Henri Rottembourg

Henri Rottembourg (6 July 1769 – 8 February 1857) became a French division commander late in the Napoleonic Wars. He enlisted in an infantry regiment of the French Royal Army in 1784 and was promoted to first lieutenant by 1792. During the War of the First Coalition from 1793 to 1797 he fought mostly in the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. He was wounded at Verona in 1799 and fought on the Var and at the Mincio in 1800. He transferred to the Imperial Guard in 1806 before fighting at Jena and being named to command an infantry regiment. In 1809 he was wounded at Wagram.

In 1811, Rottembourg was promoted to general of brigade and fought in the French invasion of Russia in 1812 before being sent home to organize units of the Imperial Guard. In 1813, he led a Young Guard brigade at Bautzen and an Old Guard brigade at Leipzig. Late that year he became a general of division. In 1814, he led a Young Guard division at La Rothière, Mormant and Laubressel. During the Hundred Days he led troops at La Suffel. During the Bourbon Restoration he held several interior posts and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. He retired from the army in 1834. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 10.

War of the Sixth Coalition
At the Battle of Bautzen on 20–21 May 1813, Rottembourg commanded a brigade in Pierre Barrois' 2nd Young Guard Division. The brigade included two battalions each of the 1st and 2nd Tirailleur Regiments. The 1st Tirailleurs numbered 27 officers and 1,031 rank and file. During the early fighting on 21 May, Barrois' division was ordered to support the attack of Marshal Auguste de Marmont's corps in the center. Late in the afternoon, the massed divisions of the Imperial Guard were used to break the Allies' resistance.

At the Battle of Leipzig on 16–19 October, he led a brigade in Philibert Jean-Baptiste Curial's 4,664-strong 2nd Old Guard Division. The brigade was made up of the 1st Battalion of the Saxon Guard Regiment, the Polish Guard Battalion and the 2nd Battalion of the Westphalian Guard Fusilier Regiment. The Westphalians were detached to escort the Guard artillery park. On the 16 October, the French launched a counterattack against the Allied Army of Bohemia. It drove back the Allies but failed to secure a decisive victory. Late in the afternoon, one division of the Old Guard was committed to action to drive the Austrians out of Dölitz. The Old Guard saw action on 18 October in heavy fighting to the northeast of Leipzig near Paunsdorf.

At the beginning of January 1814, Rottembourg's division was organized into two brigades under Jean-Joseph Marguet and Jean-Louis Charrière. On 26 January, Marshal Michel Ney was in command of the Young Guard infantry divisions of Rottembourg, Claude Marie Meunier and Pierre Decouz, plus Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes' Guard cavalry division. In all, there were 14,505 soldiers. On 25 January, Rottembourg's 5th Young Guard (or 2nd Tirailleur) Division included the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Tirailleur Regiments. Each regiment was 800–1,000 men strong while the Flanker-Chasseur Regiment only counted 312 men. The two attached artillery companies had 342 gunners.

At the Battle of La Rothière on 1 February 1814, the Allies had 113,000 troops available, but only 85,000 and 200 guns were engaged thanks to Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg's hesitancy. To oppose the Allies, Napoleon had only 45,100 men and 128 guns, but he sent away Ney's three infantry divisions that morning. Rottembourg's division was the only one immediately available for battle. In the evening, Napoleon ordered Marshal Nicolas Oudinot to recapture La Rothière using Rottembourg's division. Despite intense fire, the 1st Brigade drove Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken's Russians from the village, but the place was recaptured by Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev's Russians. The 2nd Brigade stormed the village again, flushing out its defenders. However, on the other side, it encountered an Austrian brigade and a Russian grenadier division which recaptured the village again. At 8:00 pm, the division's survivors reformed 500 paces north of La Rothière, the scene lit only by burning houses. Rottembourg's 5,000 troops fought "spendidly" according to one author. Brigadier Marguet was killed in the battle.

Bourbon Restoration
After the Bourbon Restoration, King Louis XVIII of France named Rottembourg a chevalier of the Order of Saint Louis and inspector general of infantry on 27 June 1814. He was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor on 14 February 1815. After the return of Napoleon, he was appointed to command the 6th Division of the 2nd Corps of Observation on 30 April 1815. His command became part of the Army of the Rhine on 18 May. On 28 June he fought the Battle of La Suffel (Suffelweyersheim) against 7,700 Austrians, Württembergers and Hessians. His 15th Division consisted of two battalions each of the 36th, 39th, 40th and 103rd Line Infantry Regiments, the 2nd and 7th Horse Chasseurs and the 11th Dragoon Regiments and 12 artillery pieces. His 5,600 troops suffered about 700 killed and wounded and lost six guns and two colors. During the action, the Württemberg Duke Louis Mounted Jägers routed the 2nd Horse Chasseurs. Subsequently, the division, which was part of Jean Rapp's V Corps, retreated through Haguenau into Strasbourg.