Claude-Victor Perrin Duke of Belluno | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byAntoine-Jean Gros, 1812 | |
| Minister of War | |
| In office 14 December 1821 – 19 October 1823 | |
| Preceded by | Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg |
| Succeeded by | Ange Hyacinthe Maxence de Damas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1764-12-07)7 December 1764 Lamarche,France |
| Died | 1 March 1841(1841-03-01) (aged 76) Paris,France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery |
| Awards | Grand Cross of theLegion of Honour |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of France Kingdom of France First French Republic First French Empire Bourbon Restoration |
| Branch/service | Army |
| Years of service | 1781–1830 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
| Commands | X Corps I Corps IX Corps II Corps |
| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno (French:[klodviktɔʁpɛʁɛ̃]; 7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) was a French military commander who served during theFrench Revolutionary Wars and theNapoleonic Wars. He was made aMarshal of the Empire in 1807 by EmperorNapoleon I.
Victor was born inLamarche on 7 December 1764 to Charles Perrin and Marie Anne Floriot.[1] In 1781, he enlisted in an artillery regiment inGrenoble as adrummer,[1][2] and after ten years' service he applied for and received his discharge.[1] InValence, on 16 May 1791 he married Jeanne Josephine Muguet, by whom he had issue which was extinct in the male line by 1917.
In February 1792, Victor joined his hometown'sNational Guard as agrenadier. He then enlisted in the 1stDrôme Battalion, and later passed to the 5thBouches-du-Rhône Battalion. In September 1792 he was made chief of battalion and deployed with theArmy of Italy, distinguishing himself at the Battle ofCoaraze. During theSiege of Toulon in late 1793, Victor distinguished himself in the capture of Fort Mont Faron, and was seriously wounded in the stomach during the capture of Fort de l'Eguillette at the end of the siege.[2]
For his actions at Toulon, Victor received a provisional promotion to brigade general. Afterwards, he was sent to theArmy of the Eastern Pyrenees and fought in theWar of the Pyrenees from 1794 to 1795, where he served in the sieges ofCollioure,Roses, and fought with distinction at theBattle of the Black Mountain in November 1794. Confirmed in his rank in June 1795, he returned to the Army of Italy, fighting at theBattle of Loano in November 1795.[2]
Victor served brilliantly in theItalian campaign of 1796 under GeneralNapoleon Bonaparte. He took part in thecapture of Cosseria Castle (April 14) and the battles ofDego (April 15), Peschiera (August 6), andRovereto (September 4). Soon after his promotion to general of division, in January 1797, he capturedImola andAncona (which would later become theAnconine Republic) in thePapal States, seizing 120 artillery pieces and 4,000 rifles. In April 1797, his troops took part in the suppression of theVeronese Easter.[2]
Victor then returned to France and was made commander of the 2nd military division in Nantes in March 1798, but was soon back in the Army of Italy. He served in the Italian campaign of 1799, and was present at the defeats ofTrebbia (June 17–19), where he was injured, andGenola (November 4). The following year, he led his division atMontebello and distinguished himself at theBattle of Marengo.[2]
Appointed general-in-chief of theArmy of Batavia in July 1800, Victor held this command until August 1802, when he was named commander of a planned expedition toLouisiana. However, due to the disaster ofthat of Saint-Domingue, the expedition was cancelled and Victor returned to his previous command in June 1803. In that year he married for a second time in June at's-Hertogenbosch to Julie Vosch van Avesaat (1781–1831), by whom he had an only daughter who died unmarried and without issue. In February 1805, he was appointed Ambassador toDenmark.[2]
On the outbreak of hostilities withPrussia, Victor became Chief of Staff of the5th Army Corps under MarshalJean Lannes, and fought at the battles ofSaalfeld andJena in October 1806, where he was wounded. He received the capitulation ofSpandau on October 25, served at theBattle of Pultusk on December 26, and was placed at the head of the10th Army Corps upon its formation.[2]
In March 1807, Victor laid siege toKolberg thenDanzig before being captured by partisans ofFerdinand von Schill. He was soon exchanged for Prussian generalGebhard Leberecht von Blücher and immediately sent to theSiege of Graudenz. After replacing the wounded MarshalJean Bernadotte as commander of the1st Army Corps, in June 1807, Victor broke the center of the Russian army at theBattle of Friedland on June 14, for which he was madeMarshal of the Empire by Napoleon on 13 July.[2]
After thepeace of Tilsit, Victor became governor ofBerlin, and was created Duke ofBelluno (Duc de Bellune) in September 1808, shortly before departing for thePeninsular War. He was victorious over the Spanish generalJoaquín Blake y Joyes at theBattle of Espinosa on November 10–11, and took part in theBattle of Somosierra on November 30, subsequently marching onToledo. He was again victorious atUclès in January 1809, and as commander of the 1st Army Corps, he participated in the battles of Ybor (17 March),Valdecañas de Tajo (18 March), and finallyMedellín (28 March), where he inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Spanish army of GeneralGregorio García de la Cuesta. He won the Battle of Alcabon on July 26, but over the next two days was repulsed by an Anglo-Spanish army atTalavera.[2]
