May 28, 1735 (Strasbourg) - September 13, 1820 (Paris)
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- Kellermann, François-Étienne-Christophe, Duke of Valmy
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- Weapons of Kellermann
François Étienne Christophe Kellermann, usually referred to as François Christophe Kellermann or Marshal Kellermann, born May 28, 1735 in Strasbourg, died September 13, 1820 in Paris, was a French soldier, who was elevated to the dignity of Marshal of Empire. He was also Duke of Valmy.
He is the father of François Étienne Kellermann, French general.
Military career
He entered the regiment of Loweridath as a cadet at fifteen, was an ensign at eighteen in Royal Bavaria, and was made a captain during the Seven Years' War. Major of the Conflans hussars in 1779; brigadier of the king's armies in 1784; mestre de camp de hussars, colonel-general in the same year, and finally on March 9, 1788 appointed to the rank of maréchal de camp. At the beginning of the French Revolution, Kellermann was sent to Alsace as General-in-Chief of the Army of the Moselle (August 1792). He operated in the first days of the month following his junction with General Dumouriez, commander of the Northern Army, and was one of the winners of Valmy (September 20, 1792). He covered himself with glory on the days of September 20 and 21, also known as the cannonade of Valmy.
Kellermann was since employed under Custine who succeeded in having him recalled from his command (18 May 1793). He was soon appointed to that of the armies of the Alps and of Italy; but Napoleon Bonaparte replaced him in this last command.
Sent to repress the revolt of the Lyonnais against the Convention, he clashes with the representatives on mission who claim to teach him his trade. Imprisoned for thirteen months during the Terror, he narrowly escaped the scaffold.
After the fall of Robespierre, he was acquitted and resumed command of his armies in January 1795. In September 1795, the Army of Italy received a separate command and General Kellermann retained only the Army of the Alps, reduced to a secondary role. He left it in the spring of 1797 after the great victories won by the army of Italy under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte.
In 1799 he was inspector general of cavalry. He was called, after 18 brumaire year VIII (9 November 1799), to be part of the senate whose presidency was awarded to him on 2 August 1801.
In the following years he successively obtained the cord of grand officer, the dignity of marshal in 1804, the senatorship of Colmar, the title of duke of Valmy in 1808, and being in Paris on April 1, 1814, he voted in the senate for the forfeiture of Napoleon, the creation of a provisional government and was included in the first organization of the Chamber of Peers.
During the Hundred Days Kellermann did not accept any job, and since the second Restoration he sat among the defenders of public liberties in the Chamber of Peers where his son replaced him. He died on September 23, 1820, aged 86. Because of his advanced age he had commanded, from 1804 to 1813, only reserve armies or observation corps; but the French had fought or sustained forty-three battles or combats under his command.
Tributes
At his death and according to his wishes, his heart is buried in the middle of the Valmy battlefield. His ashes rest in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris and his name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe.
A statue is erected in his homage on Place Broglie in Strasbourg.
Views of contemporaries
In his Memorial of Saint Helena (1815-1821), Napoleon dictating to Las Cases confided:“Kellermann was a brave soldier, extremely active, had many good qualities; but he was quite deprived of the means necessary for the chief direction of an army. He only made mistakes in the conduct of this war”.