Maréchal Regnaud
(1794-1870)

Auguste Michel Étienne Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély was born in Paris on 29 July 1794, the son of Michel Louis Étienne, comte Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angély.

Regnaud served as a lieutenant in a regiment of Hussars during the Russian campaign of 1812 and was present at the Battle of Leipzig, after which he became a member of Napoléon I’s military staff.

As he had served as an aide-de-camp to the Emperor at Waterloo, he was dismissed from the army by the Restoration government. In 1825 he went to Greece and fought for the Greeks in their War of Independence. He rejoined the French army in 1830 and served under Gérard as a colonel in the expedition to Belgium. Regnaud was promoted to général de brigade in 1841 and to général de division in 1849. In 1848 he was elected a deputy and sat on the right. In 1851 he served for a fortnight as minister of war. In 1852 he was named a senator. Under the Second Empire he went through the Crimean and Italian campaigns, and was made a marshal for his bravery at the Battle of Magenta.

Maréchal Regnaud died at Cannes on 1 February 1870.