Ledru des Essard, Francois Roche

Acquaintance with the army order for Francois Roche, the son of a notary from the provincial town of Chantinay, began on August 8, 1792 . On this day, abandoning the tempting prospects that legal practice promised him, he dropped out and enrolled in the 2nd battalion of volunteers of the Sart department . The reason for such a sharp change in life course was the famous decree of the Legislative Assembly "Fatherland in danger" ("La Patrie en danger"), issued on July 11 of that year. By that time, France was one on one with a powerful coalition of leading European monarchies , who did not conceal at all their intention to end the Revolution and return the Bourbons to the throne. The army of sansculots , deprived of sensible commanders (the former, immigrants from the nobility, either resigned or emigrated) objectively could not provide decent resistance to the enemy. It was planned to fill the gaps in the officer corps at the expense of patriotic young people who were ready to fight selflessly for revolutionary ideals. There were plenty of such volunteers in 1792. Among them was Francois Roche. Filled with youthful maximalism, a thirst for adventure and selfless love for the homeland, he chose his fate. Rather, Fate chose him.

Already on September 8, 1792, Francois Roch was fired as captain. Since October, he participated in the defense of Lille . Then, under the command of General de Fleur, he happened to storm the fortifications of Breda (February 1793 ). In the fall of the same year, Ledru des Essard distinguished himself at Ondskot (September 6-7) and at Wattigny ( October 16 ).

After receiving the next rank of battalion commander on June 6, 1794, François Roche was sent to the Ardennes army, which was to cover himself with glory in the battle of Charleroi ( June 16, 1794 ). After the capture of Maastricht , the Ledru des Essard battalion was transferred to Koblenz , where it was combined with the 19th Flanders Infantry Regiment, which, in turn, was included in the 55th half - brigade ^[2] . The new compound was baptized under Mainz , and at the beginning of 1797 the half-brigade was included in the division of Bernadotte , who fought in Italy .

After securing the reputation of brave warriors after the battle of Tallaimento ( March 16, 1797), the capture of the fortress of Gradisca ( March 19 ) and the battles with Austrian cavalrymen on the Isonzo River, the soldiers of Ledru des Essar settled down in Graz .

Until the signing of the peace at Campo Formio ( October 17, 1797), the 55th semi-brigade remained out of work. After the failure of the expedition to Corfu, François Roche, together with his unit, was transferred to the Roman army of General Championne ( 1798 ). During the campaign in Abruzzo, the 55th semi-brigade took part in the capture of Modena and the battle of Trebbia . For his courage and bravery, on June 19, 1799, Ledru des Essaire was awarded the rank of colonel .

Throughout 1800, François Roche fought under the command of Generals Massena and Suchet . It was Ledru des Essar who was instructed to pursue the Austrians who had withdrawn from positions in the Var region after the news of the defeat of compatriots at Marengo . Not letting the enemy come to his senses, the commander of the 55th half-brigade surrounded and forced to surrender two Hungarian infantry battalions.

At the end of the active phase of hostilities in Italy, Ledru des Essard briefly lodged in the Bruges camp, and then made the transition to Vlissingen , who was threatened by the British fleet. Finally, his soldiers, exhausted by battles and endless marches, were stationed in Boulogne .

For services to the fatherland, Napoleon promoted Ledru des Essard to be a cavalier ( December 11, 1803 ), and six months later, to officers ( June 14, 1804 ) of the Legion of Honor .

In 1805, the peaceful coexistence of nations was ended. Austria and Russia , funded by the UK , again decided to challenge France. However, this time the Allies did not have to deal with half-starved and stripped revolutionary troops, but with well-trained warriors, led by a brilliant commander.

On August 25, 1805, the 55th Line Semi-Brigade (which was again called the Regiment from September 1803), which entered the Saint Hilaire Division ( 4th Army Corps of Marshal Soult ), came out of the Bois de Boulogne. Having forced the Danube at Donauwoerth , the soldiers of Francois Roch moved to Memmingen and took part in its capture. They were among those who took into the ring the Austrians who locked themselves in Ulm . After the surrender of General Mack, the 55th Linear received orders to advance to Vienna and then follow through Hollabrunn in the direction of Znaim , Nicholsburg , Brunn and Wichau .

