Jean-Marie Defrance

Jean-Marie Defrance was born on 21 September 1771 at Vassy, in the Champagne province and died 6 July 1835.^[1] On his mother's side, he was the grandson of the French writer Pierre Chompré (1698 – 1760); his father, Jean-Claude Defrance, was the medical doctor at the Royal Military School of Rebais, in Champagne. Jean-Marie Defrance married the daughter of the richest jeweler in Paris, by the name Foncier.^[2]

Defrance was stationed in Saint-Domingue during the first Haitian revolt and served in the volunteers Cape Dragoons. On his return to France in 1792, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry regiment royal-étranger. After serving in the Army of the North, he was appointed adjutant-general brigadier in the Army of Sambre and t-Meuse. He also served in the Council of Five Hundred.^[2]

Defrance also served in the Swiss Campaign of 1799 as divisional Chief of Staff of the 1st Division of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's Army of the Danube; after the losses at the battles of Ostrach and Stockach in March 1799, the Army of the Danube was combined with the Army of Helvetia, under the command of André Massena. Defrance continued in his capacity as divisional chief of staff. At the First Battle of Zurich in June 1799, he was appointed on the field as brigadier general, an honor which he declined, asking instead to be given command of a cavalry regiment.^[2] He received command of the 12th Regiment of Chasseurs-a-Cheval.^[3] As Chef-de-Brigade, the equivalent of colonel in France's revolutionary-era field army, Defrance went to Italy and participated in the actions leading up to the Battle of Marengo. During the winter of 1800–1801, he campaigned in the Grisons in Switzerland and returned to France after the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801.^[2]

In 1803, with Napoleon's military reorganisation, the title Chef-de-Brigade reverted to colonel; Defrance retained his command of the 12th Regiment of Chasseurs-a-Cheval. He was named Officer of the Légion d'honneur on 14 June 1804. On 1 February 1805, he accepted a promotion to brigadier general and commanded a brigade in the Danube campaign against Austria and Russia at the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz.^[4]

In 1806, he campaigned against Kingdom of Prussia and Russia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. There, and at the Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807, he commanded a carabinier brigade—the first and second regiments—in Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty's First Division.^[5] Napoleon raised him to Count of the Empire on 2 July 1808.^[4] At the Battle of Wagram (1809), he again commanded the carabinier brigade.^[2]

The confiscation of the Prussian cavalry and draft stock required supervision to integrate the acquisitions into the Grande Armée. After completing several terms as an inspector general of cavalry, Defrance was appointed general of division in August 1811 and joined Joachim Murat's Cavalry in February 1812 for Napoleon's Invasion of Russia. At the Battle of Borodino, he commanded 4th Cuirassier Division, which included three brigades and two horse artillery units of 12 guns.^[6] These were assigned to Nansouty's Reserves and assaulted the Shevardino redoubt on 5–6 September.^[7]

During the Saxon campaign, Defrance was appointed Inspector General for the Grande Armée.^[2] He also commanded the 4th Heavy Cavalry Division at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, and one of his brigades remained at Lindenau to cover a possible retreat.^[8]

In January 1814, for the last few months of Napoleon's rule, Defrance commanded four regiments of Imperial Guard and fought in the action of 11 February at Montmirail, during the Six Days' Campaign. On 7 March, with much smaller force than his opponent, he repulsed the Russian assault at Rheims, but on 12 March was forced to relinquish the city as more Coalition troops arrived. The following day, he attacked the Russian cavalry, but was again forced to withdraw when faced with superior numbers.^[2]

During the first Bourbon Restoration, Louis XVIII appointed Defrance as inspector general of cavalry. During the Hundred Days, Napoleon's brief return to France, Jean-Marie Defrance commanded the cavalry element of the Army of the West. Under overall command of Jean Maximilien Lamarque, one of Napoleon's fiercest supporters, it was formed to suppress potential Royalist insurrection in the Vendée region of France.^[9] Defrance did not participate in the Battle of Rocheserviere, in which Lemarque's army brutally crushed the anticipated Vendéen uprising. He remained instead at his post of the 18th military division, inspecting the cavalry depots in the upper Loire. Defrance retained his rank after the second restoration and commanded the First Military Division in Paris from 1819 to 1822. He also taught at the military school in Rebais.^[2]

Defrance's name is engraved on the east side of the Arc de Triomphe.^[2]

• Broughton, Tony. Commanders of the 12th Regiment of Chasseurs-a-Cheval. Military Subjects: Organization, Tactics and Strategy. Napoleon Series. Robert Burnham, Editor in chief. November 2000. Accessed 8 May 2010.
• Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic wars. Wordsworth editions, 1999.
• Mikaberidze, Alexander and Eman Vovsi.The Battle of Borodino: Order of Battle of the Allied Army. Military Subjects Battles and Campaigns. Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief. November 2004. Accessed 9 May 2010.
• Millar, Stephan. French Order of Battle for Friedland: 14 June 1807 Military Subjects Battles and Campaigns. Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief. November 2004. Accessed 9 May 2010.
• Millar, Stephan. French Order-of-Battle at Leipzig: 16–18 October 1813: Northern Sector. Military Subjects Battles and Campaigns. Robert Burnham, Editor in chief. November 2004. Accessed 9 May 2010.
• (in French) Mullié, Charles. "DeFrance". Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850. Paris. 1850-.
• Riehn, Richard K. Napoleon's Russian Campaign. John Wiley & Sons, 2005.