François Christophe de Kellermann
| François Christophe de Kellermann | |
|---|---|
François Christophe de Kellermann
|
|
| Born |
28 May 1735 Strasbourg, France |
| Died |
23 September 1820 (aged 85) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of France Kingdom of the French French First Republic
|
| Service/branch | French Army |
| Rank | Marshal of France |
François Christophe Kellermann or de Kellermann, 1st Duc de Valmy (28 May 1735 – 23 September 1820) was a French military commander, later the Général d'Armée, a Marshal of France and a freemason. Marshal Kellermann served in varying roles throughout the entirety of two epochal conflicts, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Kellermann is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.
François Christophe de Kellermann came from a Saxon family, which was long settled in Strasbourg and ennobled. He was the only son of a family living in the French province of Alsace. His father was François de Kellermann and his mother, Baroness Marie von Dyhrn.
The fifteen-year-old François Kellermann entered the French Army as a cadet volunteer with a hussar regiment: the Régiment de Loweridath. He was commissioned as an ensign in the Royal-Bavière infantry regiment and promoted to captain in 1758 in the course of the Seven Years' War. On one occasion he distinguished himself by capturing 300 prisoners, while leading a small cavalry detachment. In 1771 Kellermann saw active service in Poland, becoming a chevalier of the Order of Saint-Louis. A further promotion to capitaine-commandant followed in 1776 before he became major in the Hussars of Conflans (Hussards de Conflans) three years later. Kellermann became brigadier-general in 1784, and in the following year marechal-de-camp. While a number of Napoleon's marshals served in the Royal army prior to the Revolution, Kellermann was the only one to have reached such senior rank under the former regime.
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