Claude Testot-Ferry
| Claude Testot-Ferry | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 May 1773 Arnay-le-Duc |
| Died | 25 August 1856 (aged 83) Châtillon-sur-Seine |
| Allegiance |
First French Republic, First French Empire, Kingdom of France |
| Service/branch | Cavalry |
| Years of service | 1789-1826 |
| Rank | Colonel of the Imperial Guard, Maréchal de Camp under the Restauration |
| Commands held |
Dragons de l'Impératrice, 1er régiment des éclaireurs de la Garde impériale |
| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars (Hanau, Craonne) |
| Awards | Chevalier de Saint-Louis, décoré du Lys |
Général Baron Claude Testot-Ferry (20 May 1773, Arnay-le-Duc – 25 August 1856, Châtillon-sur-Seine, Côte-d'Or) was a cavalry veteran of the armies of the First French Republic, First French Empire and Bourbon Restoration.
Claude Testot-Ferry was descended from the Testot family (from Côte-d'Or in Burgundy), which had "provided intellectuals, magistrates, army officers and ecclesiastics from an early date" . To the name Testot was joined that of Ferry in 1698 when Miss Catherine Ferry (the general's great-grandmother), the last representative of a noble family whose origins in Normandy date back to 1220. It was registered at the Parliament of Paris in 1692, and its head was the noble Gilles Ferry, secretary of state to Jean, king of France. The arms of this family are decreed in the "Armorial Général de France". After the death of his great-uncle and godfather, Jean-Claude Testot-Ferry, knight of the order of Saint-Louis and captain in the Grenadiers Royaux, Claude Testot joined the name of Ferry to his own. This addition was confirmed by a royal ordinance of 17 January 1815.
In 1789, he signed on as a volunteer in the 10e régiment de chasseur à cheval. In 1791 Mesdames Victoire and Adélaïdes de France, daughters of Louis XV (and thus aunts of Louis XVI), passed Arnay-le-Duc on their way to Italy and the town's inhabitants turned out to protest against their emigration and imprisoned and insulted them in a very confined space for eleven days. Claude Testot-Ferry, then a sous-officier in the 10e Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval and dressed his uniform, climbed on a wall and greeted them in an ostentatiously respectful and courteous manner. This courageous act was admired by the crowd; the "prisoners" were won over by this young man and offered him an audience to propose he accompany them on their trip.
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