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COUNT ETIENNE MAURICE GERARD (1773–1852)

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 764 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COUNT ETIENNE MAURICE GERARD (1773–1852)  , French general, was born at Damvilliers (Meuse), on the 4th of
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April 1773 . He joined a
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battalion of
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volunteers in 1791, and served in the
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campaigns of 1792–1793 under Generals Dumouriez and Jourdan . In 1795 he accompanied Bernadotte as aide-de-camp . In 1799 he was promoted chef d'escadron, and in 1800 colonel . He distinguished himself at the battles of Austerlitz and
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Jena, and was made general of brigade in November 18o6, and for his conduct in the
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battle of Wagram he was created a baron . In the
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Spanish
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campaign of 18ro and 1811 he gained
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special distinction at the battle of Fuentes d'Onor; and in the expedition to Russia he was
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present at
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Smolensk and Valutina, and displayed such bravery and ability in the battle of
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Borodino that he was made general .of division . Ile won further distinction in the disastrous retreat from Moscow . In the campaign of 1813, in command of a division, he took
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part in the battles of Liitzen and Bautzen and the operations of Marshal Macdonald, and at the battle of
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Leipzig (in which he commanded the XI. corps) he was dangerously wounded . After the battle of Bautzen he was created by
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Napoleon a count of the
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empire . In the campaign of France of 1814, and especially at La Rothiere and
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Montereau, he won still greater distinction . After the first restoration he was named by Louis XVIII.
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grand
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cross of the Legion of Honour and chevalier of St Louis . In the
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Hundred Days Napoleon made Gerard a peer of France and placed him in command of the IV. corps of the Army of the North .

In this capacity Gerard took a brilliant part in the battle of Ligny (see

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WATERLOO CAMPAIGN), and on the
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morning of the 18th of
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June he was foremost in advising Marshal Grouchy to march to the sound of the guns . Gerard retired to Brussels after the fall of Napoleon, and did not return to France till 1817 . He sat as a member of the chamber of deputies in 1822–1824, and was re-elected in 1827 . He took part in the revolution of 183o, after which he was appointed minister of war and named a marshal of France . On account of his
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health he resigned the office of war minister in the
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October following, but in 1831 he took the command of the
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northern army, and was successful in thirteen days in driving the army of Holland out of Belgium . In 1832 he commanded the besieging army in the famous scientific siege of the citadel of Antwerp . He was again chosen war minister in
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July 1834, but resigned in the October following . In 1836 he was named grand chancellor of the Legion of Honour in succession to Marshal Mortier, and in 1838
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commander of the
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National Guards of the Seine, an office which he held till 1842 . He became a senator under the empire in 1852, and died on the 17th of April in the same
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year .

End of Article: COUNT ETIENNE MAURICE GERARD (1773–1852)
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