Jean-Charles Pichegru

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Jean-Charles Pichegru
Kingdom of the French
 French First Republic
Years of service1783–1797
RankDivisional general
Battles/warsFrench Revolutionary Wars

Jean-Charles Pichegru (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ʃaʁlə piʃˈɡʁy], 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to his loss of power and imprisonment in Cayenne, French Guiana during the Coup of 18 Fructidor in 1797. After escaping into exile in London and joining the staff of Alexander Korsakov, he returned to France and planned the Pichegru Conspiracy to remove Napoleon from power, which led to his arrest and death. Despite his defection, his surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.

Early life and career

Pichegru was born in a peasant family at

Napoleon Bonaparte. 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

department of the Gard marched through the city, he was elected lieutenant colonel
.

Rhine front

The fine condition of his regiment was noticed in the

général de brigade
.

In 1793,

général de division
and commander of the Division of the Upper Rhine.

Appointed commander-in-chief of the

Second Battle of Wissembourg, Pichegru was placed under the command of Hoche, who proved to be a difficult superior. Nevertheless, the French again won the battle, compelling Wurmser to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine and the Prussian army to withdraw toward Mainz
.

Northern front

In December 1793, Hoche was arrested, probably owing to his colleague's denunciations, and Pichegru became commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle. He was summoned to succeed Jourdan in the Army of the North in February 1794, subsequently fighting three major campaigns within the year. The forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and Habsburg Austria held a strong position along the Sambre to the North Sea.

After attempting to break the Austrian centre, Pichegru suddenly turned their left, and defeated the

Army of Sambre-et-Meuse, withstood Austrian attacks in the battle of Fleurus (27 June 1794), which eventually led to Allied evacuation of the Low Countries
.

Temperature during the winter campaign in The Netherlands 1794/1795

Pichegru began his second campaign by crossing the

Hollandic Water Line, arrived in Amsterdam on 20 January, after the Batavian Revolution had taken place. The French occupied the rest of the Dutch Republic
in the next month.

This major victory was marked by unique episodes, such as the Capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder by 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.[1]

Thermidor and Directory

Although a former associate of

insurrection against the Convention on 12 Germinal (1 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.[1]

Going over to the Royalists

Although he was at the height of his fame as general, Pichegru allowed his colleague Jourdan to be defeated, betrayed all his plans to the enemy, and took part in organizing a

King of France. The plans were suspected, and, when he offered his resignation to the Directory in October 1795, it was 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.[1]

Coup attempts and death

"The Death of Pichegru" (painting by Georges Moreau de Tours, 1891).

Pichegru planned a coup d'état but was arrested during the anti-royalist Coup of 18 Fructidor and with fourteen others was deported to Cayenne, French Guiana, in 1797.[1] He and seven others escaped and fled to Paramaribo. The gouverneur De Friderici allowed them to get on board a ship to the United States.[2] Shortly thereafter, he went to London, where he joined other French émigrés. There, he served on General Aleksandr Rimsky-Korsakov's staff in the campaign of 1799.

Pichegru went to Paris in August 1803 with Georges Cadoudal to head a royalist uprising against the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte. Betrayed by a friend, Pichegru was arrested on 28 February 1804, and was later found strangled in prison on the morning of April 6. The government reported that he had committed suicide, but Napoleon has often been blamed for orchestrating the murder.[3][4] However, there is little evidence that Napoleon was involved. His supporters often argue that Napoleon had nothing to gain from having Pichegru murdered, especially after the execution of d'Enghien, which infuriated royalty across Europe. [5]

Pichegru was buried in the cimetière Sainte-Catherine, a Paris cemetery with its entrance in the former rue de Fer, and which was closed in 1824.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911.
  2. .
  3. ^ Scott, Sir Walter (1827). The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French. Vol. 2. New York: J. & J. Harper. pp. 49–50.
  4. ^ "Pichegru".
  5. ^ Roberts, Andrew (2014). Napoleon: A Life. Penguin. p. 419.

Sources