Divisional-General 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 corps ...

Charles Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc (17 March 1772 – 2 November 1802) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

officer who served in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. He was the husband of

Pauline Bonaparte Paula Maria Bonaparte Leclerc Borghese (, ; 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 consort of Sulmona and Rossano. She was th ...

, the younger sister of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. In 1801, Leclerc was appointed commander of the

Saint-Domingue expedition The Saint-Domingue expedition was a large French military invasion sent by Napoleon Bonaparte, then French Consulate, First Consul, under his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc (general, born 1772), Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc in an attempt to ...

with the goal of restoring French rule and slavery in the colony of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

and deposing Governor-General

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, Louvertu ...

. The expedition defeated Louverture's army and deported him to France, but Leclerc died of yellow fever after the colony's Black population revolted against French rule.

Early life

Charles Leclerc was born on 17 March 1772 in

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune north of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official (capital) of the Val-d'Oise '' département'', although in reality the ' ...

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

. In 1791, he volunteered to join the

French Royal Army The French Royal Army () 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 from 1792 to 1814 and another du ...

, serving as a second lieutenant in the 12th Regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval before becoming an aide-de-camp to

Jean François Cornu de La Poype Jean François Cornu de La Poype (; 31 May 1758 – 27 January 1851) was a French military leader. He was born in Lyon, to a noble, military family. French Revolutionary Wars Under the ancien regime he joined the army at a young age and recei ...

. Leclerc remained loyal to the

French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted un ...

which replaced the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

and was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, serving as the

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of a

French Revolutionary Army The French Revolutionary Army () was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. In the beginning, the French armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment and their great nu ...

division during the

siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

in 1793, where he met

for the first time. Following the capture of Toulon, he served in the

Army of the Rhine An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and fought in the

Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars The Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1801) were a series of conflicts fought principally in Northern Italy between the French Revolutionary Army and a Coalition of Austria, Russia, Piedmont-Sardinia, and a number o ...

, participating in the battles of Castiglione and Rivoli and rising to the rank of brigade general by 1797. Leclerc was subsequently ordered to bring news of the

Peace of Leoben The Peace of Leoben was a general armistice and preliminary peace agreement between the Holy Roman Empire and the First French Republic that ended the War of the First Coalition. It was signed at Eggenwaldsches Gartenhaus, near Leoben, on 18 Apri ...

to the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Napoleon's sister

, who had a large number of suitors, was pressing him to have her married off to a man of his choosing. Upon Leclerc's return to Paris, he accepted Napoleon's offer to marry Pauline. The couple would go on to have one child, Dermide Leclerc, and resided in the Château de Montgobert. Leclerc was later appointed as

under

Louis-Alexandre Berthier Louis-Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel et Valangin, prince de Wagram (; 20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815) was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minister of Wa ...

and

Guillaume Brune Guillaume Brune, 1st Count Brune (, 13 March 1764 – 2 August 1815) was a French military commander, Marshal of the Empire, and political figure who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Brune was b ...

, participating in the second French expedition to Ireland led by

Jean Joseph Amable Humbert General 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, ...

in 1798. After Napoleon returned from the

French invasion of Egypt and Syria The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine East India Company, British trade routes, expand French colonial ...

, he promoted Leclerc to the rank of

divisional general 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 corps ...

and sent him back to the Army of the Rhine, then under

Jean Victor Marie Moreau Jean Victor Marie Moreau (, 14 February 1763 – 2 September 1813) was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte rise to power, but later became his chief military and political rival and was banished to the United States. He is among the f ...

's command. He subsequently participated in the

Coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup of 18 Brumaire () brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of the French First Republic. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and would soon lead to the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the Fr ...

on 9 November 1799 which made Napoleon the

First Consul The Consulate () was the top-level government of the First French Republic from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the French Empire on 18 May 1804. During this period, Napoleon Bonap ...

of France. During the coup, supported by

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

, Leclerc ordered a detachment of

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...

s to march into the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred () was the lower house of the legislature of the French First Republic under the Constitution of the Year III. It operated from 31 October 1795 to 9 November 1799 during the French Directory, Directory () period of t ...

. He later fought in the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

, including at the

battle of Hohenlinden The Battle of Hohenlinden was fought on 3 December 1800 during the French Revolutionary Wars. A French First Republic, French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau won a decisive victory over an Habsburg monarchy, Austrian and Electorate of Bavar ...

, receiving the supreme command of the 17th, 18th, and 19th divisions of the French army. Leclerc was then appointed as commander-in-chief of a French army

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

that Napoleon planned to send to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to force the Portuguese government to renounce the

Anglo-Portuguese Alliance The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance (, "Luso-English Alliance") is the oldest alliance that is still in force by political bilateral agreement. It was established by the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, between the Kingdom of England (since succeeded ...

, though that expedition never took place.

Saint-Domingue

In 1791, enslaved Black people in the French colony of

(modern-day

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

) launched a

slave rebellion A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

which initiated the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...

. Two years later in August 1793, French commissioner

Léger-Félicité Sonthonax Léger-Félicité Sonthonax (7 March 1763 – 23 July 1813) was a French politician and colonial administrator. He was a Jacobin before joining the Girondins, which emerged in 1791. During the Haitian Revolution, he controlled 7,000 French troops ...

officially abolished slavery on Saint-Domingue as part of an effort to win over Haitians to the cause of the French First Republic. Prominent Haitian leader

, himself a former slave, joined the French Republicans shortly afterwards. By 1801, Louverture had consolidated his rule over the entire island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

. In July 1801, he promulgated a new constitution for Saint-Domingue which appointed himself as governor for life, while simultaneously reaffirming the colony's position as "part of the French empire." Upon receiving news from Saint-Domingue in October 1801, Napoleon interpreted Louverture's new constitution as an unacceptable offense to French colonial authority, and subsequently appointed Leclerc as the commander of a military expedition to restore France's authority in Saint-Domingue. In his initial instructions, Napoleon directed Leclerc to liquidate Louverture's government and deport his military officers to France, while publicly maintaining the abolition of slavery in Saint-Domingue. Napoleon announced his intentions to reinstate slavery in the neighbouring

Captaincy General of Santo Domingo The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo ( ) was the first Captaincy in the New World, established by Spain in 1492 on the island of Hispaniola. The Captaincy, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, was granted administra ...

, which Louverture's forces had recently occupied. Secretly, Napoleon planned to reinstate slavery in Saint-Domingue once Louverture had been detained by French troops. Leclerc left

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port, port city in the Finistère department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an impor ...

in December 1801 at the head of a

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

fleet transporting 40,000 troops, publicly repeating Bonaparte's promise that "all of the people of Saint-Domingue are French" and would remain forever free. Louverture's harsh discipline had made him numerous enemies, and Leclerc played off the ambitions of Louverture's officers and competitors against each other, promising them that they would maintain their ranks in the French army and convincing them to abandon Louverture. The French won several victories against Haitian forces and regained control of Saint-Domingue in three months after fierce fighting, with Louverture forced to negotiate a surrender with Leclerc which resulted in him being placed under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

in his

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s. However, Napoleon had given secret instructions to Leclerc to arrest Louverture, which he did during a meeting before deporting him to France, where Louverture died in 1803 while imprisoned at Fort de Joux in the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

. Despite his superiors' warnings, Leclerc did not consolidate his victory by disarming Louverture's officers and troops. After a brief period in which he incorporated many of Louverture's officers into his own army, Haitians in Leclerc's forces began to desert during the second half of 1802. These desertions, along with uprisings by Haitians against French rule, occurred in response to news that slavery had been reestablished in the nearby French colony of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

. The prospect of a similar restoration of slavery in Saint-Domingue swung the tide inexorably against French hopes of reimposing control, as Leclerc began summarily executing suspected conspirators en masse. By October 1802, Leclerc wrote a letter to Napoleon advocating for a

war of annihilation A war of annihilation () or war of extermination is a type of war in which the goal is the complete annihilation of a state, a people or an ethnic minority through genocide or through the destruction of their livelihood. The goal can be outwar ...

