French Revolutionary Years
Souham served in the Royal French army as a private from 1782 to 1790. In 1792, having shown himself active in the cause of the Revolution, he was elected commandant of a volunteer battalion from the Corrèze. He served with his unit at the Battle of Jemappes.
By 1793, Souham had risen to the rank of general de division during the Flanders Campaign. When his army commander, Charles Pichegru fell ill, Souham assumed army command and defeated the Allied army at the Battle of Tourcoing in May 1794. He served under Pichegru in Holland (1795), but in 1799 he fell into disgrace on suspicion of being involved in Royalist intrigues. He was reinstated in 1800 and served under Jean Moreau in the Danube campaign of that year. During the Consulate he appears to have been involved in conspiracies and was suspected with his old commanders Moreau and Pichegru of participation in the plot of Georges Cadoudal.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Souham
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