Guillaume Alexandre Thomas Pégot
French General who distinguished himself as Colonel of the 1st Line in Spain
Guillaume Alexandre Thomas Pégot was a French officer who joined the Army of Naples in 1806 seeking promotion and glory after a relatively uneventful and undistinguished career in the French Army. He was made Major of the 1st Line Infantry Regiment under Joseph and therefore became one of the Army's first superior officers, contributing significantly to the creation of the core of the Neapolitan line infantry arm. He would be promoted to Colonel in 1808 and spend the next few years leading his regiment during the Spanish campaign with distinction, earning the praise of General Duhesme. He would achieve the rank of Maresciallo di Campo in 1813.
Early life and Career
Guillaume Alexandre Thomas Pégot was born in the town of Saint-Gaudens, in the French department of Haute-Garonne in Southern France. He was the second child of Bertrand Pégot (1750-1827), a trader and member of the Third Estate in the 1789 Estates General, and his wife Jeanne Lacroix. He had 8 siblings, and his brother Jean also reached the rank of Général under Napoleon.[1][2]
Like his future colonel Auguste-Julien Bigarré, Guillaume Pégot’s military career began in the French Navy during the Revolutionary Wars. He enlisted as a volunteer in the Navy at the age of 16 and served on the vessel L’Hortézien until 1792. He was next commissioned as a captain in the 3rd Battalion of Languedoc in June of that year, rising the ranks to eventually command the 2nd Languedoc Battalion on 8th September as a Lieutenant Colonel. He transferred as an ensign on the Lake Garda flotilla alongside Bonaparte’s Army of Italy in late 1796, followed by a stint as a staff officer attached to Adjutant-General Marie Étienne Barbot of the 10th Military Division’s general staff. In this capacity, he served against insurgents in the Haute-Garonne department in 1800 and remained stationed there for the next few years as provisional commander of Toulouse.[3][2]
Service in Naples
Pégot’s true combat career began on 9th April 1805 when he was once again employed in the active army, as a Chef de Bataillon attached to the staff of the Grande Armée’s advance guard (the future V Corps) under Marshal Lannes. He served the 1805 campaign and was present at Wertingen and Austerlitz, although he did not follow Lannes to Prussia. He was transferred to the Army of Naples’s headquarters in the same capacity on 28th March 1806, and eventually was picked by Joseph Bonaparte to serve as Major of the Kingdom’s 1st Line Infantry Regiment.[3] His rank was confirmed on June 23rd of that year, and he took his post as the regiment’s provisional commander.[4] The regiment spent the rest of 1806 fighting insurgents in Calabria under General d’Espagne or in independent missions.
With Bigarré’s arrival in early 1807 Pégot became the regiment’s executive officer. Together, the two Frenchmen immediately set out to training the 1st Line’s generally raw recruits into combat-worthy soldiers. His efforts, alongside those off D’Ambrosio and D’Aquino, were successful in forming a hardened core of well-trained men and officers that would prove indispensable in the coming campaign. In his memoirs, Bigarré states:[5]
"I owed it to the activity of Major Pégot […] to have been able to train my recruits in less than a month, and to have inspired in them the love of training and discipline.”
— Auguste-Julien Bigarré commenting on his regiment's rapid formation and success.
The regiment set out for North Italy in late July and spent most of September in Bergamo, until on the 4th of November it set out for France. Twelve days later the command of the regiment was given to Pégot as Bigarré transferred to lead the 2nd Line. His promotion to Colonel would be officially proclaimed in front of the regiment on January 7th.[4][6]
Service in the Spanish Campaign
Pégot entered Spain with the 1st Line on February 1st, 1808.[7] He participated in the taking of Barcelona, where he was engaged in negotiating with Spanish officials in order to prevent a general uprising within the city. He did not participate in the 1st Battle of El Bruch but then personally led the regiment at Montcada (June 11th), where a strong force of insurgents held the local fortified monastery. After a sharp firefight, when the remaining insurgents refused to surrender, the colonel personally led an attack into the building, putting the remaining defenders to the sword.[8]
Next, Pégot would be engaged at Montgat, where his well-timed attacks succeeded completely in routing the strongly positioned Spaniards. His conduct in his action was highly praised by Duhesme, and rightly so; had Pégot been unsuccessful, the Spaniards would have seen another morale-raising victory, enticing more volunteers to their cause. The Neapolitan bayonet charge into the fortified castle at Montgat opened the road for Duhesme’s army to Mataró, which would be taken and sacked by the Italo-Neapolitans on the 17th of June. 15 cannons would be taken in the Montgat affair by the Neapolitans.[9]
Pégot then led the regiment at the First Siege of Girona but did not personally take part in the attacks, and later fought at San Andrés and Martorell, where the Spaniards were again severely mauled. Pégot did not accompany the army in the second attempt at taking Girona and instead remained in Barcelona as commander of the citadel.[10][11]
At the subsequent Siege of Barcelona, Pégot was extremely active in screening duties with his regiment, maintaining a strong chain of outposts that checked many Spanish probes towards the city. He was one of the very few who backed Duhesme’s plan to defend the city to the last man, although this idea was scarcely supported by the other officers. On November 24th he led the regiment in a courageous sally alongside Millossewitz’s division which saw great success. Upon the lifting of the siege, Duhesme wrote in his report to Murat:[12]
“He [Pégot] displayed great zeal and activity in the command of the citadel [of Barcelona]. At the head of his corps, he set an example of courage and particularly distinguished himself in the Mongat affair and in the command of the outpost positions during the blockade of Barcelona. When one recalls the elements from which the 1st Regiment was formed, one can only praise its excellent behaviour and the exploits that Colonel Pégot achieved with it.”
— General Guillaume Philibert Duhesme in his general campaign report to King Joachim.
Following the arrival of Marshal St. Cyr’s army, Pégot briefly participated in the Third Siege of Girona, during which he became sick with an unknown disease (most probably dysentery) and had to be taken to the rear. In his absence, his rival General Zenardi (previously Colonel of the 1st Cacciatori) wrote a scathing report on the state of the 1st Line, in which he relegated full blame on Pégot for the terrible condition of the regiment’s uniforms and supplies. General Verdier (commander of the camp at Girona) seconded this and summarily ordered Pégot’s arrest, although the unlucky Colonel somehow evaded punishment by again being hospitalised by his disease.[13]
It should be noted that during this affair, Capobattaglione D’Aquino had to be transferred to the 2nd Line and replaced with Capobattaglione Palma due to the former’s enmity towards Pégot. Surprisingly, the experienced battalion commander (who had served together with Pégot since 1806) sided with Generals Lechi and Verdier in their condemnations towards the Colonel, a circumstance that would mar their relationship for the remainder of Pégot’s service in Naples.[14]
In January 1810 the Neapolitans were reinforced, and Pégot returned to lead the regiment in Aragon during operations on the Ebro River and around Valencia. He was present at the capture of the Medas Islands (3rd May) and then commanded operations in southern Catalonia around Tarragona, mainly in guarding the supply lines of Suchet’s army. Unfortunately, Pégot’s administrative capabilities were once again called into question as the state of the Neapolitans in Spain deteriorated, especially regarding uniforms and equipment. Unsurprisingly, he was recalled back to Naples in early 1811, as part of the larger reduction of Neapolitan troops in Spain.[15]
Later Career and Death
Upon returning to Naples, Pégot spent the remainder of his time as Colonel of the 1st Line organising the depot and training new recruits. He was made Inspecteur aux Revues on 1st February 1812, handling troop equipment and recruitment in Naples until his late promotion to Maresciallo di Campo on March 20th, 1813.[16] During his stay in the Kingdom, he purchased several properties in and around Naples and his salary amounted to a grand 56,000 francs per year. Unfortunately, Pégot gave all of this up at the outbreak of hostilities in 1814, preferring to sacrifice his lavish lifestyle than to serve a nation at war with his own homeland.[17] He was reinstated in the French (Bourbon) military on 9th September 1814 with the equivalent rank of Maréchal-de-Camp (or Général de Brigade).[6]
He died on 20th July 1858 in Sant-Gaudens.
Awards and Decorations
French Decorations
Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur on 29th May 1806
Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur on 27th April 1834
Chevalier of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis on 20th April 1814
Neapolitan Decorations
Chevalier of the Order of Two Sicilies on 18th May 1808
Commandeur of the Order of Two Sicilies on 9th May 1808
References
- Archivio storico per le province napoletane: Volume 51. Italy, Ed. Detken & Rocholl e F. Giannini, 1926.
- Bigarré, Général Baron Auguste. Mémoires Du Général Bigarré, Aide De Camp Du Roi Joseph. N.p., Wagram Press, 2014.
- Courcelles, Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Jullien de. Dictionnaire Historique Et Biographique Des Généraux Français, Depuis Le Onzième Siècle Jusqu'En 1820: Tome 11. France, Bertrand, Arthus, 1823.
- Ilari, Virgilio, and Crociani, Piero. Le Truppe napoletane in Spagna (1809-13): I cinque reggimenti napoletani dell'Armée d'Espagne (1808-13). Italy, Soldiershop Publishing, 2015.
- Lissoni, Antonio. Fatti storico-militari dell'eta nostra. Italy, Rusconi, 1839.
- Pepe, Gabriele. Dal Molise alla Catalogna. G.P. e le sue esperienze nella ‘Guerra del Francès’. Testi inediti e lettere, I-II, a cura di V. Scotti Douglas. Campobasso, 2009.
- Six, Georges. Dictionnaire biographique des généraux et amiraux français de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814): Tome 2. France, Saffroy, 1974.
