Michel Marie Claparède (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl maʁi klapaʁɛd]; 28 August 1770, in Gignac – 23 October 1842, in Montpellier) was a French general.

Michel Claparède
Born28 August 1770
Gignac, Hérault
Died23 October 1842(1842-10-23) (aged 72)
Montpellier
AllegianceKingdom of France, First French Republic, First French Empire, Kingdom of France
Service / branchInfantry
Active1793–1842
RankGénéral de division
Battles / wars
AwardsPair de France (1819),
Légion d'honneur
(Grand Cross)
Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis
(Grand Cross)

Life

edit

Claparède enlisted in a battalion of volunteers in 1792. Having been promoted to captain he served under Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. Having given command of a battalion in the Army of the Rhine, Claparède served at Hohenlinden. He took part in Charles Leclerc’s failed expedition to Santo Domingo. Having been promoted to general de brigade he returned to France in 1804, where he joined the Grande Armée at Boulogne.

When the War of the Third Coalition started, Claparède commanded a brigade in Suchet’s division from the V Corps of Marshal Lannes. With this unit he distinguished himself at Ulm, Austerlitz, Saalfeld, Jena, Pultusk and Ostrołęka. Having been promoted to general de division in October 1808, in the War of the Fifth Coalition, Claparède distinguished himself at the twin battles of Aspern-Essling and at Wagram. During the following years he served in Portugal and Spain but in 1812 he was recalled to the Grande Armée for the French invasion of Russia. In Russia he served at Smolensk, Borodino and the crossing of the Berezina. Having served in the 1813 German campaign and the 1814 French campaigns, he distinguished himself at Leipzig and Paris.

During the Bourbon Restoration Claparède served as inspector-general of the 1st military division and as Pair de France.His name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe.

He was wounded at the Battles of Pułtusk and Berezina.

Decorations

edit

Titles

edit
  • Comte de l'Empire by imperial decree of 19 March 1808 and letters patent of 29 June 1808
  • Confirmed as a hereditary count by royal ordinance of 23 June 1816

Honours and mentions

edit

Other roles

edit

Pensions, rents

edit

Coat of arms

edit
edit

Bibliography

edit
  •   Bouillet, Marie-Nicolas; Chassang, Alexis, eds. (1878). Dictionnaire Bouillet (in French). {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) ;
  • Mullié, Charles (1852). "CLAPARÈDE (MICHEL)" . Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850  (in French). Paris: Poignavant et Compagnie. ;
  • "Michel Claparède", in Adolphe Robert and Gaston Cougny, Dictionnaire des parlementaires français (1789-1891), Bourloton, Paris, 1889 Edition details Wikisource.

Notes

edit