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Painting of General Laurent Schobert
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| Colonel Laurent Schobert's service record from 2YB120 3.Ligne An X.1810 |
Military Career- Schobert (Laurent) was born in Sarre-Libre (Moselle), on April 30, 1763 Child of the regiment admitted to the pay of the 96th regiment, on April 30, 1770; hired as a soldier on February 1, 1776; corporal on March 14, 1784; sergeant-fourrier on September 7, 1784; sergeant-major on January 1, 1791, he was appointed sub-lieutenant on August 22, 1792. Adjutant-major on
1 September, he took the rank of Captain on March 15, 1793, and commanded a company almost immediately. He was appointed aide-de-camp to General Grenier (Fructidor year II), Captain in the Guard of the Directory (3 brumaire year V), and in the Consular Guard (13 nivôse year VIII). Named, the 25 brumaire year XII, Battalion chief in the 4e Ligne, he was promoted Major in the 4e Ligne on the 30th frimaire, and took command of the 3e Ligne on the 12th pluviôse in XIII (Feb 1, 1805). Schobert was made Brigadier General on August 6, 1811, served in the Grande Armée on July 22, 1812, and obtained a retirement of 4,000 francs on October 18, 1815.
Campaigns. - Schobert made the campaigns of 1792, 1793, years II, III and IV, in the armies of Moselle, Rhine, and Sambre-et-Meuse; those of years VII and VIII, in the army of Italy; years IX, XII and XIII at the Boulogne camp; 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1812 in the Grande Armée. Injury. - Blow to the left hip by canister round on June 10, 1807, at the Battle of Heilsberg; taken prisoner of war, he returned on August 10, 1807.
Decorations. - Schobert, a simple knight of the Legion of Honor in 1805, was appointed commander of the Legion of Honor after the Ba
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| Colonel Schobert's Legion d'Honneur papers |
Colonel Schobert had a long military career and served in almost every rank from an infant of the regiment to a Brigadier General! He served with the Guard and with the battle-hardened 4e Ligne who had such famous officers as François René Cailloux Pouget (later Colonel 26e Leger), Nicole Guye (later General ADC to King Joseph Bonaparte), and Jean Louis Gros (Later commander of Chasseurs a Pied de la Garde). However, in his memories Colonel Schobert's brigade commander General Latrille de Lorencez has an unpleasant description of our leader during the Battle of Teugen-Hausen. He compliments the regiment but says the "3rd who behaved very well, despite the weakness of his leader." This is interesting statement because after reading some of General Lorencez's memoirs, you get the feeling that anyone who took glory away from him or made him look bad got his wrath in his writings. He even goes as far as to say that Marshal Davout wasn't even involved in the battle until the very end taking credit away from General Saint-Hilaire who division did the brunt of the fighting! Most likely the negative comment comes from the fact that the 3e Ligne in its first attack and battle under its new Brigadier General was repulsed by the Austrian light infantry and took too long to reform. This left the 57e Ligne vulnerable and outnumbered in the early part of the Battle of Teugen-Hausen. It seems General Lorencez did not blame the failure on the regiment but on the lack of Colonel Schobert's toughness to force his regiment to perform well under fire.
General Latrille de Lorencez did not last long as the 3e Ligne's brigade commander, and he never mentions if the much older Schobert and himself had any rivalry or disagreements during their time serving together. I believe the Colonel Schobert's career speaks for itself and he served bravely in many battles and unfortunately may have been uncomfortable with leading his whole regiment in skirmish formation uphill against a well trained light infantry foe who was taking aimed shots at his soldiers. Whatever the issue Colonel Schobert led the regiment successfully in three major battles during the 1809 campaign ( Battle of Teugen-Hausen, Battle of Aspern-Essling, and Battle of Wagram) and was later promoted to a higher rank.
The next post will show the order of battle for the 3eme Ligne and 1st battalion 3eme Ligne.
Sites: Research on military and civilian life of Colonel Laurent Schobert
http://www.memoiresdeblandy.fr/general-baron-laurent-schobert/ https://www.schobertpascalparcoursmilitairesbiographiques.com/newpage (I highly recommend checking out this site as it talks about his whole career and has two sections on the 1809 campaign)
Historique du 3 Regiment d'Infanterie EX-PIEMONT 1569-1891
Souvenirs militaires du général comte de Lorencez
2YB120 3.Ligne An X.1810
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