Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix, marquis de Castries
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Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries, marquis de Castries
, baron des États de Languedoc
, comte
de Charlus, baron
de Castelnau
et de Montjouvent, seigneur de Puylaurens
et de Lézignan
(25 February 1727, Paris
- 11 January 1801, Wolfenbüttel
) was a French
marshal
. He was the son of Joseph François de La Croix de Castries, marquis de Castries, and his second wife, Marie-Françoise de Lévis de Charlus.
on 23 August 1742. In parallel, he was lieutenant du Roi
(king's lieutenant) in Languedoc and governor of Montpellier
and Sète
(from 1 December 1743). He fought with distinction in the Seven Years' War
and all Louis XV
's campaigns. "Mestre de camp
" of the régiment du Roi-Cavalerie from 26 March 1744, he was maréchal de camp and commandant général of the cavalry from 1748.
In 1756, he commanded the expeditionary force sent to St Lucia, and the Carenage quarter of the island was renamed Castries
after him. He next distinguished himself in the Battle of Rossbach
(5 November 1757), in which he was wounded twice. Becoming lieutenant général (on 28 December 1758), he became maître de camp général
of the cavalry on 16 April 1759. At the Battle of Clostercamp (16 October 1760), through his sang-froid he saved a situation when all seemed lost.
He was made knight of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit on 30 May 1762. Shortly after the peace of 1763
, he was named governor of Flanders
and Hainaut
. Next, he was made capitaine lieutenant of the company of Gendarmes écossais
and commandant of the Gendarmerie
from 1770 until his retirement in 1788.
on 13 October 1780 on the recommandation of his friend Jacques Necker
. He remained in this post until 24 August 1787. In 1783, he was made a marshal of France
. He reorganised the fleet and had a new naval strategy adopted by the Grand Conseil
, that the navy's ships of the line should be kept at sea whilst a flotilla blockaded the Royal Navy
and kept it in port. This strategy that led to French naval successes in the American War of Independence. He also made a very important legislative effort, simplifying the navy's hierarchy and reorganising its recruitment. de Castries deeply studied the dossiers sent him, and was highly energetic in these roles - hence his saying "I would like to sleep quicker" ("Je voudrais dormir plus vite").
In politics, nevertheless, his views were rather conservative, if one judges by his "Réflexions sur l'esprit public", addressed to the King in 1785 - for him, monarchy's difficulties were summed up in a problem of authority problem; it was enough for it to show firmness and everything would be back in order.
. On July 13, 1789, pressed to re-accept the ministry of the Navy by the king, he refused it. He emigrated on October 20 and took advantage of the hospitality of Jacques Necker
at Coppet
. In 1792, at the time of the Prussian invasion of the Champagne
, he and the marshal of Broglie
commanded a corps in the princes' army. He continued to serve as principal secretary to the count of Provence
. He died in 1801 at the home of his old enemy Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
, now his friend.
He possessed a property at Antony
where Parc Heller now is, as well as a castle at Ollainville
, which he enlarged in 1782. In Paris, he installed himself in the hôtel de Castries
in 1743, at 72 rue de Varenne, and in 1761 redecorated it out of a large inheritance from his uncle, the marshal of Belle-Isle.
He showed himself an unfaithful husband, cheated frequently on his wife.
Castries
Castries , population 10,634, aggl. 37,963 , is the capital city of Saint Lucia, a country in the Caribbean. The district with the same name had a population of 61,341 in 2001-05-22, and stretches over an area of ....
, baron des États de Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
, comte
Comte
Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...
de Charlus, baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
de Castelnau
Castelnau
-France:Castelnau or Castelnaud is part of the name of several communes in the south of France:* Castelnau-Barbarens, in the Gers département* Castelnau-Chalosse, in the Landes département...
et de Montjouvent, seigneur de Puylaurens
Puylaurens
Puylaurens is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-References:*...
et de Lézignan
Lézignan
Lézignan is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Lézignan, in the Hautes-Pyrénées department* Lézignan-Corbières, in the Aude department* Lézignan-la-Cèbe, in the Hérault department...
(25 February 1727, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- 11 January 1801, Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...
) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
. He was the son of Joseph François de La Croix de Castries, marquis de Castries, and his second wife, Marie-Françoise de Lévis de Charlus.
Military career
Entering the régiment du Roi-Infanterie in May 1739, he became a lieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
on 23 August 1742. In parallel, he was lieutenant du Roi
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
(king's lieutenant) in Languedoc and governor of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
and Sète
Sète
Sète is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Sétois....
(from 1 December 1743). He fought with distinction in the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
and all Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
's campaigns. "Mestre de camp
Mestre de camp
Mestre de camp was a military rank in the Ancien Régime of France, equivalent to colonel. A mestre de camp commanded a regiment and was under the authority of a Colonel General, who commanded all the regiments in one "arme"...
" of the régiment du Roi-Cavalerie from 26 March 1744, he was maréchal de camp and commandant général of the cavalry from 1748.
