Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy (17 May 1749, in

Bouvigny-Boyeffles Bouvigny-Boyeffles is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography An ex-coalmining area, but now a farming village, situated just west of Lens at the junction of the D165 and D75 roads. ...

– 17 June 1795, in Paris ) was a French revolutionary.

Life

The son of a farmer, he served time as a private in the

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s then (at the start of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

) moved to farming and raising his large family. He was elected a

député The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Re ...

for the

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

to the Assemblée législative, then to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

. At the trial of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

he voted for death without appeal to the people, not for the sentence, and forced his colleague Bollet to vote the same by threats. He took on many missions to the Nord and was absent during the struggle between the

Montagnards Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to: *Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s) **Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of the ...

and

Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

s. He was sent to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Count Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist and politician. He was known as the "Organizer of Victory" in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Education and early ...

and fought with courage at the

Battle of Wattignies The Battle of Wattignies (15–16 October 1793) saw a French army commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan attack a Coalition army directed by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After two days of combat Jourdan's troops compelled the Habsburg co ...

, where he charged the enemy at the head of his troops. He was very severe with incompetent generals, notably dismissing Jean Nestor de Chancel and Jean-Baptiste Davaine who were both executed. Denounced by

Hébert Hébert or Hebert may refer to: People Surname * Anne Hébert, Canadian author and poet * Ashley Hebert, subject of ''The Bachelorette'' (season 7) * Bobby Hebert, National Football League player * Chantal Hébert, Canadian political commentato ...

for allegedly impeding army operations of

Jourdan Jourdan may refer to: *Carolyn Jourdan, American author *Claude Jourdan (1803–1873), French zoologist and paleontologist *David W. Jourdan, businessman *Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (1762–1833), French army commander *Murders of Jourdan Bobbish and Jac ...

and taking advantage of his position to put his brother at the head of the army, he was rescued by

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

and had no difficulty proving his innocence. He warmly defended

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...

before the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

and probably saved him from the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

. Sent back to the Nord, then to

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

, according to his colleague

Nicolas Hentz Nicholas Charles Arnould Hentz (5 June 1753, Metz, France – after 1 July 1830, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a French revolutionary and politician. After fleeing France in 1815, he assumed the name Charles Arnould. Early life Coming fro ...

, Duquesnoy forgot his dignity as a representative and behaved with an insupportable despotism. Recalled to Paris on 10 August 1794, he succeeded in excluding

Jean-Lambert Tallien Jean-Lambert Tallien (, 23 January 1767 – 16 November 1820) was a French politician of the revolutionary period. Though initially an active agent of the Reign of Terror, he eventually clashed with its leader, Maximilien Robespierre, and is bes ...

from the

club des Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

and having

Armand-Joseph Guffroy Armand-Benoît-Joseph Guffroy (10 November 1742 – 9 February 1801) was a lawyer and politician of the French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with th ...

beaten before Carnot. Guffroy complained to the

Committee of General Security The Committee of General Security () was a parliamentary committee of the French National Convention which acted as police agency during the French Revolution. Along with the Committee of Public Safety it oversaw the Reign of Terror. The Committe ...

and, accused of being one of the leaders of the

insurrection of 1 prairial an III The insurrection of 1 Prairial Year III was a popular revolt in Paris on 20 May 1795 against the policies of the Thermidorian Convention. It was the last and one of the most remarkable and stubborn popular revolts of the French Revolution. After ...

(20 May 1795), Duquesnoy was condemned to death despite his friends' depositions. However, he succeeded in committing suicide by pistol in the condemned prisoners' bathroom, writing to his wife after his sentence "You know my heart, it was always pure. I die worthy of you and of my country for whose safety and for whose revolutionary principles I have never ceased to fight". 1749 births 1795 deaths Représentants en mission {{France-politician-stub