Prince Charles Eugène of Lorraine-Brionne, Duke of Elbeuf (25 September 1751 – 2 November 1825) was the head of and last male member of the House of Guise, the

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine () originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Ther ...

which dominated France during the Wars of Religion, remained prominent as '' princes étrangers'' at

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

throughout the ''

ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'', and participated in the ''

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

'' efforts to restore the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from ...

to the throne. He was an officer in the French and

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

militaries during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

Biography

Charles Eugène was born on 25 September 1751 in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, to Louis de Lorraine, Prince of Brionne by his third wife, Princess Louise of Rohan-Rochefort (1734-1815). Charles Eugène was a

peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

and Prince of Lorraine, styled as the ''Prince of Lambesc''. One of four children, he had a younger brother, Joseph Louis, Prince of Lorraine-Vaudémont, and two younger sisters, Princess Joséphine of Lorraine and Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine. Through Princess Joséphine, who married Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignano, Charles Eugène was an uncle of Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano and a great uncle of the future King

Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constit ...

Marriages

He married twice; first to a rich Polish noblewoman, Anna Cetner (1764–1814), whom he wed on 20 May 1803. She was a daughter of Ignacy Cetner, Palatine of Bełz (1728-1800) and Countess Ludwika Potocka (1744-1800). The couple had no issue. After the death of his first wife, he married again to Victoire de Folliot de Crenneville (1766–1845) on 23 Jan 1816. Victoire, the former governess of Empress Marie Louise, was the daughter of French nobleman François Méderic Folliot de Crenneville (1735-1802) and Anne Pierrette Charlotte du Poutet (b. 1746). At the time of her marriage to Prince Charles Eugène, Victorie had already been widowed twice: first as Baroness du Poutet and second as Countess von Colloredo-Wallsee. Again, the couple had no children and they divorced in 1817.

Military career

French military service

The eldest of House of Lothringen-Lambesc served as the King of France's Grand Equerry. Charles Eugène became Colonel and Proprietor (Chief) of the Royal Allemand-Dragoons in 1778 and was promoted to Marshal of the Camp in the French Army on 9 March 1788. He received the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis () is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the fi ...

In the early days of the French Revolution, Charles Eugène's Allemand Dragoons were an important element in the protection of the Louis' Court. On 12 July 1789, Charles Eugène rode at the head of his dragoons across the Place of Louis XV into the

Tuileries Gardens The Tuileries Garden (, ) is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in ...

, against a mob that had gathered there and forced the group out of the garden. In the course of the attack, many were injured, twenty-two protesters died, and Charles Eugène was held popularly responsible, although no charges were filed. He defended the royal palace in the riot at the

in July 1789. Initially, he served in the French army, but at the outset of France's wars with Austria, he picked up the Bourbon cause in Germany. When hostilities between France and the Habsburgs reached a crisis point in 1791, he left his Allemand Dragoons and followed the Bourbon cause with his younger brother, Joseph Louis, Prince of Lorraine-Vaudémont. Ebert
"Lothringen"

Habsburg military service

On 18 June 1791, the prince was appointed major general in the Austrian army. In October 1791, he was given command of a brigade composed of the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

(volunteers) "Degelmann" and 37th Dragoon Regiment in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

.Digby Smith, ''Lothringen-Lambesc''. Leopold Kudrna and Digby Smith (compilers). A biographical dictionary of all Austrian Generals in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815. The Napoleon Series, Robert Burnham, editor in chief. April 2008 version. Accessed 23 January 2010. On 1 February 1793, his regiment, the 37th Dragoons, was taken into Habsburg service and in 1798, it was united with the 10th Cuirassier Regiment. At the Battle of Tournai on 22 May 1794, he charged the French infantry on the heights of Templeuve with four squadrons (approximately 1,000 men) of the 18th Chevauxleger Regiment "Karaiczay", cutting down 500 men and taking three guns. On 22 June 1794, he was appointed Colonel and

Proprietor Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as ''title'', which may be separated and held by diffe ...

of the 21st of Cuirassier Regiment in recognition of his actions. In the Battle of Fleurus, on 26 June 1794, he charged with four squadrons of 5th Carabiners ''Albert'' to rescue part of Campaign Marshal Prince von Kaunitz's infantry, which had been surrounded by three French cavalry regiments. This unlikely charge against another cavalry force more than five times its size took the French by surprise; the French cavalry scattered, giving Kaunitz time to organize an orderly withdrawal of his own force from the field.Smith, ''Lothringen-Lambesc''. Accessed 23 January 2010. On 4 March 1796, Charles Eugène was promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal. In 1796 he served in Germany under Field Marshal

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser Dagobert Sigmund, Count von Wurmser (7 May 1724 – 22 August 1797) was an Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years' War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successf ...

in the Army of the Upper Rhine; on 11 May of that year, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He fought with distinction at the

Battle of Amberg The Battle of Amberg, fought on 24 August 1796, resulted in a Habsburg victory by Archduke Charles over a French army led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. This engagement marked a turning point in the Rhine campaign, which had previously seen Fre ...

on 24 August and in the

Battle of Würzburg The Battle of Würzburg was fought on 3 September 1796 between an army of the Habsburg monarchy led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and an army of the First French Republic led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The French attacked the archduke ...

on 2 September, commanding a brigade of cavalry. In the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

, the Prince fought in

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

at the

Battle of Engen The Battles of Stockach and Engen were fought on 3 May 1800 between the army of the First French Republic under Jean Victor Marie Moreau and the army of the Habsburg monarchy led by Paul Kray. The fighting near Engen resulted in a stalemate. ...

. After this campaign, the prince was posted to the Habsburg province Galicia, where he was governor general. On 3 December 1806, he was promoted to General of the Cavalry and a few weeks later, captain of the First . In Vienna; he was also awarded the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

in 1808.

Bourbon Restoration

After the restoration of Louis XVIII, prince Charles Eugène was again created a Peer of France. Louis XVIII furthermore created him ''

Duke of Elbeuf The Seigneurie of Elbeuf, later a marquisate, dukedom, and peerage, was based on the territory of Elbeuf in the Vexin, possessed first by the Count of Valois, Counts of Valois and then the Counts of Meulan before passing to the House of Harcourt. ...

'' and appointed him a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

. Because of the popular hostility against him in France, relating to the incident in the Tuileries in July 1789, he never exercised these privileges and he died at the age of 74 in Vienna on 21 November 1825. As neither Charles Eugène, nor his younger brother Joseph Louis (who had predeceased him in 1812) had any children, the male line of the old Lorraine lines of Elbœuf, Harcourt, and Armagnac came to an end.

Honours

Ancestry

Sources

Notes and citations

Bibliography

* Ebert, Jens-Florian.
"Lothringen"
Die Österreichischen Generäle 1792–1815. Napoleon Online.DE. Accessed 23 January 2010. * Smith, Digby. ''Lothringen-Lambesc''. Leopold Kudrna and Digby Smith (compilers). A biographical dictionary of all Austrian Generals in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815. The Napoleon Series, Robert Burnham, editor in chief. April 2008 version. Accessed 23 January 2010. * Spawforth, Antony. ''Versailles: a biography of a palace''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008, {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Eugene, Prince Of Lambesc 1751 births 1825 deaths Royalty from Versailles Austrian military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Louis 19th-century Austrian military personnel Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars House of Guise House of Lorraine Dukes of Elbeuf 18th-century French nobility 19th-century French nobility French generals Princes of Lorraine 18th-century peers of France Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration