Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière

An aristocrat by birth, Gudin who was born in Montargis, was admitted to the military school of Brienne and in 1782 entered the King's Guard. A lieutenant, he embarked for Santo-Domingo in 1791 and spent a year there, before returning to France in July 1792. He was appointed to several positions as a general staff officer in the Armies of the North, then of the Rhine-and-Moselle. He became a général de brigade at the beginning of 1799 and was given a command during the Swiss campaign. The following year he took part in the battles of Stein, Stockach, Messkirch, Memmingen, Höchstädt and Neuburg. Promoted to général de division for his valor on the battlefield, on 11 July 1800 he took Füssen.[1] That winter he commanded the 2nd division in the right wing under Lecourbe at the decisive French victory at Hohenlinden.

Gudin's name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe (7th from the top on the left).

General Gudin de La Sablonière was given the command of the 3rd Division in the Grande Armée and fought in the wars of the Third Coalition and Fourth Coalition between 1805 and 1807. His 3rd Division of the III Corps was the first major formation into action at the battle of Auerstädt and it bore the main brunt of the fighting. It suffered 40 percent casualties one of whom was Gudin who was seriously wounded.[2] He participated in forcing the town of Custrin to capitulate and then playing an important part at the battles of Pultusk and Eylau. A count of the First French Empire in 1808, he was named governor of the castle of Fontainebleau the following year. He then took part in several battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition: Thann, Landshut, Eckmühl, the taking of Ratisbon. He was wounded at the great battle of Wagram. In 1812 he was given the command of a division of the second Grande Armée.[1] He was struck by a cannonball during the battle of Valutino, fighting against Russian troops near Smolensk in Russia. His leg was amputated but he developed gangrene and died three days after the battle.[3][4] However, his heart was taken out to be buried in a chapel in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.[5]

On 6 July 2019, in a park in central Smolensk, archaeologists led by French historian Pierre Malinowski[6] found a coffin and skeletal remains that bore signs of trauma consistent with the historical record of Gudin's death (one leg amputated and another one wounded).[7][5][8] The find was confirmed when DNA tests from the remains found in Russia matched those of Pierre-César Gudin, Charles-Etienne Gudin's brother who was also a Napoleonic general.[4]

Gudin married Jeanne Caroline Christine Creutzer the sister of Brigadier-General Charles Auguste Creutzer (1780–1832).[9]

His name appears on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.[1][3]