André Joseph Boussart
| André Joseph Boussart | |
|---|---|
André Joseph Boussart
|
|
| Born |
13 November 1758 Binche, Belgium |
| Died |
11 August 1813 (aged 54) Bagnères de Bigorre, France |
| Allegiance |
 Habsburg Austria France
|
| Service/branch | Cavalry |
| Rank | General of Division |
| Battles/wars |
French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
| Awards | Légion d'Honneur |
| Other work | Baron of the Empire, 1808 |
André Joseph Boussart or André Joseph Boussard (13 November 1758 – 11 August 1813) was a French soldier and general. He enlisted in the army of Habsburg Austria as a youth. A Belgian by birth, he joined the Brabant Revolution against Austria and fled to France when the rebellion collapsed. He soon found himself fighting for France during the French Revolutionary Wars. Promoted to general officer during the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, he returned to France where he held several non-combat posts.
He commanded a dragoon brigade during the 1805 and 1806–1807 campaigns. At Prenzlau he led a highly successful charge against forces of the Kingdom of Prussia, capturing many soldiers and cannon. After the battle his cavalry participated in the mopping up operations in Prussia. He was wounded fighting the Russians at Czarnowo and Pultusk. He transferred to Spain in 1808 where he was captured in the Bailén debacle. He was exchanged and fought in many battles at the head of Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's cavalry during the Peninsular War. Recklessly brave, he suffered many wounds during his military career and was nearly killed at Valencia. He died of his injuries in the summer of 1813.
A native of the Austrian Netherlands, Boussart was born on 13 November 1758 in Binche in what is now Belgium. As a young man, he joined the Austrian army and by 1789 he was a junior leutnant in the cavalry. In that year, he quit the Austrian army and transferred his loyalty to the United States of Belgium at the time of the Brabant Revolution. He served in the insurgent army as a captain and later escaped to France when the Austrians put down the Belgian revolt. In his new country he enlisted in the Hainault Dragoon Regiment and was promoted to lieutenant on 28 July 1792. He became captain on 1 October. He was involved in an action against an Austrian column on 1 March 1793.
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