General Corbineau

Joining the army as a sous-lieutenant in the 18th regiment of cavalry in October of 1792, Corbineau would spend the next three years with the Army of the North. In 1793 he joined the 5th Hussars, received a promotion to lieutenant, and was wounded by a shot to the right shoulder. The most significant of 1794 for Corbineau was when he was taken prisoner, but he was back with the French army by early 1795 to take part in the fighting at Bentheim where he distinguished himself. Over the next years Corbineau served in a variety of French armies, including the Army of the Sambre and Meuse, the Army of the Danube, and the Army of Helvetia.

In April of 1800 Corbineau was serving in the Army of the Rhine when he was wounded by a shot to the thigh at Saint-Blaise. That December, he fought at Lautreck. The next year he was a lieutenant in the 5th Chasseurs à Cheval under his brother Constant. Over the next few years Corbineau served in the Army of Hanover and received promotions to captain and then chef d'escadrons. In 1806 Corbineau was a major in the 10th Hussars, and then in early 1807 he was promoted to colonel and commanded the 20th Dragoons in Klein's division. In May he continued to command dragoons, serving in Digeon's brigade of Latour-Maubourg's division.

1808 saw Colonel Corbineau made a Baron of the Empire and then travel to Spain in the 1st Division of Dragoons. Later he joined Milhaud's 3rd Division of Dragoons in IV Corps and served at Ocana, then took command of the 2nd Brigade after Colonel Vial's death. In 1810 he fought at Alcala del Réal and then became Governor of Granada.

 

In 1811 Corbineau received a promotion to general de brigade and took command of 6th Brigade of Light Cavalry in what was to become Oudinot's II Corps. Taking part in the Russian campaign, he fought at both battles of Polotsk before helping to save the army during the retreat by finding a ford across the Berezina River. While Corbineau's brigade was part of Oudinot's II Corps, the Bavarian general Wrede borrowed his unit for his own VI Corps. Initially following Wrede's orders and joining VI Corps, Corbineau grew annoyed and demanded the paperwork proving he was supposed to be with VI Corps and not II Corps. When Wrede failed to produce any such paperwork, Corbineau set off leading his brigade in the general direction of II Corps, hoping to reunite with Oudinot. Luckily, part of his brigade contained the 8th Chevau-Légers-Lanciers, which was a Polish unit. These soldiers were able to communicate with the local townspeople, and from them Corbineau learned both that the Russians were blocking his path back to Oudinot, and that there was a ford over the Berezina River that the French had not known about. Investigating the ford, he found that it was indeed passable, and skirting the Russians as he crossed the countryside, he reunited with II Corps and infomed Marshal Oudinot of his discovery. With this piece of intelligence and the loss of the bridge held by General Dombrowski, Napoleon decided to have the army cross at this ford, enabling the army to cross the river at a location that did not have the Russian army lying in wait.

In January of 1813, the Emperor made General Corbineau one of his aides-de-camp. In May Corbineau was promoted to general de division and then he took command of the 1st Light Cavalry Division in Latour-Maubourg's I Cavalry Corps. That August he was commanding the cavalry of Vandamme's I Corps at Kulm, and when the battle began to fall apart for the French he charged the enemy and cut a path through them, enabling some of I Corps to escape. Unfortunately, during the battle he was wounded by a shot to the head.

In early 1814 Corbineau resumed his duties as aide-de-camp to Napoleon. In the aftermath and confusion of the darkness at Brienne, a group of Cossacks attacked the Emperor Napoleon and his entourage. Corbineau was there and rushed to his defense, fighting off the Cossacks alongside the other headquarters staff.

In March he took command of Reims, where he led a gallant defense of the city. As it became clear that the city would fall and their retreat was cut off, Corbineau and some of his men changed into civilian clothes and hid within the city. That evening Napoleon arrived with reinforcements and during the night drove the Russians out of the city. Anxious to know the fate of his general and aide, Napoleon asked what had become of Corbineau, only to discover that one of the many men in the darkness in civilian clothing around him was Corbineau.

In recognition of his service, Corbineau was made a Count of the Empire by Napoleon. At Arcis-sur-Aube, he was wounded in the head again, this time by the blast of a shell. After Napoleon's abdication, Corbineau was one of the many officers put on non-activity by the Bourbons.

With Napoleon's return from Elba, Corbineau once again took up the duties of an aide-de-camp to the Emperor. In April he went to Lyon to organize the National Guard, and then in June he joined the Army of the North. After Waterloo, he took up a command helping to defend Paris before he was again put on non-activity by the returning Bourbons.