Louis Lebègue Duportail

Louis Lebègue Duportail
Louis Lebègue Duportail
	Louis XVI
Preceded by	Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Chief Engineer of the Continental Army
	In office; 22 July 1777 – 10 October 1783
Preceded by	Col. Rufus Putnam
Succeeded by	Lieut. Col. Stephen Rochefontaine (as Commandant of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers)
Personal details
Born	14 May 1743; Pithiviers, France
Died	12 August 1802 (aged 59)
Occupation	Military engineer; politician;
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of France; United States
Branch	French Army; Continental Army
Years of service	1765–1790
Rank	Major-General
Wars	American Revolutionary War

Louis Antoine Jean Le Bègue de Presle Duportail^[1]^[a] (French: [lwi ləbɛɡ dəpʁɛl dypɔʁtaj]; 14 May 1743 – 12 August 1802) was a French military leader who served as a volunteer and the Chief Engineer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He also served as the last Secretary of State for War and first Minister of War during the beginning of the French Revolution.

Early life and education

Louis Lebègue Duportail was born in 1743 at Pithiviers, France. He graduated from the royal engineer school at Mézières in 1765.

Military career

Promoted to

King Louis XVI of France. He was appointed colonel and chief engineer of the Continental Army, July 1777; brigadier general, November 17, 1777; commander, Corps of Engineers

, May 1779; and major general, November 16, 1781.

Duportail participated in fortifications planning from

Battle of Yorktown, site of the decisive Franco-American victory of the Revolutionary War. During the encampment at Valley Forge in late 1777 and early 1778, his headquarters was at Cressbrook Farm.^[2]

Returning to France in October 1783, Duportail became an infantry officer and in 1788 a Maréchal-de-Camp (brigadier general). He served as France's

Jacobins, he escaped to America and bought a farm near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

. He lived there until 1802, when he died at sea while attempting to return to France.

Notes

This article contains public domain text from "Major General Louis Lebègue Duportail". Portraits and Profiles Chief Engineer - 1775 to Present. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

Footnotes

^ Some sources spell his name as Louis Le Bèque de Presle du Portail, with a mistaken ⟨q⟩ instead of a ⟨g⟩.

References

^ Historic Valley Forge – General Chevalier Louis Lebègue dePresle Duportail
^ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). ARCH: Pennsylvania's Historic Architecture & Archaeology. Retrieved 2012-11-02. Note: This includes Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks (January 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Cressbrook Farm" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-11-03.

External links

Duportail House

Political offices
New office	Minister of War May – December 1791	Succeeded by Louis, Comte de Narbonne-Lara
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel Rufus Putnam	Chief Engineer of the Continental Army 1777 – 1783	Succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Rochefontaine as Commandant of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers

[2] Some sources spell his name as Louis Le Bèque de Presle du Portail, with a mistaken ⟨q⟩ instead of a ⟨g⟩.

[1] Historic Valley Forge – General Chevalier Louis Lebègue dePresle Duportail

[arch-3] "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). ARCH: Pennsylvania's Historic Architecture & Archaeology. Retrieved 2012-11-02. Note: This includes Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks (January 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Cressbrook Farm" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-11-03.

[1]

[a]

[2]

Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF
National	France BnF data Germany United States
Other	SNAC IdRef