Louis-Chrétien Carrière de Beaumont

Louis-Chrétien Carrière, baron de Beaumont (often styled “Beaumont” or “Carrière de Beaumont”) was a French cavalry officer of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to général de division. Born at Malplacey near Brouchy (Somme), he enlisted as a trooper in the Régiment de La Reine dragons in April 1788. In 1792 he transferred to the 6e Régiment de hussards and served with the Armée du Nord, advancing through the junior ranks in 1792–1793.

From 1793 he served as aide-de-camp to General Alexandre Dumas, accompanying him during operations in the Vendée and subsequently with armies in Italy. In 1798 he went to Egypt with Dumas and remained in theatre through 1799, including service around Aboukir; in August 1799 he became chef d’escadron and entered the staff of Joachim Murat as aide-de-camp. He rejoined operations in Italy in 1800, and in the period of the Armée de Réserve served in actions including Vercelli and Marengo. In 1801 he became chef de brigade.

In 1805 he was appointed to command the 10e Régiment de hussards and campaigned with Lannes’s V Corps during the Third Coalition, serving in the Ulm–Austerlitz operations. He was promoted général de brigade in December 1805 and continued to serve closely with Murat, including assignments in the 1806–1807 campaigns against Prussia and Russia. During this period he operated with cavalry formations in the pursuit phases after Jena and in actions around Prenzlau; he was also present in the East Prussian campaign, including Eylau. In May 1807, in the operations associated with Danzig, he received the grade of Commander of the Légion d’honneur and was made a knight of the Ordre de la Couronne de fer.

In 1808 Beaumont was sent to Spain and given command of a light-cavalry brigade attached to Victor’s I Corps. He was created baron de l’Empire (letters patent issued in October 1808). In the 1809 campaign he served at Uclés and Medellín, and he was wounded at Talavera (28 July 1809). He continued in the Peninsular theatre thereafter, including service in the operations culminating in Ocaña (19 November 1809) and in the protracted fighting around Cádiz; he also took part in actions in early 1811, including the combat of Santi-Petri. He returned to France late in 1811.

Reassigned to the 1812 campaign, he commanded a cuirassier brigade within the II Cavalry Corps and fought at Smolensk and Borodino, with further actions during the Moscow operations and the retreat. He was promoted général de division on 4 December 1812. In 1813 he held successive cavalry commands with corps in Germany, including service around Lützen, Leipzig, and Hanau. Wounded at Hanau, he died at Metz on 16 December 1813.

The name “BEAUMONT” appears among the inscriptions on the Arc de Triomphe; some reference works treat this inscription as ambiguous because it may refer either to Louis-Chrétien Carrière, baron de Beaumont, or to Marc-Antoine de Beaumont, another French general of the period.

Sources

• FrenchEmpire.net: General Louis Chrétien Carrière de Beaumont (1771–1813)
• Wikipedia (French): Louis Chrétien Carrière de Beaumont
• Wikisource: Mullié, Biographie des célébrités militaires… (BEAUMONT)
• The Napoleon Series: French Hussars (Beaumont entry)
• FrenchEmpire.net: Ambiguous Names on the Arc de Triomphe