Lefebvre, François-Joseph

(1755-1820)

   marshal of France

   Born in Rouffach, Haut-Rhine, François-Joseph Lefebvre entered the French Guards in 1773, then went into the Parisian National Guard at the beginning of the revolution of 1789. He was named division commander in 1794 and distinguished himself at the Battle of Fleurus. Commandant of the military division of Paris, he gave his support to Napoléon Bonaparte (see napoléon i) for the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, Year v III (November 9, 1799), became a senator (1800), and marshal of the Empire (1804), and took part in several of the emperor's campaigns. He contributed to the victory of Jena (1806), besieged Danzig (1807), a victory that earned him the title duke of Danzig, and fought in the wars in Spain, Austria, and Russia, and in Napoleon's final battles in France. Joining the Bourbons, who made him a peer (1814) under the restoration, then over to Napoléon during the hundred days, he would not be admitted to the Chamber of Peers until 1819. In 1783, Marshal Lefebvre married Catherine Hubscher, a washerwoman for his regiment, who Victor Sardou would later popularize in his comedy entitled Madame Sans-Gêne (1893)