Pierre François Joseph Durutte (; 13 July 1767 – 18 April 1827) joined the French army at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. Rapidly promoted for feats of bravery under fire at Jemappes in 1792 and Hondschoote in 1793, he found himself appointed to serve as a staff officer. He distinguished himself during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799 and received promotion to general officer. During the successful 1800 campaign he fought in Jean Victor Marie Moreau's army. Promoted again in 1803, his career then stalled because of his association with the banished Moreau and his unwillingness to see Napoleon Bonaparte as emperor.
After several years of garrison duty, Durutte was sent to a combat command in Italy in 1809. During the War of the Fifth Coalition he led his division in action at the Piave, Tarvis, Sankt Michael, Raab, and Wagram. He led a division in Russia in 1812 and managed to bring the unit back to western Germany intact. He fought in the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1813, defended Metz in 1814, and led a division at Waterloo in 1815. Durutte is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.
Revolution Born into a well-to-do merchant family on 13 July 1767 in Douai, he obtained an excellent education as a youth. He enlisted in the 3rd Nord Volunteer Battalion in 1792 after the outbreak of the French Revolution. He fought at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November 1792 was appointed lieutenant. For notable courage in the storming of a Dutch fort at KlundertMullié, Durutte from 1 to 4 March 1793,Smith, 43 Durutte became a captain. He was offered the rank of adjutant general, but hesitated to accept because he felt that he did not merit the promotion. During the Battle of Hondschoote on 6 to 8 September 1793, he served as the chief of staff to one of the divisions. He was later chief of staff to Jean Le Michaud d'Arçon.
In 1795 he became chief of staff to Jean Victor Marie MoreauChandler Dictionary, 134 who commanded the Army of the North. He later served under Joseph Souham in Holland. On 19 September 1799, he led the advance-guard in Herman Willem Daendels' division at the Battle of Bergen. For his battlefield exploits, he became a general of brigade on 26 September 1799.Broughton, Durutte He also fought in Guillaume Marie Anne Brune's victory at the Battle of Castricum on 6 October. Again serving under Moreau, he participated in the Battle of Messkirch on 5 May 1800 and the Battle of Biberach four days later. On 3 December at the Battle of Hohenlinden, he led a brigade in Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen's division.Arnold Marengo, 275 Led by Durutte, Decaen's troops arrived on the field late in the morning. But they quickly pitched into the fighting and drove back the Austrians of Johann Sigismund Riesch's left column.Arnold Marengo, 245-256 After the peace, he assumed command of the Department of Lys.
Early Empire On 27 August 1803, Durutte received promotion to general of division in spite of Napoleon Bonaparte's dislike of officers from Moreau's army. He became a member of the Légion d'Honneur on 11 December 1803 and a commander of the Légion on 9 June 1804. His former relationship with Moreau, who was exiled from France, then caused trouble. When asked to put his signature on a document agreeing with Napoleon's appointment as emperor of France, Durutte remained true to his republican beliefs and refused to sign. When his officers also offered to join him in defiance, he dissuaded them so their careers would not be ruined. After this incident, apparently no one wanted to have anything to do with him except Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout, who gave him command of the island of Elba. He remained in this isolated post for three years.
His fortunes improved in 1809 when he was given command of a combat division in Italy under Eugène de Beauharnais. His troops included the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 22nd Light Infantry Regiment, four battalions each of the 23rd and 62nd Line Infantry Regiments, and a foot artillery company consisting of four 6-pound cannons and two 6-inch howitzers.Bowden & Tarbox, 103 He missed the Battle of Sacile in mid-April.Schneid, 181-182 After the Battle of Caldiero at the end of April, Eugène launched a pursuit of Archduke John's retreating army. While the rest of his troops chased John, Eugène directed Durutte on a southerly route to first relieve the siege of Venice and then to rejoin the main army on the Piave River.Schneid, 79
On 8 May 1809, Durutte's division was present at the Battle of Piave River as part of Paul Grenier's corps. Instead of four battalions of the 62nd, his division's order of battle included two battalions each of the 60th and 62nd Line Infantry Regiments.Bowden & Tarbox, 111 During the battle the river rose dramatically and only half of his division was able to get into the fighting, where they fought in the center under Jacques MacDonald.Schneid, 81 On 17 May, Durutte led his division at the Battle of Tarvis. That morning his troops stormed the Malborghetto Fort from the west while Michel Marie Pacthod's division attacked from the east. Both divisions were under the direction of Grenier. After a brief but heroic resistance, the fort's defenders were overrun. Later that day, Durutte's soldiers moved east to Tarvisio to confront Albert Gyulai's entrenched troops. While Eugène sent Achille Fontanelli's Italians to turn the Austrian flank, Grenier's two divisions mounted a frontal assault. Gyulai's men fled after suffering heavy losses.Epstein, 123
