caused the Austrians to change their point of attack, which was the object of ARRIGHI’s orders in the first place. So, maybe his reputation did not suffer after all..
In July 1810 he was appointed Inspecteur General de Cavalerie, then in March 1811 he became Commandant of a mobile column re-sponsible for rounding up deserters and draft dodgers in the 27e and 28e Divisions Militaire. He did not go on the Russian Campaign of 1812 but was given a series of mainly administrative posts. In mid May he became Commandant Superieur des Cotes de la Somme a l’Elbe and Inspecteur des 2e, 3e, 4e, 5e, et 11e Brigades des Gardes Nationales.
On the 25th February 1812 he married 20 year old Anne-Rose-Zoe de MONTESQUI-OUFEZENSAC the daughter of Henri MONTESQUIOU-FEZENSAC Comte de l’Empire, Chambellan de l’Empereur and his wife Francoise-Augustine DUPLEIX de BACQUENCOURT.
Then, on 21st December at Antwerp his first child, a daughter Marie-Louise-Antoinette was born. In 1834 she was to marry an American called Edouard-James THAYER who was a politician.
In January of 1813 he was sent to Osnabruck to form five Regiments de Ligne both there and at Wesel. Then, on 22nd March he was Commandant le 3e Corps de Cavalerie de la Grande Armee and soon saw action against partisans operating between the rivers Rhine and Elbe.
On 28th May he was appointed Gouveneur of Leipzig and on the 7th June successfully defeated an attack by Russian forces under the command of General CZERNISCHEFF.
His Corps was active first with le Marechal Nicolas-Charles OUDINOT duc de Reggio, then with le Marechal Michel NEY Prince de la Moscowa in August and September of 1813. He performed with great distinction at Dennewitz on 6th September where he commanded the III Cavalerie Corps, which comprised the 5e Cavalerie Division Legere under General Jean-Thomas-Guillaume Baron LORGE, the 6e Cavalerie Division Legere commanded by General Francois Baron FOURNIER-SARLOVESE one of the most notorious and insubordinate of all Napoleonic soldiers, and the 4e Division de Gross Cavalerie whose commander was the highly popular and accomplished General Jean-Marie-Antoine Comte DEFRANCE.
There was further action for ARRIGHI’s command at Mockern (16th October) where he put in the field a total of 26 squadrons, just under 4,000 sabres and 18 guns, and then at Leipzig on the 17th and 18th of the month. He was repulsed at Weimar on the 22nd and present at Hanau on the 30th October when the French scored a victory over an Austro/Bavarian force commanded by 46 year old
General Carl Philipp WREDE. ARRIGHI continued to serve with MAR-MONT on the 7th November and then with le Marechal MACDONALD in January of 1814. On the 15th February he was appointed Commandant le 1re Division d’Infanterie de la Reserve de Paris, then served with MARMONT again at Neuilly-Saint-Front on 3rd March, then Craonne four days later. His force was routed at Athies near to Laon on the night of the 9th March then saw further action at Reims on the 12th and 13th. Following yet more desperate action at Fere Champenoise on the 25th he was wounded in the battle for Paris on the 30th.
Following the first abdication of NAPOLEON he was placed on the non-active list on the 1st September 1814, then on the 26th of the same month in Paris, Antoinette gave birth to their second child, a boy they named Ernest, who later became the second and last duc de Padoue. ARRIGHI and his family then went to Lombardy On his return from Elba in February of 1815 NAPOLEON appointed ARRIGHI to the post of Gouveneur of the island of Corsica on the 14th April and also made him Pair de France on the 2nd June. Following the defeat of Waterloo, ARRIGHI was among the many officers proscribed by Article 2 of the Ordonnance issued on the 24th July 1815. Other officers included NEY, CAULAINCOURT, LEFEBVRE-DESNOETTES, RIGAU the LALLEMAND brothers, VANDAMME, MOUTON LOBAU, BERTRAND, DELABORDE, EXELMANS, PIRE, LABEDOYERE, DROUOT, and CAMBRONNE.
Fearing arrest, ARRIGHI fled with his family to Italy and for a while lived in Trieste where his wife, Anne-Rose-Zoe died aged just 25 on the 14th June 1817. He returned to France in 1819, which is also the year his father died. He was permitted to officially retire from service on the 1st December 1819. He held a number of administrative appointments before turning to politics in 1849 and was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Corsica and then Senateur in January 1852. He became Gouveneur des Invalides on the 29th December 1852 at the age of 74.
The General died in Paris on the 22nd March 1853 aged 75. On his death, the title of duc de Padoue passed to his only son Ernest, who was by this time 38 years old. He had taken a career in politics and became a Depute for Corsica during the III Republic. He married on 6th October 1842 to Elise HONNONEZ who came from Mons in Belgium. They had just one child, a girl Marie who was born in
September 1849. Ernest’s wife Elise died on 1st September 1876 and he married for a second time on 24th November 1877 to 33 year old Marguerite BRUAT who had been born in Tahiti. There were no children of this second relationship and as there were no male heirs, the title duc de Padoue became extinct when Ernest died in March 1888.
ARRIGHI’s daughter who had married Edouard-James THAYER died on the 2nd June 1866 aged 53. There were no children of this alliance.
In Place de duc de Padoue in Corte on the island of Corsica, there is a statue of the General made in bronze by the celebrated sculptor BARTHOLDI. At Orsay, not far from Saint Cloud at 1, rue du Bocage is a property once owned by General Jean-Victor MOREAU and which was owned by ARRIGHI from 1808 to 1830. The Generals remains lie in the crypt at Les Invalides in Paris.
ARRIGHI DE CASANOVA was a brave and capable commander who served his country well. He was a man of average height, who grew somewhat portly with age. He had a pleasant clean-shaven face with comparatively short hair, which was somewhat unusual for the period. One historian suggests that he had a penchant for gambling, but whether or not it became a problem for him, or even if it was true has not been established. He was certainly aggressively ambitious and ruffled the feathers of quite a few of his colleagues during his career. One commentator stated that there was “something disagreeable in the person”. Perhaps this was another reference to his ambitious designs. Be that as it may, he was certainly a bright star of the Napoleonic age.
Dictionnaire Biographique des Generaux & Amiraux Francais de la Revolution et de l’Empire by Georges Six.
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In a period of military history endowed with an abundance of charismatic, talented and brave figures, few made an impression that eclipsed that of the likeable,
well-connected and handsome Corsican born cavalryman Jean-Toussaint ARRIGHI DE CASANOVA.
Egypt: Camel Corps
Berthier, as General de Division