French Napoleonic Wars Army General. He joined the Sarre-Infanterie regiment in 1780. Promoted to corporal the following year and to sergeant in 1782, shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution he received the grade of brigadier on December 11, 1787, but resigned his position in order to join the National Guard in 1789. Appointed captain of the gunners, he formed the National Guard of Varennes and was promoted to major by 1791 and to adjutant-general in 1792. Arrested on the accusation of having aided in the flight of King Louis XVI, he was acquitted by the Revolutionary Court. Finding himself at the surrender of Verdun, he joined the army of the Ardennes and fought valiantly at the Battle of Niderbronn. Called to Paris by Napoleon Bonaparte, he was named 'général de brigade de gendarmerie'. His most renowned episode throughout his military career remains however the arrest of Pope Pius VII. When the Pope issued a bull of excommunication against Napoleon following the invasion and annexation of the Papal States, although the Emperor had not issued a direct order, General Radet on the night of July 5 to 6, 1809, with a small force entered the Quirinal Palace after bribing a former papal servant who guided them through the labyrinthine passageways of the palace. As some of the ladders used by Radet's men broke noisily, the guards were soon woken up and the element of surprise went spoiled. Rising from his bed, the Pope went to his public audience chamber, accompanied by Cardinals Pacca and Despuig with Radet finding the Pontiff waiting quietly for his arrival. The general walked toward the pope, hat in hand, and said: "Holy Father, I come on behalf of my sovereign, the Emperor of the French, to tell you that your Holiness should give up the time domain of the States from the church. The Pope, still seated, calmly replied: "Non possumus, non debemus, non volumus" ("We can not, we do not have to, we do not want to"), then continued in French: "I promised to God to preserve to the Holy Church all of its possessions, and I never will I miss the oath that I made". After the conversation continued for some time, the General accompanied the Pope to a carriage outside the palace. Despite being furious at his act, Napoleon did little to ease the situation for he kept the Pope as his prisoner for the next five years, first in Savona and then in Fontainebleau. Imprisoned at the citadel of Besançon in June 1816 following the fall of Napoleon, Radet was granted royal pardon on December 24, 1818 and, allowed to retire from his duties a year later, spent his last years in Varennes, where his remains lie buried.