PAIR OF EPAULETTES OF MARSHAL OF FRANCE GABRIEL MOLITOR, July Monarchy. 30832
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PAIR OF EPAULETTES OF THE MARSHAL OF FRANCE GABRIEL MOLITOR, July Monarchy. 30832
Corps embroidered in a pattern of twisted cords and gold sequins. The corps is embroidered with a design depicting a V-shaped galloon bordered by a scalloped edging on black velvet. Both are finished with a shield decorated with seven silver stars (diameter 14 mm), and the insignia of the marshals in blue and gold enamel depicting two crossed batons, each adorned with fourteen gold stars, finished with a white enamel strip and a gold ball at each end, connected by a scarlet and white enamel ribbon (H 2.1 cm, L 3.9 cm). Two strong silvered brass clips are placed beneath, intended to slide into two small sewn-on gussets on the uniform (a luxurious finishing touch rarely seen on this type of epaulettes). On the lining of the shield of one of the epaulettes, a small gusset in black velvet is sewn.
The fringes are in large matt twisted cords, called "thick bouillon" or "spinach seed." The edging consists of three turns: a large one in matte cord and shiny spun cord rolled alternately on a cotton core; a second, inner turn in twisted small matt Milanese cord mixed with another shiny simple cord; a third, similarly worked, is applied below the large one at the start of the fringe.
1830 uniform button, half-domed, gilded with a patina and matte finish, stamped and with a relief of two starred marshal's batons crossed, surrounded by a crown of oak and laurel leaves. It is fixed at the top of the epaulette body.
Dimensions
Corps: L 18 cm up to the turn, L 19.1 cm with the turn, width 7.1 cm.
Shield: L 11.8 cm, width 14 cm with the turn on each side.
Fringes: H 7.4 cm.
Button: D 1.6 cm.
France.
July Monarchy.
Superb state of preservation, one of the two uniform buttons is missing.
PROVENANCE:
Family provenance sold with its decorations at the auction house DUPONT & Associés, Morlaix, sale on Monday, March 6, 2023, lot n° 87 of the catalog.
NOTE:
Marshal Molitor was appointed Marshal of France on October 8, 1823.
BIOGRAPHY:
Gabriel-Jean-Joseph Molitor was a French military officer born on March 7, 1770 in Hayange (French Luxembourg) and died on July 28, 1849 in Paris.
His military career began in 1791, during the French Revolution. Elected captain, he served in the Army of the Rhine and was promoted to colonel in 1795. Transferred to the Army of the Danube, he fought against the Austrians within the divisions led by Lefebvre and Lecourbe, becoming a general of brigade in 1799. Following the Swiss campaign in 1800, he was promoted to general of division, and after another campaign against Austrian forces, he was appointed to lead the military division of Grenoble. He held this position until 1805, when he was assigned to Marshal Masséna's army during the Austrian campaign and distinguished himself at the Battle of Caldiero. General Molitor was then appointed as the governor of Dalmatia in 1806 and succeeded in pacifying the region before being sent to Swedish Pomerania and being made a Count of the Empire in 1808.
He participated in the 1809 Austrian campaign alongside Masséna and played a significant role in the battles of Essling and Wagram. Following various administrative posts in the Kingdom of Holland, he rejoined the Emperor in 1814 at the beginning of the campaign of France, in which he participated in Marshal Macdonald's army corps. Inspector General of the infantry under the First Restoration, Molitor sided with Napoleon during the Hundred Days and took command of a division of Rapp's 5th corps. Despite a period of disgrace during the Second Restoration, he took part in the expedition to Spain in 1823, after which he was appointed Marshal of France. Two years before his death, he was appointed as the governor of the Invalides.
