Hubert-Joseph Henry
Encyclopedia
Hubert-Joseph Henry French Lieutenant-Colonel in 1897 involved in the Dreyfus affair
. Arrested for having forged evidence against Alfred Dreyfus
, he was found dead in his prison cell. He was considered a hero by the Anti-Dreyfusards.
ordered Captain Louis Cuignet to examine the documents which sent Captain Dreyfus to his exile from France to Devil's Island
. This matter should have been brought before Parliament but due to Cavaignac's nature the Minister threw caution to the wind. Cuignet soon learned that the most damning evidence brought to the court in 1896 by Henry was in fact a forgery using two separate documents to assure the sentence he and his supporters desired. Henry was called into questioning on 30th August by Cavaignac and managed to protest his innocence for only an hour before he confessed. This led to the resignations of Generals de Pellieux and de Boisdeffre, who admitted having been duped by the forgery.
. The day after he arrived he began to write: to his wife, "I see that except for you everyone is going to abandon me"; to his superior General Gonse, "I absolutely must speak to you"; in one cryptic comment declaring his guilt he wrote "You know in whose interest I acted." The meaning of this comment has never been explained; it may have referred to Ferdinand-Walsin Esterhazy, who was the actual author of the bordereau document, which had been used to arrest Captain Dreyfus, or perhaps to Lt Col Sandherr, another superior who passed on the bordereau to other high-ranking officers, such as the Minister of War, General Auguste Mercier.
While half way through a bottle of rum and mid-way through another letter to his wife, Hubert-Joseph Henry wrote "I am like a Madman" and proceeded to slit his throat with a shaving razor. On the day of his arrest the Colonel had searched the prisoner and no razor had been found; this sparked another outcry of murder, however due to Henry's actions, letters and state of mind, a cause of suicide
was declared.
and Henri Rochefort upon hearing of Henry's suicide felt as though it was as good as declaring the guilt of a forged document and therefore Dreyfus' innocence to the people of France. However, a Royalist newspaper titled La Gazette de France praised their former conspirator for sacrificing his life for the Fatherland.
Charles Maurras
declared that the 'gallant soldier's' forgery stood among his "finest feats of war".
The Henry Monument was erected after his death for the support of the anti-Dreyfusard's cause and for his 'heroic forgery' which enabled Dreyfus to be imprisoned. The monument was funded using donations which were sent in by the French public.
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
. Arrested for having forged evidence against Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
, he was found dead in his prison cell. He was considered a hero by the Anti-Dreyfusards.
Dreyfus Affair
In August of 1898 Godefroy CavaignacJacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac
Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac , known as Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician, was born in Paris. He was the son of Louis Eugène Cavaignac...
ordered Captain Louis Cuignet to examine the documents which sent Captain Dreyfus to his exile from France to Devil's Island
Devil's Island
Devil's Island is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Îles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana . It has an area of 14 ha . It was a small part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952...
. This matter should have been brought before Parliament but due to Cavaignac's nature the Minister threw caution to the wind. Cuignet soon learned that the most damning evidence brought to the court in 1896 by Henry was in fact a forgery using two separate documents to assure the sentence he and his supporters desired. Henry was called into questioning on 30th August by Cavaignac and managed to protest his innocence for only an hour before he confessed. This led to the resignations of Generals de Pellieux and de Boisdeffre, who admitted having been duped by the forgery.
Imprisonment and Death
Henry was sent to the military prison at Fort Mont-ValérienFort Mont-Valérien
Fort Mont-Valérien is a fortress in Suresnes a western Paris suburb, built in 1841 as part of the city's ring of modern fortifications...
. The day after he arrived he began to write: to his wife, "I see that except for you everyone is going to abandon me"; to his superior General Gonse, "I absolutely must speak to you"; in one cryptic comment declaring his guilt he wrote "You know in whose interest I acted." The meaning of this comment has never been explained; it may have referred to Ferdinand-Walsin Esterhazy, who was the actual author of the bordereau document, which had been used to arrest Captain Dreyfus, or perhaps to Lt Col Sandherr, another superior who passed on the bordereau to other high-ranking officers, such as the Minister of War, General Auguste Mercier.
While half way through a bottle of rum and mid-way through another letter to his wife, Hubert-Joseph Henry wrote "I am like a Madman" and proceeded to slit his throat with a shaving razor. On the day of his arrest the Colonel had searched the prisoner and no razor had been found; this sparked another outcry of murder, however due to Henry's actions, letters and state of mind, a cause of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
was declared.
Post-death and the Henry Monument
At first anti-Dreyfusards such as Edouard DrumontEdouard Drumont
Édouard Adolphe Drumont was a French journalist and writer. He founded the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder and editor of the newspaper La Libre Parole.- Early life :...
and Henri Rochefort upon hearing of Henry's suicide felt as though it was as good as declaring the guilt of a forged document and therefore Dreyfus' innocence to the people of France. However, a Royalist newspaper titled La Gazette de France praised their former conspirator for sacrificing his life for the Fatherland.
Charles Maurras
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...
declared that the 'gallant soldier's' forgery stood among his "finest feats of war".
The Henry Monument was erected after his death for the support of the anti-Dreyfusard's cause and for his 'heroic forgery' which enabled Dreyfus to be imprisoned. The monument was funded using donations which were sent in by the French public.