Empire General Claparede

Général Michel Marie Claparède

Claparède enlisted in a battalion of volunteers in 1792. Having been promoted to captain he served under Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. Having given command of a battalion in the Army of the Rhine, Claparède served at Hohenlinden. He took part in Charles Leclerc’s failed expedition to Santo Domingo. Having been promoted to general de brigade he returned to France in 1804, where he joined the Grande Armée at Boulogne.

When the War of the Third Coalition started, Claparède commanded a brigade in Suchet’s division from the V Corps of Marshal Lannes. With this unit he distinguished himself at Ulm, Austerlitz, Saalfeld, Jena, Pultisk.
Having been promoted to general de division in October 1808, in the War of the Fifth Coalition, Claparède distinguished himself at the twin battles of Aspern-Essling and at Wagram. During the following years he served in Portugal and Spain but in 1812 he was recalled to the Grande Armée for the French invasion of Russia. In Russia he served at Smolensk, Borodino and the crossing of the Berezina. Having served in the 1813 German campaign and the 1814 French campaigns, he distinguished himself at Leipzig and Paris.

During the Bourbon Restoration Claparède served as inspector-general of the 1st military division and as Pair de France.