Jean Baptiste Kléber (9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
general during the
French Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
.
Kléber was born in
StrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in France...
, where his father worked as a builder. He received, partly at Paris, training in
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
, but his opportune assistance to two German
nobleNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
s in a tavern brawl obtained for him nomination to the military school of
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
. Thence he obtained a commission in the
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n army, but resigned it in 1783 on finding his humble birth in the way of his promotion.
On returning to France he received the appointment of inspector of public buildings at
BelfortBelfort is a town and commune of north-eastern France, préfecture of the Territoire de Belfort département in the Franche-Comté région. Population : 50,417...
, where be studied fortification and military science.
Jean Baptiste Kléber (9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
general during the
French Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
.
Biography
Kléber was born in
StrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in France...
, where his father worked as a builder. He received, partly at Paris, training in
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
, but his opportune assistance to two German
nobleNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
s in a tavern brawl obtained for him nomination to the military school of
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
. Thence he obtained a commission in the
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n army, but resigned it in 1783 on finding his humble birth in the way of his promotion.
On returning to France he received the appointment of inspector of public buildings at
BelfortBelfort is a town and commune of north-eastern France, préfecture of the Territoire de Belfort département in the Franche-Comté région. Population : 50,417...
, where be studied fortification and military science. In 1792 he enlisted in the
Haut-RhinHaut-Rhin is a département of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine.-Subdivisions:The department consists of the following arrondissements:*Altkirch*Colmar*Guebwiller*Mulhouse*Ribeauvillé...
volunteers. Due to his military knowledge he at once gained election as adjutant and soon afterwards as lieutenant-colonel.
At the defence of
MainzMainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the...
(July 1793) he so distinguished himself that though disgraced along with the rest of the garrison and imprisoned, he promptly won reinstatement, and became in August 1793 general of brigade. He won considerable distinction in the
VendéanThe War in the Vendée was a civil war and counterrevolution in the Vendée between suppressed Catholics and Royalists on the one hand and Republicans on the other, during the French Revolution. Some scholars consider the killing of hundreds of thousands of Catholic Vendeans by the anticlerical...
war, and two months later gained promotion to general of division. In these operations began his intimacy with
MarceauFrançois Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars.-Early life:Desgraviers was born at Chartres. His father served as a legal officer, and Marceau received an education for a legal career, but at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the regiment of Savoy-Carignan...
, with whom he defeated the
RoyalistThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
s at
Le MansLe Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans....
and
SavenaySavenay is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The Battle of Savenay on 23 December 1793 was the last, decisive battle of the Revolt in the Vendée during the French Revolution. In this battle the forces of the royalist counter-revolutionaries were irrevocably shattered....
. When he openly expressed his opinion that the Vendéans merited lenient measures, the authorities recalled him; but re-instated him once more in April 1794 and sent him to the Army of the Sambre-and-Meuse.
He displayed his skill and bravery in the numerous actions around
CharleroiCharleroi is the largest city and municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2008, Charleroi had a total population of 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and has a total population of 522,522 as of 1...
, and especially in the crowning victory of
FleurusIn the Battle of Fleurus French forces under Jourdan defeated an Austrian army under Saxe-Cobourg in one of the most decisive battles in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
(26 June 1794), after which in the winter of 1794 - 1795 he besieged Mainz. In 1795 and again in 1796 he held the chief command of an army temporarily, but declined a permanent appointment as commander-in-chief. On 13 October 1795 he fought a brilliant rearguard action at the bridge of
NeuwiedNeuwied is a town in the north of the German state Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the right bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne...
, and in the offensive campaign of 1796 he served as
JourdanJean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan was a marshal of France notable for his service during the French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic War.-War of the First Coalition:...
's most active and successful lieutenant.
