The epic of a french Republic hero : Genral Desaix.

Expertissim is selling a biscuit-ware of General Desaix made by the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1884. Louis Charles Antoine Desaix was a French Army general who distinguished himself under the orders of Bonaparte, notably during the Egyptian and Italian campaigns. It is curious that this warrior is still honored after more than eighty years after his death by the Sèvres Manufacture. In 1884, France was entrenched in the Third Republic headed by Jules Grévy. While the regime's future was still uncertain, the political power sought to honor these modern heroes who died for France. General Desaix was admired by later generations for his patriotic commitment, courage and “amour de la France” (love of France), above all "(Memorial of St. Helena, Napoleon, 1815-1821).

Concerning the deeds of a man, model of every Republic ...

Choice of the Republic

Louis Charles Antoine Desaix was born in 1768 to noble parents in Auvergne. The main details on his life have survived due to the Funeral Oration pronounced by Berthier, Minister of War, in the Chapelle des Hospitaliers, St. Bernard.

From an early age Desaix received a military education. At the age of fifteen, he was already appointed a second lieutenant in the Breton regiment. In 1791, he returned to Auvergne, where he was appointed Commissioner of the Wars in Clermont-Ferrand. When the wars of the Revolution broke out, Desaix did not hesitate to head to battle with his regiment. His courage made him noticed by General de Broglie, who offered him the rank of Adjutant and Vice Captain to the Chief of Staff. Having demonstrated a rare courage with the battle lines of Wissembourg, he was appointed Brigadier General in 1793. At twenty-five he was then the youngest general in the French army.

In 1792, his entire family was attached to the Old Regime and frightened by the Revolution and decided to emigrate. Desaix refused to flee despite the strong pressures from his family and said that he would not serve against his country. Desaix sincerely advocated the founding principles of the Republic and remained loyal despite the excesses of the Reign of Terror. He was imprisoned for two months for supporting a protest led by the leader Prince de Broglie. His mother and sister, victims of their royalist opinion, were locked away in a dungeon in Riom. Desaix nevertheless continued admiring the Republic.

From the Rhine to Egypt: the exploits of the warrior "without fear and reproach"

Following this Republic commitment and model of bravery and perseverance, Moreau appointed Desaix as Major General of the Rhine and Moselle armies. He then took part in the achievements of this brilliant campaign including participation in the Mainz blockade. The soldiers then nicknamed him "warrior without fear and reproach." In 1796 he was promoted to Commander in Chief of the Rhine army and England army between October 1797 and March 1798.

In 1797, General Desaix met Napoleon in Italy, he was then entrusted with the organization of a Marine convoy as Admiral. He participated in the taking of Malta then that of Alexandria. A t last he distinguished himself brilliantly at the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798. But of all the esteemed commands that Desaix received from General Bonaparte, the most flattering was the conquest of Upper Egypt and to complete the destruction of the Mamelukes. He led various combats such as Sonaguy, Thebes, Siena, Gosseye and made the Republic triumphant everywhere. Regarded as  perilous, he conquered the heart of the defeated. His administration earned him the glorious title of "Fair Sultan". As a man of spirit, the General was also concerned with arts and sciences. An account by Vivant Denon (1747-1825) confirmed that the General had given his support

Recalled from Upper Egypt, he aided the El-Arish Convention signed by Kléber with the Turkish and English and committed Europe in March 1800. Despite the agreements, the English Admiral Keith took him prisoner just as he arrived at Leghorn.

A heroic death at Marengo

While returning to Toulon in May 1800, Desaix was issued by a higher order of the hands of Admiral to immediately join the First Consul in Italy where French troops were facing the Austrians. The General arrived a few days before the Battle of Marengo and commanded the reserve troops. Shipped in order to search for the enemy along the road to Genoa with his troops, Desaix retraced his steps and heard the cannons behind. The French army was in fact also impeded by the Austrians. Rushing with more than ten thousand men, Desaix claimed victory of France. But during this vigorous charge Desaix received a mortal blow. His reported last words were "Go tell the First Consul, I die with the regret of not having done enough for posterity."

Back in Paris, Napoleon handled the honors for the illustrious General. His remains were transferred to the Convent of the Grand Saint Bernard where a monumental tomb of Neoclassical style was erected.

Since 1801, a fountain in the shape of an obelisk was erected in Clermont-Ferrand. It has thirty-two stone levels and a vase at the summit for the hero’s heart (not realized). A cenotaph in pink sandstone representing a Corinthian helmet was erected in memory of the hero on Île aux Epis, paid by the Rhine army. In 1802, Napoleon inaugurated a fountain topped with his bust on Place Dauphine, Paris (transferred to Riom). In 1810, a statue was erected with the General nude in the Place des Victoires (destroyed for public indecency). The name Desaix was given to places and not to mention the many artists who have represented him such as Regnault, Girodet or Broc.

Desaix and the Third Republic

Desaix was celebrated throughout the Consulate for his virtue, bravery and patriotism. After an extensive period of neglect, particularly during the First and Second Empire, General Desaix was vividly honored by the Republic. In his "Histoire de la Révolution Française" (published in 1850), Jules Michelet paid tribute to Desaix by saying "fair, a hero, a saint, the irreprochable Desaix”. He was celebrated by the Third Republic for the General embodied  all virtues that the power wanted to instill in the young Republic. General Desaix was regarded as the Republic model for three main reasons. First reason was morally, as the epitome of civic virtue.  Correard said he shared the destitution of his troops and respected the dignity of the defeated. On the patriotic level, Desaix was a unique model, at a time when educators were trying to transform French peasants into French soldiers willing to sacrifice for their country. Finally on the political level, he was exceptional enough to be able to praise a noble who had been wholeheartedly serving the new France.

For the Third Republic, General Desaix belonged to the Pantheon of secular generals in which the  Republic can celebrate and cherish his memory.

Marion Sailhen (studying at IESA).