Nicolas (Schmitt) Schmitz (1768 - 1851)

Born 11 Apr 1768 in Guessling-Hémering, Moselle, France

Ancestors

Husband of Marie Adélaïde Luce (Rigaudeau) Rigaudeau-Jublin — married 26 Feb 1812 in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France

Died 8 Jan 1851 at age 82 in Paris, France

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Biography

Nicolas Schmitz was a French General of the Revolution and the Empire. He was born Nicolas Schmitt in 1768 in Guessling-Hémering (Moselle, France). He was the son of Jean Schmitt and Anne-Marie Hoff. ^[1]

Nicolas enlisted as a soldier in the Bourbonnais regiment on 25 June 1786. He was sergeant-major when the French Revolution broke out, and was appointed adjutant-sous-lieutenant on 3 September 1793, lieutenant on 1 September 1796, then appointed captain adjutant-major on 18 September 1801. ^[2]

He fought at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, where his conduct was observed by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. At the head of the 2nd company of grenadiers of the 108th line, he succeeded in stopping a body of cavalry which had forced the first battalion of this regiment. His resistance was rewarded by being appointed battalion commander on 16 October 1806. At the battle of Abensberg on 20 April 1809, he stood out for his bravery, and where he was hit by a gunshot in the forearm. Nicolas was made major on 8 June 1809, and on 16 November of the same year, he took command of the 32nd line. ^[2]

On 2 March 1811, Nicolas was appointed colonel of the Illyrian regiment, then joined the Grand Army and served in the Russian campaign of 1812. He was seriously wounded at Krasnoï in one of the battles fought near this city by the French and Russian armies. He nevertheless continued to follow the army and had a frozen foot during the retreat. ^[2]

On 15 March 1814, Napoleon rewarded Nicolas by creating him Baron of the Empire and Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown. Knight of the Legion of Honor on 5 November 1811, he was an officer of the order on 5 December 1815, then Commander. He was retired on 18 October 1815. ^[2]

Nicolas was married to Marie Adélaïde Luce Rigaudeau-Jublin (daughter of Jean Baptiste François Rigaudeau and Marie-Louise Genay) in 1812. Her mother Marie-Louise divorced and remarried to Jean Benoit Jublin (lawyer at the imperial court of Paris) and he adopted Marie Adélaïde Luce. ^[3] Nicolas and Marie Adélaïde Luce had four children:

• Achille Dominique Schmitz, born in 1813. ^[4]
• Eugène Juste Schmitz, born in 1815. ^[5]
• François Xavier Léon Schmitz, born in 1816. ^[6]
• Isidore Pierre Schmitz, born in 1820. ^[7]

Nicolas passed away in 1851 in Paris. ^[8]

His name "Schmitz" is engraved under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It appears on the 39th column, and a stele was erected in 2011 in homage to General Nicolas Schmitz, in Guessling-Hémering (Moselle, France), by the Association for the Protection of the Heritage and History of Guessling-Hémering. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Archives de la Moselle, Momerstroff, Registres Paroissiaux Baptêmes, Mariages, Sépultures (1710-1770) 9NUM/5E191/1 p256.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Wikipedia Nicolas Schmitz
3. ↑ Marriage Archives départementales du Bas-Rhin, Strasbourg, Etat Civil Registre de mariages 1812 - Original aux AM Strasbourg, p33.
4. ↑ Birth Archives de Paris, Etat Civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859) Actes de l'Etat Civil reconstitué, (16/11/1813-18/11/1813) Naissances 5Mi1 173, p42.
5. ↑ Birth Archives départementales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Neuilly-sur-Marne, Actes de naissances, de mariages et de décès, 1813-1822, NSM 1E4, p67-68.
6. ↑ Birth Archives départementales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Neuilly-sur-Marne, Actes de naissances, de mariages et de décès, 1813-1822, NSM 1E4, p111.
7. ↑ Birth Archives départementales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Neuilly-sur-Marne, Actes de naissances, de mariages et de décès, 1813-1822, NSM 1E4, p197-198.
8. ↑ Death Archives de Paris, Etat Civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859) Actes de l'Etat Civil reconstitué, (16/05/1832-29/01/1855) Décès 5Mi1 1418, p10.

See also:

• Website Guessling-Hémering, Association pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine et de l'histoire, Général Schmitz
• Sarrut, Germain. Biographie des hommes du jour : industriels, conseillers-d'Etat, artistes, chambellans, députés, prêtres, militaires, écrivains, rois, diplomates, pairs, gens de justice, princes, espions fameux, savans. Tome 2, première partie. p376. Paris, France: Henri Krabe, 1836.