Jean Pierre Travot (; 7 January 1767, in

Poligny, Jura Poligny () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. The town stands at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura region, with limestone cliffs rising to its east and south, and a steephead valley lead ...

– 7 January 1836) was a French general and nobleman, the son of Philibert Travot and Catherine Guodefin.

Life

In 1791 Jean-Pierre Travot was already a lieutenant-colonel in the volunteers battalion of Jura. Becoming adjutant general, he fought with distinction in the

War in the Vendée The war in the Vendée (french: link=no, Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the river Loir ...

under general Hoche. After the defeat of Charette, a series of columns were sent to subdue the territory, with Travot receiving the command of one of them. One of his main feats in that role was his capture of Charette on 23 March 1796 at la Chabotterie, a success that led to his promotion to general. He remained in the Vendée until 1802, where the local authorities appreciated him and regretted his departure. The municipal council of Sables-d'Olonne even went as far as protesting "against his displacement" to

Louis Alexandre Berthier Louis-Alexandre Berthier (20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815), Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram, was a French Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minister ...

, the Minister for War. He was admitted to the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1803. He returned to the Vendée in 1807, when he was entrusted with the command of troops newly based in

La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is ''Yonnais''. History The town expanded significantly after Na ...

, renamed Napoléon as a completely new prefecture within the department. At the end of 1807, he led a division in the Invasion of Portugal under the command of Jean-Andoche Junot. After this expedition he exercised various territorial commands in France before returning to the Iberian Peninsula in 1812 at the head of the 2nd division of the Armée des Pyrénées. In 1813 he became a Baron of the Empire and then in 1814, during the French army's retreat from Spain, he took part in the Battle of Toulouse under Marshal Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, in which

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

's Anglo-Iberian force forced the French to withdraw despite a strong resistance. On

Napoleon 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 ...

's fall general Travot remained in the army under the Bourbon Restoration, despite being a republican, but rallied to Napoleon on his return at the start of the Hundred Days. Napoleon made him a Peer of France and sent him to the Vendée to put down Royalist military uprising against him. On 16 May 1815 the English landed arms at Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie and in the following days, after a series of confrontations, Travot managed to confiscate most of them. However, it was above all Travot's victory at Rocheservière on 21 June 1815 that hampered the royalists' organisation. The campaign gained him general recognition, especially for stopping the massacres at Aiguillon. Travot enjoyed being in the Vendée and even bought an estate in les Mauges during 1815, but he suffered after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, the re-imposition of the Bourbon monarchy and the Royalist backlash in the Vendée in 1816. He came before a council of war presided over by one of his enemies, Simon Canuel, who had fought with the Republicans before switching sides to the Royalists (even joining the Vendéen insurgents Travot had been charged with beating during the Hundred Days). In these circumstances Travot's trial was hardly going to be balanced and Canuel was particularly biased, even going so far as to accuse Travot's defence counsels of lèse majesté. The trial ended in Travot being condemned to death, later commuted to 20 years in prison. Profoundly affected by his imprisonment, he went mad and died in an asylum in 1836. Travot was called "virtuous" in Napoleon's will, his name is inscribed on the Arc de triomphe, statues were set up to him in PolignyRemoved by the German occupiers in 1942 and replaced with a work by Jobin on 4 November 1990 on the bicentenary of the French Revolution. and

la Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is ''Yonnais''. History The town expanded significantly after Na ...

, and a plaque was placed on his birthplace (in a street now named rue Travot after him).

Life

Notes and references

Further reading