François Joseph Lefebvre
| François Joseph Lefebvre | |
|---|---|
François Joseph Lefebvre, Marshal of France
|
|
| Born |
25 October 1755 Rouffach, Alsace |
| Died | 14 September 1820 (aged 64) Paris, France |
| Buried at | Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France |
| Allegiance |
 France
|
| Rank | Marshal of France |
| Battles/wars |
French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars Battle of Pancorbo (1808) |
| Awards | First Duc de Dantzig |
French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars
François Joseph Lefebvre (/ˈlˌfɛvrə/; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820), Duc de Dantzig, was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon.
Lefebvre was from Rouffach, Alsace, the son of a Hussar. He enlisted in French army at the age of 17 and like his close friend, Michel Ordener, he embraced the French Revolution. In 1783 he married Cathérine Hübscher with whom he had 14 children, although none living to survive him (his last son died in 1812 in battle).
In 1789 he was a Sergeant in the Gardes Françaises, and like most of the regiment, he joined the revolution. Promoted to Brigadier General in 1793, he took part in the Battle of Fleurus (24 June 1794). After General Louis Lazare Hoche's death he commanded the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse (September 1797). He then commanded the vanguard of the Army of the Danube under Jourdan in March 1799, although for the first week of the campaign he was incapacitated with ringworm and Dominique Vandamme replaced him temporarily. He was later injured at the Battle of Ostrach where the Advance Guard bore the brunt of the early fighting. In November 1799, Lefebvre commanded the Paris troops and agreed to support Napoleon Bonaparte in his coup d'état. In the year 1800, Bonaparte appointed him senator.
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