Auguste-Julien Bigarré

French General who was aide-de-camp to King Joseph and Colonel of the 1st Line

Auguste-Julien Bigarré’s service in the Kingdom of Naples was short yet very
profitable for the Army. Born in Le Palais on Belle-Île on 1st January 1775,
Bigarré was the son of the local magistrate and enlisted in the Navy at age 16 as
a volunteer. He served on Saint-Domingue before transferring as a Sous-
Lieutenant in the 9e de Ligne in 1793. Appointed as a staff officer to the Army
of the West in 1795, he was wounded in the left shoulder in the Quiberon
landings before transferring to the 1st Legion des Francs as captain in October
1797. He participated in General Hoche’s expedition to Ireland on board the Les
Droits de l’Homme, where he distinguished himself in saving the vessel from
burning once it was shipwrecked; he was hence recommended by Admiral
Lacrosse and served in Germany (where he was captured at Neuwied) and
Switzerland, distinguishing himself at Soleure, Lucerne and later Hohenlinden.
Serving briefly as captain in the Chasseurs à pied of the Consular Guard, he
transferred as Major of the 4e de Ligne where he met
Joseph Bonaparte, Colonel of the same regiment.

At Austerlitz Bigarré commanded the 4e’s first

battalion. Separated in the attack on the Pratzen Heights
at the end of the morning, it was charged by the Russian
Chevalier Guard and lost its eagle standard. Although
rebuked by Napoleon, the battalion redeemed itself by
capturing the Russian Moscow regiment, along with its
colonel and two flags, and hence was eligible to receive
another eagle, while Bigarrè was made officer of the
Légion d’Honneur. This action had no lasting consequences, although there
have been multiple paintings and prints done commemorating it. The eagle is
nowadays displayed in the Hermitage Museum in Moscow.

On 15th August 1806 Bigarré was given approval to transfer into the service of
the Kingdom of Naples and was promised a regiment in the Royal Guard; this
never came, as the commands had already been given to other officers. Hence,
he was first appointed aide-de-camp to Joseph (30th November) and then
Colonel of the 1st Line Regiment on 3rd February 1807, stationed in Capua. He
took over the regiment alongside Major Pégot, and assisted greatly in
uniforming it adequately before teaching it French discipline and manoeuvres.
Bigarré commented on the regiment’s initial state as “pitiful, so devoid of
everything”, but then asserted that on March 19th he presented to Joseph the
regiment at the strength of 1,800 “well-dressed, well-armed and well-equipped”
men. Bigarré’s success in making the 1st Line combat-worthy would manifest
itself well in the coming Spanish campaign, where the regiment’s performance
far outshined that of other Italian contingents in Duhesme’s corps.

Later that year Bigarré spent several months

commanding mobile columns in the war against
brigandage, notably in Molise, before being
dispatched to Northern Italy with his regiment
in July 1807. During this excursion the 1st Line
was reviewed by Napoleon, who praised
Bigarré’s efforts to make the regiment battle-
worthy. At the end of the review, the Emperor
remarked: “Messieurs les Napolitains, je suis
très content de vous.”

Bigarré left the regiment en route to Toulouse to

take command of the 2nd Line in Mantua. The
regiment had been suffering from major supply problems and desertion was rife,
and only recently the previous colonel (de Gambs) had been fired. After fixing
the regiment’s discipline, Bigarrè relayed command to Major Carrascosa on 23rd
May 1808 and then set off to join Joseph’s court en route to Spain. Promoted to
Général de Brigade on 9th June that same year, he transferred into Spanish
service and took part in the war in Spain as a brigade commander in the Spanish
Royal Guard. In 1813 he was made lieutenant-general in Spanish service and
then returned to France as a Général de Brigade, serving as a brigade
commander in the Young Guard (in Brayer’s 8th Division) in the defence of
France, by the end of which he was a Général de Division. When Napoleon
returned in the Hundred Days, he was sent alongside Lamarque to quell the
Vendée revolt, and defeated the Chouans at Auray on June 21 with an inferior
force; unfortunately, this was in vain as Napoleon was beaten at Waterloo 3 days
prior.
He was put on non-activity by the Bourbons in July but then reinstated as
commander of the 13th Military Division in 1830, and nominated Grand Officer
of the Légion d’Honneur by King Louis Philippe. He died childless in Rennes
on 14th May 1838, where he was buried. His name is on the Arc de Triomphe
(Southern Pillar).