François-Xavier Donzelot
Encyclopedia
Baron François-Xavier Donzelot (January 7, 1764–1843) was a French
general and a Governor of the Ionian Islands
and Martinique
. He was the son of François Donzelot and Jeanne–Baptiste Maire and had a brother named Joseph. He became a general of the French army
in March 1801. Months later, he signed the surrender of Egypt
to British forces
. He then returned to France where he served in various high-echelon positions in Napoleon's
army. Subsequently, he was appointed to serve as the head of the French garrison in Corfu
and the Ionian Islands from 1807 to 1814. As governor, he resided in Corfu, where his gentle demeanour and mild manners made him popular with the Corfiotes. In 1808, he was named Baron of the Empire. In 1815, he was a divisional commander of Napoleon's forces at the Battle of Waterloo
, during the 100-day return
of Napoleon. After the defeat at Waterloo, he lost his position and did not work until 1817 when he was appointed governor of Martinique
.
and expelled the Russians
from the island. Soon after, Berthier was replaced by General Donzelot.
By order of the French Emperor Napoleon, Donzelot was entrusted with overseeing the reinforcement of the many fortifications of Corfu in anticipation of the British blockade. The French garrison
in Corfu consisted of approximately 20,000 men, who were put under the leadership of General Donzelot, who was acknowledged as an intelligent, charming and capable leader.
Captain Moubray, a British naval officer in command of HMS Active, after the refitting of his ship, was ordered to participate in the blockade of Corfu. During the blockade, the British captain captured several French ships, one of which carried the personal library of General Donzelot. Donzelot himself fled the scene in another boat.
The British captain seized the opportunity of the capture of Donzelot's library and used it as a diplomatic tool and a gesture of goodwill aimed at improving the relations between the two men by returning it to Donzelot, as well as other property which happened to be seized from the French. The gesture of the British officer had the intended effect on Donzelot who not only acknowledged his appreciation of Captain Moubray's gesture in writing but he also treated any captured British officer from then on as a guest, by reserving for him a seat at his table.
After the fall of Napoleon, Donzelot did not surrender, hoping that the French would be able to continue reinforcing their fortifications and use Corfu as a waypoint to Malta
. Only after Louis XVIII
ordered Donzelot to leave from Corfu in 1814 did the French finally surrender conditionally to the British and with this surrender the blockade of Corfu by the British came to an end. After the departure of the French forces from Corfu, the British under Sir James Campbell's
command seized control of the Ionian islands.
approached Donzelot, then governor of the Ionian Islands, and told him that he was planning to ask Napoleon for help with his plans to unseat Ali Pasha
and his son Veli Pasha. Donzelot offered to mediate with Napoleon and to provide Kolokotronis with military and financial assistance. He was able to deliver on his promises and his assistance enabled Kolokotronis to recruit 3,000 men to fight against Ali Pasha. The plans, however, did not pan out the way Donzelot envisioned because the British came into the scene and Kolokotronis formed an alliance with them.
after a 16-year hiatus that saw him in the administrative role of Governor of the Ionian Islands while his cohorts were fighting in campaigns all over Europe
. Before Waterloo, his last battle engagement was sixteen years prior in his participation in the Battle of the Pyramids
as a commander of about 1000 men. Before his engagement at Waterloo, his other experience included being chief-of-staff for generals Desaix, Augereau, and Massena. Consequently, his military skills were definitely outdated by the time he went to Waterloo. At the start of the engagement at Waterloo, his division suffered heavy losses when they were frontally attacked by the British I Corps and decisively defeated by British heavy cavalry. At 16:00 hours, Donzelot managed to regroup and, subsequently with the aid of the 1st Division, managed to take La Haye Sainte
, although his victory did not last.
from 1818 to 1826. In 1819, he was named Comte
.
As governor of Martinique, Donzelot attempted to implement a military colonisation programme to increase the white population of the French West Indies
by bringing poor white workers and farmers from France. His plan, however, was met with resistance from the local Creole elite who feared that the underprivileged immigrant workers would intermix with the free local population of mixed race people and was never implemented.
During his tenure as governor of Martinique, Donzelot was also involved in an incident which gave rise to British concerns over French policy in the Caribbean
. At the time, the French fleet unexpectedly started receiving reinforcements without providing any explanation to the British. Around the same time, Donzelot provided naval support for Spanish
troops being deployed to Cuba
. Because of these two events, the British became alarmed and proceeded to make quiet diplomatic enquiries to the French. George Canning
, however, bypassed diplomatic niceties and demanded answers directly from the French government in Paris
. From the French side, François-Étienne de Damas
was very apologetic and reassured the British side that Donzelot acted on his own initiative. On the other hand, another French respondent by the name of Jean-Baptiste de Villèle admitted that Donzelot acted, on orders from Paris
, to help Spain with maintaining control of Cuba. Upon hearing this, Canning immediately demanded from Villèle an unreserved denunciation of the Paris directives, which he managed to obtain. The French actions caused the British to fear that the French, by helping Spain in Cuba, would gradually become deeply involved in the affairs of the island and exert influence there.
under the Arc de Triomphe
.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
general and a Governor of the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
and Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
. He was the son of François Donzelot and Jeanne–Baptiste Maire and had a brother named Joseph. He became a general of the French army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
in March 1801. Months later, he signed the surrender of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
to British forces
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. He then returned to France where he served in various high-echelon positions in Napoleon's
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
army. Subsequently, he was appointed to serve as the head of the French garrison in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and the Ionian Islands from 1807 to 1814. As governor, he resided in Corfu, where his gentle demeanour and mild manners made him popular with the Corfiotes. In 1808, he was named Baron of the Empire. In 1815, he was a divisional commander of Napoleon's forces at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, during the 100-day return
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
of Napoleon. After the defeat at Waterloo, he lost his position and did not work until 1817 when he was appointed governor of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
.
