Éloi Laurent Despeaux
| Éloi Laurent Despeaux | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 October 1761 Malassine near Beauvais, France |
| Died |
23 October 1856 (aged 95) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |
 France
|
| Service/branch | Infantry |
| Years of service | 1776–1815 |
| Rank | General of Division |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards | Légion d'Honneur, KC 1805, OC 1814, CC 1821, GO 1853, GC 1856 Order of Saint-Louis, Chevalier 1814 Order of the Sword |
| Other work | Baron, 1819 |
Éloi Laurent Despeaux (14 October 1761 – 23 October 1856) commanded a combat infantry division during the French Revolution. He joined the French Royal Army in 1776 and became a non-commissioned officer by 1791 when he reentered civilian life. The following year he joined a volunteer battalion and fought at Jemappes. He was badly wounded at Famars in May 1793 and was appointed general of brigade in the Army of the North in September that year. After being wounded again he was promoted general of division in March 1794.
After commanding a division at Grandreng and Erquelinnes in May 1794, he was transferred to another division which he led in operations around Ypres in June. During the winter of 1794 he participated in the invasion of the Dutch Republic. After garrison duty in Holland he commanded interior posts in France during the Napoleonic Wars. The exception came in 1809 when he led a reserve infantry division. He lived long enough to be awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur in 1856 in the reign of Napoleon III before dying a few months later at the age of 95.
Despeaux was born on 14 October 1761 at Malassine. This hamlet was located near Beauvais in the Oise department. His father Laurent Despeaux was a woodcutter who married Marguerite Petit, his second wife, on 25 November 1759. Despeaux enlisted in the Flandre Infantry Regiment on 2 November 1776 at the age of 15. He was promoted corporal on 15 June 1780 and sergeant on 20 May 1784. He was at the Palace of Versailles when the mob came for King Louis XVI of France.
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