DESAIX DE VEYGOUX, LOUIS CHARLES ANTOINE, a general of the first French repub lie, was born at St. Hilaire-d'A.yat, in Auvergne, Aug. 17, 1768. After studying at the military school of Effiat, he was appointed in 1792 aid-de-camp to prince Victor de Broglie, then at the head of the army of the Rhine. Here D. distinguished himself by his bravery, which was at the same time cool and fearless. In 1796, Moreau, having obtained the command of the army of the Rhine, made D. his lieutenant, and employed him in the most difficult and dangerous missions. In Morean's (q.v.) famous retreat through the Black Forest during this year, D., who commanded the left wing of the army of the Rhine, increased his already great reputation. The French by this retreat had now retired within the Rhine, retaining on the right bank only the fort of Kehl, which D. was commissioned to defend. The fort was in ruins, and could not be well repaired before the approach of the Austrians; nevertheless, behind this imperfect defense D. resisted the Austrian army for more than two months, only capitulating in
Jan., 1797, when his ammunition was spent. His greatest achievement, however, was the conquest of Upper Egypt, which he accomplished in 1799, after an eight months' cam paign. He was incredibly fertile in resources, and possessed the power of winning and restraining the people whom he had conquered to a wonderful degree; his own soldiers used to compare him to Bayard, while the inhabitants named him The Just Sultan. D. returned from Egypt just in time to take part in the battle of Marengo, on the 14th June, 1800, in which he was killed by a musket-bullet. His body was placed—after being embalmed—in the convent of Mt. St. Bernard. A statue has been raised in his honor in the Place Dauphine, in Paris.