Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Kellermann, François Christophe

KELLERMANN, François Christophe (1735-1820), duke of Valmy and marshal of France, was born near Rothenburg, in Bavaria, in May 1735. He entered the French army as a volunteer, and served in the Seven Years War and in Louis XV.'s Polish expedition of 1771. By 1785 he had attained the rank of maréchal de-camp. In 1789 Kellermann enthusiastically embraced the cause of the Revolution, and in 1791 he became general of the army in Alsace. In August 1792 he received command of the army of the centre, with orders to effect a junction with Dumouriez in Champagne. The day after he had succeeded in this operation (September 20), he was forced to give battle to the allies on the heights of Valmy. General Kellermann's dash and bravery led his troops to a decisive victory, whose moral effects were of the utmost importance. Transferred next to the army on the Moselle, Kellermann was accused by General Custine of neglecting to support his operations on the Rhine; but from this, as from a similar charge in 1793, he was acquitted at the bar of the Convention in Paris, and was placed at the head of the army of the Alps and of Italy. Shortly afterwards he received instructions to reduce Lyons, then in open revolt against the Convention. The hesitation he displayed in executing that order brought him again into suspicion; and he was imprisoned in Paris for thirteen months. Once more honourably acquitted, he was reinstated in his command, and did good service in maintaining the south-eastern border against the Austrians. When Napoleon came to power Kellermann was named successively senator, marshal of France, and duke of Valmy. In 1814 he voted for the deposition of the emperor, and became a peer under the royal government. After the "Hundred Days" he sat in the high chamber and voted with the Liberals. He died September 12, 1820.