Eustache Charles d'Aoust
Encyclopedia
Eustache Charles Joseph d'Aoust (27 February 1763, Douai
– 2 July 1794, Paris
) was a general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars
.
He started his military career in the Old Regime army and served on the staffs of three of the early army commanders and later fought in the War of the Pyrenees
against the Kingdom of Spain. On three separate occasions he commanded the Army of the eastern Pyrenees, but he shared the fate of two previous commanders when he was arrested and guillotined by the Committee of Public Safety
.
, Eustache Charles d'Aoust began his military career as a second lieutenant supernumerary without pay in the Royal Regiment of Infantry on 21 April 1778 at the age of 15. He became sous-lieutenant on 14 April 1782, second lieutenant
on 23 April 1786, and first lieutenant
on 16 August 1789. On May 26, 1790, d'Aoust was appointed aide-de-camp
to Marshal
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
. He became captain and adjutant to Marshal Nicolas Luckner
on May 21, 1792. He became aide-de-camp to General Duc de Biron
on 13 July 1792, and received promotion to colonel
on 7 October.
. This was a difficult time to be a general in the eastern Pyrenees. The Spanish army captured the Fort de Bellegarde, a major fortress, when the siege
ended on 24 June. Previous commander BG Claude Souchon de Chameron was in prison and MG Louis-Charles de Flers
joined him when he was arrested on 6 August. Both Souchon and de Flers were guillotined in 1794 during the Reign of Terror
. To make matters worse, the Spanish commander Captain General
Antonio Ricardos
was a capable opponent.
Believing that Ricardos' Spanish army was unstoppable, MG Hilarion Paul de Puget-Barbantane moved his headquarters well to the rear on 4 September 1793, putting d'Aoust in charge of Perpignan. On 11 September, Barbantane fled to Toulouse
, leaving the Army of the eastern Pyrenees without a commander. The army briefly separated into three independent divisions and d'Aoust took command of the 1st Division. On 17 September, d'Aoust won a significant victory at the Battle of Peyrestortes
. He led his troops in an attack on Lieutenant General
(LG) Juan de Courten's 6,000 Spanish soldiers at the Camp of Vernet. Other French troops attacked Peyrestortes
hill, where LG Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarilas
deployed his division. For the first time in this theater, the French inflicted a major defeat on their opponents. Spanish killed, wounded, and captured numbered at least 1,702, and 26 cannon
were captured. More importantly, the Spanish never seriously threatened Perpignan again.
On 18 August, d'Aoust became subordinated to MG Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert
, the new army commander. A few days after the French defeat at the Battle of Truillas
on 22 September, Dagobert was arrested and d'Aoust became the army commander. On 3 October, d'Aoust with 16,000 men engaged Ricardos and 15,000 Spanish troops at Le Boulou
on the Tech River
. The Spanish won the battle, inflicting losses 400 killed and 800 wounded on their enemies, while suffering only 300 casualties. During and after the battle, 1,500 French soldiers deserted. Between 11 October and 21 November, MG Louis Marie Turreau
became the new army commander and d'Aoust went back to command the 1st Division. D'Aoust temporarily led the army again from 22 to 27 November until the inept but politically influential MG François Amédée Doppet took command from 28 November to 20 December.
On 7 December, d'Aoust advanced with 10,000 troops to surprise the enemy camp at Villelongue-dels-Monts
. Ricardos with 3,000 Spanish and 5,000 Portuguese
soldiers, repulsed the French attack. The French counted 340 killed and wounded, and 312 missing. In addition, 26 cannon, 2 colors, and 2,000 musket
s were captured by the Allies. The Allies reported only 56 casualties.
and Pierre Soubrany on 10 January 1794. He was also denounced by his jealous rivals, Turreau and Doppet. Accused of malice and disability, d'Aoust was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. He was guillotined in Paris on 2 July 1794 at the age of 31 years.
Douai
-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
– 2 July 1794, 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...
) was a general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
.
