Claude-Victor Perrin
Claude-Victor Perrin
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Claude-Victor Perrin

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Claude-Victor Perrin

Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno (French: [klod viktɔʁ pɛʁɛ̃]; 7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1807 by Emperor Napoleon I.

Victor was born in Lamarche on 7 December 1764 to Charles Perrin and Marie Anne Floriot. In 1781, he enlisted in an artillery regiment in Grenoble as a drummer, and after ten years' service he applied for and received his discharge. In Valence, on 16 May 1791 he married Jeanne Josephine Muguet, by whom he had issue which was extinct in the male line by 1917.

In February 1792, Victor joined his hometown's National Guard as a grenadier. He then enlisted in the 1st Drôme Battalion, and later passed to the 5th Bouches-du-Rhône Battalion. In September 1792 he was made chief of battalion and deployed with the Army of Italy, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Coaraze. During the Siege of Toulon in late 1793, Victor distinguished himself in the capture of Fort Mont Faron, and was seriously wounded in the stomach during the capture of Fort de l'Eguillette at the end of the siege.

For his actions at Toulon, Victor received a provisional promotion to brigade general. Afterwards, he was sent to the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees and fought in the War of the Pyrenees from 1794 to 1795, where he served in the sieges of Collioure, Roses, and fought with distinction at the Battle of the Black Mountain in November 1794. Confirmed in his rank in June 1795, he returned to the Army of Italy, fighting at the Battle of Loano in November 1795.

Victor served brilliantly in the Italian campaign of 1796 under General Napoleon Bonaparte. He took part in the capture of Cosseria Castle (April 14) and the battles of Dego (April 15), Peschiera (August 6), and Rovereto (September 4). Soon after his promotion to general of division, in January 1797, he captured Imola and Ancona (which would later become the Anconine Republic) in the Papal States, seizing 120 artillery pieces and 4,000 rifles. In April 1797, his troops took part in the suppression of the Veronese Easter.

Victor then returned to France and was made commander of the 2nd military division in Nantes in March 1798, but was soon back in the Army of Italy. He served in the Italian campaign of 1799, and was present at the defeats of Trebbia (June 17–19), where he was injured, and Genola (November 4). The following year, he led his division at Montebello and distinguished himself at the Battle of Marengo.

Appointed general-in-chief of the Army of Batavia in July 1800, Victor held this command until August 1802, when he was named commander of a planned expedition to Louisiana. However, due to the disaster of that of Saint-Domingue, the expedition was cancelled and Victor returned to his previous command in June 1803. In that year he married for a second time in June at 's-Hertogenbosch to Julie Vosch van Avesaat (1781–1831), by whom he had an only daughter who died unmarried and without issue. In February 1805, he was appointed Ambassador to Denmark.

On the outbreak of hostilities with Prussia, Victor became Chief of Staff of the 5th Army Corps under Marshal Jean Lannes, and fought at the battles of Saalfeld and Jena in October 1806, where he was wounded. He received the capitulation of Spandau on October 25, served at the Battle of Pultusk on December 26, and was placed at the head of the 10th Army Corps upon its formation.

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