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| Anonymous engraving depicting "le beau Dorsenne". |
Dorsenne (General Count),
born in Picardy [actually Ardres, which is in Pas-de-Calais], owed
his military elevation to his sole merit, and before becoming a
general, he went through every rank. He enlisted in 1791 in a
volunteer battalion of Pas-de-Calais; in April 1792, he was present
at the first encounters between the French and Austrian armies
between Lille and Tournai, and he was wounded; he followed General
Bonaparte to Egypt; he served in Desaix’s division as a commandant
and was wounded a second time. In 1804, he was made the colonel of
the 61st Line, and in January 1805, Napoleon made him the
major of the grenadiers of the Guard. His valour at the battle of
Austerlitz was rewarded with the rank of brigade general. As the new
commander of the Imperial Guard, he fought the Prussians and Russians
in the 1806 and 1807 campaigns. In 1808, he served n the war against
Austria. At the battles of Essling and Wagram and in the fights at
Ratisbon, his bravery singled him out once more. His military talents
earned him the rank of divisional general in 1811, and he was sent to
Spain. One month after his arrival (August 1811), he led the army of
the North against the Spaniards, routed them completely and settle
his headquarters in Valladolid, after crossing Navarre and Biscay
unimpeded. General Dorsenne never concealed his opinion on this
dreadful war; his reports give a picture of his state of mind at the
time. Exhausted by the violent pains that resulted from previous head
trauma, he decided to withstand the pain and the hazards of
trepanning; but this did not help him. His sufferings grew worse,
and he came back to Paris, where he died on 24 July 1812.
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