Joseph Marie de Pernety

Joseph Marie de Pernety (19 May 1766 – 29 April 1856) was a French general during the Revolution and the Empire.

Biography

Youth and early career under the ancien régime The son of Maurice-Jacques Pernety, Receiver general for Lyon, and Françoise Gardelle. He was educated at the military school of Tournon. He entered the artillery school of Metz as an artillery midshipman on 1 June 1781, and on 1 June 1782 was a pupil at the same school. Appointed lieutenant on 1 September 1783 to the La Fère artillery regiment, he was promoted to the Grenoble regiment and made first lieutenant in the corps on 17 June 1788.

During the French Revolution Second-in-command in the 4th foot artillery regiment on 1 April 1791, he fought in the 1792 campaign in the Italian Army and was promoted on 1 February of that year to the command of a company in his regiment. Pernety distinguished himself by his bravery and talents in the defence of Belvedere and the capture of Saorgio on 7 May 1794. In 1796, he was appointed director of the field for the siege of Mantoue and then commissioner for the purpose of receiving the artillery for this fortress. He also took part in the battles of Bassano, Arcole and Rivoli. During the latter, he had a horse killed beneath him and was promoted to battalion commander on the field. Confirmed in this rank as a supernumerary, he moved to the 8th foot artillery regiment in the year VII (1798–99). He was part of the Brest division that left in late 1796 for the expedition to Ireland, where he served as artillery commander under General Jean Hardy. He was taken prisoner by the Royal Navy following an unsuccessful battle with the ship Le Hoche.

Awarded Commander of the Legion of Honour on 3 May and Major General on 11 July, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria by the King of Bavaria. In 1809 Pernety commanded the artillery of the 4th corps in the army of Germany under the orders of Marshal Masséna, and had the necessary boat bridges built across the Danube to capture the island of Lobau. After the battle of Essling, he took charge of the artillery on the island, which he surrounded with strong batteries. During the battle of Wagram, Marshal Masséna publicly praised General Pernety, who was created a Baron of the Empire and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour on 21 July of the same year.

Tributes and honours

The name "PERNETY" is engraved on the south side (21st column) of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in Paris.