Simon Canuel

Simon Canuel
Born	(1767-10-29)29 October 1767 Les Trois-Moutiers
Died	11 May 1840(1840-05-11) (aged 72) Loudun
Allegiance	Kingdom of France (1787–1791) Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI (1791–1792) First French Empire (1792–1804) First French Empire (1804–1806) First Restoration (1814–1815) Catholic and Royal Army (1815) Second Restoration (1815–1830)
Years of service	1787–1830
Rank	General
Battles / wars	War of the Vendée (1793-96) Battle of Savenay War of the Vendée (1815) Battle of Échaubrognes Battle of Aizenay Battle of Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie Battle of Mathes Battle of Thouars Spanish Expedition
Awards	Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor Chevalier de Saint-Louis

Simon Canuel (29 October 1767 – 11 May 1840) was a French general of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Canuel was born in Les Trois-Moutiers, in the Vienne.

French Revolutionary Wars

He entered military service on January 3, 1787, as a soldier in the Limousin regiment, and he earned all his military ranks in the War in the Vendée, as he was promoted by Jean Antoine Rossignol and Jean-Baptiste Kléber, to become a general. He fought along with Louis Blosse and Pierre François Verger-Dubareau during the battle of Savenay.

In April 1796, general-in-chief, Canuel led the campaign against a counter-revolutionary movement in Sancerrois, led by Antoine Le Picard de Phélippeaux.

First Empire

Napoleon I decided not to put Canuel on active service, keeping him in command of various quiet strongholds. Bored at the inaction, he went over to the Bourbons in 1814 and so during the Hundred Days the following year had to take refuge among the Royalist insurgents of the Vendée.

Later on, he took part in several conflicts, including the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis mission in Spain.

Death

He died on May 11, 1840, in Loudun.

Sources

• Marie-Nicolas Bouillet and Alexis Chassang (ed.s), "Simon Canuel" in Dictionnaire universel d’histoire et de géographie, 1878
• Mullié, Charles (1852). "Canuel (Simon)" . Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850  (in French). Paris: Poignavant et Compagnie.