Jean-Charles Pichegru

Jean-Charles Pichegru (16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a distinguished French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His subsequent involvement in a royalist conspiracy to remove Napoleon from power led to his arrest and death. Despite his defection, his surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.

Early life and career

Born at Arbois (or, according to Charles Nodier, at Les Planches, near Lons-le-Saulnier), he was the son of a peasant. The friars of Arbois were entrusted with his education, and sent him to the military school of Brienne-le-Château. He taught mathematics at the Royal Military School Brienne-le-Chateau, among his pupils was a young Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1783 he entered the 1st regiment of artillery, where he rapidly rose to the rank of Adjutant-Second Lieutenant, and briefly served in the American Revolutionary War.