Guillaume Marie-Anne Brune, 1st Count Brune (, 13 March 1764 – 2 August 1815) was a French military commander,
Marshal of the Empire
Marshal of the Empire (french: Maréchal d'Empire) was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was created by ''Sénatus-consulte'' on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent reinstated the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. Acc ...
, and political figure who served during the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
Early life
Brune was born in
Brives (now called Brive-la-Gaillarde) in the province of
Limousin
Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
, the son of Étienne Brune, a lawyer, and Jeanne Vielbains.
He moved to Paris in 1785, studied law,
[ and became a political journalist. He embraced the ideas 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 ...
, and soon after its outbreak enlisted in the Parisian National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
and joined the Cordeliers,[ eventually becoming a friend of Georges Danton.
]
Revolutionary Wars
Brune fought in Bordeaux during the Federalist revolts
The Federalist revolts were uprisings that broke out in various parts of France in the summer of 1793, during the French Revolution. They were prompted by resentments in France's provincial cities about increasing centralisation of power in Pa ...
, and at Hondschoote
Hondschoote (; from Dutch; ''Hondschote'' in the modern Dutch spelling) is a commune of the Nord ''département'', in northern France.
Heraldry
Geography
Hondschoote borders Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. It lies 12 km f ...
and Fleurus
Fleurus (; wa, Fleuru) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Brye, Heppignies, Fleurus, Lambusart, ...
. In 1793, Brune was appointed brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
and took part in the fighting of the 13 Vendémiaire (5 October 1795) against royalist insurgents in Paris.
In 1796, he served under Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
in the Italian campaign, and was promoted to ''général de division
Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...
'' for good service in the field. Brune commanded the French army that occupied Switzerland in 1798 and established the Helvetic Republic
The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
. In the following year, he was in command of the French troops in defence of Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
against the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...
under the Duke of York, in which he was completely successful – the Anglo-Russian forces were defeated in the Battle of Castricum
The Battle of Castricum (October 6, 1799) saw a Franco-Dutch force defeat an Anglo-Russian force near Castricum, Netherlands. The battle was fought during the War of the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France between French and Dutch forc ...
, and compelled, after a harsh retreat, to re-embark. He rendered further good service in Vendée
Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442. and in the Italian Peninsula from 1799–1801, winning the 1800 Battle of Pozzolo
The Battle of Pozzolo also known as the Battle of the Mincio River and Monzambano (25–26 December 1800) was fought during the War of the Second Coalition. A French army under General Guillaume Brune crossed the Mincio River and defeated a ...
.
In 1802, Napoleon dispatched Brune to Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. During his two-year diplomatic service, he initiated relations between France and Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
Napoleonic Wars
Following his coronation as Emperor of the French in 1804, Napoleon made Brune a Marshal of the Empire
Marshal of the Empire (french: Maréchal d'Empire) was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was created by ''Sénatus-consulte'' on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent reinstated the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. Acc ...
(''Maréchal d'Empire'') while he was still in Constantinople. During the campaigns against Austria during the War of the Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition)
* In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...
, Marshal Brune commanded the army in Boulogne from 1805 to 1807 overseeing drilling and keeping a watchful eye on the British. In 1807 Brune was appointed Governor General for the Hanseatic Ports and in 1808, Brune held a command of troops fighting in War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition fought against Napoleon's French Empire and were defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, s ...
and occupied Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...
, taking Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...
and the Island of Rugen. Despite these victories, his staunch republicanism and a meeting with Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.
The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 ...
raised Napoleon's suspicions only made worse by Brune who refused to talk to Napoleon about it claiming simply that "It's a lie". Brune made his biggest blunder while drafting a treaty between France and Sweden when he wrote "the French army" instead of "His Imperial Majesty's Army". Whether an intentional insult or act of incompetence, Napoleon was infuriated and Brune was removed from duty. He then spent the next years at his country estate in disgrace and was not re-employed until 1815.[
]
Hundred Days and death
After Napoleon's abdication, Brune was awarded the Cross of Saint Louis by Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
, but rallied to the emperor's cause after his escape from exile in Elba
Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...
.[ Leaving behind their past quarrels, Napoleon appointed Brune commander of the Army of the Var during the ]Hundred days
The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
. Here he defended Southern France against the forces of the Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
and Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
, with the addition of the British Mediterranean Fleet
The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...
and local Royalist guerrillas. Brune, while he held Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
, slowly began to retreat, holding Toulon. Brune kept the mobs in Marseille and Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
under control.
On 22 July 1815, after hearing of the defeat at Waterloo, Brune surrendered Toulon to the British. Fearing the Royalist mobs in Provence and aware of their hatred towards him, Brune asked Admiral Edward Pellew
Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother ...
to sail him to Italy, but the request was rudely denied, with Pellew calling him "the prince of scamps" and a "blackguard". Brune then decided to travel to Paris over land with the promise of Royalist protection, although none was provided.[ He managed to arrive safely with two aides-de-camp in Avignon, but was there shot and killed by an angry Royalist mob after being chased into an hotel, as a victim of the ]Second White Terror
The Second White Terror (french: Deuxième Terreur Blanche) occurred in France in 1815–1816, following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) and the enthronement of Louis XVIII as king of France after the Hundred Days. ...
. The new Bourbon government soon fabricated the story that Brune had committed suicide.[ His body, thrown into the River Rhone, was retrieved by a fisherman and buried by local farmers, and was later recovered by his wife Angélique Nicole][ to be buried in the cemetery of Saint-Just-Sauvage.
An inquiry compelled by his widow later made public that Brune's murder had been covered up by the royal authorities, and revealed that the mob responsible was led by baseless allegations that Brune was the one parading the Princess of Lamballes' head on a pike around Paris during the ]September Massacres
The September Massacres were a series of killings of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792, from Sunday, 2 September until Thursday, 6 September, during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by ''fédérés'', gua ...
.[ In 1839, one year after Angélique's death, a monument to Marshal Brune was erected in his hometown of Brives.][
]
Family
In 1793, Brune married Angélique Nicole Pierre, from Arpajon
Arpajon () is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region of northern France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arpajonnais'' or ''Arpajonnaises''.
The commune has been awarded three flowers by the ''National C ...
.[ They had no issue but adopted two daughters.]
Sources
* Endnotes:
**''Notice historique sur la vie politique et militaire du marechal Brune'' (Paris, 1821).
**Paul-Prosper Vermeil de Conchard, ''L'Assassinat du marechal Brune'' (Paris, 1888).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brune, Guillaume Marie Anne
1763 births
1815 deaths
19th-century French diplomats
Ambassadors of France to the Ottoman Empire
French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
French murder victims
Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
Knights of the Order of Saint Louis
Marshals of the First French Empire
Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days
Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
People from Brive-la-Gaillarde
People murdered in France
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
Deaths by firearm in France