Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki (22 April 1816,
Pau – 22 September 1897,
Bayonne
Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
) was a French general.
Career
Bourbaki was born at
Pau, the son of Greek colonel
Constantin Denis Bourbaki
Colonel Constantin Denis Bourbaki ( el, Διονύσιος Βούρβαχης, Dionysios Vourvachis; 1787 – 8 February 1827) was a Greek officer educated in France, and serving in the French military. He fought in the last phases of the Napo ...
, who died in the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List of o ...
in 1827. He was educated at the
Prytanée National Militaire
The Prytanée national militaire is a French military school managed by the French military, offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish ...
, entered
St Cyr, and in 1836 joined the ''
Zouave
The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...
s'', becoming lieutenant of the
Foreign Legion in 1838 and ''aide-de-camp'' to King
Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.
As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...
.
Early commands
It was in the African expedition that Bourbaki first came to the front. In 1842 he was captain in the ''Zouaves''; 1847, colonel of the ''Turcos''; in 1850, lieutenant-colonel of the 1st ''Zouaves''; 1851, colonel; 1854, brigadier-general. In the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
he commanded a portion of the Algerian troops; and at the
Alma
Alma or ALMA may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film
* ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922
* ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017
* ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...
,
Inkerman
Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is ''de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but ''de jure'' within Ukraine. It lies 5 ...
and
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
Bourbaki's name became famous.
In 1857 he was made general of division, commanding in 1859 at
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. His success in the
war in Italy was second only to that of
MacMahon
McMahon, also spelled MacMahon (older Irish orthography: ; reformed Irish orthography: ), is a surname of Irish origin. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Mac'' ''Mathghamhna'' meaning 'son of the bear'.
The surname came into use around the 11th c ...
, and in 1862 he was proposed as a candidate for
the vacant Greek throne, but declined the proffered honour.
Imperial Guard
In 1870 the Emperor
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
entrusted Bourbaki with the command of the
Imperial Guard
An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, in ...
, and he played an important part in the fighting round
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
. His conduct at
Gravelotte
Gravelotte (; german: Gravelotte) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, 11 km west of Metz. It is part of the functional area (''aire d'attraction'') of Metz. Its population is 827 (2019).
From 1871 u ...
however was questionable as with the Prussians exhausted from the fighting and heavy casualties, the French were poised to mount a counter-attack but for Bourbaki refusing to commit the reserves of the French Imperial Guard to the battle because he considered it a defeat.
A curious incident of the
siege of Metz, during the
Franco-Prussian War, is connected with Bourbaki's name. A certain Edmond Régnier, a French businessman with no political background or connections, appeared at
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
the 21 September to seek an interview with the refugee
empress Eugénie
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
, and failing to obtain this he managed to get from the young
Prince Imperial a signed photograph with a message to the emperor Napoleon. This he used, by means of a safe-conduct from
Bismarck, as credentials to
Marshal Bazaine
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
, to whom he presented himself at Metz, telling him on the empress's alleged authority that peace was about to be signed and that either
Marshal Canrobert
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
or General Bourbaki was to go to Hastings for the purpose.
Bourbaki at once went to England, with
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n connivance, as though he had a recognized mission, only to discover from the empress at Hastings that a trick had been played on him. As soon as he could manage he returned to France but was refused re-entrance into Metz on a technicality, because his Prussian-provided passport was outdated by a few days.
Armée de l'Est
Bourbaki offered his services to
Gambetta and received the command of the Northern Army, but was recalled on 10 November and transferred to the Army of the Loire. In command of the hastily trained and ill-equipped
Army of the East, Bourbaki made the attempt to raise the
siege of Belfort
The siege of Belfort (3 November 1870 – 18 February 1871) was a 103-day military assault and blockade of the city of Belfort, France by Prussian forces during the Franco-Prussian War. The French garrison held out until the January 1871 arm ...