Under the Revolution
His father was a former military man who took charge of his son's education. Young Molitor enlisted in 1791 in the 4th volunteer battalion of his department; unanimously elected captain, he participated in the 1792 campaign in the Army of the North, and then in the Army of the Ardennes in 1793. Promoted to adjutant general, he took part in the siege of Mainz in 1793, during which he was shot in the thigh. He led a brigade under General Hoche at the Battle of Kaiserslautern from November 28 to 30, 1793. He captured the strategically important position of Erlenbach, defended by the right of the Prussian army, with three battalions. In the campaign of 1793, he commanded one of the columns that ensured the success of the Battle of Geisberg near Wissembourg from December 26 to 29. The defeated Austrians retreated, and Hoche entered Wissembourg, liberating Alsace. Over the next four campaigns, as a brigade commander, he assisted Pichegru, Kléber, Moreau, and Jourdan in all their operations until the French troops entered Aachen, Cologne, and Koblenz. He was seriously wounded in an attack on the fortress of Mainz. During the siege of Kehl, he bravely defended the island of Ehrlen-Bhein. He was promoted to general of brigade on July 30, 1799. Sent to Switzerland under Masséna, Molitor successively defeated the Austrians in the battles of Schwytz, Mutten, and Glaris. Threatened in the latter city by the two Austro-Russian corps of Franjo Jelačić and Linken, he responded to a messenger who came to demand his surrender: "It is not I who will surrender, it will be you!" During eight days of fighting, he took the Naefels bridge six times, finally holding it and preventing the enemy from joining their two corps. Following this campaign, the Executive Directory sent a letter of congratulations to Molitor, and the Swiss government voted him to be honored.
Under the Consulate
In 1800, Molitor served in the Rhine army at the head of a brigade in Vandamme's division. He directed the crossing of the river and successfully crossed with a company of grenadiers. At the Battle of Stockach on May 3, he defeated the Austrian left wing, taking 4,000 prisoners. Some time later, with a division of 5,000 men, he managed to contain the Tyrolean Austrian corps, which had around 25,000 troops. Victorious in numerous minor engagements, including at Bregenz and Nesselwangen, he culminated this campaign by capturing the position of Feldkirch and the Grisons, opening up communication for the French with the Italian army.
After the peace, Molitor was appointed general of division on October 26, 1800, and began his command by fighting against the Austrians in Tyrol under General Lecourbe. Returning to France, he took command of the Grenoble military division, which he held until 1805.
Marshal of the Empire
Operations in Italy, Dalmatia, and Prussia
During the First Empire, he joined Masséna in the Army of Italy, where he was honored with the vanguard division, with which, at Caldiero, he alone withstood the Austrian right-wing attack led by Archduke Charles, resulting in defeat with 11,000 losses out of the 50,000 engaged.
After the Peace of Pressburg, the Emperor sent him to take possession of Dalmatia. Endowed with all civil and military powers, he brought order to the administration and saved half of the public revenue. Initially attacked by sea, he repelled the Russian fleet besieging Lézina, captured 300 Russians who had landed on that island, and regained control of Curzola. This campaign culminated with the liberation of Ragusa; he swiftly arrived there with 1,700 men, defeated the 10,000 Montenegrins and 3,000 Russians threatening the city. The Ragusians were so grateful to him that in the churches, after the chant of Domine salvum, following the word imperator, they added: et nostrum Liberatorem Molitorem. The Emperor appointed him a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour on July 28, 1806.
In 1807, Molitor led an army corps to the Baltic Sea, pursued the King of Sweden to the ports of Stralsund, and directed operations on the left wing at the siege of this fortress, where he was the first to enter. He remained in Pomerania with the title of general civil and military governor until the end of 1808.
The Emperor's Campaigns
At the start of the new German campaign in 1809, he had a division of Masséna's corps. On May 19, leading one of his brigades, he made the first crossing of the Danube at Ebersdorf, dislodging the Austrians from Lobau Island. The next day, May 21, he alone held off the first onslaught of the Austrian army at Aspern for several hours with his division. On July 6, during the Battle of Wagram, he was tasked with attacking the village of Aderkla, where he held back the desperate efforts of the enemy's center for much of the day.
In 1810, Molitor was given command of the Hanseatic cities, and in 1811, the departments of the former Kingdom of Holland, where he remained until April 1813, when The Hague, Leiden, and Zaandam rebelled. He quelled this uprising with the speed and energy of his measures. In 1814, when the defection of foreign soldiers had delivered this part of the territory to the enemy, Molitor returned to France and fought in the battles of La Chaussée, Châlons, and La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.
