A look at a French Revolutionary General, Marceau, which first appeared in the NG/FLG magazine 'Circulaire' 1994/No.3. It has been translated and reprinted by the kind permission of Alfred Umhey, the President of the Napoleonische GeselIschaft. We hope that this will be a fruitful liaison, and Dave is busy translating several interesting articles with a Central European flavour.

Francois-Severin MARCEAU-DESGRAVIERS was born on 1st March 1769 in Chartres. This father, an attorney at the Courts in Chartres, neglected his son's education, but in his sister, Marceau found a sort of second mother, who cultivated his good nature and above all, instilled in him, a sense of honour and justice. Of a lively character, he nonetheless felt no desire pursue the legal career intended for him and on 2nd December 1785, aged 16, he joined the 35eme Infanterie 'Duc d'Angoullme', in which he quickly attained the rank of sergent

While on leave in Paris on 14th July 1789, he took part in the storming of the Bastille as a member of the 42eme Infanterie 'De La Reine' under the command of an officer called Elie, as a result of which Marceau was filled with enthusiasm for the Revolution's aims. In October that year, he joined the Garde National in Chartres as a Capitaine and on 6th November 1791, he was appointed a Capitaine in the 2eme Companie, 1er Bataillon of the Volontaires Nationales of the Eure-et-Loire Departement. From 25th March 1792, as a lieutenant en seconce, Marceau found himself with his battalion under siege by the Prussians at Verdun. At the Council Of War, he spoke out in support of the commander, Beaurepaire, against the surrender of the fortress. After Beaurepaire had shot himself so as not to experience the shame of surrender, Marceau, as the most junior staff officer, was tasked on 2nd September 1792 with delivering the instrument of surrender to the Prussian King, which he is said to have done in tears.

As he found an emphasis on freedom among the Volontaires, which was incompatible with his sense of discipline, at his own request, on 4th September he became a lieutenant en premier with the light Cuirassiers of the German Legion, which moved out of Philippeville into the Vendee in April 1793. On the following 1st May, Marceau was transfered to the 19eme Chasseurs a Cheval as a Capitaine and took part in the defence of Saumur against the rebellious Vendeans from 10th July 1793. When the town was lost and the Revolutionary troops had dissolved into disarray, People's Representative Bourbotte had his horse shot from under him and he would have been captured but for Marceau, who offered his own horse with the words: "I would prefer to be killed or captured than to see a Deputy of the People fall into the hands of these robbers! ".

This heroic deed brought him to the attention of the Convention, who announced on 13th June, that he had been a true servant of 'la Patrie'. Two days later on the 15th, Marceau was duly appointed an adjutant general chef de bataillon and on 16th October, after he had distinguished himself at Laon (14th August 1793) and Chantonnay (5th September 1793), Marceau was provisionally appointed general de brigade by a gathering of People's Representatives in Beaupreau, a rank confirmed on 5th November.

In the course of the Vendee war, Marceau became a close friend of Kleber, whose noble and loyal character was so similar to his own. Kleber was the one who recommended his appointment as a general de division on 10th November 1793. On 17th October, he had already contributed considerably to Kleber's victory over the Vendeans fled by Bonchamps and d'Eblee) at Cholet and on 27th November, Marceau was appointed interim commanding General of the Army of the West, an appointment he took up on 5th December 1793.

After victory at Le Mans on 12th December, his troops supported Westermann's attack on the town itself. The fighting raged through the night, but in the morning the Royalists had to abandon the town in the morning, at which the Revolutionary troops began a dreadful slaughter, which Marceau couldn't put a stop to. Marceau pursued the Vendeans and together with Westermann and K16ber, completely annihilated their last army at Savenay on 23rd December 1793, but intrigue robbed him of his command: In Le Mans, he had snatched a young armed Vendean woman away from the cruel hands of his troops and brought her to safety, but for this act of humanity was now denounced as a supporter of the Republic's enemies. The scaffold was already casting its shadow over him, but Bourbotte had been informed of events and hurried from Paris to the army, where he put a stop to the process. Nonetheless, Marceau had to hand his command to Turreau on Christmas Day 1793, officially standing down on grounds of ill-health.

Bourbotte (born 1763) was already a Deputy from Yonne at the Convention, when he demanded the execution of the King without judicial process on 16th October 1792. Eventually, he along with six other deputies from the Mountain Party, was condemned to death by a self-appointed Military Committee on 17th June 1795 after participating in the abortive Prairial Revolt of 20th-23rd May in Paris. He and the five former Jacobins did not recognise the court and sought as a protest to return to their cells. Only three succeeded, the other three including Bourbotte died on the guillotine.

On 17th April 1794, Marceau was sent to the Army of the Ardennes under Charbonie, where he was made commander of a newly-created division on 8th May. Crossing the Sambre on 10th May, he took Thuin, but had to give command of his division to Vezu on 20th May. After a short spell as commander of the Army of the Ardennes advance-guard, Marceau took command of his old division back from Vezu on 3rd June, which he continued to lead for a few days, when the Army was combined with that of the Sambre on 8th June, but on the 13th, he took command of Mayer's division.