, which, after the victory of
Villersexel, ended in the repulse of the French in the three days'
battle of the Lisaine
The Battle of the Lisaine, also known as the Battle of Héricourt, was fought from 15 January to 17 January 1871 between German and French forces. The French were led by Charles Denis Bourbaki, and were attempting to relieve the Siege of Belfor ...
.
Other German forces under
Manteuffel
The House of Manteuffel is the name of an old and influential German Pomeranian noble family, which later also resided in Brandenburg, Prussia, Silesia, Mecklenburg, Poland, the Baltics and in Russia.
History
Manteuffel family was first ment ...
now closed upon Bourbaki, and he was eventually driven over the Swiss frontier with the remnant of his forces. His troops were in the most desperate condition, owing to lack of food; and out of 150,000 men under him when he started, only 87,000 men with 12,000 horses escaped into Swiss territory. They crossed the western border of Switzerland at
Les Verrières
Les Verrières () is a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
History
Les Verrières is first mentioned in 1344 as ''villa de Verreriis''. Jt was here that General Charles-Denis Bourbaki crossed the Swiss border with the rem ...
,
Sainte-Croix,
Vallorbe
Vallorbe () is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
History
Vallorbe is first mentioned in 1139 as ''de valle urbanensi''. In 1148 it was mentioned as ''de valle urbe''.
Geography
Vallorb ...
and in the
Vallée de Joux
The Vallée de Joux is a valley of the Jura Mountains mainly in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. The valley also continues into France ( Jura département) at its higher, southwestern, end. Located north of Geneva and northwest of Lausanne, its mean el ...
at the beginning of February 1871. They were disarmed and detained for six weeks before being repatriated in March.
[. URL last accessed 10 October 2006.] This event is memorialized in the
Bourbaki Panorama
The Bourbaki Panorama is a circular panoramic painting depicting the internment of the French Armée de l'Est in neutral Switzerland at the end of the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. The army, led by General Charles-Denis Bourbaki had been defe ...
in Switzerland.
Rather than submit to the humiliation of a probable surrender, Bourbaki had delegated his functions to
General Clinchant on 26 January 1871 and tried to commit suicide that night. He fired a pistol at his own forehead, but the bullet somehow "flattened as if against a cast-iron plate"
[Citation of Bourbaki's own account given in ''Gambetta et la défense nationale, 1870–1871'' by Henri Dutrait-Crozon (Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1914), p. 18, consulted on Google Books.] and his life was saved. General Clinchant carried Bourbaki into
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, where he recovered sufficiently to return to France.
In July 1871, he again took the command at Lyon and subsequently became military governor.
Later service
In 1881, owing to his political opinions, he was placed on the retired list. In 1885 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the senate.
A patriotic Frenchman and a brilliant soldier and leader, Bourbaki, like some other French generals of the Second Empire whose training had been obtained in Africa, was found wanting in the higher elements of command when the European conditions of 1870 were concerned.
Cultural references
A group of 20th-century French mathematicians published many works under the pseudonym
Nicolas Bourbaki
Nicolas Bourbaki () is the collective pseudonym of a group of mathematicians, predominantly French alumni of the École normale supérieure (Paris), École normale supérieure - PSL (ENS). Founded in 1934–1935, the Bourbaki group originally in ...
, possibly named after the general.
The scene of Bourbaki's army being disarmed when they crossed the Swiss borders is the subject of a panoramic painting, the
Bourbaki Panorama
The Bourbaki Panorama is a circular panoramic painting depicting the internment of the French Armée de l'Est in neutral Switzerland at the end of the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. The army, led by General Charles-Denis Bourbaki had been defe ...
, done in 1881 by
Edouard Castres. Since 1889, this 360° painting has been on display in
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
, Switzerland.
[Bourbaki-Panorama Lucerne](_blank)
.
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourbaki, Charles Denis
1816 births
1897 deaths
People from Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
French generals
French people of Greek descent
French military personnel of the Crimean War
French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War
Officers of the French Foreign Legion
Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur