Louis Gustave le Doulcet, comte de Pontécoulant (17 November 1764 – 3 April 1853) was a French politician. He was the father of Louis Adolphe le Doulcet and Philippe Gustave le Doulcet.

Biography

Early life and National Convention

Born in Caen on the 1764, he began a military career with the '' Compagnie Écossaise'' of the ''Garde du corps du Roi'' in 1778, becoming lieutenant colonel in 1791. A moderate supporter 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, he was elected to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

for the '' départment'' of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...

in 1792, and became commissioner with 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 ...

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 France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

. He voted for the imprisonment of

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Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

during the war, and his banishment after the peace. He then attached himself to the

Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

s, voting in favor of Jean-Paul Marat's prosecution, and was consequently declared an ''

enemy of the people The term enemy of the people or enemy of the nation, is a designation for the political or class opponents of the subgroup in power within a larger group. The term implies that by opposing the ruling subgroup, the "enemies" in question are ac ...

'' in August 1793,. being pursued by the Reign of Terror and taking refuge to Switzerland. In July, Charlotte Corday, the assassin of Marat, asked Le Doulcet to defend her, but he did not receive in time her letter so Claude François Chauveau-Lagarde was appointed instead to assist her during the trial."N'ayant pu être représentée par le défenseur qu'elle s'était choisie; le député girondin Doulcet de Pontécoulant (il existe une hypothèse selon laquelle Fouquier-Tinville aurait fait en sorte qu'il soit averti trop tard), c'est l'avocat Claude-François Chauveau-Lagarde, présent à l'audience qui va être désigné par le président du Tribunal révolutionnaire pour assurer sa défense" . However, it is said that Corday thought that Le Doulcet refused to defend her and sent to him a last letter of reproach just before going to the scaffold.

Thermidor and Directory

He returned to the Thermidorian Convention on 8 March 1795, and was noted for his moderation, especially after defending Prieur de la Marne and Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet. President of the Convention in July 1795, he was for some months a member of the Council of Public Safety. Doulcet was subsequently elected to the French Directory's

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the ...

, but was suspected of

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

sympathies, and had to spend some time in retirement between anti-monarchist coup of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797) and the establishment of the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth c ...

(the

18 Brumaire coup The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' over ...

of 9 November 1799).

Empire and Restoration

Becoming senator of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

in 1805, and

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of the Empire in 1808, he organized the national guard in Franche-Comté in 1811, and the defence of the north-eastern frontier in 1813. During the 1814 Bourbon Restoration,

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 ...

made him a Peer of France, and although he received a similar honor from

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 ...

during the Hundred Days, he remained in the upper house after the return of the king. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, leaving memoirs and correspondence from which were extracted four volumes (1861–1865) of ''Souvenirs historiques et parlementaires, 1764-1848''.

Notes

References

* * * Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Doulcet, Louis-Gustave, Comte De Pontecoulant 1764 births 1853 deaths Politicians from Caen Girondins Counts of the First French Empire Counts of Pontécoulant Deputies to the French National Convention French memoirists French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Garde Écossaise officers Peers of France People on the Committee of Public Safety Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male writers