Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de Ghaisnes de Bourmont (2 September 1773 – 27 October 1846) was a French general, diplomat and statesman who was named

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

in 1830. A lifelong royalist, he emigrated from France soon after the outbreak 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 conside ...

and fought with the counter-revolutionary

Army of Condé The Army of Condé (french: Armée de Condé) was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had been formed by the Comte ...

for two years, then joined the insurrection in France for three more years before going into exile. He was arrested after assisting the Georges Cadoudal conspiracy, but escaped to Portugal. In 1807 he took advantage of an amnesty to rejoin the French army and served in several campaigns until 1814. He rose in rank to become a general of division. During this period, he was suspected of being an agent of the Comte d'Artois and passing information to France's enemies. Though he was notoriously anti-

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 wh ...

and many officers did not trust him, he was employed again 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 restoratio ...

. Immediately after the campaign began, he deserted to the Prussian army with Napoleon's plans. King

Louis XVIII of France 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 ...

gave him a command in the Spanish expedition of 1823. Promoted to Marshal of France, he was put in command of the

Invasion of Algiers in 1830 The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers. Algiers was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1529 after the capture of Algie ...

. However, after the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first in 1789. It led to ...

, he refused to recognize King

Louis-Philippe of France Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

and was sacked. After being involved in a plot against the new government, he fled to Portugal in 1832. He led the army of Dom Miguel in the

Liberal Wars The Liberal Wars (), also known as the Portuguese Civil War (), the War of the Two Brothers () or Miguelite War (), was a war between liberal constitutionalists and conservative absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 18 ...

, and when the liberals won, he fled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He accepted another amnesty, this time in 1840, and died in France six years later.

Early career

On the eve of the

, Bourmont entered the

Gardes Françaises The French Guards (french: Régiment des Gardes françaises) were an elite infantry regiment of the French Royal Army. They formed a constituent part of the Maison militaire du roi de France ("Military Household of the King of France") under the ...

of the

French Royal Army The French Royal Army (french: Armée Royale Française) was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon Dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude ...

but he emigrated in 1789. Bourmont served in

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...

royalist army in the campaigns of 1792 and 1793. Then he served as chief of staff in the civil war in lower Anjou from 1794 to 1796. After fleeing to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1796, he took part in another insurrection from 1798-1800. He was arrested in 1801 because of involvement with Georges Cadoudal, but three years later he managed to escape to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. When Junot invaded

in 1807, Bourmont offered him his services and was employed as chief of staff of a division. Arrested when re-entering France in 1809, he was released upon the intercession of Junot and employed in the Imperial army. He served in Italy and on the staff of

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second ma ...

during the

Russian campaign The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

of 1812. Taken prisoner during the retreat from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, he managed to escape and rejoin the French army. After the Battle of Lützen in 1813 he was promoted to general of brigade, he took part in the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

and in 1814 he was promoted to general of division for defending

Nogent-sur-Seine Nogent-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. The headquarters of The Soufflet Group is located here, as is the Musée Camille Claudel. The large Nogent Nuclear Power Plant is located here. Population Pe ...

. After the fall of Napoleon, Bourmont rallied to the Bourbons. During the

, the government of

frantically tried to stop Napoleon's march on Paris. Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one o ...

was ordered to report to

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

where he was to receive his orders from Bourmont. It irritated the proud Ney, Prince of the Moskva, to take instructions from such a junior general, so he demanded to see the king. During his interview with Louis, Ney boasted to the king that he would bring back the ex-emperor in an iron cage. By the time Ney arrived in Besançon, he found that the royalist position was rapidly deteriorating and that Bourmont's assignment was to spy on him. On 11 March 1815, Ney told Bourmont that he was going over to Napoleon's camp. Shortly afterward, the Bourbon cause collapsed and Louis fled to Belgium, followed by hundreds of royalists. According to historian David Hamilton-Williams, the Comte d'Artois asked Bourmont to remain a royalist agent, so he requested to continue in command. The new Minister of War, Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout refused to employ Bourmont, writing to Napoleon, "I cannot sit idly and watch this officer wear the uniform of this country; his treasonous statements concerning the Emperor are well known to all; the brigade and regimental commanders of the 14th Infantry Division despise him. Who would trust such a man?" Nevertheless,

Étienne Maurice Gérard Étienne Maurice Gérard, 1st Comte Gérard (4 April 177317 April 1852) was a French general, statesman and Marshal of France. He served under a succession of French governments including the ''ancien regime'' monarchy, the Revolutionary govern ...