After the battle of Fleurus (26th June 1794), at which his command, the French right, was routed by the Austrian left under Archduke Charles, and during which Marceau twice had horses shot from underneath him, he joined the Sambre-Meuse Army on the 28th and was appointed in command of its 9th Division on 7th August. Under Scherer's command, he fought on the river Ourthe (18th September 1794) and on the Roer (2nd October), taking Koblenz on 23rd October.

Several commands followed: the right wing of the army in November; f rom Christmas 1794 the 7th Division, with which he participated in the April 1795 blockade of Mainz conducted by Michaud; from 28th June, the 6th Division (retitled the 5th on 9th August).

During September 1795, he laid siege to the Ehrenbreitstein fortress opposite Koblenz and during the following month, commanded the rearguard of the army as the French army pulled back from the right bank of the Rhine. As part of this, he was tasked with burning the bridge at Neuvvied after the rest of the army had crossed. Legend has it that because the Engineer officer in charge of the operation, Capitaine Souhait, rushed the operation, leaving Bernadotte's division in a dangerous position on the far side of the river. In despair at this mistake, for which he felt himself responsible, Marceau intended to shoot himself, but his friend Kleber rode up, disarmed him and assured him that not all was lost.

Both then rode at the head of their troops across the bridge, which had already been repaired, attacked the enemy, who were pressing Bernadotte hard and halted them. Certainly, Kleber with the centre of the Sambre-Meuse Army withdrew his troops back over to the left bank of the Rhine across the newly- repaired bridge at Neuvvied, after he and Marceau with their troops had held up the Austrains, who were pressing them hard, for a few days.

Marceau occupied the valleys around Stromberg on 20th November. Although caught by a surprise Austrian attack on 7th December, Marceau fought his way out and was victorious at Sulzbach on the 17th. On the last day of the year, he concluded an armistice with the Austrian General Kray, which was to last until 31 st May 1796.

Marceau took over his last command on 30th March 1796, when he was appointed commander of the 1st Division of the Sambre-Meuse Army, which he led across the Rhine on 6th June. After Jourdan had headed west with the main army, Marceau was left with the three divisions of the right wing, took the fortress of Kbnigstein on 29th July and with four divisions watched the Rhine defences. Covering the retreat of Jourdan's broken army, he fought at Limburg on 16th September and Freilingen on the 1 8th and on the following day, halted the Austrian pursuit at Altenkirchen.

Tyrolean Jagers of the Austrian army were skirmishing in the Hochsteinbach woods, as Marceau accompanied by Capitaine Souhait and two orderlies moved forward to reconnoitre the area. He was wearing the dolman of an 11th Chasseur a Cheval without an officer's sash and, on his head, the remains of a plume shot up at Limburg. As he stopped and pointed out to Souhait an Austrian Hussar of the Kaiser regiment, whose horse had reared up, a Tyrolean Jager, concealed behind a tree, fired on him. The ball struck Souhait, entered Marceau's left arm and lodged in his spine. The fatally wounded Marceau was carried back to Altenkirchen, and there as the Austrians pressed forward towards the town, Jourdan wrote a letter to the Austrian General Hadik, commending Marceau to his care. The French abandoned the area, leaving the wounded and on 21st September, around 3 a.m., Marceau died, aged just 26.

The funeral of Marceau

Escorted by a detachment of the Austrian Hussar Regiment 'Barco', (some Austrian sources say 9th Kurassier - DAH), the body was returned by the Austrians to the Sambre-Meuse Army and on the 24th, buried in the redoubt on the Petersberg at Koblenz. Almost a year later, on 19th September 1797, the ashes were reinterred in a pyramid-shaped tomb erected by his friend, Kleber.

Marceau was a big man, in good physical shape, his features pleasant and noble. His face was pale, his hair chestnut brown with a reddish moustache. A rugged type with a short temper, he was distinguished by his generosity, humanity, fearlessness and magnanimity. He is said to have had a gently rolling gait. Kleber said of him: "I am a match for anyone in what is involved in planning a siege, but I have never known a General, who was as capable as Marceau of calmly and intelligently modifying a battleplan on the ground himself."

Sources

'Biographic universelle, ancienne at modems, ou histoire, par ordre alphabetique, de la vie publique et privee de tous les hommes our se sent fait remarquer par leurs bouts, leurs actions, leurs talents, leurs vertus ou leurs crimes' 80 vols. (Paris) n 811-1847)

'Nouvelle biographie generate depuis les temps regulbs jusque nos fours, avec les renseignements bibhographiques et l'Indication des sources a consulter' 46 vols. (Paris) (1852-1866)

Georges Six: 'Dictionnaire biographique des genereaux et amiraux franAais de la Revolution at de 'Empre' 2 vols. (Paris) (1834)