Dominique Vajvdamme, count, a French soldier, born in Cassel, French Flanders, Nov. 5, 1770, died there, July 15, 1830. In 1788 he enlisted in a regiment at Martinique, returned to France in 1790, and in 1792 became commander of the Mont Cassel or Vandamme chasseurs. He distinguished himself in the army of the north (1793-'4), in that of the Rhine (1795-'7), and in most of the campaigns of the republic, the consulate, and the empire. In 1805 the emperor rewarded his services at Austerlitz with the grand cross of the legion of honor, and in 1808 he was made count. In 1809, under Davoust, he covered himself with jlory at Eckmuhl. Early in 1812 he was placed in command of Westphalian troops against Russia, but his differences with Jerome Bonaparte, his military superior, led to his withdrawal, and he took no part in that campaign. In March, 1813, he was restored to active service on the Elbe. After the French victory at Dresden (Aug. 27) he was ordered by the emperor to resist Schwarzenberg's advance from Bohemia; but he was surrounded by the allies at Kulm, and after a bloody struggle was obliged to surrender (Aug. 30) with three other generals and 10,000 men. (See Kulm.) He was a prisoner in Russia till September, 1814, when he returned to France, but was ordered by Louis XVIII. to remain at Cassel. On Napoleon's return from Elba he was made a peer and commander of a corps, with which he contributed to the victory over Blücher at Ligny; and he defeated the enemy at Wavre during the progress of the battle of Waterloo, after which he covered the retreat of the right wing of the army to Paris, and received the thanks of the chambers.

Louis XVIII. banished him, and he lived in the United States till the close of 1819, when he returned home; and in 1820 he was restored to his military rank. On Jan. 1,1825, he retired from the army. - See Le general Vandamme et sa correspondance, by Baron P. E. Albert du Casse (2 vols., Paris, 1870).