Having, after the retreat to the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
, declined the chief command, he withdrew into private life early in 1798. He accepted a division in the expedition to
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
under
BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
, but suffered a wound in the head at
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
in the first engagement, which prevented his taking any further part in the campaign of the Pyramids, and caused his appointment as governor of Alexandria. In the
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
n campaign of 1799, however, he commanded the vanguard, took El-Arish,
GazaGaza is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
and Jaffa, and won the great victory of
Mount TaborThe Battle of Mount Tabor, or Skirmish of Mount Tabor, opposed French forces under General Kleber to an Ottoman force led by the Pasha of Damascus on 16 April 1799. General Bonaparte was besieging Acre, and Damascus sent its army to relieve the siege...
on 15/16 April 1799.
When Napoleon returned to France towards the end of 1799 he left Kléber in command of the French forces. In this capacity, seeing no hope of bringing his army back to France or of consolidating his conquests, he negotiated the convention of El-Arish (24 January 1800) with Commodore Sidney Smith, winning the right to an honorable evacuation of the French army. But when Admiral Lord Keith refused to ratify the terms, Kléber attacked the Turks at
HeliopolisHeliopolis , meaning sun-city, was one of the most ancient cities of Egypt, and capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome. Its name also refers to an unrelated modern suburb of Cairo, also known as مصر الجديدة, Masr al-gidedah...
, though he had only 10,000 men against 60,000, Kléber's forces utterly defeated the Turks on 20 March 1800. He then re-took
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
, which had revolted from the French.
Shortly after these victories, a Syrian student,
Soleyman El-HalabySuleiman al-Halabi, also known as Soleyman El-Halaby , was a Syrian student who assassinated French general Jean Baptiste Kléber. He was executed by impalement.-Early life:...
, living in Egypt, assassinated Kléber by knifing him through the heart at Cairo on 14 June 1800, the same day on which his friend and comrade
DesaixLouis Charles Antoine Desaix was a French general and military leader. According to the usage of the time, he took the name Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux.-Biography:...
fell at Marengo. His assassin was executed by
ImpalementImpalement is a term that refers to situations in which objects are driven through the body, causing deep stabbing wounds. It can refer either to accidental events or to deliberate wounding used as a method of torture or execution...
in a public square in Cairo after his right arm was burned off, and left for several hours to die. His skull was shipped to France and used to teach French medical students what the French authorities claimed was the bump of "crime" and "fanaticism"
http://www.damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm.
Burial
After his assassination the embalmed body of Kléber was repatriated to France.
NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
, fearing that his tomb would become a symbol to Republicanism, ordered it to stay at the
Château d'IfThe Château d'If is a fortress located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France...
, on an island near
MarseilleMarseille , formerly known as Massalia , is the 2nd most populous French city as well as the oldest city in France...
. It stayed there for 18 years until
Louis XVIIILouis XVIII , Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, due to the French Revolution, and was exiled again in 1815, upon the return of Napoleon Bonaparte...
granted him a burial place in his hometown in
StrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in France...
. He was buried on 15 December 1838 below his statue located in the middle of
Place KléberThe Place Kléber is the central square of Strasbourg, France.Place Kleber, the largest square at the center of the city of Strasbourg in the heart of the city's commercial area, was named after general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, born in Strasbourg in 1753. In the square is a statue of Kléber, under...
. His heart is in an urn in the caveau of the Governors beneath the altar of the St. Louis Chapel in Les Invalides, Paris.
Assessment
The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica provides the following assessment of Kléber:
"Kléber emerged as undoubtedly one of the greatest generals of the French revolutionary epoch. Though he distrusted his powers and declined the responsibility of supreme command, there is nothing in his career to show that he would have been unequal to it. As a second-in-command no general of his time excelled him. His conduct of affairs in Egypt at a time when the treasury was empty and the troops were discontented for want of pay, shows that his powers as an administrator were little - if at all - inferior to those he possessed as a general."
Other references
- Jean Vermeil, Chapter 17 of L`Autre Histoire de France, Editions due Félin, Paris: 1993 (ISBN 2-86645-139-2).