Claude-Victor Perrin (7 December 1764-1 March 1841) was one of the 26 Marshals of Napoleon.
Biography[]
Perrin was from northern Central France, and joined the army first in 1781, then again in 1791. After the Siege of Toulon he was promoted to Brigadier General for bravery and was made Governor of Louisiana in 1802 for a short time. After many more political positions, one of which was commanding the army of the Batavian Republic, he served as Jean Lannes' aide-de-camp. He fought at the Battle of Saalfeld, the Battle of Jena, and the Battle of Friedland with Lannes' V Corps. From 1808 to 1812 he fought in the Peninsular War, commanding one of France's "field armies", their major armies sent to crush the British and Spanish in pitched battles. During the 1811 Siege of Seville he was forced to retreat after the Battle of Barrosa, in which he won a tactical and strategic victory but was later forced to withdraw after a few months. Perrin later fought in the Battle of Berezina in 1812, following months of campaigning against Russia.
After the downfall of Napoleon he became a peer of the Bourbon monarchy and dismissed Bonapartist officers. From 1821 to 1823 he was Minister of War and became Major-General of the Royal Guard in 1830. He retired after the July Revolution that year and died in Paris in 1841.