Jean-Chrysostôme Calès () was a French military officer who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was born on 27 January 1769 in Caraman (Haute-Garonne) and died on 21 April 1853 in Cessales (Haute-Garonne).
Biography Jean-Chrysostôme Calès, « son of Jean Calès, alderman of Caraman, and of damsel Jeanne Rochas » was born on 27 January 1769 in Caraman, a small village in the region of Lauragais near Toulouse. Jean-Chrysostôme was the fourth brother of 10 siblings,The Calès siblings consisted of:
1) Jean-Marie (16/10/1757-Cessales, † 13/04/1834-Liège), Physician and Deputy. Without descendants.
2) Jean (08/11/1764-Caraman, † 11/10/1840-Mazamet), Physician and Inspector General of Military Hospitals, married to Marianne Louise Victorine Fournier (?, † 09/02/1744-Villefranche). Father of Godefroy Calès (1799-1868) and Louis Denis Godefroy Calès (1800-?)
3) Jean-Louis, known as Figeac (19/12/1766-?, † 14/01/1850-Cessales), Physician, married (in 1839, at 73 years old) to Paule Bonnet (16/05/1783-Renneville, †?). Without descendants.
4) Jean-Chrysostôme (27/01/1769-Caraman, † 21/08/1853-Cessales), Colonel and Baron of the Empire. Without descendants.
5) Jean Joseph Etienne Victorin (26/04/1772-?, † 16/06/1853-Cessales), Military Officer. Without descendants.
6) Jean Joseph
7) Etienne, known as Petit (21/08/1773-?, † 22/01/1855-Cessales), Unmarried, without profession. Without descendants.
8) Jean
9) Marie Etiennette (? -Caraman, † 08/01/1849-Villefranche), married to Jean-Paul Pujol, Notary in Villefranche († 01/02/1840-Villefranche). Mother of Constantine Pujol († 1861) and Marie Justine Pujol (1796-1894).
10) Marie Justine (? -Toulouse, † 05/09/1873-Villefranche), married to Constantin Pujol († 10/06/1844-Villefranche). Without descendants. and had two sisters and seven brothers. Several of his siblings were also prominent, including Jean-Marie Calès (1757-1834), the eldest, who became deputy of Haute-Garonne at the National Convention and the Council of Five Hundred, the second oldest, Jean Calès (1764-1840), who became Inspector-General of military hospitals, and the fifth oldest, Jean Joseph Etienne Victorin Calès (1772-1853), who became a military officer. His parents were landowners of the region, from old Protestant families rooted in the region and forced to convert to Catholicism after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes issued by King Louis XIV in 1685.« Le Conventionnel Jean-Marie Calés (1757- 1834): du Lauragais à Liège. » (The conventional Jean-Marie Calés (1757- 1834): from the Lauragais to Liège.) by Pierre Arches, Actes des 115e et 116e Congrès nationaux des Soc. savantes, Avignon, 1990 et Chambéry, 1991, Section d'H. moderne et cont., T. II, (1992), pp. 225-232. In French.
Service in the French Revolutionary Armies (1792-1804) Jean-Chrysostôme Calès entered military service at the beginning of the wars of the French Revolution, at the age of 23, on 10 March 1792, as Lieutenant in the 5th battalion of volunteers of Haute-Garonne. This battalion, formed by 455 volunteers from the districts of Toulouse, Rieux, Villefranche, Castelsarrasin, Muret, Saint-Gaudens, Revel and Grenade, and gathered in Toulouse, was amalgamated on 1st Messidor Year III (19 June 1795) with Regiments of the Ancien Régime within the 130th demi-brigade of line infantry, itself reformed as 4th demi-brigade of line infantry on 22 Ventôse Year IV (12 March 1796) to put order in the confusion of the infantry corps, and then finally renamed 4th Infantry regiment of line on 1st Vendémiaire an XII (24 September 1803) by decree of the First Consul.in « Bataillons de volontaires nationaux (Cadres et historiques) », p.120, Georges Armand Louis Dumont (1914), publisher: H. Charles-Lavauzelle (Paris). in french. Public domain. Read online on the site of archive.org: https://archive.org/details/bataillonsdevolo00dumo Lieutenant Jean-Chrysostôme Calès served this 5th battalion of volunteers within the 7th Company of Villefranche with his younger brother, Captain Jean Joseph Etienne Victorin Calès.
Lieutenant Calès left Toulouse with his battalion of volunteers in May 1792 for the Army of the Alps, one of the French Revolutionary armies, and was appointed Captain on 19 September 1792, the day before the victory of the French troops at the battle of Valmy (20 September), and two days before the inaugural parliamentary session (21 September) of the National Convention, in which his elder brother Jean-Marie was elected and which proclaimed the French First Republic (22 September).
In the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees (1794) Captain Calès entered on Year II (during the reign of Terror), the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, formed by the Convention after the invasion of France by the Kingdom of Spain in April 1793 in retaliation for the execution of Louis XVI just three months before. Calès particularly distinguished himself the 27 Brumaire Year III (17 November 1794) at the Battle of the Black Mountain (also called Battle of the Sierra Negra) against the allied armies of the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal: at the head of two companies of Chasseurs, captain Calès overthrew 800 Spaniards. General Jacques François Dugommier died during the battle, but he defeated the allied armies. The famous surgeon Larrey also distinguished himself during this battle practising in one day not less than 200 amputations. This decisive French victory led to the capture of Figueres, then to the victorious Siege of Roses and to the escape of the Spanish troops by sea, and finally to the signature of the Peace of Basel between France and Prussia (5 April 1795) and between France and Spain (22 July 1795 - 4 Thermidor Year III), by which the two countries signed peace with the victorious revolutionary France, thus abandoning the First Coalition. However, Calès got wounded during the blockade of Figueres on 29 November by the explosion of a gunpowder magazine.
