Paul-Alexis Dubois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kingdom of France
FranceAlexis Dubois | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 January 1754 |
| Died | 4 September 1796 (aged 42) Rovereto, Italy |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of France France |
| Branch | Infantry, Cavalry |
| Service years | 1770–1796 |
| Rank | General of Division |
| Conflicts | |
Paul-Alexis Dubois (French pronunciation: [pɔl alɛksi dybwa]; 27 January 1754 – 4 September 1796) commanded French divisions during the War of the First Coalition and was killed in action fighting against Habsburg Austria. He enlisted in a French infantry regiment in 1770 and transferred into the cavalry in 1776. Thereafter he served in several different cavalry and infantry regiments. From sous-lieutenant in 1791, he served in the Army of the Moselle and was rapidly promoted to general of brigade by August 1793. After briefly commanding an infantry division in the Army of the Rhine at Wissembourg he switched back to the Army of the Moselle to fight at Kaiserslautern before being wounded at Froeschwiller in December 1793.
Promoted to general of division in March 1794, Dubois led a cavalry division in the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse at Lambusart, Fleurus and Aldenhoven. In May 1795 he helped put down the Revolt of 1 Prairial Year III. After garrison duty he was able to get transferred to Italy. He was fatally hit while leading the cavalry at the Battle of Rovereto and died the same day. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 25.
Dubois was born on 27 January 1754 at Guise in what later became the Aisne department in France. He joined the Lyonnais Infantry Regiment of French Royal Army on 16 August 1770. He transferred into the Monsieur Dragoon Regiment on 6 June 1776, followed by subsequent moves into the Royal-Normandie Cavalry Regiment on 22 December 1777 and the 5th Chevau-léger Regiment on 28 May 1779. He was promoted to brigadier, a non-commissioned officer rank, on 5 April 1780. He joined the Quercy Infantry Regiment on 25 July 1784 and was appointed maréchal de logis on 16 September the same year.[1] He advanced to maréchal de logis en chef on 16 June 1785 and to adjutant on 29 December 1786. He became port-guidon (guidon bearer) in the 11th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment on 15 May 1788.[2]
War: 1791–1793
Soon after the French Revolution Dubois advanced into the lesser grades of officer. He was promoted to sous-lieutenant on 1 March 1791, first lieutenant on 17 June 1792 and captain on 5 August the same year. In 1792 he fought with the Army of the Moselle. He assumed the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 17th Dragoons on 26 January 1793.[2] He was promoted to chef de brigade (colonel) of the 1st Regiment of Liberté Hussars on 28 May 1793 and he became general of brigade on 24 August 1793.[3] For part of the year he was deputy chief of staff in the Army of the Ardennes.[2]
The First Battle of Wissembourg found Dubois in command of the Right Wing of the Army of Rhine. His brigade commanders were Claude Ignace François Michaud and Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand. The Right wing included two battalions of the 37th Line Infantry and single battalions of the 11th Light, 40th, 75th and 79th Line Infantry. There were 10 National Guard battalions plus the 4th Dragoons and 2nd Chasseurs à Cheval.[4] The French government dismissed the previous army commander but none of the generals wanted the post because they had seen such generals as Adam Philippe Custine and Jean Nicolas Houchard sent to the guillotine. In desperation, the representatives on mission selected Jean Pascal Carlenc, a good cavalry officer but incompetent as commander-in-chief. To add more trouble, on 10 October the army's chief of staff Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke was dismissed for suspected sympathy with aristocrats.[5] In the midst of this chaos, the 43,185-strong Coalition army under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser attacked on 13 October 1793. Dubois did not distinguish himself, withdrawing from his position when it was unnecessary. Carlec refused to order a counterattack unless authorized to do so by the political representatives, so the army fell back almost to Strasbourg. Dubois was replaced by Louis Desaix.[6]
The Army of the Moselle also suffered from disruptive changes of army leaders. On 31 October 1793 Lazare Hoche replaced its acting commander.[7] The new leader was handicapped by the arrest and dismissal of so many generals. Evidently Hoche thought favorably toward Dubois because he wrote at this time, "[Jean René] Moreaux and Dubois have just arrived; [Édouard] Huet and [François Joseph] Lefebvre, recently promoted, have begun work: these four generals will much relieve me."[8] Dubois led the army's Advance Guard in the Battle of Kaiserslautern on 28–30 November. His force consisted of 12 field guns in two horse artillery companies, four squadrons each of the 1st Carabiniers-à-Cheval and 1st Dragoons, three squadrons of the 3rd Hussars, one squadron of the 7th Hussars, five infantry companies and three half-squadrons from various cavalry units.[9] Water-logged roads kept Hoche's main body out of action on the 28th, but Dubois joined one of Jean-Jacques Ambert's brigades in a morning assault on 29 November. After suffering many casualties, the French crossed the Otterbach stream and advanced against the main Prussian position. Over the next two days, the French attacks failed and Hoche was compelled to order a retreat.[10] Dubois was hit in the leg by a musket ball in the Battle of Froeschwiller on 22 December 1793. In this engagement, the Army of the Moselle turned Wurmser's right flank and forced him to retreat from his defenses at Haguenau and along the river Moder.[11]
.jpg)
