The Morea expedition was an intervention of the French Army in the Peloponnese (then known by its medieval name "Morea") between 1828 and 1833, at the time of the Greek War of Independence, with the aim of liberating the region from the Turkish-Egyptian occupation forces. The members were drawn from military and scientific institutions.
Among the members of the expedition present in Morea, ten would subsequently become Ministers (of War, Navy or Foreign Affairs in France, or of Education in Greece for Michel Schinas) and one Prime Minister of France (Eugène Cavaignac).
Members of the military expedition
The complete organizational chart of the General Staff is given by Captain Alexandre Duheaume in annex to his Souvenirs de la Morée, pour servir à l'histoire de l'expédition française en 1828-1829., Anselin, Paris, 1833.
Lieutenant-General Nicolas Joseph Maison: commander-in-Chief of the expeditionary force from 1828 to 1829. He was appointed Marshal of France on February 22, 1829. After his return from Morea, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1830, then Minister of War in 1835. In 1834, he was made Grand Cross of the Greek Order of the Redeemer (the highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state). Admiral Henri de Rigny: commander of the French fleet victorious at the Battle of Navarin on 20 October 1827. He was appointed Minister of the Navy in 1830 and in 1831, then Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1834. Field Marshal Antoine Simon Durrieu: chief of the General Staff. Field Marshal Tiburce Sébastiani: commander of the 1st brigade. He is the brother of Marshal Horace Sebastiani. Field Marshal Philippe Higonet: commander of the 2nd brigade. Field Marshal Virgile Schneider: commander of the 3rd brigade and of the occupation brigade from 1829 to 1831. He was appointed Minister of War in 1839. In 1835, he was made Grand Commander of the Greek Order of the Redeemer. Field Marshal Charles Louis Joseph Olivier Guéhéneuc: he replaced General Schneider at the head of the occupation brigade from 1831 to 1833. Colonel in the Royal Corps Camille Alphonse Trézel: Deputy Chief of Staff and brother of the painter Pierre Félix Trézel (member of the Archaeology section of the Morea scientific expedition). He was appointed Minister of War in 1847, the last in the July Monarchy before the French revolution of 1848. General Charles Nicolas Fabvier: philhellene who had organized the Greek army. He was responsible for accompanying the expedition for his knowledge of the terrain. In 1845, the third Greek National Assembly of Troezen made him a Greek Honorary Citizen and King Otto made him Grand Cross of the Greek Order of the Redeemer (the highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state). Colonel of General Staff Guillaume Corbet: he was made Commander of the Greek Order of the Redeemer. Captain of General Staff, Aide-de-camp Jean Baptiste Eugène, vicomte Maison: he was the son of Lieutenant-General Maison. Lieutenant Aide-Major Napoléon-Hector Soult, marquis of Dalmatia: attached to Headquarters. He is the son of the famous Napoleonic Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia (and future French Prime Minister). After his return from Morea, Hector Soult will enter French diplomacy and will also become a conservative deputy under the French Second Republic. he published his diplomatic observations and considerations on Greece in 1831. Colonel Paul-Eugène de Faudoas-Barbazan: 3rd regiment of Horse Chasseurs. Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph-Victor Audoy: commander of the military engineering and of the sappers. Colonel Antoine-Charles-Félix Hecquet: 54th Line Infantry Regiment. Colonel Amédée Despans-Cubières: he was appointed twice Minister of War, in 1839 and in 1840. Colonel Félix-Louis de Narp. Colonel Joseph-Marcelin Rullière: he was appointed Minister of War under the French Second Republic in 1848. Colonel, then brigade General (artillery) Jean Ernest Ducos de Lahitte: he was later appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs under the French Second Republic in 1849. Lieutenant-Colonel Anatole Mangin: 58th Line Infantry Regiment. He was made Commander of the Greek Order of the Redeemer. Lieutenant-Colonel Maxime Raybaud: he served for several years in Greece under the orders of Colonel Fabvier and Prince Alexandros Mavrokordatos (several times Prime Minister of Greece), of which he was the aide-de-camp. He was the founder and director of a Franco-Greek printing press and newspaper, "Le Courrier d'Orient", in Patras in 1829. Lieutenant-Colonel Sanfourche: 42nd Line Infantry Regiment and governor of the fortress of Patras. Captain of General Staff Stamatis Voulgaris: "detaché to the President of Greece" (sometimes written Stamati Bulgari).