Guillaume Philibert Duhesme | |
|---|---|
 General Duhesme at theBattle of Diersheim, byCharles Thévenin | |
| Nickname | Le Général Baïonnette |
| Born | (1766-07-07)7 July 1766 Mercurey, France |
| Died | (1815-06-20)20 June 1815 |
| Buried | Duhesme Mausoleum |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | French Army |
| Years of service | 1791–1815 |
| Rank | Division general |
| Battles / wars | |
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| Signature |  |
Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme (French pronunciation:[ɡijomfilibɛʁdyɛm]; 7 July 1766 – 20 June 1815) was aFrench Army officer, politician and writer who served in theFrench Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was a commander of theImperial Guard, Governor ofCatalonia and aPeer of France. Napoleon wrote that "he was a fearless soldier, covered with wounds and of the greatest bravery, an accomplished general, who always stood firm in good and bad fortune". Duhesme is regarded as one of the most able Frenchinfantry generals of the Napoleonic Wars.
Duhesme was born in a family of thehaute bourgeoisie in Bourgneuf,Saône-et-Loire. He studied law inDijon and was made a commander of the national guard of his canton at the start of the French Revolution. In 1792 he was madecolonel of a free corps byCharles-François Dumouriez, which he raised by his own means. As commander atRoermond, he held the post ofHerstal, an important passage to the Netherlands, and burned the bridge ofLeau after the defeat atNeerwinden on 18 March 1793. He then crossed theSchelde and at the Battle of Villeneuve rallied the fleeing infantry. The French grenadiers became discouraged and abandoned their ranks. Duhesme, wounded by two shots, knelt down to support himself, presented the point of his saber to the fugitives, and managed to restore order and gain some advantage over the enemy, for which action he was madebrigadier general.
He also contributed greatly to the victory at theFleurus on 26 July 1794 and besiegedMaastricht underKléber, and was promoted togeneral of division. He fought in theVendée in 1795, and later at theRhine, where he forced the passage over the river on 20 April 1797 belowKehl. In 1798 he was given a command in Italy underChampionnet, participated at thesiege of Naples and took control ofCalabria andApulia. He was awarded, by decree of 8 April 1800, a full armor of honor for his conduct during the capture of Naples. He then captured Suze, defeated the enemy atBussolino, pursued them as far as San-Ambrosio, and took 400 prisoners, on 29 October 1799. He then met the enemy entrenched at Pignerol, disrupted them and captured Saluces on 1 November 1800.
In 1800, Duhesme led a corps in Napoleon's Army of the Reserve in theMarengo campaign. At first this command included the divisions of Louis Boudet andLouis Henri Loison. After a brilliant campaign that included the capture ofMilan and other cities, his corps was made up of Loison, Lorge and Lapoype's divisions. When Napoleon foughtMelas's Austrian army at Marengo, Duhesme's corps defended thePo valley.
He was made commander of the 19th military division on 19 September 1801. He became President of the Saône-et-Loire electoral college on 7 November 1803 and a decree of Napoleon made him aKnight of the Legion of Honour.
In 1805, he commanded the 4th division underAndré Masséna during theBattle of Caldiero. In 1806, Duhesme was part of the army responsible for the conquest of theKingdom of Naples. At the time, he published a highly regarded essay titledPrécis historique de l'infanterie légère, (reprinted in 1814) following which he was elected honorary associate member of theAcademy of Lyon on 23 December 1806.
In 1808, Duhesme led a corps inNapoleon's ill-fated seizure of Spain. He distinguished himself in the capture ofBarcelona and was made Governor ofCatalonia. After he persuaded the Spanish governor to admit a convoy of sick Frenchmen, his fully armed grenadiers leapt from their stretchers and captured the castle. Later, he successfully defended the city against a Spanish blockade. In 1810, after accusations byMarshal Augereau of allowing plundering and other transgressions, he was recalled in disgrace. The general came to Paris to justify himself, but was ordered to leave the capital immediately. He obeyed and went to Rouen. After lengthy investigations had shown the accusations to be unfounded, Duhesme was given the superior command of the fortress ofKehl in 1813.
In 1814 he commanded a division underMarshalVictor atLa Rothière,Montereau andArcis-sur-Aube and was made aCount of the Empire andGrand Officer of theLegion of Honour byNapoleon. FollowingNapoleon I's first abdication in 1814, he was made Inspector General of Infantry under theBourbon Restoration and aKnight of Saint Louis byLouis XVIII.
In 1815, he joined Napoleon after hisreturn from Elba and was made aPeer of France and commander of the Young Guard Division of theImperial Guard. He fought heroically at the head of this elite troop atLigny and on 18 June 1815, at theBattle of Waterloo. During the fifth storm of Plancenoit by the Prussians, the Guard was surrounded in their positions and eliminated, with neither side asking for nor offering quarter. The Young Guard suffered 96% casualties and Duhesme was seriously wounded in the head. He insisted on keeping command, and an aide-de-camp helped him stay in the saddle, but he was too badly wounded and was taken prisoner by the Prussians. He was transported to the Auberge du Roy d'Espagne inGenappe, where he died 2 days later withField Marshal Blücher at his side. He was the last French general to die in theNapoleonic Wars.
An incident is recorded in contemporary accounts as indicative of the Brunswickers' attitude during the Battle of Waterloo. General Duhesme who was then commanding the French rearguard was standing by the gate of an inn inGenappe when aBlack BrunswickerHussar seeing that he was a general officer rode up to him. Duhesme requested quarter, the hussar declined and cut him down with his sabre commenting that "You slew theDuke of Brunswick the day before yesterday and thou also shalt bite the dust". This account of the death of Duhesme was also propagated in the histories based on Napoleon's,Victor Hugo's,Pierre Larousse's andArthur Gore's account of the affair, but it was refuted by a relative of Duhesme and hisaide-de-camp on the day, who said he was mortally wounded at Waterloo and captured in Genappe where he was cared for by Prussian surgeons until he died during the night of 19/20 June.[1][2]
He married Marie Magdeleine Burger (1776-1857) on 17 November 1797. They had three children:
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