The Hundred Days and the King's Return
Upon Napoleon I's return from Elba, Molitor was serving as Inspector General and was entrusted with defending the Alsace border with a corps of 20,000 mobile national guards. During the Second Restoration, Molitor ceased to be employed and was even exiled from Paris; however, Marshal Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, upon taking office as Minister of War, reinstated him in his general inspection role.
In 1823, General Molitor was called to command the second corps of the Army of the Pyrenees, consecutively capturing the kingdoms of Aragon, Murcia, and Granada, as well as gaining control of the cities of Malaga, Cartagena, and Alicante.
These successes led to his promotion to Marshal of France on October 9, 1823, and granted him a seat in the Chamber of Peers. In 1831, during the July Monarchy, Molitor was appointed to the senior command of the 7th and 8th military divisions. In 1840, Marshal Molitor vigorously advocated for the fortification of Paris in the Chamber of Peers, "so that this capital might never be attacked and the defense of France would necessarily be relocated to its true battlefield, namely the frontlines." Appointed on October 6, 1847, to the government of the Invalides, Marshal Molitor yielded this honorary position to the former King of Westphalia, Jérôme Bonaparte, to assume the role of Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour in December 1848.
He passed away in Paris on July 28, 1849. He was buried on August 8 at the Invalides where he rests under the fifth arch of the governors' tomb.
His name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, East pillar, 13th and 14th columns.
Titles
- Count of the Empire (letters patent of March 19, 1808).
- Baron Molitor and peer of France (letters patent of June 15, 1824).
Decorations
- Legion of Honour: Commander (June 4, 1804), Grand Officer (July 28, 1806), Grand Cross (January 21, 1815).
- Order of the Crown of Iron (Italy): Knight (1806).
- Order of Military Merit of Charles-Frederick (Baden): Commander (1809), Grand Cross (1812).
- Order of the Reunion: Grand Cross (January 26, 1813).
- Order of Saint Louis: Knight (June 1, 1814), Commander (July 24, 1823).
- Order of Charles III (Spain): Grand Cross (October 1823).
- Order of St. Vladimir (Russia): Grand Cross of the 1st Class (1824).
- Order of the Holy Spirit: Knight (June 3, 1827).
Corps embroidered in a pattern of twisted cords and gold sequins. The corps is embroidered with a design depicting a V-shaped galloon bordered by a scalloped edging on black velvet. Both are finished with a shield decorated with seven silver stars (diameter 14 mm), and the insignia of the marshals in blue and gold enamel depicting two crossed batons, each adorned with fourteen gold stars, finished with a white enamel strip and a gold ball at each end, connected by a scarlet and white enamel ribbon (H 2.1 cm, L 3.9 cm). Two strong silvered brass clips are placed beneath, intended to slide into two small sewn-on gussets on the uniform (a luxurious finishing touch rarely seen on this type of epaulettes). On the lining of the shield of one of the epaulettes, a small gusset in black velvet is sewn.
The fringes are in large matt twisted cords, called "thick bouillon" or "spinach seed." The edging consists of three turns: a large one in matte cord and shiny spun cord rolled alternately on a cotton core; a second, inner turn in twisted small matt Milanese cord mixed with another shiny simple cord; a third, similarly worked, is applied below the large one at the start of the fringe.
1830 uniform button, half-domed, gilded with a patina and matte finish, stamped and with a relief of two starred marshal's batons crossed, surrounded by a crown of oak and laurel leaves. It is fixed at the top of the epaulette body.
Dimensions
Corps: L 18 cm up to the turn, L 19.1 cm with the turn, width 7.1 cm.
Shield: L 11.8 cm, width 14 cm with the turn on each side.
Fringes: H 7.4 cm.
Button: D 1.6 cm.
France.
July Monarchy.
Superb state of preservation, one of the two uniform buttons is missing.
PROVENANCE:
Family provenance sold with its decorations at the auction house DUPONT & Associés, Morlaix, sale on Monday, March 6, 2023, lot n° 87 of the catalog.
NOTE:
Marshal Molitor was appointed Marshal of France on October 8, 1823.
