- Barthélemy Catherine Joubert
Barthélemy Catherine Joubert (
April 14 ,1769 —August 15 ,1799 ) was a French general.Early life and career
The son of an advocate, Joubert was born at
Pont-de-Vaux (Ain ), and ran away from school in 1784 to enlist in theartillery . He was brought back and sent to study law atLyon andDijon . In 1791, during theFrench Revolutionary Wars , he joined theFrench Revolutionary Army regiment of the Ain, and was elected by his comrades successivelycorporal andsergeant . In January 1792 he became "Sous-lieutenant", and in Novemberlieutenant , having in the meantime experienced his first .In 1793, Joubert distinguished himself by the defence of a
redoubt at theCol de Tende , with only thirty men against abattalion of the enemy. Wounded and made prisoner in the battle, he was released on parole by the Austrian commander-in-chief, Devins, soon afterwards. In 1794 he was again actively engaged, and in 1795 promoted tobrigadier general .1796-1798
In the , Joubert commanded a brigade under Pierre François Augereau, and soon attracted the special attention of
Napoleon Bonaparte , who caused him to be made a "général de division" in December 1796, and repeatedly selected him for the command of important detachments. Thus, he was in charge of the retaining force at thebattle of Rivoli , and in the (invasion of Austria) he commanded the detached left wing of Bonaparte's army in theTirol , and fought his way through the mountains to rejoin his chief in Styria.1799
He subsequently held various commands in the
Low Countries , on theRhine and in theItalian Peninsula , where up to January 1799 he served as commander in chief. Resigning the post in consequence of a dispute with the civil authorities, Joubert returned to France and married (June 1799) Mlle de Montholon (daughter ofCharles Louis Huguet de Sémonville , and future wife of Étienne-Jacques-Joseph Macdonald). He was almost immediately summoned to the field again, and took over the command in Italy fromJean Victor Marie Moreau about the middle of July 1799 (but he persuaded his predecessor to remain at the front, and was largely guided by his advice - as France risked suffering major defeats).Joubert and Moreau were quickly compelled to give battle by their major adversary
Aleksandr Suvorov , theImperial Russia n general. Thebattle of Novi was disastrous to the French arms, not only because it was a defeat, but also because Joubert himself was amongst the first to fall.Joubert had been marked out as a future great captain by Napoleon himself. After the battle, his remains were brought to
Toulon and buried in Fort La Malgue, and theFrench Directory paid tribute to his memory by a ceremony of public mourning (16 September 1799 ). A monument to Joubert atBourg-en-Bresse was razed by order of Louis XVIII, but another memorial was afterwards erected at Pont de Vaux.References
*1911 "In turn, it cites as references:"
**Chevrier, "Le Général Joubert d'après sa correspondance" (2nd ed. 1884).
**Guilbert, "Notice sur la vie de B. C. Joubert"
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.