British blockade of Corfu
In 1807, French general Berthier with 17,000 men landed in CorfuCorfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and expelled the Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
from the island. Soon after, Berthier was replaced by General Donzelot.
By order of the French Emperor Napoleon, Donzelot was entrusted with overseeing the reinforcement of the many fortifications of Corfu in anticipation of the British blockade. The French garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
in Corfu consisted of approximately 20,000 men, who were put under the leadership of General Donzelot, who was acknowledged as an intelligent, charming and capable leader.
Captain Moubray, a British naval officer in command of HMS Active, after the refitting of his ship, was ordered to participate in the blockade of Corfu. During the blockade, the British captain captured several French ships, one of which carried the personal library of General Donzelot. Donzelot himself fled the scene in another boat.
The British captain seized the opportunity of the capture of Donzelot's library and used it as a diplomatic tool and a gesture of goodwill aimed at improving the relations between the two men by returning it to Donzelot, as well as other property which happened to be seized from the French. The gesture of the British officer had the intended effect on Donzelot who not only acknowledged his appreciation of Captain Moubray's gesture in writing but he also treated any captured British officer from then on as a guest, by reserving for him a seat at his table.
After the fall of Napoleon, Donzelot did not surrender, hoping that the French would be able to continue reinforcing their fortifications and use Corfu as a waypoint to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. Only after Louis XVIII
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...
ordered Donzelot to leave from Corfu in 1814 did the French finally surrender conditionally to the British and with this surrender the blockade of Corfu by the British came to an end. After the departure of the French forces from Corfu, the British under Sir James Campbell's
James Campbell of Inverneill
Lt.-General Sir James Campbell G.C.H., 1st and last Bt., of Inverneill; 3rd of Inverneill House was a Scottish soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Ionian Islands, Adjutant-General to the British Forces and Heritable Usher of the White Rod...
command seized control of the Ionian islands.
Greek struggle for independence
In 1809, Theodoros KolokotronisTheodoros Kolokotronis
Theodoros Kolokotronis was a Greek Field Marshal and one of the leaders of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire....
approached Donzelot, then governor of the Ionian Islands, and told him that he was planning to ask Napoleon for help with his plans to unseat Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...
and his son Veli Pasha. Donzelot offered to mediate with Napoleon and to provide Kolokotronis with military and financial assistance. He was able to deliver on his promises and his assistance enabled Kolokotronis to recruit 3,000 men to fight against Ali Pasha. The plans, however, did not pan out the way Donzelot envisioned because the British came into the scene and Kolokotronis formed an alliance with them.
Waterloo
At Waterloo, Donzelot was the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division. He returned to active duty in WaterlooBattle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
after a 16-year hiatus that saw him in the administrative role of Governor of the Ionian Islands while his cohorts were fighting in campaigns all over Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Before Waterloo, his last battle engagement was sixteen years prior in his participation in the Battle of the Pyramids
Battle of the Pyramids
The Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was fought on July 21, 1798 between the French army in Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte, and local Mamluk forces. It occurred during France's Egyptian Campaign and was the battle where Napoleon put into use one of his significant...
as a commander of about 1000 men. Before his engagement at Waterloo, his other experience included being chief-of-staff for generals Desaix, Augereau, and Massena. Consequently, his military skills were definitely outdated by the time he went to Waterloo. At the start of the engagement at Waterloo, his division suffered heavy losses when they were frontally attacked by the British I Corps and decisively defeated by British heavy cavalry. At 16:00 hours, Donzelot managed to regroup and, subsequently with the aid of the 1st Division, managed to take La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road. It has changed very little since it played a very important part in the battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815...
, although his victory did not last.
Martinique
After the Waterloo campaign, Donzelot's next appointment to a government position was as Governor of MartiniqueMartinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
from 1818 to 1826. In 1819, he was named 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...
.
As governor of Martinique, Donzelot attempted to implement a military colonisation programme to increase the white population of the French West Indies
French West Indies
The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, plus...
by bringing poor white workers and farmers from France. His plan, however, was met with resistance from the local Creole elite who feared that the underprivileged immigrant workers would intermix with the free local population of mixed race people and was never implemented.
During his tenure as governor of Martinique, Donzelot was also involved in an incident which gave rise to British concerns over French policy in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. At the time, the French fleet unexpectedly started receiving reinforcements without providing any explanation to the British. Around the same time, Donzelot provided naval support for Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
troops being deployed to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Because of these two events, the British became alarmed and proceeded to make quiet diplomatic enquiries to the French. George Canning
George Canning
George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...
, however, bypassed diplomatic niceties and demanded answers directly from the French government in 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...
. From the French side, François-Étienne de Damas
François-Étienne de Damas
-Life:Damas was born in Paris. Destined by his family for a career in architecture, instead he joined the National Guard on 14 July 1789 and served in the camp sous Paris in 1792. Damas's mathematical knowledge led général Meusnier of the engineers to choose him as his aide-de-camp on coming to...
was very apologetic and reassured the British side that Donzelot acted on his own initiative. On the other hand, another French respondent by the name of Jean-Baptiste de Villèle admitted that Donzelot acted, on orders from 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...
, to help Spain with maintaining control of Cuba. Upon hearing this, Canning immediately demanded from Villèle an unreserved denunciation of the Paris directives, which he managed to obtain. The French actions caused the British to fear that the French, by helping Spain in Cuba, would gradually become deeply involved in the affairs of the island and exert influence there.
Death
After 1826, Donzelot retired and lived a quiet life until his death. His name is inscribedNames inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
The following is the list of the names of the 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them are generals who served during the First French Empire with additional figures from the French Revolution ....
under the Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
.