Charles Nicolas D’Anthouard de Vraincourt (Verdun, 7 April 1773 – Paris, 14 March 1852)
A ‘noble of the sword’ (noble d’épée), after attending the military school of Pont-à-Mousson as a cadet-gentilhomme, he ranked 23rd out of 41 in the artillery examination at Metz in 1789, being admitted as a pupil second lieutenant. Lieutenant 2nd class in 1790, lieutenant 1st class in 1791, captain 2nd class in 1792, he commanded the artillery at the siege of Genoa. In 1793 he was wounded at the siege of Lyon, then became a captain 1st class. Coming back to the armée des Alpes, he was named deputy director of its artillery parc in 1794, then in 1795 director of the artillery factories at Chambéry and director of the artillery depot. From 1798 to 1801 he was in Egypt and Syria, being wounded three times and promoted twice, to colonel in 1800. From 1802 he served in the armée d’Italie, becoming aide-de-camp to Eugène de Beauharnais in 1805, in charge of everything concerning the army, the navy and the military schools. In 1806 he was promoted brigadier and sent to Dalmatia, where he wrote a memoir of the country. In 1807 he served in the Grande Armée but, according to him, Eugène vetoed his nomination to aide-de-camp to Napoleon. In 1808 he was put in charge of selecting and incorporating the Papal State troops in the armée d’Italie. In 1809 he participated in the Austrian campaign, and after the truce was assigned to a reconnaissance of the borders between Hungary and Croatia. He was named a count of the Empire and lieutenant general in 1810, commander in chief of the artillery of the armée d’Italie in 1811. In 1812 he served in Russia, in 1813-14 in Illyria and Italy. Returning to France in 1814, during the Hundred Days he claimed not to have followed Napoleon’s orders. Named a member of the artillery Central Committee in 1816, of the Conseil de perfectionnement of the École Polytechnique in 1820, he was elected to Parliament for the Meuse in 1822-24, where he sat on the centre-left. In 1830 he was made Inspector General of the artillery, then president of the artillery Committee, the following year a member of the commission for the reorganization of the École Polytechnique and a Peer of France. He was decorated with the iron Crown (commander in 1813) and the Legion of Honour (Grand Cross in 1831). Cf. SHD, 7Yd 503, d’Anthouard de Vraincourt, Charles Nicolas. 1994. « Les souvenirs du général comte d’Anthoüard, inspecteur général d’artillerie (1773-1852) », Revue de l’Institut Napoléon, n° 164, III: 9-85 and d’Anthouard de Vraincourt, Marie-Christine, 1979. « Le lieutenant général d’artillerie Charles-Nicolas d’Anthouard de Vraincourt …, d’après ses écrits (mémoires, correspondances, rapports, notes) et ceux de ses contemporains », doctoral thesis of the École Pratique des Hautes Etudes.