Gerry's Collection
of Antique Wax Seal Stamps
Charles Etienne Francois Ruty
From the Artillery School of Châlons to the Arc de Triomphe
General Ruty, an exemplary officer who served both Emperor and King.
Charles-Étienne-François Ruty was born in Besançon on 4 November 1774, in the old province of Franche-Comté. His father, Denis-François Ruty, served as a prosecutor at the Parlement of Besançon, while his mother, Marguerite Guyot, came from the same legal-bourgeois milieu. The family’s background was neither anciently noble nor landed, but it belonged to that educated provincial class which supplied many of the officers and administrators of the new France.
From an early age, Ruty was drawn to mathematics and engineering, disciplines that naturally directed him toward the artillery, a branch of service where technical knowledge and precision were valued above birth.
In September 1792, at the age of eighteen, he entered the artillery school of Châlons, one of the most rigorous institutions of the Revolutionary army. There he received a training that combined theory, geometry, and the practical handling of guns, a formation that would later make him one of the most capable artillery officers of his generation.
General Charles Etienne Francois Ruty, Count of the Empire and Peer of France
Document confirming the elevation of Charles Etienne Francois Ruty to Peer of France.
The inscriptions on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris include the name of Charles Etienne Francois Ruty
Caserne Ruty
Military Beginnings and the Revolutionary Wars.
Ruty’s first years of service coincided with the height of the French Revolution and the wars that followed. In 1793 he joined the Army of the North, fighting in Flanders against the coalition forces. The following year he was wounded in the leg at the combat of Comines, an early proof of his courage under fire. Transferred to the Army of the Rhine-and-Moselle, he took part in the campaigns of 1796 and 1797, including the difficult siege of Kehl, where he was wounded again, this time through the jaw. Despite these injuries, his technical competence and calm demeanor earned him steady promotion. In 1798 he was selected for the expedition to Egypt led by General Bonaparte, an immense logistical venture that placed heavy demands on the artillery. Ruty commanded the artillery park at the Battle of Aboukir and was noted for his efficiency in the management of matériel under extreme conditions.
Rise under the Consulate and the Empire.
Upon his return to France, Ruty was promoted to chef de brigade (colonel) in 1801. His reputation grew rapidly under the Consulate and the Empire, as Napoleon placed increasing reliance on officers of science and merit. By January 1807 he was made brigadier-general, serving in the campaigns of Prussia and Poland. At the Battle of Friedland he played a decisive role in the coordination of the artillery fire that broke the Russian lines. In 1808 he was appointed director of the artillery school at Toulouse and later took part in the Spanish campaign. There he distinguished himself during the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, where his organization of batteries and his improvements to howitzer design - sometimes referred to as the “Ruty system” - demonstrated both technical innovation and practical insight. By 1813, at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, he had reached the rank of général de division.
The Emperor rewarded his long and capable service by raising him first to the dignity of Baron of the Empire in 1808, and later to that of Count of the Empire on 11 November 1813. These titles recognized not only bravery in battle but also the intellectual and administrative contributions of officers who had strengthened the military power of the Empire.
The Meaning of the Title “Count of the Empire”.
The Napoleonic system of nobility was intended to create a new elite based on service and merit. Titles such as Baron, Count, and Duke of the Empire were granted to senior officers, ministers, and high functionaries whose actions had materially contributed to the success and stability of the regime. To be made Count of the Empire was therefore a significant mark of distinction. It placed its holder among the upper ranks of Napoleon’s newly constituted aristocracy, not an ancient lineage, but a living reward for talent and loyalty. These dignities were accompanied by coats of arms designed under strict heraldic regulations, often including symbols of service, such as swords, cannons, or the Imperial eagle. For Ruty, whose life had been spent in the science of artillery, the title represented the culmination of a career built on precision, courage, and fidelity to duty rather than inherited privilege.
Service under Kings as well as Emperor.
After the collapse of the Empire in 1814, Ruty accepted the new political order. He received from King Louis XVIII the cross of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis and was confirmed as Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. When Napoleon returned during the Hundred Days in 1815, Ruty again served as artillery commander of the Army of the North and was present at Waterloo. Following the Emperor’s final defeat, he once more swore allegiance to the restored monarchy, demonstrating his fundamental loyalty to France rather than to a single regime. In the years that followed, he became Inspector-General of Artillery, Director-General of Gunpowder and Saltpeter, and State Councillor. In 1819 he was made a Peer of France, sitting in the upper chamber of the legislature under the restored Bourbons.
The Bourbon Restoration Explained.
