Gaspard Gourgaud
| Gaspard Gourgaud | |
|---|---|
Gaspard Gourgaud
|
|
| Born |
November 14, 1783 Versailles, Île-de-France, France |
| Died | July 25, 1852 (aged 68) Paris, Seine, France |
| Allegiance |
 French First Republic First French Empire Kingdom of the French
|
| Service/branch | Artillery |
| Years of service | 1802-1848 |
| Rank | Maréchal de camp |
| Battles/wars | Napoleonic Wars |
Gaspard, Baron Gourgaud (September 14, 1783 – July 25, 1852), also known simply as Gaspard Gourgaud, was a French soldier, prominent in the Napoleonic wars.
He was born at Versailles; his father was a musician of the royal chapel. At school he showed talent in mathematical studies and later joined the artillery. In 1802 he became junior lieutenant, and thereafter served with credit in the campaigns of 1803-1805, being wounded at the Battle of Austerlitz. He was present at the siege of Saragossa in 1808, returned to service in Central Europe and took part in nearly all the battles of the Danubian campaign of 1809.
In 1811 he was chosen to inspect and report on the fortifications of Gdańsk. Thereafter he became one of the ordnance officers attached to the emperor, whom he followed closely through the Russian campaign of 1812; he was one of the first to enter the Kremlin and discovered there a quantity of gunpowder which might have been used for the destruction of Napoleon. For his services in this campaign he received the title of baron, and became first ordnance officer. In the campaign of 1813 in Saxony he again showed courage and prowess, especially at Leipzig and Hanau; but it was in the first battle of 1814, near to Brienne, that he rendered the most signal service by killing the leader of a small band of Cossacks who were riding furiously towards Napoleon's tent.
Wounded at the Battle of Montmirail, he recovered in time to be involved in several of the conflicts which followed, distinguishing himself especially at Laon and Reims. Though enrolled among the royal guards of King Louis XVIII of France in the summer of 1814, he embraced the cause of Napoleon during the Hundred Days (1815), was named general and aide-de-camp by the emperor, and fought at Waterloo.
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