Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy (17 May 1749, in Bouvigny-Boyeffles – 17 June 1795, in Paris) was a French revolutionary.

Life

The son of a farmer, he served time as a private in the

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

s then (at the start of the French Revolution) moved to farming and raising his large family. He was elected a

député The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for the

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

to the Assemblée législative, then to the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

. At the trial of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

he voted for death without appeal to the people, not for the sentence, and forced his colleague Bollet to vote the same by threats. He took on many missions to the Nord and was absent during the struggle between the

Montagnards Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to: *Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s) **Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of the ...

and

Girondist The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...

s. He was sent to

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

with

Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. His military refor ...

and fought with courage at the

Battle of Wattignies The Battle of Wattignies (15–16 October 1793) saw a French army commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan attack a Coalition army directed by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After two days of combat Jourdan's troops compelled the Habsburg c ...

, where he charged the enemy at the head of his troops. He was very severe with incompetent generals, notably dismissing Jean Nestor de Chancel and Jean-Baptiste Davaine who were both executed. Denounced by Hébert for allegedly impeding army operations of

Jourdan Jourdan may refer to: *Adolphe Jourdan, French painter (1825-1889) *Camila Jourdan, Brazilian philosopher *Carolyn Jourdan, American author *Claude Jourdan (1803–1873), French zoologist and paleontologist *David W. Jourdan, businessman *Jean-Bapt ...

and taking advantage of his position to put his brother at the head of the army, he was rescued by

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

and had no difficulty proving his innocence. He warmly defended

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (; 29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I i ...

before the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety () was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General D ...

and probably saved him from the

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

. Sent back to the Nord, then to

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

, according to his colleague

Nicolas Hentz Nicholas Charles Arnould Hentz (5 June 1753, Metz, France – after 1 July 1830, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a French revolutionary and politician. After fleeing France in 1815, he assumed the name Charles Arnould. Early life Coming fro ...

, Duquesnoy forgot his dignity as a representative and behaved with an insupportable despotism. Recalled to

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 ...

on 10 August 1794, he succeeded in excluding

Jean-Lambert Tallien Jean-Lambert Tallien (, 23 January 1767 – 16 November 1820) was a French politician of the revolutionary period. Though initially an active agent of the Reign of Terror, he eventually clashed with its leader, Maximilien Robespierre, and is bes ...

from the club des Jacobins and having Armand-Joseph Guffroy beaten before Carnot. Guffroy complained to the

Committee of General Security The Committee of General Security () was a parliamentary committee of the French National Convention which acted as police agency during the French Revolution. Established as a committee of the Convention in October 1792, it was designed to protec ...

and, accused of being one of the leaders of the insurrection of 1 prairial an III (20 May 1795), Duquesnoy was condemned to death despite his friends' depositions. However, he succeeded in committing suicide by pistol in the condemned prisoners' bathroom, writing to his wife after his sentence "You know my heart, it was always pure. I die worthy of you and of my country for whose safety and for whose revolutionary principles I have never ceased to fight".

References

1749 births 1795 deaths Représentants en mission {{France-politician-stub