Jean Boudet

Jean Boudet
General of Division Jean Boudet
Born	9 February 1769 Bordeaux, France
Died	14 September 1809(1809-09-14) (aged 40) Moravské Budějovice, Austrian Empire
Allegiance	Kingdom of France  Kingdom of the French  First French Republic  First French Empire
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	before 1785 - 1809
Rank	Général de division
Commands held	4th division of IV army corps
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars (Siege of Toulon, Marengo, Saint-Domingue), Napoleonic Wars (Essling)
Awards	Comte de l'Empire, Légion d'honneur, Order of the Iron Crown

Jean Boudet (9 February 1769 in Bordeaux – 14 September 1809 in Moravské Budějovice, now in the Czech Republic) was a French général de division of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The campaigns in which he was involved include the Saint-Domingue expedition. He was made a grand officer of the Légion d'honneur on 2 June 1809 and a knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, as well as a Comte de l'Empire in 1808. His name is engraved on the 16th column of the east side of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Boudet began his military career as a sous-lieutenant in the légion de Maillebois, before becoming a dragoon in the régiment de Penthièvre in 1785. Later, on the formation of the National Guards, he entered a battalion of volunteers in Gironde as a lieutenant in 1792. In 1793 he gained distinction for his bravery at the 1793 fighting at Château-Pignon and assisted at the Siege of Toulon as a captain, then in 1794 he fought in the War in the Vendée.

He set off from île de Ré for Guadeloupe (then occupied by the British) with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, beside Victor Hugues, on 21 April 1794. He was landed at Pointe des Salines and captured fort Fleur d'épée and the town of Pointe-à-Pitre, strongly defended by the British. He was made chef de brigade on 18 June 1794 and then général de brigade and supreme commander of all land forces on Guadeloupe on 14 December 1795. On 28 December 1794, at Pointe-à-Pitre, he married Marie Joseph Elisabeth Augustine Darboussier. He completed the conquest of the island by a long series of brilliant feats of arms and the French Directory (via Victor Hugues and Lebas) raised him to the rank of général de division. Boudet headed some dragoons to punish the rebellion of Le Lamentin in December 1797 and then, after two years and having made the island defensible, he returned to France in April 1799 to take part in the Dutch campaign, under the command of general Brune. After 18 brumaire, he joined the armée de réserve, commanded by Berthier and being readied for Italy. He led the vanguard in the second Italian campaign of Napoléon Bonaparte and gained distinction at the head of his division, especially at Lodi and Marengo, being wounded at the latter.