Amédée Despans-Cubières

Amédée Despans-Cubières
Général de division
Battles/wars	Napoleonic Wars Battle of Austerlitz Battle of Jena (WIA ) Battle of Eylau Battle of Eckmühl Battle of Aspern-Essling Battle of Wagram Battle of Borodino Hundred Days Battle of Quatre-Bras (WIA ) Battle of Waterloo (WIA) Spanish expedition Morea expedition
Awards	Peer of France Order of the Redeemer
Other work	Minister of War

General Amédée Louis de Cubières (4 March 1786, Paris – 6 August 1853, Paris), known as Despans-Cubières, was a French general and politician.

Life

Youth

He was the illegitimate son of marquis

" raised by the state at the former abbey of Saint-Martin, before being welcomed into the Jordan family. In 1803, at the request of his mother Madame de Bonneuil, he was adopted by his father and took his name.

First Empire

Placed in the

(1807).

Aide-de-camp to

of the 18th Light Infantry Regiment. Also in 1813 he married the novelist Aglaé Buffaut, daughter of his own half-sister Marie-Michelle Guesnon de Bonneuil, at first vicomtesse du Bouzet de Marin then Madame Philippe Buffaut.

On Napoleon's return from Elba in 1815, colonel de Cubières was made colonel à la suite to the 1st Light Infantry Regiment, of which the titular colonel was

and at Mont-Saint-Jean.

Bourbon Restoration

According to Jolyet, Cubières was "the most valiant soldier and the best man-of-war that I have known. With this [he brought] a remarkable beauty, a brilliant spirit, [and] a generous and independent love". One of the army's staff writing reports for the army dismissals after the Hundred Days stated that he had "an agreeable physique, [was] very instructive, an excellent colonel, [who] served with zeal and loyalty, excellent conduct" and decided that he was to be kept on in the Bourbon army. Despite that praise he lost his commission after the Hundred Days, but his father's influence at court allowed him to obtain the general receipt of the Meuse département and the cross of the Order of Saint Louis (1820). He returned to the army for the Spanish Expedition of 1823, and was put at the head of the 27th Regiment of Line Infantry. He also went on the Morea expedition with his regiment and received the brevet of maréchal de camp (27 February 1829).

July Monarchy

Promoted to commander of the Légion d’honneur (21 March 1831), he was made commander-in-chief of the French troops landed at

on 7 November 1839, he took part in the discussions of the Chambre des pairs on taxes and roads before being raised to grand officer of the Légion d’honneur on 27 April 1840.

The Teste-Cubières scandal

After leaving the army, general Despans-Cubières was compromised in the Teste-Cubières affair, one of the worst scandals of the

and it demanded that it be given the concession to mine this, but was refused. Despite this, the business started extracting and selling the salt. One of its associates, Parmentier, was imprisoned and fined 500 francs and the salt mine was closed on 5 February 1835.

On 24 April 1841, the business again demanded the salt concession. General Despans-Cubières proposed to buy the authorisation demanded from the minister for public works, Jean-Baptiste Teste, and in an 1842 letter to his associates indicated "There is no hesitation on the means by which we should create a supporter within the council [of ministers]. I have the means of arriving at this supporter, and it is up to you to provide the means of interesting him [...] Do not forget that the government is in the hands of greedy and corrupt men." Teste accepted a bribe of 94,000 francs from the company. In the meantime, the 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo was published - according to Librairie Générale Française (1995), its character of Fernand Mondego was inspired by general Despans-Cubières.

The affair came to light in May 1847 during the trial of the associates of the mining company before the Seine civil tribunal. The company director, Parmentier, submitted in his defence several pieces of correspondence from general Despans-Cubières evoking bribery. The affair received massive publicity and the scandal echoed throughout government. The king decided to move the case to be tried before the Chambre des pairs.

on 1 January 1853, he died a few months later.

Notes

Sources

• (in French) Adolphe Robert and Gaston Cougny, Dictionnaire des Parlementaires français, Paris, Dourloton, 1889

External links

• Biography on www.1789-1815.com

Political offices
Preceded by Simon Bernard	Minister of War 31 March 1839 - 12 May 1839	Succeeded by Antoine Virgile Schneider
Preceded by Antoine Virgile Schneider	Minister of War 1 March 1840 - 29 October 1840	Succeeded by Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, duc de Dalmatie