Claude Legrand
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General Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand (1762-1815) commanded a French division at several notable battles of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
[edit] French Revolution
His military career started when he enlisted in 1777. During the French Revolution he rose rapidly in rank to lieutenant colonel. He received promotion to general of brigade in 1793 and fought at the Battle of Fleurus (1794) and the Battle of Stockach (1799). As a general of division he fought under Jean Victor Marie Moreau at the Battle of Hohenlinden (1800), successfully holding the left flank.
[edit] Empire
Under Emperor Napoleon, he commanded a division in Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps in the 1805 campaign. At the Battle of Austerlitz, his division helped to fend off the massive Austro-Russian left wing long enough for Soult's other two divisions to break through the Russian center.
Still in the corps of Soult, Legrand fought at the battles of Jena in 1806 and Eylau in 1807. During the 1809 campaign, he led a division under Marshal Andre Massena in the battles of Ebelsberg, Aspern-Essling and Wagram. In Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, he fought in Marshal Oudinot's II Corps at Polotsk. He was badly wounded during the crossing of the Berezina River but survived the disastrous winter retreat.
Legrand was employed in minor commands during the 1814 campaign in France. He died from the effects of his Russian wound on January 9, 1815.
[edit] References
- Arnold, James, Marengo & Hohenlinden. Pen & Sword, 2005.
- Chandler, David, The Campaigns of Napoleon. Macmillan, 1978.
- Chandler, David, Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Macmillan, 1979.
- Smith, Digby, The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill, 1998.
