Emmanuel de Grouchy , Marquis de Grouchy Emmanuel de Grouchy , 2ème Marquis de Grouchy ( ) ( October 23 , 1766 – May 29 , 1847 ) was a French general and marshal . Biography . Grouchy was born in Paris , the son of François - Jacques de Grouchy , 1st Marquis de Grouchy ( b . 1715 ) and intellectual wife Gilberte Fréteau de Pény ( d . 1793 ) . His sister was Sophie de Condorcet , a noted feminist . He entered the French artillery in 1779 : in 1782 he was transferred to the cavalry , and subsequently , in 1786 , to the Gardes du Corps . In spite of his aristocratic birth and his connections with the court ( as his father , having served as a page , was rumored to be the illegitimate son of king Louis XV ) , he was a convinced supporter of the principles of the Revolution , and had in consequence to leave the Guards . About the time of the outbreak of war in 1792 he became colonel of a cavalry regiment , and soon afterwards , as a " maréchal de camp " , he was sent to serve on the south - eastern frontier . In 1793 he distinguished himself in La Vendée , and was promoted Général de division . Grouchy was shortly afterwards deprived of his rank as being of noble birth , but in 1795 he was again placed on the active list . He served on the staff of the Army of Ireland ( 1796 – 1797 ) , and took a conspicuous part in the Irish expedition . In 1798 he administered the civil and military government of Piedmont at the time of the abdication of the king of Sardinia , and in 1799 he distinguished himself greatly as a divisional commander in the campaign against the Austrians and Russians . In covering the retreat of the French after the defeat of Novi , Grouchy received fourteen wounds and was taken prisoner . On his release he returned to France . In spite of his having protested against the " coup d ' état " of the 18 Brumaire he was at once re - employed by the First Consul , and distinguished himself again at Hohenlinden . It was not long before he accepted the new " régime " in France , and from 1801 onwards he was employed by Napoleon in military and political positions of importance . He served in Austria in 1805 , in Prussia in 1806 , Poland in 1807 , where he distinguished himself at Eylau and Friedland , Spain in 1808 , and commanded the cavalry of the " Army of Italy " in 1809 in the Viceroy Eugène ' s advance to Vienna . In 1812 he was made commander of the III Cavalry Corps . He led the corps at Smolensk and Borodino and during the retreat from Moscow Napoleon appointed him to command the escort squadron , which was composed entirely of picked officers . His almost continuous service with the cavalry led Napoleon to decline in 1813 to place Grouchy at the head of an army corps , and Grouchy thereupon retired to France . In 1814 , however , he hastened to take part in the defensive campaign in France , and he was severely wounded at Craonne . At the Restoration he was deprived of the post of colonel - general of Chasseurs à Cheval and retired . In 1815 , he joined Napoleon on his return from Elba , and was made Marshal and peer of France . In the campaign of Waterloo he commanded the reserve cavalry of the army , and after Ligny he was appointed to command the right wing to pursue the Prussians . Napoleon sent Grouchy to pursue a part of the retreating Prussia n army under the command of General Johann von Thielmann . On 17th June , Grouchy was unable to close with the Prussians . Despite hearing the cannon sound from nearby Waterloo , he decided to follow the Prussians along the route literally specified in his orders while the Prussian and British - Dutch armies united to crush Napoleon . He won a smart victory over the III Prussian Corps in the Battle of Wavre , on 18 – 19 June 1815 , but it was then too late , as by the time this battle was over , Napoleon had already lost at Waterloo . So far as resistance was possible after the great disaster , Grouchy made it . He gathered up the wrecks of Napoleon ' s army and retired , swiftly and unbroken , to Paris , where , after interposing his reorganized forces between the enemy and the capital , he resigned his command into the hands of Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout . The rest of his life was spent in defending himself . An attempt to have him condemned to death by a court - martial failed , but he was exiled and lived in America until amnestied in 1821 . On his return to France he was reinstated as general , but not as marshal nor as peer of France . For many years thereafter he was equally an object of aversion to the court party , as a member of their own caste who had followed the Revolution and Napoleon , and to his comrades of the " Grande Armée " as the supposed betrayer of Napoleon . In 1830 Louis Philippe gave him back the marshal ' s baton and restored him to the Chamber of Peers . He died at Saint - Étienne on May 29 , 1847 . Family . He was married firstly to Cécile Le Doulcet de Pontécoulant ( 1767 – 1827 ) , sister of Louis Gustave le Doulcet , comte de Pontécoulant , by whom he had 4 children : He married secondly Fanny Hua ( 1802 – 1889 ) and had 1 daughter :