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Jean Reynier

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Count of the Empire

Jean Louis Ebénézer Reynier
Engraved portrait of Reynier (1800), after a drawing byJean-Urbain Guérin
Born14 January 1771(1771-01-14)
Lausanne,Switzerland
Died27 February 1814(1814-02-28)(aged 43)
Paris,France
Buried
Panthéon
AllegianceFrench First Republic
First French Empire
Service/branchArmy
Years of service1792–1814
RankGeneral of Division
Battles/warsFrench Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
AwardsGrand Officer of theLégion d'honneur
Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Reunion
Grand Dignitary of theRoyal Order of the Two-Sicilies
Grand Cross of theMilitary Order of St. Henry[1]

Jean Louis Ébénézer Reynier(French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃lwiebenezeʁɛnje];14 January 1771 – 27 February 1814) was aSwiss-Frenchmilitary officer who served in theFrench Armyunder theFirst Republicand theFirst Empire.[2]He rose in rank to become ageneralduring theFrench Revolutionary Warsand led a division underNapoleon Bonapartein theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria.During theNapoleonic Wars,he continued to hold important combat commands, eventually leading an army corps during thePeninsular Warin 1810–1811 and during theWar of the Sixth Coalitionin 1812–1813.

Background and education

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Reynier was born on 14 January 1771 inLausanneto aprotestantfamily, the son of Jacques François Reynier, a physician, and Caroline Chapuis.[2]Through his father he was descended from FrenchHuguenotsfrom theDauphinéwho fled to Switzerland after therevocation of the Edict of Nantes.[3]His brother Jean-Louis-Antoine (1762–1824), a naturalist and archeologist, held government posts in the French administration in Egypt andNaples.[3]

In March 1790, Reynier entered theÉcole des ponts et chausséesin Paris.[2][4]He was granted French citizenship through the1791 constitution,which guaranteedright of returnto descendants of French individuals who had fled the country due to religious persecution under theancien régime.[4]

French Revolutionary Wars

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Reynier during the French campaign in Egypt and Syria. Sketch portrait byAndré Dutertre,c. 1798

Reynier joined the French Army as a gunner in 1792 and was drafted in October into theArmy of the North,in which he saw action at theBattle of Jemappesthat year and atNeerwindenin 1793.[4]He was promoted tobrigade generalin January 1795,[5]and received the assignment ofchief of staffof theArmy of the Rhine and MoselleunderMoreauin March 1796, soon becominggeneral of divisionin November of the same year.[5]

Reynier participated in Napoleon'sconquest of Maltaand the following Egyptian campaign in 1798,[6]commanding a division at theBattle of the Pyramidsand, in 1799, at the sieges ofEl ArishandAcre.[7]Later, under the command of GeneralJacques-Francois Menouhe defended against the British counter-invasion of Egypt in 1801. His division was present but not engaged in theBattle of Alexandria.After returning to France, Reynier killed a fellow general in a duel and was under a cloud for a time.[8]

Napoleonic Wars

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Portrait byFélix Philippoteaux,1836

On his return to duty in 1803,[2]Reynier went to fight in Italy with the army ofMarshalAndré Masséna,whom he later replaced as head of theArmy of Naplesin 1807.[5]On 24 November 1805, his 2nd Division helped capturePrince Henri Louis de Rohan's 4,400Austriansat theBattle of Castelfranco Veneto.[9]Reynier's 6,000 Frenchmen routed the 10,000-man army of the BourbonKingdom of Naples and Sicilyat theBattle of Campo Teneseon 9 March 1806. This victory helped Napoleon to install his brotherJoseph Bonaparteon the throne of the newly created NapoleonicKingdom of Naples.On 4 July of that year, a British raiding force inflicted a severe drubbing on an overconfident Reynier at theBattle of Maidainsouthern Italy.[10]Reynier was later able to reassert French control of the area via the French victory atMiletoand served under King Joseph as his Minister of War and Marine.

During theBattle of Wagramin 1809, Reynier commanded 129 artillery pieces and 8,475 soldiers on the Island ofLobau.[11]This impressive array of cannon helped stop a dangerous flanking attack byJohann von Klenau's Austrian VI Armeekorps.[12]Sent to theIberian Peninsulain 1810, he commanded the II Corps under Masséna at theBattle of Bussaco,theLines of Torres Vedras,and theBattle of Sabugalin Portugal. Before Bussaco, Reynier and other generals urged Masséna to order the assault which turned out to be unsuccessful.[13]His corps was not seriously engaged at theBattle of Fuentes de Onoroin Spain. In 1811, Napoleon named him aCount of the Empire.

During theRussian campaignof 1812, Reynier led the VII Corps which was composed ofSaxontroops. Together with an allied Austrian force underKarl Schwarzenberg,he operated well to the south of the major fighting. After fighting inconclusive battles with the Russians at Gorodeczna andWolkowysk,he retreated when he learned of the main army's disaster.

Leading the Saxon corps plus an attached French division, Reynier fought at the battles of Kalish,Bautzen,GrossbeerenandDennewitzin 1813. During theBattle of Leipzig,his Saxon troops suddenly changed sides. When a key bridge was blown up too quickly, Reynier was trapped and captured with his remaining French soldiers.

Reynier was released after beingexchangedfor the Austrian generalMaximilian von Merveldt,also captured at Leipzig, and arrived in Paris on 15 February 1814. He died ofgoutnearly two weeks later, on 27 February.[1][8]PastorPaul-Henri Marronpresided over his funeral at theOratoire du Louvreon 10 March.[1]Reynier was buried in thePanthéon.[1]

His name is inscribed in column 24 on the southern pillar of theArc de TriompheasREYNIER,right above that of fellowVaudoisvolunteerLaharpe.

References

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  1. ^abcd"Notice sur le Général Reynier".Journal de l'Empire(in French). Paris. 16 March 1814.
  2. ^abcdCzouz-Tornare, Alain-Jacques."Reynier, Jean Louis Ebénezer".Historical Dictionary of Switzerland(in French).Retrieved17 April2021.
  3. ^abHaag, Eugene; Haag, Émile(1858).La France protestante(in French). Vol. 8. pp. 420–421.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^abcBaudouin Brothers, ed. (1827).Mémoires du Comte Reynier(in French).Rue de Vaugirard,Paris: Imprimerie Crapelet.
  5. ^abc"211 AP".ÉTAT SOMMAIRE DES FONDS D’ARCHIVES PRIVÉES SÉRIE AP (1 à 680 AP).Archives Nationales.
  6. ^Masséna, André(1850). Koch, Frédéric (ed.).Mémoires de Masséna(in French). Vol. 7.
  7. ^Dubois, Fréd.-Th. (1934).Lettres de noblesse et lettres d'armoiries concédées à des Vaudois(in French).doi:10.5169/seals-744728.
  8. ^abChandler, Dictionary, p 377
  9. ^Smith, p 215
  10. ^Smith, p 221
  11. ^Bowden & Tarbox, p 152-154
  12. ^Bowden & Tarbox, p 132
  13. ^Horward-Pelet, p 175

Further reading

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  • Bowden, Scotty & Tarbox, Charlie.Armies on the Danube 1809.Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press, 1980.
  • Chandler, David.Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars.New York: Macmillan, 1979.ISBN0-02-523670-9
  • Chandler, David.The Campaigns of Napoleon.New York: Macmillan, 1966.
  • Horward, Donald (ed.), Pelet, Jacques.The French Campaign in Portugal 1810-1811.Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, 1973.ISBN0-8166-0658-7
  • Smith, Digby.The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.London: Greenhill, 1998.ISBN1-85367-276-9
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