He started his military career in the Old Regime army and served on the staffs of three of the early army commanders and later fought in the War of the Pyrenees
War of the Pyrenees
War of the Pyrenees refers to the Pyrenees front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. Also known as Great War, War of Roussillon, or War of the Convention, it pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal from March 1793 to July 1795 during the...
against the Kingdom of Spain. On three separate occasions he commanded the Army of the eastern Pyrenees, but he shared the fate of two previous commanders when he was arrested and guillotined by the Committee of Public Safety
Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...
.
Early career
Son of Eustache Jean-Marie D'Aoust, who later became a member of the National ConventionNational Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
, Eustache Charles d'Aoust began his military career as a second lieutenant supernumerary without pay in the Royal Regiment of Infantry on 21 April 1778 at the age of 15. He became sous-lieutenant on 14 April 1782, second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
on 23 April 1786, and first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
on 16 August 1789. On May 26, 1790, d'Aoust was appointed aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to 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...
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Marshal of France Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was a French nobleman and general who participated in the American Revolutionary War as the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force which came to help the American Continental Army...
. He became captain and adjutant to Marshal Nicolas Luckner
Nicolas Luckner
Nikolaus, Count Luckner was a German in French service who rose to become a Marshal of France. ....
on May 21, 1792. He became aide-de-camp to General Duc de Biron
Armand Louis de Gontaut
Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun, later duc de Biron, and usually referred to by historians of the French Revolution simply as Biron was a French soldier and politician, known for the part he played in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.-Early titles:Born in...
on 13 July 1792, and received promotion to colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
on 7 October.
Eastern Pyrenees
D'Aoust was provisionally appointed general of brigade (BG) in the Army of the eastern Pyrenees on 2 June 1793. He was provisionally appointed general of division (MG) by representatives Joseph Fabre and Reymond Gaston on 7 August, and assumed command of the camp near PerpignanPerpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
. This was a difficult time to be a general in the eastern Pyrenees. The Spanish army captured the Fort de Bellegarde, a major fortress, when the siege
Siege of Bellegarde (1793)
The Siege of Bellegarde commenced on 23 May 1793 and ended on 24 June 1793 when Colonel Boisbrulé's French garrison surrendered the Fort de Bellegarde to a Spanish army under the command of Antonio Ricardos. The capture of the fort gave Spain control of an important highway through the Pyrenees...
ended on 24 June. Previous commander BG Claude Souchon de Chameron was in prison and MG Louis-Charles de Flers
Louis-Charles de Flers
Louis-Charles de La Motte-Ango, vicomte de Flers , joined the French Royal army and rose in rank to become a general officer in the French Revolutionary Wars. After serving in the Austrian Netherlands, he was appointed to command the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees...
joined him when he was arrested on 6 August. Both Souchon and de Flers were guillotined in 1794 during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
. To make matters worse, the Spanish commander Captain General
Captain General
Captain general is a high military rank and a gubernatorial title.-History:This term Captain General started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of commander in chief of an army in the field, probably the first usage of the term General in military settings...
Antonio Ricardos
Antonio Ricardos
Antonio Ricardos Carrillo de Albornoz was a Spanish general. He joined the army of the Kingdom of Spain and fought against Habsburg Austria, the Portugal, and the First French Republic during a long military career. By embracing the Spanish Enlightenment, he earned the displeasure of conservative...
was a capable opponent.
Believing that Ricardos' Spanish army was unstoppable, MG Hilarion Paul de Puget-Barbantane moved his headquarters well to the rear on 4 September 1793, putting d'Aoust in charge of Perpignan. On 11 September, Barbantane fled to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, leaving the Army of the eastern Pyrenees without a commander. The army briefly separated into three independent divisions and d'Aoust took command of the 1st Division. On 17 September, d'Aoust won a significant victory at the Battle of Peyrestortes
Battle of Peyrestortes
The Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September 1793 saw soldiers of the First French Republic fighting troops of the Kingdom of Spain during the War of the Pyrenees. The French Army of the eastern Pyrenees, temporarily commanded by Eustache Charles d'Aoust defeated two divisions of the Army of...
