page_title: François Pierre Joseph Amey
section_title: Empire
hierarchical_section_title: François Pierre Joseph Amey / Empire
context_page_description: François Pierre Joseph Amey became a French division commander during the Napoleonic Wars. He enlisted in the French Royal Army in 1783 and joined a volunteer battalion in 1792. He won promotion to general of brigade in 1793 during the War in the Vendée. He held a command during the period of the infernal columns and his career became obscure until 1799 when he supported Napoleon's coup. He went on the Saint-Domingue expedition in 1802–1803 and later filled posts in the interior. In 1806–1807 he led a brigade at Jena, Golymin and Eylau where he was wounded.
  Sent to Spain in 1808 in command of German troops, Amey fought at the Third Siege of Gerona the following year. In 1812 he participated in the French invasion of Russia and led his troops at the First and Second Battles of Polotsk. He was promoted to general of division and fought at the Berezina. He fought at Arnhem in fall 1813. While leading a division of recruits, he was wounded and captured after a heroic defense in the Battle of Fère-Champenoise in 1814. After rallying to Napoleon during the Hundred Days he was retired in 1815. He served as mayor of Sélestat for ten years then returned to military service in 1830–1833.
context_section_description: Amey was put in command of the Ardennes department in the 2nd Military Division until 1806. At the beginning of the War of the Fourth Coalition in September 1806, he was put in command of an infantry brigade in Étienne Heudelet de Bierre's 2nd Division in Marshal Pierre Augereau's VII Corps. The brigade consisted of three battalions of the 7th Light Infantry Regiment. The 7th Light was engaged at the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806. He fought at the Battle of Golymin on 26 December 1806 and the Battle of Eylau on 7–8 February 1807 where he was wounded. At Eylau, the VII Corps suffered such heavy losses that it was dissolved and its survivors distributed to other corps. Amey became governor of Elbing and later took command of a brigade in Claude Carra Saint-Cyr's division of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult's IV Corps.
  On 19 March 1808, Napoleon named Amey a Baron of the Empire with an endowment of 4,000 French francs. His first wife Anne Marguerite Élisabeth Hantzler died that same day. In January 1809 he took command of the German Legion in the VII Corps' 1st Division in Catalonia and fought at the Third Siege of Gerona. In Jean-Antoine Verdier's 4th Division, he led the German brigade which consisted of the Würzburg and the 1st and 2nd Berg Regiments. The Spanish defenders resisted heroically and losses were horrific. During the siege the Würzburgers lost 870 casualties out of 1,519, the 1st Berg lost 605 out of 1,310 and the 2nd Berg lost 709 out of 1,313 men. After months of siege the French-Allied besiegers captured the key City Redoubt and on 7 December 1809, the Spanish garrison mounted an all-out attack to recapture the work. This completely failed and resulted in the additional loss of the Calvary and Chapter redoubts. The disaster led to the garrison's final surrender on 11 December. From his position near Montjuich, Amey launched the counterattack which took the Spanish in flank and overran the two redoubts.
  He transferred to Holland in 1810 and remained there until 1812. On 21 November 1810 he married his second wife, Caroline Henriette Charlotte de Polentz, the daughter of a Prussian baron. In the French invasion of Russia he led the 2nd Brigade in Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle's 9th Division of the II Corps under Marshal Nicolas Oudinot. The brigade included 1,513 men of the 4th Swiss Line Infantry Regiment and 1,582 men of the 3rd Croatian Regiment, each with two 3-pound cannons attached. He was recognized in the official bulletin for the distinguished part he played at the First Battle of Polotsk on 18–19 August 1812. He also led his brigade at the Second Battle of Polotsk. He was promoted general of division on 19 November 1812 and was wounded at the Battle of Berezina two weeks later. In 1813 he was appointed to command the camp of Utrecht in Holland and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur.
  With a Prussian corps under Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow about to invade the Netherlands in mid-November 1813, Marshal Jacques MacDonald directed that the line of the Ijssel River be held. Accordingly, Amey was given a 2,000-man flying column consisting of two battalions of infantry, one battalion of customs agents and a squadron of mounted gendarmes. On 14 November Amey left Wesel and marched toward Arnhem and Deventer. On 23 November his column recovered Doesburg from a force of Don Cossacks. On 25 November, his column bumped into a Prussian force and was driven back to Arnhem after a running skirmish. The Prussians attempted to rush Arnhem's entrenched camp but were repulsed. On 28 November, MacDonald reinforced Arnhem to a strength of 4,000 and put Henri François Marie Charpentier in command. The next day, Charpentier pushed back the Prussian outposts, but MacDonald realized the danger and ordered him to retreat. Charpentier disregarded his instructions and was defeated on 30 November in the Battle of Arnhem. During the action Charpentier was wounded so Amey took command of the withdrawing French forces.
  While Napoleon defeated Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's Army of Silesia in the Six Days Cam
caption: VII Corps suffered very heavy losses at Eylau.
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