Louis Charbonnier
| Louis Charbonnier | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 October 1754 Clamecy, France |
| Died |
2 June 1833 (aged 78) Clamecy, Nièvre, France |
| Allegiance |
 France
|
| Service/branch | Infantry |
| Years of service | 1780–1815 |
| Rank | General of Division |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards |
Légion d'Honneur, 1804 Order of Saint Louis, 1814 |
Louis Charbonnier (9 October 1754 – 2 June 1833) was a general of mediocre talent who commanded a French army for several months during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1780 he enlisted in the French Royal Army. With the advent of the French Revolution his promotion became very rapid. In 1792 he was elected second in command of a volunteer battalion. He led his troops at Jemappes and Neerwinden. He was promoted to general of brigade in November 1793 and general of division in January 1794. A week later he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Ardennes.
In May and June 1794, Charbonnier and Jacques Desjardin jointly led an army that tried three times to establish a foothold on the north bank of the Sambre River. After defeats in the battles of Grandreng, Erquelinnes and Gosselies, Charbonnier was recalled to Paris in semi-disgrace on 8 June 1794. After being unemployed for several months, he was assigned to command a series of garrisons in France and Belgium. He was governor of Maastricht from 1801 to 1814. He was buried in his hometown of Clamecy, Nièvre in 1833. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 4.
On 9 October 1754, Charbonnier was born the son of a shoemaker in Clamecy, a town in what later became the Nièvre departement. As a young man, he enlisted in the Vintimille Regiment as a simple soldier in 1780. The regiment was later renamed the 49th Line Infantry. His fellow soldiers gave him the nickname Fleur d'Orange (Orange Flower). On 18 July 1789 he joined the National Guard of Paris. Later that same year, he emerged as captain in the Clamecy National Guard. Soon appointed captain of a company in the 1st Nièvre Volunteer Battalion, he rose in rank to chef de bataillon (major) by the start of 1792. On 21 September 1792 he was elected second-in-command of the 21st National Volunteers Battalion. While with the Army of the North he fought under Charles François Dumouriez in the battles of Jemappes and Neerwinden. A French order of battle for Jemappes does not list the 21st Battalion. However, the 1st Nièvre Battalion served in the 14th Brigade in the Left Wing under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand. Charbonnier was promoted to general of brigade on 14 November 1793.
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