General Antoine-Alexandre-Julienne Bellair

Général de brigade who served at Waterloo as part of VI Corps

Born: June 3, 1775

Place of Birth: Paris, Paris, France

Died: June 2, 1838

Place of Death: Saint-Mandé, France

Arc de Triomphe: BELLAIR on the north pillar

Pronunciation:

Joining the army during the Revolution, Antoine-Alexandre-Julienne Bellair enlisted in 15th Infantry in December of 1791. Two years later he served on the expedition to Sardinia and then in Corsica, and then in 1795 he was commissioned as a sous-lieutenant by a decree of the Convention. Once commissioned, Bellair became an aide-de-camp of General Dumesney and he then passed into the service of the Army of the Rhine where in 1796 he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1798 he became an aide-de-camp to his father General Belair and he was promoted to capitaine. In May of the next year Bellair was promoted to chef de bataillon by General Macdonald and then in June he served at the Battle of the Trebbia where he was wounded by a shot to the right thigh. In 1801 Bellair was sent to Holland where he would serve for the next five years.

In 1805 Bellair joined the 18th Light and then in 1807 and 1808 he served in Dalmatia. He next served in Croatia and Germany in 1809 and that May he was wounded by a shot that fractured his left leg. The next month Bellair was promoted to colonel of the 8th Light and he served in Abbé's brigade of Pacthod's division of the Army of Italy. In 1810 he took command of the 24th Light. Bellair took part in the campaign to Russia of 1812 where he served as part of Ledru's division. During the retreat he was wounded by grapeshot to the lower belly at Wiazma. Having survived the retreat, in February of 1813 Bellair was promoted to général de brigade. He joined Bertrand's IV Corps and served on the campaign in Germany of 1813. For the defense of France of 1814, Bellair joined the II Corps and he served at Bar-sur-Aube.

After Napoleon's abdication in April of 1814, the restored Bourbons put Bellair on non-activity but also named him a Knight of Saint Louis. When Napoleon returned from exile in 1815 for the Hundred Days, he placed Bellair in Simmer's 19th Infantry Division which became part of Mouton's VI Corps. Bellair served with the Army of the North in the campaign that June and fought at the Battle of Waterloo. After the Second Restoration, he was put on non-activity.

Bibliography

Six, Georges. Dictionnaire Biographique des Généraux & Amiraux Français de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814). 2 vols. Paris: Gaston Saffroy, 2003.

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Updated February 2017