Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino | |
|---|---|
 Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino (Musée de la Révolution française) | |
| Born | 23 August 1747 (1747-08-23) |
| Died | 28 June 1816 (1816-06-29) (aged 68) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |  Habsburg Monarchy until 1789 French RepublicFrench Empire Kingdom of France |
| Years of service | 1792–1815 |
| Rank | General of Division |
| Battles / wars | French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
| Awards | Légion d'honneur Count of the Empire Senator |
| Other work | Military Governor of Antwerp |
Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, (23 August 1747,Craveggia – 28 June 1816,Paris), was a general and politician of France. Born in theSavoy, he was the son of a low-ranking officer in the Habsburg military. In 1789, during theFrench Revolution, he went to France, where he received a commission in the French Army. In 1793, his troops deposed him, for his strict discipline, but he was immediately reinstated and rose rapidly through the ranks of the general staff. He helped to push the Austrians back toBavaria in the 1796 summer campaign, and then coveredMoreau's retreat to France later that year, defending theRhine bridge atHüningen until the last units had crossed to safety.
Ferino commanded the southernmost wing ofArmy of the Danube in 1799, and participated in the battles ofOstrach andStockach. Napoleon awarded him the Grand Cross of theLegion of Honor in 1804; in 1805, Ferino became a Senator, and in 1808, raised him toCount of the Empire. His name is engraved in theArc de Triomphe.
Barthélemy Ferino was born in Craveggia, in the Vigezzo valley, near the border of the Swiss Confederation. This section was known as thePiedmont which, at the time of his birth, was under the rule of theHouse of Savoy.[1] His father, Bernardo Ferino, was an officer of the so-calledBender regiment and served in the Austrian military during theSeven Years' War. Barthélemy Ferino entered Austrian military service in 1768 and in 1779 he wasbrevetted ascaptain. His promotions in the Habsburg military were few. Responding to perceived inequalities, at the time of theFrench Revolution he moved to France and, in 1792, acquired a commission in the French army.[2]
On 1 August 1792, he was namedlieutenant colonel of the Legion of Biron, also called theChasseurs of the Rhine, part of theArmy of the Rhine under the over-all command ofPhilippe Custine. Ferino was namedgeneral of brigade in December, and on 23 August 1793, he became general of division, in command of the advance guard. Although he was deposed for maintaining discipline too strictly, he was immediately reinstated; he was assigned to the Army of the Moselle under the command ofJean Victor Moreau. In 1795, he was appointed Lieutenant General of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle, and in 1796, Commander of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle, Right Wing. With this force, he participated in theBattle of Landau, and helped Moreau andJean-Baptiste Jourdan to push the Austrian army from the Rhineland into Bavaria in the 1796 summer campaign.[2] He defeated the Conde'sEmigré Army atBregenz, onLake Constance.[1] In the subsequent Austrian resurgence, he maintained the right flank's protective cover of Moreau's main army as the French retreated through southern Germany in August and September of that year; he participated in theBattle of Schliengen. When the French withdrew after Schliengen, he defended the Rhine crossing atHüningen, north of the Swiss city ofBasel, until the last French units crossed the river to safety.[2]
During the attempted royalist coup in 1797, Ferino was accused of having royalist leanings and removed from his command, but restored to active duty in 1798 as part of the Army of the Mainz (French:Armée de Mayence). He continued the rigorous discipline for which he became known and his troops maintained good order, despite the many abuses by other troops that occurred in the Rhine region.[1] In late 1798, he commanded the former Army of the Mainz, now called the Army of Observation when, in November,Jean Baptiste Jourdan assumed command and organized the army for the planned invasion of southern Germany in 1799.[2]
In theWar of the Second Coalition, as commander of theI. Division of theArmy of the Danube, Ferino led the division across the Rhine River at Hüningen, passed through the Duchy of Baden and marched towardSchaffhausen. He was familiar with this territory from the 1796 campaign. His division secured the right flank for Jourdan's main force for theBattle of Ostrach on 21 March 1799. Although his troops remained outside of the primary battle zone, during the retreat, a portion of his column was cut off by Archduke Charles' army, and captured.[3]
In the French withdrawal from Ostrach, he again secured the flank, and retraced his steps west towardBodman, a small village on the furthest western point of Lake Constance, near Stockach. From there, he guarded the main army against an Austrian approach from Switzerland at theStockach in March 1799.[4]
While maintaining a cordon between the Austrian forces approaching from Switzerland, under command ofBaron von Hotze, most of Ferino's division participated in a simultaneous assault in the first hours of the engagement at Stockach. With part ofJoseph Souham'sCenter (the II. Division of the Army of the Danube), they assaulted the Austrian left, but were stopped by overwhelming numbers.[4] Ferino tried to attack again, initiating his assault with a cannonade, followed by an attack through the woods on both sides of the road between Asch and Stockach. Two columns made two attacks, both of which were repulsed; finally, Ferino added his third column to the assault, which resulted in the Austrian reformation of the line, cannons at the center firing a heavy cannonade. Ferino could not respond, because he had run out of artillery ammunition, but his troops fixed bayonets and charged the village of Wahlwiess, capturing it despite the heavy fire and massive numbers. They were forced to relinquish the village at darkness.[3]
Immediately after the coup of 18brumaire, Napoleon appointed Ferino as commander of the 8th Division. He became a member and grand officer of theLégion d'honneur on 19frimaire, and 25prairial, respectively. Napoleon appointed him to the Senate ofFlorence, and made him aCount of the Empire in 1808,[1] and then appointed him as military governor of the Netherlands.[2] In 1813, Ferino organized the National Guard of the Netherlands.[1]
As a member of the French Senate, Ferino voted to request Napoleon's abdication in 1814 and in 1815 did not participate in theHundred Days, Napoleon's return from exile on Elba. After the restoration,Louis XVIII maintained Ferino's honors and rank, and awarded him a certificate of naturalized citizenship.[5] This allowed him to continue to sit in the newChamber of Peers.[2] Férino died in Paris on 28 June 1816. His name is engraved on theArc de Triomphe in Paris.[6]
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