Gabriel Venance Rey

Gabriel Venance Rey or Antoine Gabriel Rey, 24 July 1763 – 20 April 1836, became a general officer in the army of France during the French Revolutionary Wars and led a division under Napoleon Bonaparte in the Italian campaign of 1796-1797. He ran afoul of Napoleon and was not employed again until 1808, when he was sent to fight in Spain. He retired from military service in 1820.

Revolution
Born on 24 July 1763, Rey joined the old royal army of Louis XIV of France and became a lieutenant in 1791. He served with distinction in the Army of the Rhine, Army of the West, and Army of Italy. He was promoted to general of brigade in 1793 and general of division in 1795.

In January 1797, his division covered the western side of Lake Garda during the fourth Austrian attempt to raise the Siege of Mantua. Summoned to the east by Bonaparte, some of his troops marched and others crossed the lake by boat to fight at the Battle of Rivoli on 14 January. Arriving in the afternoon, Rey's soldiers helped eliminate Franz Joseph, Marquis de Lusignan's isolated Austrian column south of the main battlefield. The following day, he assisted Barthélemy Joubert in mopping up the shattered Austrian army, capturing large numbers of prisoners. His 4,156-man division included the brigades of Joachim Murat, Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers, and Antoine Joseph Veaux.

Empire
Rey disapproved of the coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire by which Bonaparte made himself the leader of France. Therefore, the new First Consul dismissed him from his military offices. His later record is obscure because of a confusion in names. Rey fought in Spain from 1808-1814 and a General Rey led 3,500 men at the Battle of Ocaña in 1809. One source put him in command of the fortress of Valenciennes after the Battle of Waterloo. However, Louis Emmanuel Rey (1768–1846) also served in Spain during 1808-1813 and certainly defended Valenciennes in 1815.

Rey's portrait identifies him as commandant of the advance guard of the Army of Naples. This makes him a good candidate, through his association with southern Italy, for the Rey who carried out the Siege of Gaeta with 4,000 troops in 1799. Gaeta's 3,600-man Neapolitan garrison surrendered to him on 5 January 1799. Gabriel Rey retired from the army in 1820 and died on 20 April 1836.