Jean-Jacques Reubel (1777-1847)
Command Ratings
Jean‑Jacques Reubell, son of Jean‑François Reubell and Marie‑Anne Mouhat, was born on August 12, 1777 in Colmar and began his military service on April 23, 1792 as a sous‑lieutenant in a regiment de Nassau in the French army. He participated in the campaigns on the armées du Rhin, de la Moselle and de Sambre‑et‑Meuse during 1792 to an IV. By 1796 he had risen to chef de bataillon. In 1798 he received the rank of adjudant‑général chef de brigade. On December 8, 1807, he entered the service of the Kingdom of Westphalia under Jérôme Bonaparte as général de brigade. On December 25, 1808 he was promoted to général de division and appointed chief of the general staff of the Westphalian army.
On August 1, 1809, he commanded a Westphalian division ordered to stop the Duke of Brunswick’s corps of Black Brunswickers as they marched through Westphalia. He repulsed them at the battle of Ölper outside Brunswick but withdrew that night, allowing the Brunswickers to continue their march. Thereupon Jérôme relieved him from his post. After dismissal, Reubell departed to the United States with his American wife Henriette, settling in Baltimore where he entered the chemical manufacturing business. He subsequently returned to France and, in 1836, served as commandant of the département of Haute‑Saône until taking retirement on July 21, 1836. He died January 24, 1847 in Antibes. He held the honours of Knight and Officer of the Légion d’honneur, and Knight of the Ordre royal et militaire de Saint‑Louis.
Sources
XX (Temp.) 09 – North Germany – screwed up the pursuit of the Brunswickers (L). The C of S and a favorite of Jerome prior to that.