Background
Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry (1721-1797) and his wife Louise, daughter of François Martel de Brouague (1692-1761), Commandant of the Coast of Labrador, and niece of Louis-Philippe Mariauchau d'Esgly, 8th Bishop of Quebec.
Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry (1721-1797) and his wife Louise, daughter of François Martel de Brouague (1692-1761), Commandant of the Coast of Labrador, and niece of Louis-Philippe Mariauchau d'Esgly, 8th Bishop of Quebec.
On his death, his name was on the list of officers being considered to fill the position of Marshal of France. He is one of the 660 personalities whose names are engraved on the Arc de Triomphe at Paris. Born 1754 at Quebec City, he was one of the eighteen children of The Hon.
He was a brother of The Hon. Louis-René Chaussegros de Léry, The Hon. Charles-Étienne Chaussegros de Léry and Mme.
Jacques-Philippe Saveuse de Beaujeu. He was educated by the Benedictines, where he learnt English, the sciences, mathematics and physics. Following family tradition, in early 1773 he began his training as a military engineer at the Grande École Militaire at Mézières.
From 1780 to 1790, his early military career as an engineer was passed at La Fère and Brest before he was posted overseas to Martinique, Guadeloupe and the Islands of Tobago. By 1790, he had been noticed by Napoleon. He was promoted to Lieutenant and made a Chevalier de Saint-Louis.
During the Napoleonic Wars his career advanced rapidly as he was successively given a Bataillon. Promoted to Brigade General (1795), Général des Armées du Roi (1805) and Inspector General of Fortifications. In 1811, he was created a Baron d'Empire and given an estate in Westphalia.
Napoleon made him Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the former Kingdom of Holland and he was given a division in Austria that formed part of the army that fought at the Battle of Austerlitz. She was the sister of François Étienne de Kellermann, 2nd Duc de Valmy. He is buried at Annet-sur-Marne.
On his death, his name was on the list of officers being considered for the position of Marshal of France. He is one of the 660 personalities whose names are engraved on the Arc de Triomphe at Paris.