François-Séverin Marceau
| François Séverin Marceau | |
|---|---|
General Marceau, by François Bouchot, Musée de l'armée
|
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| Born | 1 March 1769 Chartres, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 19 September 1796 (aged 27) Altenkirchen, Holy Roman Empire |
| Buried | Panthéon, Paris |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of France.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of France French Republic
|
| Years of service | 1785–96 |
| Rank | Divisional general |
| Commands held |
Armée de l'Ouest Fortress of Mainz |
| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars |
| Awards | Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe |
| Other work | Minister of War |
François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa sevəʁɛ̃ maʁso degʁavje]; 1 March 1769 – 21 September 1796) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars.
Desgraviers was born at Chartres, Eure-et-Loir. His father served as a legal officer, and Marceau received an education for a legal career, but at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the regiment of Savoy-Carignan. Whilst on furlough in Paris, Marceau joined in the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 – after that event he took his discharge from the regular army and returned to Chartres, but the opposition of his family soon compelled him to seek new military employment. He became a drill instructor and later a Captain in the Eure-et-Loir départemental regiment of the National Guard.
In March 1792, Marceau was elected lieutenant colonel of one of the French Revolutionary Army battalions of the Eure-et-Loir. He took part in the defence of Verdun in 1792, and it was his troop that was ordered to bear the proposals of capitulation to the Prussian camp. The defenders' lack of morale provoked the anger of the revolutionary authorities, and Marceau was fortunate to find re-employment as a captain in the regular service. However, early in 1793, he along with other officers under suspicion were arrested and spent some time in prison.
On his release, Marceau hurried to take part in the defence of Saumur against the Vendéean Royalists, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Saumur on 10 June 1793 by rescuing the representative Pierre Bourbotte from the hands of the insurgents. The National Convention voted him the thanks of the country and he received rapid promotion. His conduct at the Battle of Chantonnay on 5 September 1793 won him the provisional rank of general of brigade. On 17 October, he bore a great part in the victory at the Battle of Cholet, and on began his friendship with Jean Baptiste Kléber while on the field of battle.
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