In 1756, he commanded the expeditionary force sent to St Lucia, and the Carenage quarter of the island was renamed Castries
Castries
Castries , population 10,634, aggl. 37,963 , is the capital city of Saint Lucia, a country in the Caribbean. The district with the same name had a population of 61,341 in 2001-05-22, and stretches over an area of ....
after him. He next distinguished himself in the Battle of Rossbach
Battle of Rossbach
The Battle of Rossbach took place during the Seven Years' War near the village of Roßbach, in the Electorate of Saxony. Frederick the Great defeated the allied armies of France and the Holy Roman/Austrian Empire...
(5 November 1757), in which he was wounded twice. Becoming lieutenant général (on 28 December 1758), he became maître de camp général
Maître de camp
Maître de camp was a rank in the Ancien Régime French army equivalent to Colonel. A maître de camp commanded a regiment. A regiment's commander was initially called a Colonel from the time of Francis I to that of Henry II, then a Mestre de camp from then until 1661, after which the name of the...
of the cavalry on 16 April 1759. At the Battle of Clostercamp (16 October 1760), through his sang-froid he saved a situation when all seemed lost.
He was made knight of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit on 30 May 1762. Shortly after the peace of 1763
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, he was named governor of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
. Next, he was made capitaine lieutenant of the company of Gendarmes écossais
Garde Écossaise
The Garde Écossaise was an elite Scottish military unit founded in 1418 by the Valois Charles VII of France, to be personal bodyguards to the French monarchy. They were assimilated into the Maison du Roi and later formed the first Company of the Garde du Corps du Roi...
and commandant of the Gendarmerie
Gendarme (historical)
A gendarme was a heavy cavalryman of noble birth, primarily serving in the French army from the Late Medieval to the Early Modern periods of European History...
from 1770 until his retirement in 1788.
Secretary of the Navy
He was named Secretary of State of the NavySecretary of State of the Navy (France)
The Secretary of State of the Navy was one of the four or five specialized secretaries of state in France during the Ancien Régime. This Secretary of State was responsible for the French navy and for French colonies...
on 13 October 1780 on the recommandation of his friend Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:...
. He remained in this post until 24 August 1787. In 1783, he was made a marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
. He reorganised the fleet and had a new naval strategy adopted by the Grand Conseil
Grand Conseil
The term Grand Conseil or Great Council refers two different institutions during the Ancien Régime in France. It also is the name of parliaments in several Swiss cantons.-Part of the King's Council:...
, that the navy's ships of the line should be kept at sea whilst a flotilla blockaded the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and kept it in port. This strategy that led to French naval successes in the American War of Independence. He also made a very important legislative effort, simplifying the navy's hierarchy and reorganising its recruitment. de Castries deeply studied the dossiers sent him, and was highly energetic in these roles - hence his saying "I would like to sleep quicker" ("Je voudrais dormir plus vite").
In politics, nevertheless, his views were rather conservative, if one judges by his "Réflexions sur l'esprit public", addressed to the King in 1785 - for him, monarchy's difficulties were summed up in a problem of authority problem; it was enough for it to show firmness and everything would be back in order.
French Revolution
In 1787, he participated in the Assembly of NotablesAssembly of Notables
The Assembly of Notables was a group of notables invited by the King of France to consult on matters of state.-History:Assemblies of Notables had met in 1583, 1596–97, 1617, 1626, 1787, and 1788. Like the Estates General, they served a consultative purpose only...
. On July 13, 1789, pressed to re-accept the ministry of the Navy by the king, he refused it. He emigrated on October 20 and took advantage of the hospitality of Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:...
at Coppet
Coppet
Coppet is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Coppet is first mentioned in 1294 as Copetum. In 1347 it was mentioned as Copet.-Geography:...
. In 1792, at the time of the Prussian invasion of the Champagne
Champagne, France
Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...
, he and the marshal of Broglie
Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie
Victor François de Broglie, 2nd duc de Broglie was a French aristocrat and soldier and a marshal of France...
commanded a corps in the princes' army. He continued to serve as principal secretary to the count of Provence
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
. He died in 1801 at the home of his old enemy Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a sovereign prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and a professional soldier who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia...
, now his friend.
He possessed a property at Antony
Antony, Hauts-de-Seine
-Personalities:Antony was the birthplace of:* Nicola Sirkis singer with the French band Indochine* Agnès Jaoui screenwriter, film director and actress* Laurent Lafforgue , mathematician-International relations:...
where Parc Heller now is, as well as a castle at Ollainville
Ollainville
Ollainville is the name of two communes in France:* Ollainville, Vosges* Ollainville, Essonne...
, which he enlarged in 1782. In Paris, he installed himself in the hôtel de Castries
Hôtel de Castries
The Hôtel de Castries Hôtel particulier in Paris, located in the VIIe arrondissement, at 72 rue de Varenne. Dating from the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, it was profoundly transformed by the Duke of Castries between 1843 and 1863, under the architects Joseph-Antoine Froelicher...
in 1743, at 72 rue de Varenne, and in 1761 redecorated it out of a large inheritance from his uncle, the marshal of Belle-Isle.
Descendents
On 19 December 1743, he married Gabrielle Isabeau Thérèse de Rozet de Rocozel de Fleury, daughter of the duc de Fleury, and they had two children:- Charles de La Croix de Castries (1756–1842) ;
- Adélaïde Marie de La Croix de Castries, who married the vicomte de Mailly in 1767.
He showed himself an unfaithful husband, cheated frequently on his wife.