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Louis-François Lejeune

Louis-François Lejeune
Portraitdelouisfrançoisbaronlejeune.jpg
Born 3 February 1775
Strasbourg
Died 29 February 1848(1848-02-29) (aged 73)
Toulouse
Allegiance Kingdom of France,
French First Republic,
First French Empire,
Kingdom of France,
Kingdom of France
Service/branch Engineers, Artillery
Years of service 1792-1824
Rank general
Battles/wars French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
Awards Commander of the légion d'honneur
chevalier de Saint-Louis
Other work Mayor of Toulouse
Painter and engraver

Louis-François, Baron Lejeune (3 February 1775, Strasbourg – 29 February 1848) was a French general, painter, and lithographer. His memoirs have frequently been republished and his name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe.

He studied painting in the studio of Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes, alongside Jean-Victor Bertin, but left the studio to volunteer in the Compagnie des arts de Paris in 1792. He received his baptism of fire in the battle of Valmy later that year. He became a sergeant in the 1st Arsenal battalion and in 1793 moved to the artillery at La Fère, assisting in the sieges of Landrecies, Le Quesnoy and Valenciennes. At Valenciennes he became aide-de-camp to general Jacob then, as a lieutenant on attachment to the engineers, took part in the 1794 Holland campaign and the 1795 campaign.

Called to the depot in 1798, he succeeded brilliantly in his exams and was made a captain on attachment to the engineers. He became aide-de-camp to Marshal Berthier in 1800, a post he retained until 1812 and in which he took an active part in practically all of the Napoleonic campaigns. He was wounded and captured in Spain. He was promoted to full captain after Marengo and chef de bataillon after Austerlitz, also become a knight of the Légion d'honneur and a colonel at the Siege of Saragossa.


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