Gaspard Gourgaud, baron, a French general, born in Versailles, Sept. 14, 1783, died July 26, 1852. He studied at the polytechnic school, and at that of Chalons, entered the army in 1802, and fought in the campaigns of Germany (1805-'6), of Poland (1807), of Spain (1808), and again in Germany (1809). Sent to Dantzic in 1811 to examine the strength of its fortifications, his reports gained the favor of Napoleon, whom he accompanied to Russia in 1812. He was wounded at Smolensk; at Moscow he prevented an explosion of 5,000 cwt. of gunpowder stored in the Kremlin, and was rewarded with the title of baron. On the retreat he proved his bravery at the passage of the Beresina. He was first officier d'ordon-nance to Napoleon during the campaign in Saxony in 1813, where after the battle of Leipsic he saved the corps of Oudinot by delaying the command of Napoleon to destroy the bridge of Freiberg. After the battle of Brienne in the campaign of 1814, he saved Napoleon at Mezieres from a troop of Cossacks, one of whom was already aiming his lance at the emperor.

After the fall of Napoleon he was well treated by the Bourbons, on whose flight he joined the emperor (1815). Made general after the battle of Fleurus, he was among the last on the battle field of Waterloo, followed Napoleon to Mahnaison and Roche-fort, and carried his letter to the prince regent of England. Chosen one of the three who were allowed to follow the emperor in his exile, he lived three years at St. Helena, but left the island in consequence of illness and misunderstandings, went to England, and tried in vain to interest the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle and Maria Louisa in favor of the emperor. In 1821 he was allowed to return to France, where a legacy from Napoleon enabled him to live independently, though deprived of his titles. Together with Gen. Mentholon he published the Memoires de Napoleon a Sainte-Helene (8 vols., London, 1823). His Examen critique (1825) of Segurs "History of the Grand Army " caused a duel between the two generals, and was followed by a sharp controversy with Sir Walter Scott, who accused him of having compromised his master at St. Helena. Under Louis Philippe he was made peer of France, and in 1840 accompanied the duke de Joinville on his voyage to St. Helena, to bring the remains of Napoleon to Paris. In 1849 he was elected to the legislative assembly, where he voted with the conservatives.