After the French victory at theBattle of Ocaña, Victor entered Cordoba in November 1809 and Seville in February 1810, thenlaid siege to Cadiz. Lacking sufficient siege artillery, and with the city being supplied by sea, his troops could not seize the important Spanish port and the siege was abandoned after 30 months. During this period he fought at theBattle of Chiclana.[2]
In 1812, Victor was recalled to France to head the9th Army Corps in theinvasion of Russia. At the head of 30,000 men, he served in the reserve ensuring the lines of communication. At first his corps was posted in east Prussia, but it was later moved up toSmolensk to serve as the rearguard of the invading forces.[3] From here his most important service was in protecting the retreating army at thecrossing of the Berezina River.[4] He was appointed commander of the2nd Army Corps in March 1813, and over the following months fought at the battles ofDresden,Leipzig,Wachau, and finally atHanau on 30 October.[2]
During theFrench campaign of 1814, Victor was one of the generals who distinguished himself alongside Napoleon. Initially stationed with his 2nd Army Corps inStrasbourg, his outnumbered troops withdrew until late January before the advancing Coalition armies. He took part in the battles ofBrienne andLa Rothière, and on February 17 his troops routedPahlen's Russian corps at theBattle of Mormant, taking 3,000 prisoners and seizing 16 artillery pieces.[2]
On 18 February 1814, Victor arrived too late at theBattle of Montereau.[5] The result was a scene of violent recrimination and his supersession by the emperor,[5] who transferred his command to GeneralÉtienne Maurice Gérard. Nevertheless, he was put at the head of two divisions of theYoung Guard the same day. He was wounded by a gunshot at theBattle of Craonne on 7 March, which forced him to walk on crutches for three months.[2]
Upon Napoleon's defeat in April 1814, Victor transferred his allegiance to the restoredHouse of Bourbon. He was made aChevalier de Saint-Louis, and in December 1814 received fromLouis XVIII the command of the 2nd military division. In 1815, on the return of Napoleon from exile inElba during theHundred Days, Victor accompanied the king toGhent.[4]
When the second restoration followed theBattle of Waterloo, Victor returned to Paris with Louis XVIII and was made apeer of France and major-general of the Royal Guard. In October, he was appointed chairman of a commission which inquired into the conduct of the officers who joined Napoleon during the Hundred Days. As a member of theChamber of Peers, he voted in favor of the death penalty for MarshalMichel Ney, a vote he bitterly regretted, and Victor made the day of Ney's execution (7 December) a day of penance until the end of his life.[2]
In 1821, Victor was appointedMinister of War and held this office for two years. In this capacity, he prepared the 1823French invasion of Spain but was dismissed byLouis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême and resumed his ministerial portfolio. After theJuly Revolution in 1830, he refused to swear allegiance to the government of KingLouis Philippe, was expelled from the Chamber of Peers, and retired altogether into private life. He died in Paris on 1 March 1841 and was buried at thePère-Lachaise Cemetery. His papers for the period 1793–1800 have been published (Paris, 1846).[4]
Victor first married Jeanne-Josephine Muguet in May 1791 and had four children:
His second marriage was to Julie Vosch van Avesaet in June 1803 (1781–1831), with whom he had a daughter:
Victor had mixed military talents. He was an excellent organizer and tactician. During his time in Spain he destroyed entire Spanish armies with Cannae-like envelopments and even fought Wellington to a virtual tactical draw at Talavera. However he was a timid strategist often afraid of taking risks. Nevertheless, he recognized new developments in warfare and implemented them throughout his career. At the Beresina River in 1812, he made excellent use of reverse slope defenses showing that he learned something from Wellington.[citation needed]
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Victor-Perrin, Claude".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–47.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of War 14 December 1821 - 23 March 1823 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of War 15 April 1823 - 19 October 1823 | Succeeded by |
Marshals of theFirst French Empire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.svg) |  | ||
Ministry of Joseph de Villèle (14 December 1821 to 6 December 1827) | ||
|---|---|---|
Head of state: KingLouis XVIII of France −Charles X of France | ||
| President of the council |  Villèle | |
| Finance | ||
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| Interior | ||
| Justice | ||
| Navy and Colonies | ||
| War | ||
| King's Household | ||
| Religious Affairs | ||
| Minister of State | ||
