Claude Victor-Perrin

Born Dec. 7, 1764, in Lamarche, in the Vosges; died Mar. 1, 1841, in Paris. Marshal of France (1807); duke of Bellune (1808); peer of France (1815).

Victor-Perrin began his service in 1781 as a soldier in the artillery. He distinguished himself during the siege of Toulon in 1793 during the revolutionary wars and was promoted to the rank of general. He fought in Bonaparte’s Italian campaigns of 1796-97 and 1800 and in the war with Prussia and Russia in 1806-07; in 1808 he was given the command of the I Corps in Spain. During the war with Russia in 1812, VictorPerrin commanded the IX Corps, which protected the northern flank of the so-called Grande Armee and took active part in combat operations only during the retreat. In 1813, commanding the II Corps, he participated in the battles of Dresden and Leipzig. In 1814 he went over, to the side of the Bourbons and was appointed chief of staff of the royal guard in 1815. He was war minister from 1821 to 1823. In the fall of 1823, Victor-Perrin directed the military intervention in Spain as chief of staff under the duke of Angouleme. He retired from political and military activity after 1830.