Frédéric-François Guillaume de Vaudoncourt (Vienna, 25 September 1772 – Passy, 2 May 1845)
Frédéric-François Guillaume was the son of Paul Guillaume, professor and examiner to the artillery and engineering corps pupils at the Vienna school, then commander of the national guard, then of the first company franche of the Moselle; he attained the rank of brigadier, dying in 1799 in the armée d’Italie. Frédéric-François served as a volunteer lieutenant 1st class in 1791, then in his father’s company, which he commanded in 1793. Aide de camp to his father in November 1795, he served in the armée d’Italie, then joined the Cisalpine artillery as a division major on 11 September 1797. He was promoted to battalion chief on 8 January 1798 and was chief of staff of the Cisalpine artillery. He was again promoted to brigade chief on 19 July 1800, commanded the Cisalpine artillery from 23 September to 20 October, then was director of matériel from 30 December. On 22 March 1803 he was appointed parc director, a position from which he was removed in August 1803 after he had countersigned a contract for shells and drop hammers which Vice-President Melzi annulled. He was destined to command the foot regiment and thus the theoretical-practical school in Pavia. On 30 November 1804 he was appointed director of the War Depot. He was sent on a mission to Erzegovina and Turkey in 1807, then again took command of the regiment and the school. He was promoted brigadier on 30 May 1809, participated in the Russian campaign in 1812 where he was taken prisoner, coming back to France in June 1814. A mason, by the end of the Empire he was guardian of the archives to the Knights of the Occident. During the Hundred Days he commanded the national guard in Metz, then fled to England. He was sentenced to death in absentia in September 1816. He then spent four years in Bavaria with Eugène de Beauharnais. On 8 April 1821 he briefly commanded the Piedmontese insurrectional army, then after that failed he went to Spain and liaised with the main constitutional leaders until 1824. In 1825 was amnestied by Charles X and returned to France. In 1830 he took part in the July Revolution. He was made a baron in 1809 and a knight of the Legion of Honour on 21 March 1831.
He published many history books which had a considerable success: Guillaume de Vaudoncourt, Frédéric-François. 1812. Histoire des Campagnes d’Hannibal en Italie, pendant la 2.e guerre punique, suivie d’un Abrégé de la Tactique des Romains et des Grecs, et enrichie de plans et de cartes topographiques, tirés des matériaux les plus exacts qui existent sur l’Italie. Milan: Stamperia Reale, 3 vols. Id. 1814. Relation impartiale du passage de la Bérézina par l’armée française en 1812, par un témoin oculaire. Paris: Barrois l’aîné (there was a 2nd edition in 1815); this work went to form the more extensive Id. 1815. Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire de la guerre entre la France et la Russie, en 1812. London, (reprinted in Paris in 1817); Id. 1817. Histoire des campagnes d’Italie en 1813 et 1814, London, 2 vols. (reprinted in Germany); Id. 1819. Histoire de la guerre soutenue par les Français en Allemagne en 1813. Paris: chez Barrois l’ainé; Id. 1826. Histoire des campagnes de 1814 et 1815 en France. Paris : chez Avril de Gastel, 5 vols.; Id. 1828. Histoire politique et militaire du Prince Eugène Napoléon, Vice-Roi d’Italie. Paris: Librairie Universelle de P. Mogie, 2 vols. This last work in particular is a remarkable historical, political and strategic analysis, and in general his works are very well documented. Then there are more general works concerning the army: Id. 1829. De la Législation militaire dans un état constitutionnel. Paris: J. Corréard jeune; Id. 1835. Essai sur l’organisation défensive militaire de la France, telle que la réclament l’économie, l’esprit des institutions politiques et la situation de l’Europe. Paris: J. Corréard jeune. Guillaume was also the founder and first director (in 1825-1826) of the Journal des Sciences militaires des armées de terre et de mer. Finally, there are his memoirs: Id., 1835. Quinze années d’un proscrit. Paris: Dufey, 4 vols. (Cf. MSA, MG 1597, 2025, SHD 8Yd 1822/1, AN LH 1235/46, Six, Georges. 1934. Dictionnaire Biographique des généraux et amiraux français de la Révolution et de l’Empire (1792-1814). Paris: G. Saffroy, t. I, Bruyère-Ostells, Walter. 2009. La Grande Armée de la liberté. Paris: Tallandier).