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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Kellermann, François Etienne de

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1226293The Encyclopedia Americana — Kellermann, François Etienne de

KELLERMANN, François Etienne de, Duke of Valmy: b. Metz, 4 Aug. 1770; d. 2 June 1835. Son of François Christophe de Kellermann (q.v.). He served in his father's regiment before entering the diplomatic service in 1791, returning to the army in 1793 and again serving under his father in the army of the First Consul. In 1796 he became Napoleon's adjutant-general and in 1797 his services at Tagliamento won his promotion to brigadier-general. At Marengo he conducted a cavalry charge that won the battle and gained for him rank as general of division. He was at Austerlitz and served in the Peninsular campaign. He remained in the army throughout the Restoration, but rejoined Napoleon's service upon his return from Elba. He commanded a cavalry corps at the battle of Waterloo. He was considered the ablest of Napoleon's cavalry generals, but his fame was clouded by his undoubtedly merited personal unpopularity. Napoleon, however, ever kept in mind de Kellermann's service at Marengo. He sat in the House of Peers from 1820 and vigorously opposed the Bourbons until the fall of Charles X in 1830. His unpublished memoirs were used by his son, François Christophe Edmond de Kellermann in the preparation of ‘Histoire de la Campagne de 1800’ (Paris 18S4).