Claude-René Pâris de Soulanges (; 18 August 1736 - 31 July 1795) was a French aristocrat and naval officer. He was lord of Preuille and the last count of Soulanges.

Family

He was descended from the family of the lords of Soulanges, a fiefdom near

Ancenis Ancenis (; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Ancenis-Saint-Géréon. It is a former Subprefectures in France ...

in the diocese of Nantes in Brittany. The Pâris family originated either in England or the Flanders plain and gave its name to a château in Basse-Bretagne. Claude-René was born in the

château de la Preuille The Château de la Preuille is an 11th-century castle at Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay, Vendée, France, one of the oldest ''châteaux'' in the Loire Valley. It took its present form in the 13th and 15th centuries. The wide moat defending the northe ...

Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay () is a former commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Montaigu-Vendée. Monuments The Château de la Preuille, one of ...

, Vendée, the eldest son of Claude-Louis Pâris, knight and lord of Soulanges, and his wife, Françoise de Gatinaire, daughter of Claude de Gatinaire, lord of Gatinaire and Preville, and Marguerite Merisson. His parents had married on 28 May 1728 at the

. Claude-René's brother-in-law was count Charles Jean d'Hector (1722-1808), the pre-revolutionary commander of the French naval force at Brest.

Life

Seven Years' War

He joined a

Gardes de la Marine In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine (Guards of the Navy), or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen undergoing training to be naval officers. The training program was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1670 and lasted until Ad ...

company at

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

1751 In Britain and its colonies (except Scotland), 1751 only had 282 days due to the British Calendar Act of 1751, which ended the year on 31 December (rather than nearly three months later according to its previous rule). Events January&nd ...

. He was promoted to

enseigne de vaisseau Ensign (; Late Middle English, from Old French (), from Latin (plural)) is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was trad ...

1755 Events January–March * January 23 (O. S. January 12, Tatiana Day, nowadays celebrated on January 25) – Moscow University is established. * February 13 – The kingdom of Mataram on Java is divided in two, creating the ...

, then lieutenant de vaisseau in

1761 Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, and restore the Mughal Empire to Shah Alam II. * January 16 – Siege of Pondi ...

. He was made a knight of the

ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de 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 rewar ...

1762 Events January–March * January 4 – Britain enters the Seven Years' War against Spain and Naples. * January 5 – Empress Elisabeth of Russia dies, and is succeeded by her nephew Peter III. Peter, an admirer of Frederick t ...

. On 13 August 1755, at the château de Lieuzel, he married Hyacinthe-Gabrielle de Cornouailles de Saint-George (1736 - 11 July 1764).

American War of Independence

He was made a captain and a lieutenant of the company of gardes de la Marine and of the pavillon in the département of Rochefort in 1772. He was given his commission as a

capitaine de vaisseau Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide includ ...

on 4 April 1777, a year before France entered the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He joined the fleet gathering at Brest in 1778 under the

comte d'Orvilliers Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers (26 March 1710 – 1792) was a French admiral. Life Louis Guillouet d'Orvilliers was born on 26 March 1710 in Moulins, Allier. His parents were Claude Guillouet d'Orvilliers (), seigneur d'Orvilliers, and Clau ...

, commanding the 64-gun ''Sphinx'' at the battle of Ushant on 27 July. He was given permission to marry again after his first wife's death and did so on 3 May 1778 to Émilie-Françoise de Kerouartz, which whom he had one child, Claudine, who married Jacques-Nicolas Le Forestier de Kerosven, comte de Boiséon (+1795) then Dominique-François Fourrier de Nacquard (with issue). In spring 1780 he fought in the Antilles campaign under the

comte de Guichen ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * ...

. On 17 April at the battle of Martinique, still in command of the ''Sphinx'', he formed part of the French rearguard which faced George Brydges Rodney's British fleet. By brevet of 9 May 1781 he was granted an 800 livre pension from the order of Saint-Louis.''État Nominatif Des Pensions, Traitemens Conservés, Dons, Gratifications : Qui se payent sur d'autres Caisses que celle du Trésor Royal'', volume 1, 1790, p. 110 He was put in command of the naval squadron at Toulon on 14 January 1785 and director of the ports and arsenals there around the same time. In 1786, Pâris served as Chef d'escadre in the 12-ship Escadre d'évolution, on the frigate ''Félicité''. He was at Cherbourg when a naval review and a simulated naval battle took place as Louis XVI visited the harbour. He was made a contre-amiral on 28 January 1792 but on 16 December the same year he emigrated to Britain after the French Revolution.

Armée des Princes

He was made a lieutenant colonel in the régiment d'Hector during the

Quiberon Expedition The invasion of France in 1795 or the Battle of Quiberon was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively r ...

. He was wounded in action on 16 July 1795 and shot by firing squad with 55 of his men at

Auray Auray (; br, An Alre, or simply ) is a commune in the Morbihan department, administrative region of Brittany, northwestern France. Inhabitants of Auray are called ''Alréens'' (French) and ''Alreiz'' (Breton). Geography The city is surrounde ...

near Vannes on 31 July that year.

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * Baptiste Levoir, Marie-Anne Pirez, Isabelle Roy, ''Les Paris'', page 48 * Pierre-Bruno-Jean de La Monneraye, Philippe Bonnichon, ''Souvenirs de 1760 à 1791'', Librairie Droz, 1998, p. 132 - 505 pages {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris, Claude Rene 1736 births 1795 deaths Royalist military leaders of the War in the Vendée French Royalist military leaders killed in the French Revolutionary Wars Knights of the Order of Saint Louis French Navy admirals French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War People from La Roche-sur-Yon French emigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain