Fersen
AXEL, COUNT, a Swedish military officer; born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1755; came to America on the staff of Rochambeau; fought under Lafayette and received from Washing- FESSENDEN ton the Order of the Society of the Cincinnati. Later he went to France, where he became a favorite at court,, and was the disguised coachman at the flight of the royal family from Versailles during the Revolution. He returned to Sweden, where he was received with honor, and in 1801 was made grand marshal that country. On suspicion of complicity in the death of Prince Christian of Sweden, he was seized by a mob while marshaling the funeral procession, and tortured to death, June 20, 1810.
FESCH (fesh), JOSEPH, Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons, and half-brother of Letitia Ramolino, mother of Napoleon I.; born in Ajaccio, Corsica, Jan. 3, 1763. He was educated in France for the Church; in 1790 he was appointed by his nephew, General Bonaparte, commissary-general of the army of Italy, in which capacity he realized a princely fortune. He afterward resumed his clerical studies, and adopting the profession, was, in 1802, consecrated Archbishop of Lyons. In the year afterward, Fesch received a cardinal's hat, and was sent to Rome as French ambassador. In 1804 he accompanied Pius VII. to Paris, to assist at the emperor's coronation, and in the following year was created Grand Almoner of France. As president of the Council of Paris, he energetically opposed his nephew on many occasions, and especially espoused the cause of the unfortunate Pope. He finally fell into disgrace with the emperor, and retired to Rome, where he died May 13, 1839.