General Jean Baptiste Grégoire Delaroche

First getting soldiering experience by enlisting in the Viennois infantry regiment in 1784, Jean Baptiste Grégoire Delaroche later joined the 1st Battalion of Volunteers of Seine-Inférieure in January of 1792. Elected a lieutenant in his unit, in 1792 he began serving with the Army of the North. That November Delaroche joined the 12th Chasseurs à Cheval and then in March of 1793 he was wounded before Liége. Next he served at the action of Courtrai and then he was wounded at the crossing of the Lys River. At the end of 1794 Delaroche received a promotion to chef de brigade of the 6th Hussars and then late in 1795 he joined the Army of the West. A year later he joined the Army of the Sambre and Meuse where he remained until 1799 when he was sent to the Army of Italy. In Italy Delaroche served at Magnano in April and then in July he was promoted to général de brigade. In 1800 he was named commander of the département of Eure.

Delaroche's next major transition came years later in 1806 when he was assigned to the Army of the North. In 1807 he was named commander of the cavalry depot at Lenczyc and then later that year he commanded the depots at Culm, Bromberg, and Nackel. In November Delaroche was employed in the 15th military division and then in February of 1808 he was promoted to général de division. A month later he was named commander of the 7th military division and a Baron of the Empire.

In October of 1808 Delaroche was assigned to the Army of Spain and he took command of the cavalry depot at Bayonne before then commanding the depot at Pau in November. In May of 1809 he was named commander of the cavalry depots of the Army of Spain but before long he was called to Germany where he was named commander at Ratisbon. That November Delaroche was named commander of the 7th military division where he would remain for a number of years.

Delaroche was suspended from his functions in March of 1814. After Napoleon's abdication in April, Delaroche was named commander of the 19th military division at Lyon. The restored Bourbons named him a Knight of Saint Louis and a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. Delaroche did not take an active part in the Hundred Days and he retired in October of 1815.

Bibliography

• Six, Georges. Dictionnaire Biographique des Généraux & Amiraux Français de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814). 2 vols. Paris: Gaston Saffroy, 2003.