Jean Isidore Harispe | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of Maréchal Harispe, 19th century | |
| Born | (1768-12-07)7 December 1768 |
| Died | 26 May 1855(1855-05-26) (aged 86) |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | French Army |
| Service years | 1792–1855 |
| Rank | Maréchal de France |
| Wars | |
| Awards | Legion of Honour (Grand Croix) |
Jean Isidore Harispe,1st Comte Harispe (French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃izidɔʁaʁip]; 7 December 1768 – 26 May 1855) was a French soldier of theRevolutionary andNapoleonic Wars, as well as of the following period. Harispe was created aMarshal of France in 1851.[1]
Harispe was born inSaint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry the son of a wealthyBasque landowner who wanted his son to become a priest. When the French Revolutionary Wars started in 1792, Harispe enlisted as a volunteer in the French army. In 1793, Harispe was elected commanding officer of a company organizing atSaint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Harispe distinguished himself inWar of the Pyrenees against Spain. After peace was made with Spain in 1795, Harispe was assigned garrison duty inBordeaux, where he fought insurgents in theHaute-Garonne. In 1799, he took part in the campaign in theGrisons underMacDonald. Transferred to theArmy of Italy, he fought underMoncey andBrune. In May 1802, he was given command of the chasseurs basque, which became the 16th demi-brigade garrisoned inAngoulême.
When the War of the Third Coalition broke out, Harispe served underMarshal Augereau in the Army of the Ocean Coast. In the campaigns of 1805 and 1806, he fought in the DivisionDesjardin. Harispe was wounded atJena and in January 1807, he was promoted to general de brigade. Transferred to the corps ofMarshal Soult, Harispe was given command of a brigade of the divisionVerdier. Harispe distinguished himself in fighting atGuttstadt and in the battles ofHeilsberg andFriedland, where he was wounded again.
In December 1807, Harispe was made chief of staff of the Corps of Observation of the Ocean Coast under the orders of Marshal Moncey. With this corps, he partook in the Spanish campaign of 1808. In November 1808, Harispe fought underMarshal Lannes at theBattle of Tudela and in thesiege of Zaragoza. After Lannes returned to France on the outbreak of theWar of the Fifth Coalition, Harispe became chief of staff to generalSuchet.
After being wounded in theBattle of María, where Suchet with 10,000 men beat a larger Spanish force, Harispe was promoted togeneral of division. From 1810 to 1812, he distinguished himself further in the sieges ofLérida,Tarragona andValencia. He defeated an army twice the size of his own force in theFirst Battle of Castalla on 21 July 1812. Harispe was made a Grand Officer in theLegion of Honour and created aCount of the Empire.
Harispe served in the Army of Aragon until 1813. In 1814, he was sent toBarcelona to serve as reinforcements to Soult, who afterVitoria was tasked with preventing theDuke of Wellington from invading southern France. During the retreat into France, he was forced to burn his own castle in his native town to prevent it being used by the Spanish. After theBattle of Orthez, he covered the retreat of the army. After having fought a Portuguese division atTarbes on 20 March 1814, Harispe served in theBattle of Toulouse, fought afterNapoléon had already abdicated. Tasked with defending the heights at Calvinet, he defended these redoubts to the utmost. His leg had to be amputated after it was shattered by a cannonball.
During theBourbon Restoration, Harispe was made aknight of Saint Louis and given command of the 15th military division. Upon Napoléon's return fromElba, Harispe rallied to the emperor during theHundred Days and served on the Spanish border. After the second abdication, Harispe tried to prevent the Spanish invading southern France. The Second Bourbon Restoration caused Harispe to retire to his chateau until the1830 Revolution. During this revolution, Harispe was elected a deputy. As a supporter of theJuly Monarchy, he was recalled to active duty and given command of the Hautes and Basses-Pyrénées (1830–1833), of the division of thePyrénées occidentales (1833–1840) and of the 20th military division (1840–1850).
Harispe served as a deputy for theBasses-Pyrénées (1831–1835) and was made Grand Cross in the Légion d'honneur. Having been made aPeer of France in 1835, he was created a Marshal of France byPresident Bonaparte. After the establishment of theSecond French Empire he was made a senator. Harispe died in 1855 inLacarre.
Harispe has his name inscribed on the west side of theArc de Triomphe.
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