Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Baron de Strolz, sometimes written Stroltz, (6 August 1771 Belfort, France – 27 October 1841 Paris), was a French general during the Napoleonic wars and subsequently an important political figure.
He was chief of staff to André Masséna during the Italian campaign; governor of the Basilicata province; aide-de-camp to Joseph Bonaparte King of Naples and King of Spain; Baron of the First French Empire; Member of Parliament and Pair de France.
Strolz is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 22.
Early life and family
Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Strolz was born at 5, Rue de l'Etuve in Belfort, a city in the Franche-Comté, a then German-speaking region of the Kingdom of France. He was the second son of Maria Clara, née Schmitt and Peter Leo(pold) (also known as Pierre Léon) architect and the Royal Inspector of Bridges and Streets in the Franche-Comté. His older brother was Petrus Franciscus Emilius/Pierre Francois Emile. Jean-Baptiste was baptised on the same day as his older brother, Pierre Francois Emile. Strolz's family was from the minor Austrian nobility. Jean-Baptiste's paternal grandfather had left his native Austria as a young man to avoid the ecclesiastical career his parents had assigned him. Strolz received his early education from a parish priest, following which he was sent to boarding school at Masevaux Abbey and to the Gymnase de Strasbourg. His family had a close friendship with that of Jean Baptiste Kléber and after the early death of Kléber's father, with his stepfather Jean-Martin Burger: an entrepreneur and master carpenter-builder who often worked with Pierre Léon. On 12 January 1791, Pierre Leon and Kléber were both called as expert witnesses for a remodelling project in the secularized Masevaux Abbey. Strolz's parents had Jean-Baptiste trained for a career as a lawyer, but he gave up his studies when called home by his parents during the French Revolution. He found temporary employment as sous-archiviste in the civil service in the district of Belfort.
As a consequence of the French Revolution, insurgent activity began in the neighbouring Prince-Bishopric of Basel. The reigning Prince-Bishop Franz Joseph Sigismund von Roggenbach asked for and received a contingent of Austrian troops to deal with the situation while his auxiliary bishop Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel secretly supported the revolutionaries. The revolutionary government in Paris saw this deployment as a possible threat for the Belfort region and mobilized the 5th French (Strasbourg) Division along the border. Bored with civilian life, Strolz seized the moment and in March 1790 volunteered for service with Général Pierre Joseph de Ferrier du Chatelet, general officer commanding all regular and volunteer troops in the Belfort region and a friend of his parents. The general put him to work as an supernumerary aide de camp, an important role in a time when all communications in the field had to be delivered by couriers. Discharged in 1791 after the crisis had passed, the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars gave Strolz the opportunity to re-enlist. Refused at first, Strolz was only accepted after family friend Jean-Baptiste Kléber, inspector of public buildings in Belfort before having just secured for himself a lieutenant-colonelcy, insisted on Strolz being accepted as a volunteer. After his parents agreed to pay for a horse, Strolz was permitted to enlist on 8 April 1793.