SABRE OF GENERAL MOUTON-DUVERNET (1770 - 1816) Chased gilt bronze and ebony mounting. Cap in the form of a lion's head stock, scales and spider web on the skirt. Joint arch decorated with geometric friezes from which two secondary branches. They meet on an inverted shield with central decoration of a Minerva head and and oak leaf friezes. A baguette cross follows the frame. Squared ebony spindle with oval brass an oval brass plate marked "A MOUTON duVernet" under the crown. Blade in damascus, with rush and hollow sides, counter-edge and carp tongue. It is engraved on a gold background with trophies and blue of blue fillets. Iron scabbard marked "PIRMET A PARIS" with four brass fittings. brass fittings. Chape following the frame, Two bracelets decorated with a spider web and buckle decorated with friezes, palms and arrows. Dard in roquillard (wear). France, First Empire period. Total length: 99.5 cm Two documents are attached: the purchase invoice by Montégudet dated 1911 and another one for the magazine La Giberne dated dated 1912. BIBLIOGRAPHY : This sword was published and reproduced in the reference magazine "La Giberne" of July 1911, XIIIth year, number I, page 88. PROVENANCE : - Roger de Montégudet collection (1880-1925) - by descent to this day. Régis Barthélemy Mouton-Duvernet (1770 1816) Voluntarily enlisted in 1785, this promising officer began his military career in the colonies, notably Guadeloupe, where he served in the local regiment. At just 19, he joined the corps as a private, and quickly rose through the ranks to become Adjutant Major. During the siege of Toulon in 1793, he played an active role and distinguished himself by his coolness. He then took part in all the major campaigns of the of the Revolution and the Empire, and was particularly particularly notable during the Italian campaign particularly at the battle of Arcole. On 26 brumaire an V (16 November 1796), at the head of around twenty men, he managed to contain the enemy on the causeway from the Pont d'Arcole to the dyke, despite the numerical superiority and the presence artillery. Seriously wounded right thigh, he refused to leave his post post, protecting a cannon whose crew had been whose crew had been decimated. It was only after reinforcements had arrived, once the enemy had been repulsed, that he agreed to be evacuated. On 8 January 1800, he embarked on the warship Le Généreux, tasked with supplying the French the French garrison besieged in the port of Valletta of Valletta in Malta. But on 18 February, during during the Battle of the Malta Convoy, Le Généreux was boarded by the British frigate HMS Success, and was taken prisoner. In 1806, he was sent to Spain with the rank of colonel. He returned as a major general and took part in the difficult the difficult campaigns of 1813 and 1814. He was taken prisoner during the capitulation of Dresden, he was interned before being released after Napoleon's abdication. of Napoleon. During the First Restoration, he was appointed military governor of Valencia. But during the Hundred Days, he rallied Napoleon, who appointed him deputy for the Haute-Loire of the Haute-Loire to the Chamber of Representatives. He remained loyal to the Emperor to the end: after Waterloo, he refused to recognise the return of the Bourbons. On 2 July 1815, he was appointed governor of Lyon, which sealed his fate. The royal decree of 24 July 1815, intended to suppress intended to repress Napoleon's supporters, designated him as a traitor to the king, liable to court martial. Forced to flee, he hid for almost a year with a royalist friend, the Vicomte de Meaux. Thinking that tempers had calmed, he finally came out of hiding out of hiding and surrendered himself as a prisoner to the prefect of the Loire, Tassin de Nonneville. Despite his loyalty to France and his military military past, he was sentenced to death by a of War on 15 July 1816. The pleas of his wife, who had come to plead his case with to King Louis XVIII, were in vain. On 27 July 1816, he was shot at Chemin des Étroits, in Lyon, now located in the city's 5th arrondissement of the city.