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Colonel General (France)

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For other uses of this term, see Colonel General.

A Colonel General was an officer of the French army during the Ancien Régime, Napoleonic era and the Bourbon Restoration.

The positions were not military ranks, but rather offices of the crown. The position was first created under François I. The Colonels General served directly below the Marshals of France, and they were divided by their branch of service. By the end of the Ancien Régime, the Colonels General were:

  • Colonel General of the Infantry
  • Colonel General of the Cavalry
  • Colonel General of the Dragoons
  • Colonel General of the Hussars
  • Colonel General of the Swiss and Grisons
  • Colonel General of the French Guards

Judging the position of Colonel General of the Infantry to be too powerful, Louis XIV suppressed the position in 1661 and only appointed Colonel Generals of honorific branches like the Colonel General of the Dragoons (created in 1668), the Colonel General of the Cent-Suisses and Grisons, who oversaw the Swiss regiments of the Maison du Roi, and the Colonel of the Gardes Françaises. The position was reinstated under Louis XV.

All the offices of Colonel General were eliminated at the time of the French Revolution, but they were reinstated by Napoleon I. Under the Bourbon Restoration, certain titles were accorded to members of the royal family. After 1830, the position was eliminated.

Colonels General of the Ancien Régime[]

Infantry[]

Cavalry[]

  • 1548–1549 : Charles de Cossé, comte de Brissac
  • 1549 : Claude de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale
  • 1558 : duc de Nemours
  • 1569–1571 : François de Lorraine, duc de Guise
  • 1571–1572 : Charles de Montmorency, duc de Damville, Marshal of France
  • 1572–1574 : Guillaume de Montmorency, seigneur de Thuré
  • 1574–1585 : duc de Nemours
  • 1585–1586 : duc d'Aumale, 1585
  • 1586–1588 : maréchal de La Guiche
  • 1588–1589 : Charles de Valois, duc d'Angoulême
  • 1589–1595 : duc des Ursins
  • 1595–1604 : comte d'Auvergne
  • 1604–1616 : duc de Nemours
  • 1616–1618 : Charles de Valois, duc d'Angoulême
  • 1618 : François de Valois, comte d'Alès
  • 1618–1626 : duc de Rohan
  • 1626–1643 : Louis de Valois, comte d'Alès
  • 1643–1653 : Louis Emmanuel de Valois, duc d'Angoulême
  • 1653–1657 : Louis de Lorraine, duc de Joyeuse
  • 1657–1675 : Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne-Bouillon, vicomte de Turenne
  • 1675–1705 : Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • 1705–1740 : Henri Louis de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • 1740–1759 : Godefroy Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • 1759–1790 : marquis de Béthune

Dragoons[]

Alexandre Roslin, Louis de France, dauphin (1765) - 002

Portrait of Louis, Dauphin of France by Alexander Roslin (1765)
Versailles, Musée national du Château et des Trianons
The Dauphin is shown in the uniform of Colonel General of the Dragoons.

Hussars[]

Swiss and Grisons[]

French Guards[]

  • 1661–1671 : Antoine, duc de Gramont
  • 1672–1692 : François d'Aubusson, duc de La Feuillade
  • 1692–1704 : Louis François, duc de Boufflers
  • 1704–1717 : Antoine de Gramont, duc de Guiche
  • 1717–1741 : Louis Antoine Armand, duc de Gramont
  • 1741–1745 : Louis, duc de Gramont
  • 1745–1788 : Louis Antoine de Gontaut, duc de Biron

Colonels General of the Napoleonic era[]

Colonels General of the Restoration[]

See also[]

  • Great Officers of the Crown of France

References[]

This article is based in part on the article Colonel général from the French Wikipedia, retrieved on September 8, 2006.

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Colonel General (France) and the edit history here.
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