Louis Friant

Louis Friant (18 September 1758 – 24 June 1829) was born in the village of Morlancourt, 8 km south of Albert near the river Somme.

The son of a wax-maker, Louis enlisted in the Gardes Françaises in February 1781, at age 22. He rose to the rank of Corporal before leaving the service in 1787. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, Louis volunteered for the Garde Nationale of Paris in September 1789. He was elected lieutenant-colonel of the 9e Battalion de Paris in September 1792, leading that battalion on the German frontier under the Army of the Moselle until wounded in the left leg on 16 December 1793.

Returning to action as colonel of the 181e Demi-Brigade in March 1794, Friant took part in the great victory of Fleurus (a stone's throw from the future battlefield of Ligny/St-Amand) on 26 June 1794. He was briefly acting-commander of a brigade (July 1794) and a division (August 1794). He served at the sieges of Maastricht (October 1794) and Luxemburg (April 1795). He was promoted to Général de Brigade on 13 June 1795.

After a period as Military Governor of Luxemburg, Friant served with the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse in 1796 along the Rhine. In January 1797 he joined Bernadotte's Division of the Army of Italy. He served at the Battle of the Tagliamento (16 March 1797), and assumed command of the 5th Brigade, 3rd Division (30e and 55e Ligne) from June 1797.

Friant commanded the 2nd Brigade (61e and 88e Ligne) of General Desaix's division in Egypt, taking part in the Battle of the Pyramids (21 July 1798), and in Desaix's brilliant campaign in Upper Egypt. He was provisionally promoted to Général de Division on 4 September 1799, and succeeded Desaix as commander in Upper Egypt after Desaix departed to play his decisive but fatal part in the Marengo campaign. Friant took a lead role in the suppression of the great revolt in Cairo in March–April 1800. Confirmed in the rank of Général de Division and named Governor of Alexandria in September 1800, he fought the British at the Second Battlle of Aboukir (8 March 1801), and defended Alexandria through August 1801.

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