Young republican general who destroyed the Vendéan army with Kléber at Le Mans and Savenay
Born in 1769 in Chartres, the son of a prosecutor, he enlisted in the Angoulême regiment at sixteen and took part in the storming of the Bastille in 1789. A captain of the Eure-et-Loir volunteers at the defence of Verdun in 1792, he was briefly arrested in the Vendée in 1793 and, released, rescued the representative Bourbotte at the battle of Saumur, which brought rapid promotion. At Cholet in October he broke the Vendéan centre by unmasking his guns at close range, and in November, a divisional general at twenty-four, he replaced Rossignol as interim commander of the Army of the West. With Kléber he destroyed the Catholic and Royal Army at Le Mans and Savenay in December. He then fought with the Army of the Sambre-and-Meuse and was mortally wounded commanding the rear guard near Altenkirchen in September 1796, dying at twenty-seven.
Also known as: François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers · Francois Severin Marceau
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1785Enlisted in the Angoulême infantry regiment
- 1792Captain of the Eure-et-Loir volunteers; defence of Verdun
- 1793Divisional general and interim commander of the Army of the West; victories at Le Mans and Savenay
- 1794–1796Divisional general in the Army of the Sambre-and-Meuse
- 1796Mortally wounded near Altenkirchen
Related historical events
- 1792–1802French Revolutionary WarsDivisional general of the Army of the Sambre-and-MeuseFought at Fleurus and on the Rhine and was mortally wounded commanding the rear guard near Altenkirchen in September 1796.
- 1793–1796The War in the VendéeRepublican commander at Le Mans and SavenayBroke the Vendéan centre at Cholet and, as interim commander of the Army of the West, destroyed the Catholic and Royal Army with Kléber at Le Mans and Savenay in December 1793.