Honoré-Théodore-Maxime Gazan
Command Ratings
Commands
Honoré-Théodore-Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière (1765–1845) was a seasoned and resilient French general whose long career, stretching from the Revolutionary Wars to the twilight of the Empire, embodied the hard-won professionalism of Napoleon’s middle command. Rising from modest origins, he fought in Italy under Bonaparte, served with distinction in the Army of the Rhine, and earned a reputation for steadiness rather than brilliance—virtus in medio, the virtue of the middle path. At Austerlitz he held the line with quiet competence; at Jena he commanded a division in the crushing of the Prussian army; and at Albuera in 1811 he led the French assault with grim determination, suffering grievous losses in one of the Peninsular War’s bloodiest contests. Loyal to the Emperor yet pragmatic in defeat, Gazan accepted the Bourbon Restoration and retired peacefully, his long life a reminder that not all Napoleonic careers ended in tragedy or exile. His name, inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, endures as a testament to a soldier who, though seldom in the limelight, proved indispensable in the great engine of the Grande Armée.
96 – at Kehl siege (wounded); X rank in 4/99; X 99 - 2nd Zurich, L; XX 00 Italy – L, Genoa siege; XX rank on 9/25/00; XX 05-07 Ulm campaign Durrenstein, Jena, Pultusk, Heilsberg; XX 09-12 Spain – Ocano, Albuera; XXX (Army of the South) 13 Spain – Vittoria; XXX 14 C of S to Soult in Spain and France. (1765-1845)