As you know, Napoleon fully demonstrated his strategic, tactical and, most importantly, moral superiority over the enemy during the general battle at Austerlitz ( December 2, 1805). The brilliantly conducted operation to destroy the united Russian-Austrian army brought glory not only to the French emperor, but also to his army, which was rightly called the Great .

On that significant day, the Ledru des Essard compound was on the far left flank of the Sult corps . Together with the 43rd Line Regiment, he was ordered to attack the positions of Russian troops on the Pratzen Heights. Already at the very beginning of the battle, the brigade suffered significant losses. A fragment of the enemy core was defeated by its commander, General Vare . Then, not bewildered, Ledru des Essard encouraged the soldiers who had stopped in confusion and led them forward. Within half an hour, he captured 14 enemy guns, having lost 300 killed and wounded. A little later he took possession of the castle in Sokolnitsa , and then concentrated his fire on the enemy, who was retreating in disorder on the thin ice of Lake Mönitz .

Valor and resourcefulness in battle brought Ledre des Essaire the rank of brigadier general ( December 24, 1805) and a new appointment. After the conclusion of the Presburg Peace, he departed for Passau , where he took command of the first brigade of the 3rd division of Legrand . In 1806, the newly-minted general managed to measure strength with the Prussians near Jena ( October 14 , arriving at the end of the battle) and Lubeck ( November 6 ). The following year was very successful for Ledru des Essar in his career. On February 6, 1807, his military talents were used in the battle of Hof . The general managed to defeat the enemy infantry regiment and repel six attacks of the Russian cavalry, as well as capture 4 enemy guns. Under Eilau, Ledru des Essard, at the head of his brigade (26th Light and 18th Line Regiment), fought near the city cemetery, was seriously wounded and was mistakenly listed in the death toll.

The general returned to duty only at the beginning of June and immediately declared himself at the battle of Heilsberg . At the height of the battle, his units formed a huge square , in the center of which, fleeing from the Russian cavalry, Marshals Murat and Sult, generals Lasalle , Espan and Béllard , as well as more than a hundred staff officers found refuge. The 1807 campaign for Ledru des Essard ended in Königsberg , in the capture of which he took an active part.

In April 1808, Napoleon presented the general with an estate in Westphalia with 10 thousand francs of net income, and a year later made him a baron of the Empire. Favored by the "great kidnapper of Europe" Ledru des Essard soon proved that it was not in vain that he received such honors.

On the eve of the war with Austria, the team of François Rocha ^[3] was attached to the corps of Marshal Massena. Two days after the Archduke Charles’s forces forced the Inn and invaded Bavaria , Ledru des Essard, appointed corps avant-garde commander, crossed Lech from Landsberg and then received an order to move first to Augsburg and then to Landshut . A major battle took place near this city on April 20 , in which the Massena corps acted extremely hesitantly, enabling the Austrians to freely cross Isar and burn bridges behind them. Under Ebersberg ( May 3 ), the Duke of Rivoli was more agile: Ledru des Essard's brigade swiftly crossed the River Traun and knocked out the Austrian units from the castle, which was elevated above the terrain and therefore of particular value to the French. On May 21 and May 21, 1809, the Francois Rocha brigade courageously defended the burning Aspern from superior enemy forces. In this battle, the general was shell-shocked and throughout June restored his strength in a camp on the island of Lobau ^[4] .

On June 30, covering the pontoons who built a bridge across the small Danube, Francois Roche was shot at by a detachment of Austrians who were seated in a nearby redoubt . One of the bullets hit the general’s neck, but, fortunately, the wound was not fatal. After spending a month and a half under the close supervision of doctors, the recovering Ledru des Essard left for Vienna, where he attended the festivities on the occasion of the birthday of the Emperor Napoleon.

On January 10, 1810, François Roche was ordered to depart for Saint-Omer . There he awaited the post of commander of the first brigade in the division Legrand.

On the thirty-first of July 1811, Ledru des Essard, finally, was able to try on the uniform of a division general himself. From September 15, he led the 2nd Division in Boulogne, and then commanded the 10th Infantry Division of the Observation Corps of the Ocean Coast Army (from January 10, 1812 ), with which he was destined to reach Moscow .