, leader of the IV Corps vouched for him so he retained his position.Hamilton-Williams, 155 On the morning of 15 June, as the French Army of the North advanced into Belgium, the 14th Division led the IV Corps column of march. Near

Florennes Florennes (; wa, Florene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 1 January 2006, Florennes has a total population of 10,754. The total area is 133.55 km² which gives a population density of 81 inhabita ...

, Bourmont halted his division. On the pretence of scouting ahead, he and his staff, rode ahead with a squadron of lancers. After gaining a suitable distance from French lines, he sent the lancers back with a letter for Gérard. In the missive, he explained that he was deserting but promised, "They will not get any information from me which will injure the French army, composed of men I love." He and his staff put the white Bourbon cockade on their hats and galloped for the nearest Prussian position. He immediately handed over Napoleon's operational plans to the Prussians. Gebhard von Blucher's chief of staff

August von Gneisenau August Wilhelm Antonius Graf Neidhardt von Gneisenau (27 October 176023 August 1831) was a Prussian field marshal. He was a prominent figure in the reform of the Prussian military and the War of Liberation. Early life Gneisenau was born at Schil ...

was pleased to receive this windfall. However, Blucher had no use for turncoats and called Bourmont a traitor to his face. When Gneisenau noted that Bourmont was wearing the white cockade, making them allies, Blucher screamed, "Cockade be damned! A dirty dog is always a dirty dog!" With Napoleon's orders in their hands, the Prussians were able to take the appropriate countermeasures to gather their army. Bourmont's defection enraged the French rank and file. Though their loyalty to Napoleon was absolute, they began to suspect treachery in their generals. Étienne Hulot, who became the acting division commander, was compelled to give a speech that pledged loyalty to Napoleon and the tricolor.Hamilton-Williams, 156

Bourbon Restoration

After the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

and Napoleon's fall, Bourmont gave evidence that led to Ney's execution. After the Second Restoration, he was given command of the 16th infantry division in

and took part in the Spanish campaign of 1823. King

Charles X of France Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and L ...

made him minister of war in 1829 and

in 1830. He was commanding the

, involving the

shipwreck of Dellys The Shipwreck of Dellys took place in May 1830, during the French conquest of Algeria. It involved French troupes coloniales, under captains Félix-Ariel d'Assigny (1794-1846) and Armand Joseph Bruat (1796-1855), who were captured by the resista ...

, when the

broke out in 1830. Bourmont refused to give his allegiance to the new

King Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

and was dismissed from service. In 1832 Marshal Bourmont took part in the rising of

Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de Berry Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Berry (Maria Carolina Ferdinanda Luise; 5 November 1798 – 16 April 1870) was an Italian princess of the House of Bourbon who married into the French royal family, and was the mother of Henri, ...

and on its failure fled to Portugal. He commanded the army of the absolutist monarch King Miguel during the

and after the victory of the constitutional party he retired to

. At the amnesty of 1840 he returned to France, where he died on 27 October 1846 at

Freigné Freigné () is a former commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Before 1 January 2018, it was part of the Maine-et-Loire department. On 1 January 2018, it was merged into the new commune of Vallons-de-l'Erdre Vallons-de-l' ...

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et ...

Notes

References

* Hamilton-Williams, David. ''Waterloo - New Perspectives: The Great Battle Reappraised''. NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghaisnes de Bourmont, Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de 1773 births 1846 deaths People from Maine-et-Loire Politicians from Pays de la Loire Legitimists French Ministers of War Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Counts of Ghaisnes de Bourmont Marshals of France French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars French counter-revolutionaries Field marshals of Portugal Politicians of the Bourbon Restoration