Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière

Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière
General Gudin de la Sablonnière
Born	13 February 1768(1768-02-13) Montargis, France
Died	22 August 1812(1812-08-22) (aged 44) Smolensk, Russia
Allegiance	France
Years of service	1782-1812
Rank	General of Division
Commands held	Infantry
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Count of the Empire
Other work	Governor of the castle of Fontainebleau

Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière, count, (born in Montargis on 13 February 1768, died in Smolensk on 22 August 1812) was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars.^[1]

Early career and Revolutionary Wars

An aristocrat by birth, Gudin was admitted to the military school of Brienne and in 1782 entered the King's Guard. A lieutenant, he embarked for Santo-Domingo in 1791 and spent a year there, before returning to France in July 1792. He was appointed to several positions as a general staff officer in the Armies of the North, then of the Rhine-and-Moselle. He became a brigadier general at the beginning of 1799 and was given a command during the Swiss campaign. The following year he took part in the battles of Stein, Stockach, Mösskirch, Memmingen, Hocstädt and Neuburg. Promoted to general of division for his valor on the battlefield, on 11 July 1800 he took Füssen.^[1]

Gudin's name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe (7th from the top on the left).

Napoleonic Wars

General Gudin de La Sablonière was given the command of a division in the Grande Armée and fought in the wars of the Third Coalition and Fourth Coalition between 1805 and 1807, taking a serious wound at Auerstädt, then forcing the town of Custrin to capitulate and then playing an important part at the battles of Pultusk and Eylau. A count of the First French Empire in 1808, he was named governor of the castle of Fontainebleau the following year. He then took part in several battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition: Thann, Landshut, Eckmühl, the taking of Ratisbon. He was wounded at the great battle of Wagram. In 1812 he was given the command of a division of the second Grande Armée.^[1] He was struck by a cannonball during the battle of Valutino and died on the battlefield.^[2]

Recognition

His name appears on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Fierro, Alfredo; Palluel-Guillard, André; Tulard, Jean - "Histoire et Dictionnaire du Consulat et de l'Empire”, Éditions Robert Laffont, ISBN 2-221-05858-5, p. 821.
2. ^ ^{a b} Mullié, Charles (1851) (in French). Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850. http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Biographie_des_c%C3%A9l%C3%A9brit%C3%A9s_militaires_des_arm%C3%A9es_de_terre_et_de_mer_de_1789_%C3%A0_1850_%E2%80%94_G#GUDIN_.28CHARLES-ETIENNE-CESAR.2C_comte.29. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 

Persondata
Name	Gudin de La Sabloniere, Charles Etienne
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 February 1768
Place of birth	Montargis, France
Date of death	22 August 1812
Place of death	Smolensk, Russia