Louis-charles de Flers Information
Louis-Charles de La Motte-Ango, vicomte de Flers (12 June 1754, Paris – 22 July 1794, Paris),[1] 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. He led his troops in several actions with mixed results, but the all-powerful Representatives-on-mission arrested him in August 1793 for a minor setback. The Committee of Public Safety executed him by guillotine on trumped up charges near the end of the Reign of Terror.
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Early career
De Flers fought at JemappesBorn into a noble family on 12 June 1754, de Flers enlisted in a cavalry regiment at a very early age. He embraced the French Revolution and became a marechal de camp in 1791. At the direction of General Charles Francois Dumouriez, de Flers established the camp of Maulde and was badly wounded defending it. After recovering, he joined Dumouriez's invasion of Belgium as a unit commander in 1792.[2] He commanded the Reserve of the Left Wing at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November 1794.[3]
The French defeat at the Battle of Neerwinden on 18 March 1793, left de Flers commanding an isolated garrison at Breda. After a brief siege, he surrendered the place and was allowed to march out with the honors of war[2] on 3 April.[4] Dumouriez defected to the Austrians in April 1793. From this moment forward, de Flers came under suspicion and his association with Dumouriez would contribute to his eventual arrest.
War of the Pyrenees
On 14 May General of Division (MG) de Flers assumed command of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. The previous commander, General of Brigade Claude Souchon de Chameron had been dismissed the day before and would be guillotined in 1794. The War of the Pyrenees opened badly for the French. The Spanish Army of Catalonia under Captain General Antonio Ricardos invaded France on 17 April and easily routed garrisons at Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans and Ceret. On 19 May, Ricardos with 7,000 troops advanced on de Flers' camp of Mas Deu, a group of medieval-era buildings established by the Knights Templar. In the clash, the French suffered losses of 150 killed, 280 wounded, three 6-lb. cannons, and six ammunition wagons. The Spanish lost 34 killed and an unknown number wounded. De Flers fell back to the fortress of Perpignan where a battalion of National Guard mutinied and had to be disbanded. Rather than pursue his beaten enemy, Ricardos turned back to invest the Fort de Bellegarde.[5]
A model of the fortress of PerpignanThe powerful Bellegarde fortress guarded the Le Perthus pass (300 meters altitude), on the main road between Barcelona and Perpignan. De Flers tried to relieve the garrison without success, including an attempt by 3,350 men to escort a supply convoy through the siege lines on 29 May.[6] While the Spanish army was proccupied with the siege, de Flers drove another enemy force away from the port of Collioure.[2] The Siege of Bellegarde ended on 24 June with a French surrender.[7]
After the fall of Bellegarde, de Flers began arming the local farmers. Ricardos wrote a letter on 3 July to protest at this, and threatening to hang any civilian caught with arms. De Flers replied that all Frenchmen were soldiers and that their only uniform was the tricolor cockade. He also promised to retaliate if the Spanish began shooting civilians.[2] De Flers drilled his troops so that they might fight the Spanish regulars on more equal terms. He also put his men to work building field fortifications around Perpignan and drafted experienced artillerists to serve the guns in his redoubts. When the Spanish attacked again his efforts paid off.[8]
On 17 July, de Flers with 12,000 soldiers turned back an attempt by Ricardo and 15,000 troops to take Perpignan. Historian Digby Smith calls the Battle of Niel a French victory and gives French casualties as 800 killed and wounded, plus one cannon captured. Smith lists Spanish losses as only 31 killed, 131 wounded, and three captured.[9] A second authority gives de Flers credit for good tactical leadership and states that Spanish casualties numbered 1,000 in the Battle of Perpignan.[8] A third authority also calls the July battle a French triumph, but gives no details.[2]
Execution
On 4 August, a Spanish force captured Villefranche-de-Conflent in the Cerdagne. Though this was a relatively minor defeat, Representatives-on-mission Joseph Fabre and Raymond Gaston accused de Flers of treason and dismissed him from command on 6 August. Ironically, the newly appointed commander, MG Hilarion Paul de Puget-Barbantane would abandon the army on September 11, leaving the army leaderless for a week. Arrested and sent to prison in Paris, de Flers was brought before a Revolutionary Tribunal in July. The court condemned him to die for communicating with enemies of the state and for taking part in the Luxembourg Prison conspiracies, charges which one source calls a "ridiculous pretext".[2] De Flers went to the guillotine on 22 July 1794. Five days later, the government fell. Maximilien de Robespierre and a number of his colleagues shared de Flers' fate on 28 July. The name DEFLERS is inscribed on Column 33 of the Arc de Triomphe.
Footnotes
- ^ French Wikipedia, De Flers
- ^ a b c d e f Michaud, De Flers
- ^ Smith, p 31
- ^ Smith, p 42
- ^ Smith, p 46
- ^ Smith, p 47
- ^ Smith, p 48
- ^ a b Rickard, Battle of Perpignan
- ^ Smith, p 49. It is not clear whether Niel is the same as the modern village called Nyls, but it seems probable.
References
Printed materials
- Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9
- Michaud, M. Biographie Universelle (Michaud) Ancienne et Moderne. Paris: Chez Madame Desplaces, 1856.
External references
- French Wikipedia Louis-Charles de Flers
- historyofwar.org Battle of Perpignan by J. Rickard
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Flers, Louis-Charles de |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 12 June 1754 |
| Place of birth | Paris, France |
| Date of death | 22 July 1794 |
| Place of death | Paris, France |
Categories:
- 1754 births
- 1794 deaths
- People from Paris
- French soldiers
- French generals
- Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
- French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
- French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
- People executed by guillotine during the French Revolution
- Executed French people
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