Auguste Jean Ameil

Who was Auguste Jean Ameil?

General Auguste Jean Joseph Gilbert Ameil was a French soldier who fought during the French Revolution and the First French Empire, attaining the rank of Brigade General in 1812.

Born in Paris, the son of a parliamentary lawyer, Ameil entered the army as a simple infantryman on July 14, 1789. He would subsequently rise through every rank in the army. In 1805 he was made squadron commander of a cavalry company in Marshal Bernadotte's army. He then participated in the German, Polish, and Russian campaigns. On July 12, 1809, we was named colonel of the 24th Chasseurs de Cheval [Light Cavalry] Regiment, and on November 21, 1812 he was made a Brigade General.

After the abdication of Napoleon in 1814, Ameil accepted the restored Bourbon regime and was made a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. He then accompanied the Count of Artois to Lyon, with orders to stop Napoleon's advance. However, the army deserted en masse to Napoleon's side, and when the Count retreated for Paris, Ameil pledged himself to Napoleon. He was sent to Auxerre, but was intercepted by royalist forces and sent as a prisoner to Paris on the same day that Napoleon victoriously entered the Tuileries Palace.