Boniface de Castellane entered the French army on the day of the coronation of
Napoléon I of France (December 2, 1804) as an enlisted soldier in the 5th Light Infantry Regiment. In February 1806 he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant in the 7th Dragoons. The same month he was transferred to the 24th Dragoons with whom he served in the
Kingdom of Naples. In 1808 de Castellane followed general
Georges Mouton into Spain as an
aide-de-camp. When Napoléon returned to Germany in 1809, de Castellane followed and he fought in that campaign at
Abensberg,
Eckmühl,
Ratisbon,
Aspern-Essling and
Wagram. Promoted to captain in 1810, he further served Mouton, by now count of Lobau, as
aide-de-camp and he accompanied him into Russia where he served at
Vitebsk,
Smolensk and
Borodino. In October 1812 he was made
aide-de-camp of general
Narbonne and was present at
Krasnoi and the
crossing of the Beresina. Promoted to major, he served in the
personal protection detail of the emperor during the retreat. De Castellane was promoted to command of the 1st Regiment Garde d'Honneur in June 1813. During the German campaign he fought at
Dresden.
Restoration and July Monarchy In 1822 de Castellane was given command of a regiment of hussars of the
Royal Guard. In 1823 he was serving in Spain but he was recalled in 1827 for his opposition to
Ferdinand VII's politics of revenge. In 1824 he was made
maréchal de camp (major general). In 1829 he was made an inspector-general of infantry. De Castellane was part of the French army sent to secure Belgium's new found independence. In this campaign he commanded the 1st brigade of the 2nd division. He served in the
siege of Antwerp in 1832. In 1833 de Castellane was promoted lieutenant-general and given command of the division of the Pyrénées-Orientales and in 1835 of the 21st military division. Appointed a
Peer of France in 1837, de Castellane was sent to
Algeria as inspector-general. In 1838 he returned to his old post in the Pyrenees.
Revolution, Republic and Second Empire In February 1850, de Castellane was given command of the 42nd military division at
Bordeaux. To this was added the 44th and 45th divisions centered at
Nantes and
Rennes. Later that year, he was sent to the 6th military division at
Lyon. In January 1852, he was named a senator and governor of Lyon. In December of that year, he was given the dignity of
Marshal of France. ==Personal life==