. He led his troops in an attack on Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
(LG) Juan de Courten's 6,000 Spanish soldiers at the Camp of Vernet. Other French troops attacked Peyrestortes
Peyrestortes
Peyrestortes is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-Battle:On 17 September 1793, French forces of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees defeated two divisions of the Spanish Army of Catalonia at the Battle of Peyrestortes...
hill, where LG Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarilas
Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarilas
Jerónimo Morejón Girón-Moctezuma, 3rd Marquis de las Amarillas, born 7 June 1741 at Málaga and died 17 October 1819 at Seville, became a general officer in the army of the Kingdom of Spain and commanded division-sized combat units during the War of the Pyrenees in 1793 and 1794. Though he attained...
deployed his division. For the first time in this theater, the French inflicted a major defeat on their opponents. Spanish killed, wounded, and captured numbered at least 1,702, and 26 cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
were captured. More importantly, the Spanish never seriously threatened Perpignan again.
On 18 August, d'Aoust became subordinated to MG Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert
Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert
Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert de Fontenille was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars.-Ancien Regime:...
, the new army commander. A few days after the French defeat at the Battle of Truillas
Battle of Truillas
The Battle of Truillas was fought on 22 September 1793 during the French Revolutionary War between the French Army of the eastern Pyrenees led by Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert and the Spanish Army of Catalonia under Antonio Ricardos. This attempt by the French to exploit their success in the Battle...
on 22 September, Dagobert was arrested and d'Aoust became the army commander. On 3 October, d'Aoust with 16,000 men engaged Ricardos and 15,000 Spanish troops at Le Boulou
Le Boulou
Le Boulou is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
on the Tech River
Tech River
The Tech is a river in southern France, very close to the French-Spanish border. It runs through a valley in the Pyrénées-Orientales, in the former Roussillon, and is 84 km long. Its source is the Parcigoule Valley and it feeds the Mediterranean Sea...
. The Spanish won the battle, inflicting losses 400 killed and 800 wounded on their enemies, while suffering only 300 casualties. During and after the battle, 1,500 French soldiers deserted. Between 11 October and 21 November, MG Louis Marie Turreau
Louis Marie Turreau
Louis Marie Turreau , also known as Turreau de Garambouville or Turreau de Linières, was a French general officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. He was most notable as the organisor of the colonnes infernales during the war in the Vendée, which massacred tens of thousands of Vendéens and ravaged...
became the new army commander and d'Aoust went back to command the 1st Division. D'Aoust temporarily led the army again from 22 to 27 November until the inept but politically influential MG François Amédée Doppet took command from 28 November to 20 December.
On 7 December, d'Aoust advanced with 10,000 troops to surprise the enemy camp at Villelongue-dels-Monts
Villelongue-dels-Monts
Villelongue-dels-Monts is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.The inhabitants are called Villelonguais.-Geography:...
. Ricardos with 3,000 Spanish and 5,000 Portuguese
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
soldiers, repulsed the French attack. The French counted 340 killed and wounded, and 312 missing. In addition, 26 cannon, 2 colors, and 2,000 musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s were captured by the Allies. The Allies reported only 56 casualties.
Execution
This time, d'Aoust's luck had run out. Though he again assumed temporary army command on 21 December, he was recalled to Paris the next day. On 2 January 1794, Representatives Jacques Cassanyès and Gaston confirmed him as army commander. But his doom was sealed when he was arrested by order of Representatives Édouard MilhaudÉdouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
Édouard Jean-Baptiste Milhaud was a French politician, Général de Division, and comte d'Empire.-French Revolutionary wars:...
and Pierre Soubrany on 10 January 1794. He was also denounced by his jealous rivals, Turreau and Doppet. Accused of malice and disability, d'Aoust was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. He was guillotined in Paris on 2 July 1794 at the age of 31 years.
Printed materials
- Smith, DigbyDigby SmithDigby Smith is a British military historian. The son of a British career soldier, he was born in Hampshire, England, but spent several years in India and Pakistan as a child and youth. As a "boy soldier," he entered training in the British Army at the age of 16...
. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9 - Six, Georges. Dictionnaire des généraux de la Révolution et de l'Empire.
External references
- French Wikipedia Eustache Charles d'Aoust
- Banyuls-sur-Mer, l'Heritage du 25 Frimaire An II des Somatents by Bernard Prats in French
- 17 Septembre 1793 La Bataille de Peyrestortes by Bernard Prats in French