Everything about Pichegru totally explained
Jean-Charles Pichegru (
February 16,
1761—
April 5,
1804) was a
French general and political figure of the
French Revolution and
Revolutionary Wars.
Early life and career
Born at
Arbois (or, according to
Charles Nodier, at Les Planches, near
Lons-le-Saulnier), he was the son of a peasant. The
friars of Arbois were entrusted with his education, and sent him to the
military school of
Brienne-le-Château. In
1783 he entered the 1st
regiment of
artillery, where he rapidly rose to the rank of
Adjutant-
Second Lieutenant, and briefly served in the
American Revolutionary War.
When the Revolution erupted in
1789, he became leader of the
Jacobin Club in
Besançon, and, when a regiment of volunteers of the
départment of the
Gard marched through the city, he was elected
Lieutenant Colonel.
Rhine front
The fine condition of his regiment was noticed in the
French Revolutionary Army section of the
Rhine, and his organizing ability got him appointed in the headquarters, and then promoted
Général de brigade.
In
1793 Lazare Carnot and
Louis de Saint-Just were sent to find
roturier (non-
aristocratic) generals who could prove successful (
see: ). Carnot discovered
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and Saint-Just discovered
Louis Lazare Hoche and Pichegru. In co-operation with Hoche and the army of the
Moselle, Pichegru, as
Général de division and in command of the army of the Rhine, had to reconquer
Alsace and to reorganize the defeated troops of the
French Republic. They succeeded, as Pichegru made use of the
morale of his soldiers to win numerous
skirmishes, and Hoche forced the lines at
Haguenau and relieved
Landau.
Northern front
In December 1793 Hoche was arrested, probably owing to his colleague's denounciations, and Pichegru became
commander-in-chief of the army of the Rhine-and-Moselle, and then he was summoned to succeed Jourdan in the army of the North in February 1794, subsequently fighting three major campaigns of one year (
see: ). The forces of the
Kingdom of Great Britain and
Habsburg Austria held a strong position along the
Sambre to the
North Sea.
After attempting to break the Austrian center, Pichegru suddenly turned their left, and defeated the
Count of Clerfayt at
Cassel,
Menen and
Kortrijk, while
Jean Victor Moreau, his second-in-command, defeated
Prince Josias of Coburg in the
battle of Tourcoing in May 1794. After a pause, during which Pichegru feigned a
siege of
Ypres, he again attacked Clerfayt, and defeated him at
Rousselaer and
Hooglede, while Jourdan came up with the new army of the Sambre-and-
Meuse, and routed the Austrians in the
battle of Fleurus (
June 27,
1794).
Pichegru began his second campaign by crossing the Meuse on
October 18, and, after taking
Nijmegen, drove the Austrians beyond the Rhine. Then, instead of going into winter quarters, he prepared his army for a winter campaign. On
December 28 he crossed the Meuse on the ice, and stormed the island of Bommel, then crossed the
Waal, and, driving the British out, entered
Utrecht on
January 19, and
Amsterdam on
January 20, and soon occupied the whole of the
Netherlands.
This major victory was marked by unique episodes, such as the capture of the
Dutch fleet, which was frozen in
Den Helder, by the French
hussars, and exceptional discipline of the French battalions in Amsterdam, who, although faced with the opportunity of plundering the richest city in Europe, showed self-restraint.
Thermidor and Directory
Although a former associate of Saint-Just, Pichegru offered his services to the
Thermidorian Reaction, and, after having received the title of
Sauveur de la Patrie ("Saviour of the Motherland") from the
National Convention, subdued the
sans-culottes of
Paris, when they rose in insurrection against the Convention on
12 Germinal (
April 1).
Pichegru then took command of the armies of the North, the Sambre-and-Meuse, and the Rhine, and, crossing the Rhine in force, took
Mannheim in May 1795. Although he'd become a hero of the Revolution, he allowed his colleague Jourdan to be defeated, betrayed all his plans to the enemy, and took part in organizing a
conspiracy for the return and crowning of
Louis XVIII as
King of France. The plans were suspected, and, when he offered his resignation to the
Directory in October 1795, it promptly accepted (much to his surprise). He retired in disgrace, but secured his election to the
Council of Five Hundred in May
1797 as a leader of the
Royalists.
Coup attempts and death
He planned a
coup d'état known as the
18 Fructidor, but was arrested, and with fourteen others deported to
Cayenne,
French Guiana, in 1797. He escaped and fled to
London in 1798, serving on General
Aleksandr Rimsky-Korsakov's staff in the .
He went to Paris in August
1803 with
Georges Cadoudal to head a Royalist rising against the
First Consul,
Napoleon Bonaparte. Betrayed by a friend, he was arrested on
February 28,
1804, and was later found strangled in prison. It has often been asserted that he was murdered by the orders of Bonaparte, but there's no foundation for the story.
Further Information
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