BIOGRAPHY:
Gabriel-Jean-Joseph Molitor was a French military officer born on March 7, 1770 in Hayange (French Luxembourg) and died on July 28, 1849 in Paris.
His military career began in 1791, during the French Revolution. Elected captain, he served in the Army of the Rhine and was promoted to colonel in 1795. Transferred to the Army of the Danube, he fought against the Austrians within the divisions led by Lefebvre and Lecourbe, becoming a general of brigade in 1799. Following the Swiss campaign in 1800, he was promoted to general of division, and after another campaign against Austrian forces, he was appointed to lead the military division of Grenoble. He held this position until 1805, when he was assigned to Marshal Masséna's army during the Austrian campaign and distinguished himself at the Battle of Caldiero. General Molitor was then appointed as the governor of Dalmatia in 1806 and succeeded in pacifying the region before being sent to Swedish Pomerania and being made a Count of the Empire in 1808.
He participated in the 1809 Austrian campaign alongside Masséna and played a significant role in the battles of Essling and Wagram. Following various administrative posts in the Kingdom of Holland, he rejoined the Emperor in 1814 at the beginning of the campaign of France, in which he participated in Marshal Macdonald's army corps. Inspector General of the infantry under the First Restoration, Molitor sided with Napoleon during the Hundred Days and took command of a division of Rapp's 5th corps. Despite a period of disgrace during the Second Restoration, he took part in the expedition to Spain in 1823, after which he was appointed Marshal of France. Two years before his death, he was appointed as the governor of the Invalides.
Under the Revolution
His father was a former military man who took charge of his son's education. Young Molitor enlisted in 1791 in the 4th volunteer battalion of his department; unanimously elected captain, he participated in the 1792 campaign in the Army of the North, and then in the Army of the Ardennes in 1793. Promoted to adjutant general, he took part in the siege of Mainz in 1793, during which he was shot in the thigh. He led a brigade under General Hoche at the Battle of Kaiserslautern from November 28 to 30, 1793. He captured the strategically important position of Erlenbach, defended by the right of the Prussian army, with three battalions. In the campaign of 1793, he commanded one of the columns that ensured the success of the Battle of Geisberg near Wissembourg from December 26 to 29. The defeated Austrians retreated, and Hoche entered Wissembourg, liberating Alsace. Over the next four campaigns, as a brigade commander, he assisted Pichegru, Kléber, Moreau, and Jourdan in all their operations until the French troops entered Aachen, Cologne, and Koblenz. He was seriously wounded in an attack on the fortress of Mainz. During the siege of Kehl, he bravely defended the island of Ehrlen-Bhein. He was promoted to general of brigade on July 30, 1799. Sent to Switzerland under Masséna, Molitor successively defeated the Austrians in the battles of Schwytz, Mutten, and Glaris. Threatened in the latter city by the two Austro-Russian corps of Franjo Jelačić and Linken, he responded to a messenger who came to demand his surrender: "It is not I who will surrender, it will be you!" During eight days of fighting, he took the Naefels bridge six times, finally holding it and preventing the enemy from joining their two corps. Following this campaign, the Executive Directory sent a letter of congratulations to Molitor, and the Swiss government voted him to be honored.
Under the Consulate
In 1800, Molitor served in the Rhine army at the head of a brigade in Vandamme's division. He directed the crossing of the river and successfully crossed with a company of grenadiers. At the Battle of Stockach on May 3, he defeated the Austrian left wing, taking 4,000 prisoners. Some time later, with a division of 5,000 men, he managed to contain the Tyrolean Austrian corps, which had around 25,000 troops. Victorious in numerous minor engagements, including at Bregenz and Nesselwangen, he culminated this campaign by capturing the position of Feldkirch and the Grisons, opening up communication for the French with the Italian army.
After the peace, Molitor was appointed general of division on October 26, 1800, and began his command by fighting against the Austrians in Tyrol under General Lecourbe. Returning to France, he took command of the Grenoble military division, which he held until 1805.
Marshal of the Empire
Operations in Italy, Dalmatia, and Prussia
During the First Empire, he joined Masséna in the Army of Italy, where he was honored with the vanguard division, with which, at Caldiero, he alone withstood the Austrian right-wing attack led by Archduke Charles, resulting in defeat with 11,000 losses out of the 50,000 engaged.