The way to the ancient Russian capital was long and thorny for the French. For Ledru des Essar, he lay through Krasny , Smolensk ^[5] , Valutina Gora and Borodino ^[6] .

Since the beginning of November 1812, Ney’s corps was in the rearguard of the retreating Great Army. The soldiers dying of hunger and disease, Francois Rocha, nevertheless, honorably fulfilled their duty, reflecting the constant attacks of the Cossacks , which became a nightmare for the French and their allies.

Ledru des Essard was one of the last to cross the Berezina before the order to destroy the bridges came. He was the only general of the 3rd Corps who retained the ability to stand on his feet by the time the Russian campaign was over.

At the beginning of 1813, des Essars, while in Kyustrin , formed new battalions from the wreckage of the once formidable multinational army. On April 1, he, instead of General Gerard , took over as commander of the 31st Infantry Division from Marshal MacDonald ’s Corps ^[7] . In May, Ledru des Essard participated in a two-day battle at Bautzen (May 20-21).

The short period of calm that followed after such high-profile and unexpected victories of the French army soon soon gave way to the roar of cannonade. Encouraged by the previous success, the Ledru Division, which by the middle of 1813 had about 7,000 men with 28 guns, showed miracles of bravery in the “Battle of the Nations” and in the battle of Hanau , in which the Essar, which had just recovered after being wounded under Leipzig, successfully crushed the Bavarians who had blocked the French from Lamboua Forest.

In 1814, the war was already fought on the territory of France, but Napoleon and his "Mari-Louise" ^[8] continued to fight fiercely. Hastily repaired the old and built new fortifications around Paris . So, Ledru des Essard received orders to organize the defense of Mo , and then Belleville ( March 30, 1814). All these preparations, of course, could not stop the allies rushing towards the capital.

The renunciation of Napoleon did not put an end to the career of Ledrew des Essar. The Bourbons sought to attract the general to their side, awarding him the Order of St. Louis ( June 2, 1814), the Order of the Legion of Honor for senior officers, and entrusting him with the post of commander of the 1st Infantry Division ( July 29 ).

The royal favors, however, did not prevent Ledru from joining Napoleon during the Hundred Days period . On April 6, 1815, the emperor sent a general to the Alpine army, to Marshal Suchet. On the tenth of June a mission to defend Lyon was assigned to Des Essar.

The defeat at Waterloo led to the second (and final) demise of the First Empire . Francois Roche only by pure chance did not fall under the rink of repressions that began after the return to the Tuileries of the “not forgotten and learned nothing” of the Bourbons. For a whole year, the general waited in vain for a new appointment, and only at the end of July 1816 the king remembered an experienced officer and appointed him as an infantry inspector general in the 19th military district. In 1817, Des Essard organized three Swiss regiments, which the French crown took over. Since 1818, Francois Roche was again out of work. A year later he was sent to Grenoble , where he briefly commanded the 7th Infantry Division.

November 3, 1827, Charles X awarded Francois Roch the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. For another five years he served in the General Inspectorate of the Infantry, and on June 11, 1832, he retired.

On April 23, 1844, Francois Rosh Ledru des Essars, Baron of the Empire and Peer of France (from September 11, 1835 ), died before living on his eightieth birthday four months before his 80th birthday. The body of the general rests in the cemetery of the town of Draveil , which is 18 km south of Paris. In the French capital itself, a plate with his name adorns the southern arch of the Triumphal Arch .

• Captain (September 8, 1792);
• Battalion Commander (June 6, 1794);
• Colonel (June 19, 1799);
• Brigadier General (December 24, 1805);
• Divisional General (July 31, 1811).

• Baron des Essard and the Empire ( Fr. baron des Essarts et de l'Empire ; decree of March 19, 1808, patent confirmed on February 24, 1809) ^[9] .

  Legionnaire of the Legion of Honor (December 11, 1803)

  Officer of the Legion of Honor (June 14, 1804)

  Commander of the Legion of Honor (July 11, 1807)

  Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor (July 29, 1814)

  Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor (November 3, 1827)

  Cavalier of the Military Order of St. Louis (1814)

  Commander of the Order of the Iron Crown (June 1809)

• Encyclopedic dictionary of KA Zalessky
• Detailed biography of Ledru des Essar on the site R. Uvrara (Fr.)
• Information about the general on the site base Léonore