Guillaume Marie Anne Brune
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Guillaume Marie Anne Brune (March 13, 1763—August 2, 1815) was a French soldier and political figure who rose to the rank of Marshal of France.
The son of a lawyer, he was born at Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze. Brune settled in Paris before the French Revolution, studied Law, and became a political journalist, a partisan of the Jacobin Club, and a friend of Georges Danton. He was appointed in 1793 to a superior command in the French Revolutionary Army direct from civil life, and, as a Brigadier General, he took part in the fighting of the 13th Vendémiaire. In 1796 he fought under Napoleon Bonaparte in the , and was promoted Général de Division for good service in the field.
In 1798 he commanded the French army which occupied Switzerland, and in the following year he was in command of the French troops in the . His defence of Amsterdam against the Anglo-Russian expedition under the Duke of York was completely successful - the invaders were defeated, and compelled, after a harsh retreat, to re-embark. He rendered further good service in Vendée and in the Italian Peninsula, and was made a marshal by Napoleon on the creation of the French Empire in 1804.
In 1807 Brune held a command of troops fighting in the North German campaign, but he was not afterwards employed during the Empire. It is probable that he was accused of venality, and on that account disgraced. He was recalled to active service during the Hundred Days, and as commander of the army of the Var, he defended the south of France against the forces of the Austrian Empire. He was murdered by royalists during the White Terror at Avignon, during the opening stage of the Bourbon Restoration.
References
- The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, in turn, gives the following references:
- *Notice historique sur la vie politique et militaire du marechal Brune (Paris, 1821).
- *Paul-Prosper Vermeil de Conchard, L'Assassinat du marechal Brune (Paris, 1887).
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