After the Peace of Pressburg, the Emperor sent him to take possession of Dalmatia. Endowed with all civil and military powers, he brought order to the administration and saved half of the public revenue. Initially attacked by sea, he repelled the Russian fleet besieging Lézina, captured 300 Russians who had landed on that island, and regained control of Curzola. This campaign culminated with the liberation of Ragusa; he swiftly arrived there with 1,700 men, defeated the 10,000 Montenegrins and 3,000 Russians threatening the city. The Ragusians were so grateful to him that in the churches, after the chant of Domine salvum, following the word imperator, they added: et nostrum Liberatorem Molitorem. The Emperor appointed him a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour on July 28, 1806.
In 1807, Molitor led an army corps to the Baltic Sea, pursued the King of Sweden to the ports of Stralsund, and directed operations on the left wing at the siege of this fortress, where he was the first to enter. He remained in Pomerania with the title of general civil and military governor until the end of 1808.
The Emperor's Campaigns
At the start of the new German campaign in 1809, he had a division of Masséna's corps. On May 19, leading one of his brigades, he made the first crossing of the Danube at Ebersdorf, dislodging the Austrians from Lobau Island. The next day, May 21, he alone held off the first onslaught of the Austrian army at Aspern for several hours with his division. On July 6, during the Battle of Wagram, he was tasked with attacking the village of Aderkla, where he held back the desperate efforts of the enemy's center for much of the day.
In 1810, Molitor was given command of the Hanseatic cities, and in 1811, the departments of the former Kingdom of Holland, where he remained until April 1813, when The Hague, Leiden, and Zaandam rebelled. He quelled this uprising with the speed and energy of his measures. In 1814, when the defection of foreign soldiers had delivered this part of the territory to the enemy, Molitor returned to France and fought in the battles of La Chaussée, Châlons, and La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.
The Hundred Days and the King's Return
Upon Napoleon I's return from Elba, Molitor was serving as Inspector General and was entrusted with defending the Alsace border with a corps of 20,000 mobile national guards. During the Second Restoration, Molitor ceased to be employed and was even exiled from Paris; however, Marshal Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, upon taking office as Minister of War, reinstated him in his general inspection role.
In 1823, General Molitor was called to command the second corps of the Army of the Pyrenees, consecutively capturing the kingdoms of Aragon, Murcia, and Granada, as well as gaining control of the cities of Malaga, Cartagena, and Alicante.
These successes led to his promotion to Marshal of France on October 9, 1823, and granted him a seat in the Chamber of Peers. In 1831, during the July Monarchy, Molitor was appointed to the senior command of the 7th and 8th military divisions. In 1840, Marshal Molitor vigorously advocated for the fortification of Paris in the Chamber of Peers, "so that this capital might never be attacked and the defense of France would necessarily be relocated to its true battlefield, namely the frontlines." Appointed on October 6, 1847, to the government of the Invalides, Marshal Molitor yielded this honorary position to the former King of Westphalia, Jérôme Bonaparte, to assume the role of Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour in December 1848.
He passed away in Paris on July 28, 1849. He was buried on August 8 at the Invalides where he rests under the fifth arch of the governors' tomb.
His name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, East pillar, 13th and 14th columns.
Titles
- Count of the Empire (letters patent of March 19, 1808).
- Baron Molitor and peer of France (letters patent of June 15, 1824).
Decorations
- Legion of Honour: Commander (June 4, 1804), Grand Officer (July 28, 1806), Grand Cross (January 21, 1815).
- Order of the Crown of Iron (Italy): Knight (1806).
- Order of Military Merit of Charles-Frederick (Baden): Commander (1809), Grand Cross (1812).
- Order of the Reunion: Grand Cross (January 26, 1813).
- Order of Saint Louis: Knight (June 1, 1814), Commander (July 24, 1823).
- Order of Charles III (Spain): Grand Cross (October 1823).
- Order of St. Vladimir (Russia): Grand Cross of the 1st Class (1824).
- Order of the Holy Spirit: Knight (June 3, 1827).
Reference :
30832
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