General Humbert
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General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Jean Joseph Amable Humbert (22 August 1767 – 3 January 1823) was a French military officer who participated in several notable military conflicts of the late 18th and early 19th century. Born in the townland of La Coâre Saint-Nabord, outside Remiremont
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
, he was a sergeant in the
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 ...
of
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
. He rapidly advanced through the ranks to become
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 ...
on 9 April 1794 and fought in the Western campaigns before being allocated to the
Army of the Rhine An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. Humbert also participated in the United Irishman Rebellion and the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
.


Expeditions to Ireland

In 1794, after serving in the Army of the Coasts of Brest, Humbert served under
Lazare Hoche Louis Lazare Hoche (; 24 June 1768 – 19 September 1797) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars. He won a victory over Royalist forces in Brittany. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on ...
in the
Army of the Rhine and Moselle The Army of the Rhine and Moselle (french: Armée de Rhin-et-Moselle) was one of the field units of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 20 April 1795 by the merger of elements of the Army of the Rhine and the Army of the Moselle. Th ...
. Charged to prepare for an expedition to Ireland, he took command of the ''
Légion Noire La Légion noire (The Black Legion) was a military unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It took part in what was the unsuccessful last invasion of Britain in February 1797, at the time of writing. The Legion was created on the orders of Genera ...
'' under Hoche, sailing in the ill-fated ''Expédition d'Irlande'' to
Bantry Bay Bantry Bay ( ga, Cuan Baoi / Inbhear na mBárc / Bádh Bheanntraighe) is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 mil ...
in 1796, and was engaged in actions at sea against the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. Contrary weather and engagements with the British forced this expedition to withdraw. The trip home resulted in the
action of 13 January 1797 The action of 13 January 1797 (known by the French as the Naufrage du ''Droits de l'Homme''; "shipwreck r sinkingof the ''Droits de l'Homme''") was a minor naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the co ...
during which Humbert, onboard the '' Droits de l'Homme'', narrowly escaped death. As the ship was sunk, hundreds of men perished, but Humbert was among the last to escape. On his return to France, Humbert served in the
Army of Sambre and Meuse The Army of Sambre and Meuse (french: Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse) was one of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of the Moselle and the right win ...
, before being appointed to command French troops in an attempt to support the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...
. The troops under his command consisted chiefly of infantry of the 70th '' demi-brigade'' with a few artillerymen and elements of the 3rd Hussar Regiment, however, by the time he arrived off the Irish coast the rebellion had already been suppressed by the British. The expedition was able to land in Ireland at
Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is a Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a number of ancient ...
on Thursday 23 August 1798, meeting with initial success in the
Battle of Castlebar The Battle of Castlebar occurred on 27 August 1798 near the town of Castlebar, County Mayo, during the Irish Rising of that year. A combined force of 2,000 French troops and Irish patriots routed a combined force of 6,000-strong British and ...
where they routed the
Irish Militia The Militia of Great Britain were the principal military reserve forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain during the 18th century. For the period following the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, see Militia (United ...
. Humbert subsequently declared the establishment of an
Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...
, before marching on
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
. However, Humbert's small force was defeated at the Battle of Ballinamuck by the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and he was captured as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
. Humbert and his fellow French soldiers were taken by canal to Dublin, where they were exchanged for British prisoners of war. In his first request to the British authorities, Humbert requested that his Irish officers receive considerate treatment, and was dismayed when several of his Irish officers were ordered to be executed by
Gerard Lake Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India. Background He was ...
on the basis that they had previously been British subjects.


Later service

Humbert was shortly repatriated in a
prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conventions Under the Geneva Conven ...
and appointed in succession to the armies of Mainz, the Danube and
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, with which he served at the
Second Battle of Zurich The Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 September 1799) was a key victory by the Republican French army in Switzerland led by André Masséna over an Austrian and Russian force commanded by Alexander Korsakov near Zürich. It broke the stal ...
. He then embarked on an expedition to Saint-Domingue, which was in the midst of a slave rebellion, to restore French control over the colony and reestablish slavery. Humbert was accused of looting in Saint-Domingue by Jean Baptiste Brunet, and was also rumored to be having an affair with
Pauline Bonaparte Paula Maria Bonaparte Leclerc Borghese ( French: ''Pauline Marie Bonaparte''; 20 October 1780 – 9 June 1825), better known as Pauline Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess, the first sovereign Duchess of Guastalla, and the princess cons ...
, the wife of his commanding officer
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...
. He was sent back to France by order of Leclerc in October 1802, for "prevarications, and liaison relationships with organisers of the inhabitants and with leaders of brigands". A committed
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, his displeasure at Napoleon's imperial pretensions led to him being dismissed in 1803 and he retired to
Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastl ...
,
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
. In 1810, after briefly serving in the
Army of the North The Army of the North ( es, link=no, Ejército del Norte), contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was fre ...
, Humbert emigrated to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
, where he established a relationship with French pirate
Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". Th ...
. In 1813, Humbert joined the revolutionary Juan Bautista Mariano Picornell y Gomila in an unsuccessful attempt to foment rebellion in New Spain. In 1814, Humbert left New Orleans again to join the Patriot cause in the Argentine War of Independence, briefly commanding a corps before returning home. A year later, Humbert enlisted in the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
as a private and fought in the
Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...
while wearing his old French uniform during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. General
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
thanked him for his assistance there after the American victory in January 1815, and thereafter Humbert lived peacefully as a schoolteacher until his death.


Commemoration

In 1989, sculptor Carmel Gallagher unveiled a bust of General Humbert in
Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is a Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a number of ancient ...
, Ireland, to mark the upcoming bicentennial of the
1798 Rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...
.


Notes


References

* Thomas Bartlett, 'Général Humbert takes his leave', in Cathair na Mart'', xi (1991) 98-104. * Marie-Louise Jacotey, ''Un Volontaire de 1792 Le Général Humbert ou la passion de la Liberté'' (Mirecourt, 1980). * Sylvie Kleinman, Entry, 'Jean-Joseph Amable Humbert (1767–1823), ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (Royal Irish Academy/Cambridge University Press, 2009).


External links

* Author and historian Stephen Dunford discusses his book and documentary " In Humbert's Footsteps" a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humbert, Jean Joseph Amable 1767 births 1823 deaths People from Remiremont French generals Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars People of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 French emigrants to the United States 1798 French campaign in Ireland