In the Army of Italy (1796) At the beginning of 1796, captain Calès was sent to the Army of Italyin « Précis historique des marches, combats, batailles et actions de la 4e demi-brigade de bataille..., certifié véritable et signé par le Chef de Brigade Frère, à la date du 16 fructidor an V (2 septembre 1797) » commended by the young General in Chief Bonaparte, invested on 2 March 1796 by the Directory,« Bonaparte en Italie », (1796), Félix Bouvier (1858-1910). Publisher : L. Cerf (Paris) (1899). Public domain. Read online on the website of gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k873080w the new republican regime, in which his elder brother Jean-Marie was elected a few months before representative at the Council of Five Hundred. In September 1795, this Army of Italy had received four divisions (16,000 men) of reinforcements from the victorious Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. With these reinforcements, this small army, with a strength of 50,000 men, was composed in large majority of battalions of volunteers coming from Southern France. It was intended in principle to open a simple front of diversion against Austria, while the two more powerful armies of the Rhine, the Army of Sambre and Meuse commended by General Jourdan and the Army of the Rhine and Moselle of General Moreau, were sent to circumvent the Austrians by the north. Following the plan of a lightning offensive meditated by General Bonaparte for a long time, the 4th line infantry regiment of Calès (General Augereau's Division) fought at the battles of the bridge of Lodi (10 May 1796), Castiglione (5 August), Bassano (8 September), the bridge of Arcole (15-17 November) and Rivoli (13-14 January 1797).
At the Battle of Castiglione, captain Calès got shot in the right arm: the enemy was on the point of breaking on the left when Calès succeeded in rallying the 3rd battalion he commanded, repulsed the Austrians, and the French troops took back their positions.« On the 16th ... The head of the 4th demi-brigade, Pourailler ... were also killed ... The 4th demi-brigade, headed by Warrant Officer General Verdier when they charged, was filled with glory ... On the 18th Augereau attacked the centre of the enemy leaning against the tower of Solferino; Massena attacked the right; Adjutant-General Leclerc, at the head of the 5th demi-brigade, marched to the rescue of the 4th demi-brigade ... », écrit depuis le quartier général de Castiglione Bonaparte au Directoire Exécutif dans son rapport du 6 août 1796 (19 Thermidor an IV - correspondence de Napoléon, t.1, lettre 842), (written, from the headquarters of Castiglione, by Bonaparte to the Executive Directory in his report of 6 August 1796 Thermidor year IV - correspondence of Napoleon, t.1, letter 842)). Although this battle, won by the French commanded by Generals Bonaparte, Massena and Augereau against three Austrian armies of Habsburg Austria, was not decisive, it is nevertheless considered by historians to be the most important battle regarding the victorious fate of the Italian campaign during the war of the First Coalition.
In the Armies of the West, of Batavia, and of the Rhine (1800) The 4th regiment returned to France at the beginning of the year 1798, but did not, however, follow General Bonaparte in his campaign of Egypt and Syria conducted between 1798 and 1801. From Year VI to Year IX, captain Calès served in the Army of the West, the Army of Batavia and the Army of the Rhine.« The Minister of War (General Berthier) will bring together Generals Moreau and Clarke to arrest together a plan of operations for the new army of the Rhine. The Consuls desired that towards the end of December, the army of the Rhine should advance to Bavaria. It will be reinforced of the 4th, 15th, 56th, 42nd, 51st, 68th [...] demi-brigades [...] ». On 4 December 1799 (13 Frimaire Year VIII), the Consul Bonaparte. in « Correspondance de Napoléon, t.6, lettre 4413 » (Correspondence of Napoleon, t.6, letter 4413) Specifically, Calès served during the campaign of Switzerland, on 3 and 9 May 1800, at the battles of Engen and Biberach (during the war of the Second Coalition). On 13 Floreal Year VIII (3 May 1800), at the Battle of Engen, while his demi-brigade was being enveloped by the enemy's cavalry, captain Calès succeeded in opening a passage, and, although wounded, he did not leave his service.« The Left Brigade advanced rapidly on its side; the 4th demi-Brigade, surrounded for a moment by the enemy's cavalry, pressed, held firm, fired on all sides, and soon disengaged. » in « Bulletin de l'Armée du Rhin, rédigé par le Général de Division Dessoles, Chef de l'Etat-major de cette armée, et successivement adressé sous la forme de rapports partiels au Ministre de la Guerre, Rapport du 12 au 13 floréal an VIII (2-3 mai 1800)). » (Bulletin of the Army of the Rhine, drafted by General de Division Dessoles, Chief of the General Staff of this army, and successively addressed in the form of partial reports to the Minister of War, Report of the 12-13 Floreal Year VIII (2-3 May 1800)) This battle, fought between France and Austria, resulted in the victory of the French army commanded by General Jean Victor Marie Moreau against the Austrians commanded by General Paul Kray. Six days later, on 19 Floreal Year VIII (9 May 1800), at the Battle of Biberach, Calès commanded the battalion of the reunited Grenadiers: he repulsed the enemy and seized two pieces of cannon. The French corps commanded by General Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr won the battle against a part of the Habsburg Austrian Army commanded by General Paul Kray. On 15 July 1800, Moreau signed with Kray the armistice of Parsdorf. Recalled to France, the 4th demi-brigade crossed the Rhine at Kehl and arrived in Nancy in August 1801.
Service in the Great Army (1804-1810)
In the Camp of Boulogne (1804)