Louis Charbonnier was a general of mediocre talent who commanded a French army for several months during the French Revolutionary Wars.
15 Facts About Louis Charbonnier
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2.
Louis Charbonnier was governor of Maastricht from 1801 to 1814.
3.
Louis Charbonnier was buried in his hometown of Clamecy, Nievre in 1833.
4.
Louis Charbonnier's surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 4.
5.
Louis Charbonnier received some reinforcements and assembled 15,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 15 position guns near Givet.
6.
Shortly afterward, Louis Charbonnier wanted to delay in order to get clearer instructions from Pichegru, but Desjardin emphasized that their orders were plain.
7.
In preparation, Louis Charbonnier divided his 17,000-man field force into two divisions under Jacob and Marceau plus an independent detachment under Claude Vezu.
8.
Louis Charbonnier complained that his soldiers were starving in their encampments.
9.
Louis Charbonnier wanted to move across the Sambre in order to get food for his troops.
10.
The order had to pass through Louis Charbonnier, who was so far away that it was too late to do anything.
11.
Vezu's division was at Fontaine-l'Eveque and Louis Charbonnier was preoccupied rounding up cattle and horses.
12.
Louis Charbonnier considered his army as an autonomous force and failed to appreciate that he must cooperate with Desjardin to gain success.
13.
The strangest thing about the force of Desjardins and Louis Charbonnier was the way in which it fought, crossing the Sambre below Maubeuge time after time, but always repulsed by the enemy, and then retreating, sometimes in wild disorder, only to begin again as if it had come fresh out of barracks.
14.
Louis Charbonnier served as military governor of Maastricht starting on 21 April 1801.
15.
Louis Charbonnier continued in command of Maastricht until May 1814, after Napoleon's abdication.