Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Moreau, Jean Victor

MOREAU, JEAN VICTOR (mo-rō′), a French general; born in Morlais, France, Aug. 11, 1761. He was educated for the law, but enlisted at 17, and thenceforth devoted himself to a military career. In 1796 he was commander of one of the two French armies that invaded Germany. The other army, under General Jourdan, was completely defeated by the Austrians, who then brought their whole force to bear on Moreau. In this emergency, Moreau extricated himself by the retreat through the Black Forest. Napoleon, in 1800, gave Moreau the command of the armies of the Danube and the Rhine; and in the winter of that year Moreau gained the great victory of Hohenlinden. He was afterward suspected of plotting against Napoleon's government, and was banished from France. He lived in the United States till 1813, when he returned to Europe and joined the armies of the allied sovereigns against the French. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Dresden, Aug. 27, 1813, and died in Laun, Bohemia, Sept. 20.