Durutte fought in the Battle of Sankt Michael on 25 May. When French scouts detected Franz Jellacic's Austrian division moving across his front, Eugène ordered Grenier to intercept it with the troops at hand. Grenier's first division under Jean Mathieu Seras arrived at Sankt Michael around 10:00 am and mounted an attack, pinning Jellacic in position. When Durutte arrived after a forced march, he put François Valentin's brigade in the second line, Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix's brigade in reserve, and two battalions of the 62nd Regiment on the south bank of the Mur River to envelop Jellacic's left flank. Seras' two brigades were told off to attack the Austrian right flank and center. In the face of this concentric attack Jellacic's force collapsed with very heavy losses.Schneid, 86-87
On 14 June 1809, Durutte led his division in the Battle of Raab. The 1st Brigade comprised one battalion of the 22nd Light, four battalions of the 23rd Line, and three battalions of the 60th Line Infantry Regiments. The 2nd Brigade had three battalions each of the 62nd and 103rd Line Infantry Regiments. Four squadrons of the 6th Chasseurs à Cheval and six 6-pound guns were attached.Bowden & Tarbox, 118 Archduke John deployed his army behind a stream, with a strongpoint in the center at the Kis-Megyer Farm. Eugène sent forward two infantry divisions, with Seras on the right and Durutte on the left. Arranged in two lines of battalion columns, the divisions advanced in echelon, with Seras leading. From the first, rough terrain caused problems and Durutte's division struck the Austrian line first. Seras finally got into action but proved unable to seize Kis-Megyar. Eugène put in Philippe Eustache Louis Severoli's division on Durutte's left to keep the attack rolling. At this time an Austrian counterattack broke Durutte's division and the first line of Severoli's. Eugène helped rally Durutte's men while sending in Pacthod's division as reinforcements. By this time Emmanuel Grouchy's cavalry had overwhelmed John's left flank and Kis-Megyar had fallen, causing John to order a withdrawal.Arnold Napoleon, 110-111
On the first day of the Battle of Wagram, 5 July 1809, Durutte's division participated in the unsuccessful evening attack on the Russbach line and was routed along with the rest of Eugène's attacking force.Bowden & Tarbox, 128 On the second day, MacDonald assaulted the Austrian center with three divisions.Arnold Napoleon, 155-156 When this attack stalled, Napoleon ordered Eugène to send in his last two divisions. Accordingly, Pacthod was committed on MacDonald's right, while Durutte was committed on his left, where he engaged the Austrians of Johann Kollowrat's III Armeekorps. Durutte's men overcame the opposition and captured the village of Breitenlee.Arnold Napoleon, 163 For his efforts at Wagram, he was honored with the Order of the Iron Crown on 17 July 1809. He was appointed Baron of the Empire on 15 August 1809.
Later Empire
After serving a few months as military governor of Amsterdam, Durutte was appointed as commander of the 31st military division and settled in Groningen.Het Franse Nederland: de inlijving 1810-1813: De juridische en bestuurlijke ... geredigeerd door A.M.J.A. Berkvens, J. Hallebeek, A.J.B. Sirks, p. 99 He took command of the 32nd Infantry Division in Marshal Pierre Augereau's XI Corps in November 1812Chandler Campaigns, 1113 and settled in Berlin and Warsaw. Detached to Jean Reynier's VII Saxon Corps, his troops fought against Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken's Russians at the Battle of Wolkowisk from 14 to 16 November.Smith, 402-403 During the battle, his division repelled repeated enemy attacks on the Wolkowisk bridge. After hearing of the destruction of the Grande Armée, Durutte withdrew to Kalisz in the Duchy of Warsaw, where he fended off a pursuing column of Russians. Later he fell back to Glogau in the Kingdom of Prussia and from there he brought his division back to Jena where he joined Eugène with 3,000 veterans on 1 April 1813.
Still in Reynier's VII Corps, Durutte led the 32nd Division at the Battle of Bautzen on 20 and 21 May 1813.Smith, 420 He fought at the Battle of Grossbeeren on 23 August. On this occasion, his division was made up of the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 131st, 132nd, and 133rd Line Infantry Regiments, the 1st Battalion of the 35th Light Infantry Regiment, the 4th Battalion of the 36th Light Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Würzburg Infantry Regiment.Smith, 440 He led his troops at the Battle of Dennewitz on 6 September. At the battle, Marie Jean Baptiste Urbain Devaux's brigade included the 35th Light, 131st Line, and 132nd Line Infantry Regiments. Antoine Anatole Gedeon Jarry's brigade consisted of 36th Light, 133rd Line, and Wurzburg Infantry Regiments.Smith, 450 He fought at the Battle of Leipzig from 16 to 19 October. The organization of the 32nd Division was similar to the earlier battles, except that each regiment had only one battalion.Smith, 462
During the retreat to France, Durutte led his troops in a clash at Freyburg on 21 October.Smith, 471 He fought at the Battle of Hanau on 30 and 31 October under Marshal Auguste Marmont's command.Smith, 474 In 1814 he was given command of the fortress of Metz which resisted a blockade until the end of the war. At one point, Napoleon heard a rumor that Metz had fallen. He asked an aide-de-camp who commanded the garrison. When told it was Durutte, he replied, "I have never done anything good for that man. Metz is still ours." (Napoleon was becoming convinced that generals on whom he had showered favors were not performing well, while those who had yet to prove themselves could be counted on.)Chandler Campaigns, 1004 Upon the return of King Louis XVIII, Durutte recognized the new sovereign and was given command of the 3rd Division and made a Chevalier of the Order of Saint Louis on 27 June. He was made a Grand Officer of the Légion d'Honneur on 23 August and received a gold sword from the mayor of Metz.