, declaring that "We must destroy all the blacks of the mountains – men and women – and spare only children under 12 years of age. We must destroy half of those in the plains and must not leave a single colored person in the colony who has worn an epaulette." He also lamented his assignment in the letter, declaring "My soul is withered, and no joyful thought can ever make forget these hideous scenes." In the meantime, more Black officers defected from Leclerc's army, including

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

Alexandre Pétion Alexandre Sabès Pétion (; 2 April 1770 – 29 March 1818) was the first president of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death in 1818. One of Haiti's founding fathers, Pétion belonged to the revolutionary quartet that also includes ...

and

Henri Christophe Henri Christophe (; 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Born in the British West Indies, British Caribbean, Christophe was possibly of Senegambian descent ...

. After Christophe massacred several hundred

Polish soldiers Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Port-de-Paix Port-de-Paix (; or ; meaning "Port of Peace") is a List of communes of Haiti, commune and the capital of the Nord-Ouest (department), Nord-Ouest Departments of Haiti, department of Haiti on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of 462,000 (201 ...

following his defection, Leclerc ordered the arrest of all remaining Black troops in French service in Le Cap, executing 1,000 of them by tying sacks of flour to their necks and pushing them off the side of ships.

Death and legacy

In November 1802, Leclerc died of yellow fever, which had already decimated his army. Pauline returned to Europe, where she later married the Italian nobleman Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona. Leclerc was succeeded in his command by

Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau Divisional-General Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau (7 April 1755 – 20 October 1813) was a French Army officer and colonial administrator who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary and Napoleoni ...

, whose similarly brutal tactics drove more Haitians to resist the French. On 18 November 1803,

François Capois François Capois (1766 – 8 October 1806) was a Haitian rebel and army officer who fought in the Haitian Revolution. He was born in Port-de-Paix, Saint-Domingue on the island of Hispaniola, on the plantation of Laveaux/Lapointe. His name wa ...

defeated Rochambeau's army in the

Battle of Vertières The Battle of Vertières ( French: ''Bataille de Vertières''; Haitian Creole: ''Batay Vètyè'') was the last major battle of the Saint-Domingue expedition and the final phase of the Haitian Revolution. It was fought on 18 November 1803 betwee ...

. Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Saint-Domingue as

on 1 January 1804. In the meantime, Leclerc's body had been transported to France by Pauline and buried on one of his estates. A statue at

depicts Leclerc in his French army uniform, his scabbard touching the earth. It was placed by

Louis Nicolas Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (; 10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and t ...

and his second wife Louise-Aimée-Julie at the top of a staircase built in 1869 by François Lemot. Around three metres high, the statue is on a square stone pedestal inscribed with information on him in gold

majuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally '' majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing syste ...

letters. It adjoins the south side of the Pontoise Cathedral. There is also a statue of him by Jean Guillaume Moitte in the Pantheon de Paris, and another statue of Leclerc fully nude at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

which was sculpted by Charles Dupaty.Object number MV 1593, found at https://collections.chateauversailles.fr/?lng=gb

References

Bibliography

*Girard, Philippe R. "Liberte, Egalite, Esclavage : French Revolutionary Ideals and the Failure of the Leclerc Expedition to Saint-Domingue," ''French Colonial History,'' Volume 6, 2005, pp. 55–77

External links

Bob Corbett's Haiti Page
– Online collection of resources on the revolution in Haiti. See especially links to the

Mailing List and Corbett's essays on the revolutionary period. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leclerc, Charles 1772 births 1802 deaths French generals French mass murderers French Republican military leaders killed in the French Revolutionary Wars French war criminals Genocide perpetrators Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe People of the Haitian Revolution People from Pontoise Deaths from yellow fever Infectious disease deaths in Haiti Governors of Saint-Domingue 1800s in Guadeloupe 18th-century French military personnel