The revolution which found him a veteran serjeant, opened to him as well as others the higher career of his profession. But unlike many others he did not stain himself by the excesses of the period: on two occasions he interposed in behalf of the royal family, threatened by a ruffian mob, and on both he was wounded. He well deserved his rapid promotion. In September, 1793, he was raised from the rank of captain to that of adjutant-general; in December the same year he was general of brigade, and the month following of division. He fought under Pichegru, Moreau, Hoche, and Jourdan, in the Netherlands and in Germany, and on all occasions with distinction. At Stockach he sustained for many hours, with eight thousand men only, the assaults of thirty-six thousand Austrians, nor did he give way until he was severely wounded. But bravery was not his only merit: he had great presence of mind, great promptitude of decision, a correct military eye, and he was a good tactician.

This general was of great use to Buonaparte in the revolution of Brumaire. It was be who extricated Lucien from the infuriated Council of Five Hundred. Perceiving the indecision of Buonaparte, he said, "Only speak the word, and I will soon fetch your brother." "Go, then," replied the other, "and act as you please." At the bead of twenty-five grenadiers, he entered the hall of the assembly, and amidst the loudest execrations, quietly and silently laid hold of the terrified Lucien, and brought him away.

Raised to the dignity of marshal, Lefebvre was one of the best supports of the imperial fortunes. In the campaigns of 1805-6-7, he shewed equal intrepidity an skill. After the battle of Eylau he was sent with sixteen thousand men to invest Dantzic, which was garrisoned by twenty-one thousand regulars, exclusive of a numerous militia. The place was strong by nature, and rendered still more so by art, and not many days after the trenches were opened, twelve thousand Russians arrived to re-inforce the garrison. The besiegers were thus compelled to divide their forces, otherwise they would have been placed between two fires. The action with the Russians (May 15, 1807) was a very sharp one; and Lefebvre would certainly have been worsted had not Lannes and Oudinot advanced to support him. In fact the whole siege was of the same character: the fortress was defended with unparalleled obstinacy. One day the besieged made an impetuous sally, and after a violent struggle gained possession of a redoubt on which a battery had been erected to cover the works, and which it was of the highest importance to the French to regain. The marshal hurried to that part of the field, placed himself at the head of his grenadiers, saying, "Now for our turn, my children!" and rushed to the attack. As the balls showered thick around him, his bravo followers wished to protect him by forming a rampart of their own bodies; "No! let me fight as you do!" was his dauntless reply as he led them on. The redoubt was retaken, and all who had defended it were either killed or made prisoners. At length it was evident that the place could hold out no longer; when with the generosity belonging to his character, he wished that Lannes and Oudinot, who had so opportunely assisted him on the 15th of May, should be present at the capitulation, and enter with him. They, however, were too high-minded to divide his triumph; and to end this generous contest, the both repassed the Vistula. On the 24th of the same month Dantzic capitulated on conditions alike honourable to the marshal, and to General Kalreuth, the governor.

Lefebvre, now Duke of Dantzic, was one of the numerous and able French generals, who fought and gathered few laurels in Spain. In the German campaign of 1809, at Thaun, Abersberg, Eckmuhl, and Wagram, and among the dangerous passes of the Tyrol, he maintained the honour of the French arms. In the Russian campaign he headed the imperial guard, but was seldom called into action. In those of 1813 and 1814 he faithfully adhered to the declining fortunes of his master. Louis made him a peer, but after Buonaparte's return he dishonoured himself by consenting to support the usurper in the new Chamber of Peers. By this weakness -- we are unwilling to call it by a heavier name -- he had justly forfeited all claim to the king's favour. In 1816, however, he was confirmed in his rank of marshal and in three years more was recalled to the upper chamber. He died September 1820, leaving no issue. Lefebvre was a disinterested man, a stranger to the arts of extortion unblushingly practised by almost every French general of his time. In 1796 he was so poor that he could not pay the expenses of his son at college, and the youth was compelled to return home. After the peace concluded in 1799, he thus wrote to the Directory. "The definitive conclusion of peace will enable the country to dispense with my services. I beg you to assign me a pension that I may live in comfort. I want neither carriage nor horse, but bread only. You know my services as well as I do: I shall not reckon my victories, and I have no defeats to mention." -- "Before I retire from the profession, I am exceedingly anxious the patriotism, the bravery, the talents and services of both my aid-de-camp and officers of artillery should be rewarded," &c. The general who asks only bread for himself, and leaves the more splendid rewards to others, must win our, respect.

The duke had an estate at Combaut in the department of the Seine-and-Marne. In an apartment of his mansion there was a chest at least twenty feet long, the contents of which many visitors were anxious to see. One day the duchess opened it in presence of a female friend: it was found to contain all the successive garments which she and her husband had worn since their marriage. The oldest were coarse plain habits; the more recent ones bore the insignia of ducal rank. "My husband and I," said the lady, "have taken pleasure in preserving these garments: there is no harm in looking on them from time to time:-- people should never forget what their history has been."

On Napoleon's first abdication, Lefebvre proceeded to Paris, and was introduced to the Russian emperor. "You were not under the walls of this city, marshal, when we arrived?" "No, Sire, we had the misfortune to arrive too late." "Misfortune!" observed the prince smiling; "you are sorry then to see me here?" "Sire, I cannot behold without admiration a conqueror who, though so young, uses his victory with moderation; but because he is the conqueror of my country, neither can I look on him without anguish." "I honour you for such sentiments," said Alexander; they add to my esteem for the Duke of Dantzic."