Jean Baptiste Brunet (7 July 1763 – 21 September 1824) was a French

general of 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 corp ...

in the

French Revolutionary Army The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment ...

. He was responsible for the arrest of

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...

. He was promoted to command a light infantry

demi-brigade A ''demi-brigade'' ( en, Half-brigade) is a military formation used by the French Army since the French Revolutionary Wars. The ''Demi-brigade'' amalgamated the various infantry organizations of the French Revolutionary infantry into a single ...

at the

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 1794. He led the unit in

François Joseph Lefebvre François Joseph Lefebvre ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820), Duc de Dantzig, was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon. E ...

's division in the 1795, 1796 and 1799 campaigns. He was the son of French general

Gaspard Jean-Baptiste Brunet Gaspard Jean-Baptiste Brunet (14 June 1734 – 15 November 1793) commanded the French '' Army of Italy'' during the French Revolutionary Wars and was executed during the Reign of Terror. Despite this fate his son Jean Baptiste Brunet also became a ...

who was

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 ...

d in 1793.

Career

Brunet became

Chef de brigade Chef de brigade was a military rank in the French Royal Artillery and in the revolutionary French armies. Before the revolution ''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to major in the French Royal Corps of Artillery. Each regiment of artillery was div ...

(

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

) of the 13th Light Infantry

Demi-brigade A ''demi-brigade'' ( en, Half-brigade) is a military formation used by the French Army since the French Revolutionary Wars. The ''Demi-brigade'' amalgamated the various infantry organizations of the French Revolutionary infantry into a single ...

on 26 June 1794. This was the same day as the Battle of Fleurus where the 13th Light fought in

's division. He was still the commanding officer when this unit became the 25th Light Infantry Demi-brigade on 1 July 1796.Broughton gave a date of 1 July 1795. This is probably a typo because he also stated the 25th Light was not renumbered until 1796. The 13th Light was in Lefebvre's Advance Guard on 1 October during the Rhine Campaign of 1795. The 25th Light fought under Lefebvre at the time of 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's ...

on 3 September in the Rhine Campaign of 1796. Still in Lefebvre's division, the 25th Light fought at the

Battle of Ostrach The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first non-Italy-based battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of ...

on 21 March 1799 and the Battle of Stockach on 25 March. The 25th Light was in the 3rd Division at the

First Battle of Zurich The First Battle of Zurich, from 4 to 7 June 1799, forced French General André Masséna to yield the city of Zurich to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles, and to retreat beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions, whi ...

on 4 June 1799. Brunet was promoted

general of brigade 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 to ...

on 10 June 1799. He led a brigade in

Édouard Mortier Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne (1 ...

's 4th Division 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 ...

on 25–26 September 1799. The division consisted of the 50th, 53rd, 100th and 108th Line Infantry Demi-brigades, the 1st Dragoons and the 8th Chasseurs à Cheval. He assumed the rank of

on 7 June 1802.

Arrest of Toussaint Louverture

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 ma ...

originally asked

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under the Constitution of Haiti, 1 ...

to arrest Louverture, but he declined. The task then fell to Brunet. However accounts differ as regards how he accomplished this. One account has it that Brunet pretended that he planned to settle in

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...

and asked for Toussaint's advice about plantation management. Louverture's memoirs however suggest that Brunet's troops had been provocative, leading Louverture to seek a discussion with him. Embarrassed about his trickery, Brunet absented himself during the arrest. He was captured by the British and not released until 1814.

Notes

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References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunet, Jean Baptiste French generals People of the Haitian Revolution French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Military personnel from Reims 1763 births 1824 deaths