Pierre-Joseph Habert (; 22 December 1773 – 19 May 1825) enlisted in the French army at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars and led a division during the Napoleonic Wars. After serving in the army from 1792 to 1797, he fought in Ireland and Egypt, rising in rank to become a colonel by 1802. Under Emperor Napoleon, he led his regiment in the 1805 campaign against Austria. In the 1806–1807 campaign he saw action at Jena, Golymin, Eylau, and Heilsberg and was wounded twice in the last-named battle.
Promoted to general officer, Habert was posted to Spain where he achieved fame in the Peninsular War. After having fought with varying fortunes in 1808 and 1809, General and later Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet arrived to take command in Aragon. A string of almost unbroken successes followed. Though only a general of brigade, Habert was named to lead Suchet's 3rd Division in actions at Lerida, Tortosa, and Tarragona. After being promoted, he led his division at Saguntum, Valencia, Castalla, and Ordal. He became known as the Ajax of the Army of Catalonia for his prolonged defense of Barcelona in 1814. He commanded a division during the Hundred Days at Ligny and Wavre, though he missed the Battle of Waterloo. Habert is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.
Revolution Born the son of Avallon bookseller Henry Habert in Franche-Comté on 22 December 1773, Habert joined the French army on 1 September 1792 at the start of the War of the First Coalition. Quickly named captain of the 4th battalion of Yonne volunteers, within two years he rose to become a chef de bataillon (major) in the 107th Demi-Brigade. The year 1796 found him serving in the 3rd Foreign Demi-Brigade. He went with Lazare Hoche's abortive expedition to Ireland in 1796 and then the second expedition to Ireland in support of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Captured by the British, he spent a number of months as a prisoner before being released. Sent to Egypt with dispatches, his ship evaded the British naval blockade and he was appointed aide-de-camp to Jacques-François Menou. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Heliopolis on 20 March 1800. On 21 March 1801, Menou appointed him an acting general of brigade following his actions at the Second Battle of Abukir. He returned to France after the Capitulation of Alexandria.Mullié, Charles (1852). Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850: "Pierre-Joseph Habert".
Early Empire
On 29 May 1802, now a chef de brigade (colonel), Habert received command of the 105th Line Infantry Regiment. He became a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1803 and an officer of the Légion in 1804. During this time his unit guarded the west coast of France. In August 1805, at the start of the War of the Third Coalition, his regiment joined Jacques Desjardin's division of Marshal Charles-Pierre Augereau's VII Corps. Having a long march from the environs of Brest, Augereau's men missed the bulk of the fighting but managed to trap Franz Jellacic's Austrian division near Lake Constance.Chandler, David (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon, p. 402. New York: Macmillan. On 13 November, Augereau with Desjardin's 1st Division forced Jellacic to surrender his 4,000 troops in the Capitulation of Dornbirn in the Vorarlberg. The Austrians were allowed to march off to Bohemia on condition that they would not fight against France for one year.Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book, p. 214. London: Greenhill. .
The beginning of the War of the Fourth Coalition saw Habert's 105th Regiment serving in Jacques Lefranc's brigade of Desjardin's VII Corps Division.Chandler, David G. Jena 1806: Napoleon Destroys Prussia, P. 37. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2005. At the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806, Desjardin's division seized the village of Isserstadt, piercing the right-center of the Prussian-Saxon front and rescuing Marshal Michel Ney's advance guard from a precarious situation.Chandler Jena, 60.
On 24 December, Augereau forced a crossing of the Wkra River in Poland in the Battle of Czarnowo. He sent Étienne Heudelet de Bierre's 2nd Division to attempt a passage at Sochocin, while Desjardin tried to cross at Kołoząb. A Russian division under Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly opposed the French. Heudelet's attack was repulsed, but Desjardin met with success. Desjardin pinned down the Russians with covering fire, while some elite companies stormed across the partially destroyed bridge. Pierre Belon Lapisse led Desjardin's other brigade in a flank attack. The combined assault drove off the Russian defenders and captured six field pieces.Petre, F. Loraine 1976 (1907). Napoleon's Campaign in Poland 1806-1807, p. 84. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd.
Habert led the 105th against the Russians at the Battle of Golymin on 26 December.Smith, 236 Desjardin's division reached the field first and pressed back a Russian infantry regiment. Reinforced, the Russians pushed back Desjardin's men, who rallied and came on again. This time Desjardin's 2nd Brigade was stopped by grapeshot only 50 paces from the enemy guns. The brigade fell back 200 yards and formed squares in front of the village of Kaleczin. The Russians retreated that night.Petre, 109–110.
The 105th fought at the Battle of Eylau on 8 February 1807. At 2:00 PM, Emperor Napoleon ordered an unwell Augereau to attack the Russian left flank. As the movement got underway, a blizzard swept across the battlefield. Blinded by the snow, the VII Corps veered to the left of its intended attack axis to strike the Russian center. Pounded unmercifully by a 70-gun battery and swamped by counterattacking infantry and cavalry, Augereau's soldiers suffered huge losses and the remnants fled.Chandler Campaigns, 542. His division commander Desjardin was killed.Smith, 242. The decimated VII Corps was discontinued and the survivors distributed to other corps.Petre, 227. Habert was transferred to Claude Legrand's division in Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps on 21 February. He fought at the Battle of Heilsberg on 10 June 1807 where he was wounded in the head and shoulder. On 11 July 1807 he became a commandant in the Légion d'Honneur.
