His troops called him the "Virgin of Italy" for his rigorous standards of discipline and honesty in an army known for generals who enriched themselves by plundering the conquered territories.

The family formed part of the minor provincial nobility, his father holding the title Seigneur de Sort and the job of mole-catcher to the king's breeding stud.

At the Battle of Warburg on 31 July 1760, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel surprised the French under Louis Nicolas Victor de Felix d'Ollieres, Count Du Muy.

[5] On 29 September 1792, a 10,000-man division under Jacques Bernard d'Anselme crossed the Var River and occupied Nice, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

During the First Battle of Saorgio he led a major attack on the Massif de l'Authion on 12 June, but it was defeated with losses of 280 dead and 1,252 wounded.

The French right flank held its ground, but on the left Sérurier gave up the east bank of the Vésubie River and fell back to Utelle on 10 September.

He was reinstated after the representatives on mission and the War Minister Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte termed the charges as unimportant while the citizens of Laon sent a petition vouching for his patriotism.

[14] In the Second Battle of Saorgio on 24 April 1794, Masséna defeated Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi, the French inflicting 2,800 casualties on the Sardinians while losing 1,500 killed and wounded.

Given command of the right flank division in place of Masséna who was sick, his brigadiers were Barthélemy Catherine Joubert and Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis.

[17] Schérer wrote that Sérurier was "a very good officer, devoted to his duties; his patriotism has been attacked in the time of Hébert and his consorts; he has emerged victorious from all these charges.

François Christophe Kellermann then in command of both armies, wrote, "It is to the coolness and courage of this excellent officer that was due the success of this glorious day.

[35] Colli detailed Jean-Gaspard Dichat de Toisinge with 8,000 Sardinians and 15 guns to defend San Michele Mondovi against a French attack.

[36] On 19 April, Sérurier formed his division into two 3,000-man brigades under Pascal Antoine Fiorella and Jean Joseph Guieu plus a reserve under his personal command.

Led by a company of Swiss troops, Colli organized a counterattack which drove Sérurier's division out of the town, though Guieu's brigade maintained its bridgehead.

In the Battle of Mondovì on 21 April, the brigades of Fiorella, Guieu and Elzéar Auguste Cousin de Dommartin fought their way into Vicoforte and routed the Sardinians.

[44] Soon after, Bonaparte wrote to the French Directory, "I shall not speak to you of the conduct of the intrepid General Sérurier, whose military reputation is established, and to whom we owe, amongst other things since the campaign began, the victory of Mondovi".

Because of the approach of Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser's Austrian army, the siege was raised on 31 July, the heavy cannons were buried and the division withdrew behind the Oglio River.

[50] On 27 December 1796 he resumed command of the Mantua siege corps, replacing Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine who had also become ill.

The Mantua garrison launched a sortie led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf that made progress at first but was beaten back by reinforcements under Claude Perrin Victor.

By noon Provera was hemmed in by French reinforcements and at 2:00 pm he surrendered to Sérurier with 7,000 men, 22 field guns, a pontoon train and a food convoy.

[57] While Bernadotte continued advancing to the east, Guieu's division followed by Sérurier turned north in pursuit of a column under Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza.

[60] After recovering, Sérurier resumed command of his division at Graz on 20 April and after the Treaty of Leoben the unit withdrew from Austria and took position at Sacile.

[62] A little later Louis Desaix described him, "tall, 55 years old ... honest, estimable in every respect, considered to be an aristocrat but supported by General Bonaparte, who values and admires him".

[65] Early in 1798 Sérurier temporarily commanded the divisions left in Italy where he had his hands full trying to calm unpaid soldiers who were on the verge of mutiny.

[68] At that time, the Army of Italy was led by Schérer who gave Sérurier command of the Tyrol Division with a paper strength of 8,328 men.

[69] The outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition saw Schérer with 43,000 troops facing Paul Kray with 50,700 Austrians near Verona and 24,551 Russians under Alexander Suvorov marching up in support.

When Schérer found that 12,000 Austrians were marching from the County of Tyrol to turn his north flank, he withdrew from the line of the Mincio, leaving 12,000 soldiers to defend Mantua.

That day Jean Victor Marie Moreau replaced Schérer in command of the Army of Italy[78] and the Allies defeated the French in the Battle of Cassano.

[89] On 31 March 1814, upon the arrival of the Sixth Coalition armies at Paris, Sérurier publicly destroyed the 1,417 captured enemy flags and personally burned the sword and sash of Frederick the Great as to not let them fall into the Allies' hands.

The restored King Louis XVIII made Sérurier a Peer of France, but he joined Napoleon during the Hundred Days, when the former emperor briefly returned to power.