Norman noble and Girondin sympathizer who assassinated Marat
On 13 July 1793 she gained an interview with Marat by claiming to know of a Girondin plot, then stabbed him to death in his medicinal bath.
A figure of the French Revolution who supported the Girondins. On 13 July 1793 she assassinated the Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, whom she held responsible for the September 1792 massacres; she judged that the radicalised Jacobins had placed the Revolution in danger. Arrested at the scene and convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal, she was guillotined on 17 July.
French Revolutionary Wars general killed at Marengo
Returning to Europe in March 1800, he arrived at Marengo on 14 June as the Austrians were victorious along the line and led his three regiments against the enemy centre, yet was killed by a musket ball at the moment of victory.
A general of the French Revolutionary Wars. Born in 1768 at Ayat-sur-Sioule in Auvergne, he was educated at the Effiat military school and served in the royal army. In 1792, when most of his family emigrated, he refused and joined the Army of the Rhine, becoming provisional brigadier general on the merits of the combat at Lauterbourg. He served with the Army of the Rhine and in the 1795–1796 campaigns, covering Moreau's retreat, and was provisional commander-in-chief of the Army of England. In Egypt his division bore the Mamluk attack at the Battle of the Pyramids, and his Upper Egypt campaign won him the name 'Just Sultan' among the local population. Returning to Italy in 1800, he led the counterattack at Marengo with Boudet's division and was killed at the moment of victory. He is counted among the greatest generals of the Revolutionary Wars.
Career timeline
1783Commissioned sub-lieutenant in the Régiment de Bretagne
1793Made brigadier general on the merits of the combat at Lauterbourg, then general of division
1797–1798Provisional commander-in-chief of the Army of England
1798–1800Egyptian expedition; commanded the campaign in Upper Egypt
1800Fought at Marengo with the Army of Italy; killed in action
A conqueror who rose from revolutionary general to emperor
In the coup of 9–10 November 1799 (18 Brumaire), he conspired with Talleyrand and Sieyès and used troops with fixed bayonets to disperse the Council of Five Hundred and overturn the Directory, then took effective power as First Consul.
Born into an Italian-descended Corsican family, he was commissioned in the French royal artillery in 1785, supported the Revolution of 1789, and rose through his victories over royalists at Toulon in 1793 and Vendémiaire in 1795. The Italian campaign of 1796 made him a national hero, and in November 1799 the Brumaire coup overthrew the Directory and made him First Consul; in 1804 he became emperor of the First Empire. He won at Austerlitz in 1805 but was ruined by the Russian campaign of 1812 and Leipzig in 1813, was exiled to Elba in 1814, and after the Hundred Days lost at Waterloo and died on Saint Helena in 1821. His reforms such as the Napoleonic Code and public education endure, while the plunder of occupied lands, suppression of the press and deportation or imprisonment of critics, and the restoration of slavery in the colonies make him a contested figure.
Career timeline
1785Commissioned as an artillery second lieutenant in the French royal army.
1793Led the recapture of Toulon and was promoted to brigadier general.
1795Suppressed the royalist rising of Vendémiaire.
1796–1797Commanded the Army of Italy, defeating Austrian forces.
1798–1799Commanded the Egyptian and Syrian expedition.
1799Overthrew the Directory in the Brumaire coup and became First Consul.
1804–1814Ruled as emperor of the French First Empire.
1815Returned to power for the Hundred Days and was finally defeated at Waterloo.
French Revolutionary Wars general and commander of the Guadeloupe expedition
Commander of the Guadeloupe expedition Napoleon sent in 1801–1802; he suppressed Delgrès's resistance but died of yellow fever at Basse-Terre on 3 September 1802, and the insurgency continued until 1804.
Born in Metz in 1770, he joined his father's Conti Dragoon Regiment as a cadet at five. A supporter of the Revolution, he rose from second lieutenant in 1791 to captain in 1793 and chef d'escadron in 1794, and Kléber made him a brigade general in 1796. He served under Hoche in the Army of Sambre and Meuse and distinguished himself at Neuwied. In 1800 he commanded a division in Moreau's Army of the Rhine, leading the flank envelopment at Hohenlinden on 3 December that decided the victory. After the army was dissolved in 1801 he became inspector-general of cavalry of the Batavian Republic. In 1801–1802 Napoleon named him commander of the Guadeloupe expedition; he suppressed Delgrès's resistance and enforced the forcible reinstatement of slavery. He died of yellow fever at Basse-Terre on 3 September 1802.
Young noble officer elected generalissimo of the Vendéan army
Emerging as a Vendéan commander in 1793, he was elected royalist commander-in-chief at 21 after Cholet. He led the campaign north of the Loire in late 1793 and died fighting a guerrilla war in January 1794.
A former royal army officer, La Rochejaquelein joined the Vendéan rising in 1793 and led forces in its major battles. After the defeat at Cholet he was elected generalissimo of the Catholic and Royal Army at age twenty-one and took part in the campaign north of the Loire. He was killed in a skirmish in 1794.
Career timeline
1787Joined the Royal Polish Regiment, in which his father was colonel
1792As an officer of the Constitutional Guard, fought in the defence of the Tuileries on 10 August
1793After refusing conscription, joined the rising with Lescure and won at Fontenay-le-Comte and Saumur
1793.10Elected commander-in-chief of the Catholic and Royal Army after the defeat at Cholet
1793.11In the campaign north of the Loire, failed to take Granville and fell back on Angers
1793.12Defeated at Le Mans and Savenay, where his army was destroyed
1794.01.28Shot dead by a Republican soldier near Nuaillé while on reconnaissance