The Bourbon Restoration refers to the period between 1814 and 1830 when the old royal dynasty, overthrown during the Revolution, returned to the throne of France. King Louis XVIII, brother of the executed Louis XVI, sought to reconcile the monarchy with many of the reforms of the Revolution, adopting a constitutional charter that guaranteed certain civil rights while restoring noble titles and the Church’s influence. For officers like Ruty, this period required a delicate balance. Many had served Napoleon with distinction but now had to prove their loyalty to the legitimate king. Ruty managed this transition with tact, maintaining both honor and position. His technical knowledge was indispensable, and the monarchy, recognizing the value of professional expertise, retained him in its service.
Honors and Recognition
Ruty’s decorations reflected both regimes he served. He became Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1814, Commander of the Order of Saint-Louis in 1825, and received various appointments within the War Ministry. His reputation as a disciplined and loyal officer remained unblemished throughout political upheavals. His name, RUTY, inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, stands among those of the generals who served France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. This inscription is a permanent acknowledgment of national gratitude, a symbolic immortality accorded to those who fought for France’s grandeur. It marks not only personal achievement but also the recognition of the artillery arm, often less visible than cavalry or infantry, yet vital to the victories that defined an era.
Caserne Ruty.
The Caserne Ruty, located on rue Bersot in Besançon, bears the name of General Charles-Étienne-François Ruty. Built during the 19th century, the complex served as an important military establishment, housing artillery and engineering units before later becoming a site for administrative and logistical services of the French Army. Its classical architecture reflects the disciplined, functional character of military design in the period following Napoleon’s reign. By naming the barracks after General Ruty, Besançon honoured one of its most eminent sons, a man whose technical skill, loyalty, and devotion to duty embodied the virtues of the French artillery tradition.
The Coat of Arms of Charles-Étienne-François Ruty, Count and Peer of France.
The coat of arms of Charles-Étienne-François Ruty is a remarkable synthesis of military merit, personal symbolism, and noble dignity under the restored monarchy. The shield is per pale: at dexter, per fess Gules and Azure, in chief a sword Argent; in base a chevron Or charged with a mullet Argent; at sinister, Argent, a palm tree Vert on a terrace of the same. The design unites martial emblems and Oriental motifs, a visual record of Ruty’s career as a distinguished artillery officer and his service in the Egyptian campaign. On either side of the escutcheon appear a stag and a sphinx as supporters. The stag, emblem of vigilance and constancy, recalls Ruty’s Franche-Comté origins and the steadfast courage that marked his life. The sphinx, rare in French heraldry, commemorates his service in Egypt under Bonaparte, symbolising intellect, endurance, and the scientific spirit of the campaign. Together they express both the man’s regional roots and his experience abroad. Above the shield rests a coronet of nine pearls, the traditional coronet of a Count, here denoting Ruty’s dignity as Count of the Empire, conferred upon him by Napoleon on 11 November 1813. Over this, however, rises a second and more elaborate coronet, placed above an ermine-lined mantle of Peer of France (pavillon de pairie), surmounted by a golden circlet set with fleurs-de-lis. This upper coronet corresponds to his later elevation as Peer of France in 1819 under the Bourbon Restoration. Its presence, together with the mantle, clearly marks this engraving as belonging to the post-imperial period. It reflects not Napoleonic heraldry, but the revived monarchical style, in which peers of the realm were represented beneath such canopies as symbols of their legislative and hereditary dignity.
Beneath the shield hang two decorations: the cross of the Legion of Honor and the cross of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis. The first recalls his service and promotions under the Empire, the second his loyalty to the restored King. Their juxtaposition visually reconciles the two regimes that shaped his career. Altogether, this coat of arms is not merely ornamental; it tells the story of a man who bridged two Frances - the imperial and the royal - uniting scientific precision, military valor, and unwavering devotion to his country.
Family and Legacy.
In 1818 Ruty married Lucie Charlotte Lecocq, daughter of Louis Joseph Lecocq, a royal councilor and administrator of the French East India Company. Their union linked the military world to that of civil administration. They had several children, among whom Anatole-Marie-Théodore Ruty (1822 -1880) succeeded as Count Ruty and later became Peer of France under the July Monarchy.
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General Ruty died in Paris on 28 April 1828. He was buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery, where his tomb still bears witness to a career devoted to science, discipline, and country. From the classrooms of Châlons to the battlefields of Europe, his life exemplified the meritocratic spirit of the age, an officer who served both Emperor and King, and whose name endures in stone on the Arc de Triomphe as part of France’s enduring history.
Gerry's Collection of Antique Seal Stamps.