Middle Empire
On 18 February 1808, Habert won promotion to general of brigadeBroughton, Habert. and was granted 4,000 francs worth of annual rent from property in the Kingdom of Westphalia. Transferred to Spain, he served as a brigade commander in the division of Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle for three weeks before being reassigned to Jean-Antoine Verdier's division in mid-June. Both divisions formed part of Jean-Baptiste Bessières army corps.Gates, David (2002). The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War, p. 481. London: Pimlico. . During this period, from 15 June to 14 August, the French waged the unsuccessful First Siege of Zaragoza.Smith, 265. During the siege, Habert led an independent 3,104-man brigade that consisted of the 1st and 2nd Battalions each of the 1st Legion of the Vistula (1,243 men) and the 1st Supplementary Regiment of the Reserve Legion (1,030 men), the 4th Battalion of the 15th Line Infantry Regiment (411 men), and the 3rd Battalion of the 47th Line Infantry Regiment (420 men).
From August, he served in Charles Louis Dieudonné Grandjean's division. By early November he transferred again to lead the 2nd Brigade of Maurice Mathieu's division in Marshal Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey's III Corps. On 23 November, Mathieu's division fought in the French victory at the Battle of Tudela.Smith, 270. From 19 December 1808 to 20 February 1809, the III Corps participated in the Second Siege of Zaragoza. In this bloodbath, 18,000 Spaniards died of battle injuries or sickness.Smith, 279–280. French losses were also staggering, with 4,000 killed in battle plus an additional 6,000 succumbing to disease.Gates, 127. The III Corps, now led by Jean-Andoche Junot easily overran the Ebro valley after the fall of Saragossa. However, Spanish guerillas and regulars were soon active again.Gates, 158. As war with Austria threatened, Napoleon withdrew large forces from Spain, leaving Junot only 15,000 troops to occupy the province of Aragon.Gates, 160.
In May, Habert received a rude introduction to guerilla warfare when Colonel Perena led his militia in chasing out the French garrison at Monzón. Desiring to recapture the town, Habert sent a force consisting of about 1,000 men from his elite companies plus some cuirassiers across the Cinca River downstream from Monzón. However, the river flooded without warning, trapping his detachment on the far bank. With the rest of his troops Habert attempted to cross at Monzón itself, but Perena's men repelled all his assaults on 16 May. The cavalry swam their horses across the river and escaped. But the isolated foot soldiers ran out of ammunition and were forced to surrender on 19 May as Habert watched helplessly. In this action, Habert commanded Junot's 1st Division of 9,000 troops and 12 guns, with two squadrons of the 13th Cuirassier Regiment attached. Perena's estimated 10,000 Miqueletes captured three voltiguer (light) companies of the 14th Line Infantry Regiment, the grenadier and voltiguer companies of the 116th Line Infantry Regiment, and possibly other units.Smith, 304. Smith located the action at Pomar.
On the day that Habert's elite companies laid down their arms, Louis-Gabriel Suchet arrived to replace Junot in command. The Battle of Alcañiz on 23 May 1809, Suchet's first action in independent command, was a French defeat at the hands of Joaquín Blake y Joyes. Before the battle, Habert was ordered to join Suchet.Gates, 161–162. In the action, the 1st Division was led by Anne-Gilbert Laval while the 2nd Division was commanded by Louis François Félix Musnier. Habert is not listed in the order of battle.Smith, 311. Both Smith and Gates spell the name Laval, not La Val.Broughton, La Val and Laval. According to Broughton, Anne-Gilbert La Val (d. Sept. 1810) was a general of division, while Mathieu Paul Laval (d. Dec. 1809) was a general of brigade. Since the general is listed in Gates' May 1809 order of battle on page 492 as a division commander, Anne-Gilbert is the better candidate. Neither Laval should be confused with Jean François Leval (d. July 1834) who also served in Spain at the time.
Soon, Blake was menacing Zaragoza and Suchet led his rallied troops out to fight the Battle of María on 15 June. In this action, the French corps commander detached Laval to protect Saragossa, while Habert led the remainder of the 1st Division. Knowing 3,000 reinforcements were due to arrive, Suchet maintained the defensive all day. When the hoped-for troops showed up at 4:00 PM, the French general hurled Habert's infantry and Pierre Watier's cavalry at Blake's right wing. Under the double attack, the Spanish line caved in.Gates, 162–164. The French inflicted 1,000 killed and 3,000 to 4,000 wounded on their opponents while suffering 700 to 800 killed and wounded.Smith, 316. Two days later, Blake stood to fight again at Belchite. Suchet sent Musnier to assault the Spanish left flank while Habert attacked the right. Just as Habert's troops became engaged,Gates, 164. the French artillery scored a lucky hit on a Spanish artillery caisson behind the right wing. The resulting explosion set off a series of blasts that provoked Blake's men into a panicky flight from the field. The French lost about 200 casualties while their opponents lost ten times as many, plus 20 ammunition wagons. One source credited Laval with command of the 1st Division in this engagement.Smith, 317.