François Etienne Christophe Kellermann

Duke of Valmy

François Étienne Christophe Kellermann was born in Strasbourg, Alsace, eastern France, on May 28, 1735. His father, of noble origin, was a law graduate and director of the city's gabelle.

When the French Revolution broke out, Kellermann was a seasoned military man, having been a soldier since the age of fifteen, and a maréchal de camp (which today corresponds to brigadier general) since 1788.

On September 20, 1792, he became a divisional officer and was in command at Valmy, the first battle in which the French troops of the Revolution were not routed.

Although this engagement was little more than a cannonade, Kellermann's glory was exceptional.

However, he spent a year in prison under the Terror, accused of intelligence with the insurgents, in fact for having clashed with the representatives on mission charged with putting down, with his help, the Lyon revolt against the Convention.

Acquitted by the revolutionary court, he returned to service in 1795, commanding the army of the Alps and Italy until the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Marshal in 1804, senator in 1805, duke in 1808, he remained active despite his age, but was only given command of the rear.

Kellermann was appointed Peer de France by Louis XVIII during the first Restoration; his inaction during the Hundred Days enabled him to regain his seat during the second. As a member of the chamber called to judge Michel Ney, he voted for his death.

He died in his Parisian hotel on rue Saint-Dominique on September 13, 1820, at the respectable age of eighty-five. His tomb is in Paris, in the Père Lachaise cemetery, division 30 ; his heart rests in an obelisk near the Valmy mill (Marne).

Kellermann's name is inscribed on the 3rd column (north pillar) of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile , while a full-length statue of the Duc de Valmy by Léo Alexandre Blanchot honors his memory on the north façade of the Louvre, rue de Rivoli .

In 1989, the French Postal Service released a 2.20 Franc stamp bearing the effigy of François Etienne Christophe Kellermann  , to mark the bicentenary of the French Revolution.