Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc (17 March 1772 - 2 November 1802) was a
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
general and husband to
Pauline BonaparteMarie Paulette Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess and Duchess of Guastalla was the younger and favorite sister of Napoleon I of France.-Before Napoleon's rise to power:...
, sister to
Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
.
To 1801
Leclerc started his military career in 1791 during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
as one of the army volunteers of
Seine-et-OiseSeine-et-Oise was a département of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its préfecture was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968....
and passed through the ranks of sous-lieutenant in the 12th Cavalry, then aide-de-camp to general
LapoypeJean François Cornu de La Poype was a French military leader. He was born in Lyon, to a noble, military family.- French Revolutionary Wars :...
. He was made a captain and divisional chief of staff during the
siege of ToulonThe Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon....
, at which he first allied himself to
Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
. Following the revolutionary success there, he campaigned along the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. He began serving under Napoleon Bonaparte in the Alpine and Italian campaigns, fighting at
Castiglione della PescaiaCastiglione della Pescaia is an ancient seaside town in the province of Grosseto , Italy. The modern city grew around a medieval fortress and a large fishery, from which it got its designation...
and
RivoliRivoli may refer to:*Rivoli , a town near Turin in Italy*Rivoli Veronese, a community in the Italian province of Verona*Battle of Rivoli, a battle that took place near Rivoli Veronese*The Rivoli, a restaurant/club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
and rising to général de brigade in 1797. He was then charged with announcing to the
French DirectoryThe Executive Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
the signature of the peace preliminaries at
LeobenLeoben is a city in Styria, in central Austria, located on the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000, Leoben is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
.
Pauline BonaparteMarie Paulette Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess and Duchess of Guastalla was the younger and favorite sister of Napoleon I of France.-Before Napoleon's rise to power:...
was at this time receiving a large number of suitors, thus pressing her brother Napoleon Bonaparte to have her married off. On Leclerc's return, he accepted Bonaparte's offer of Pauline's hand in marriage and they married in 1797, having one child, and occupying the
Château de MontgobertThe Château de Montgobert in the midst of the Forest of Retz, near Soissons, in Montgobert, Aisne, Picardy, is a neoclassical French château that was built for Antoine Pierre Desplasses between 1768-1775 on the site of an ancient seigneurie....
.
He became chef d'état-major to generals Berthier and Brune and served in the second unsuccessful French Army military expedition to Ireland led by
Jean Joseph Amable HumbertGeneral Jean Joseph Amable Humbert was a French soldier, a participant in the French Revolution, who led a failed invasion of Ireland to assist Irish rebels in 1798....
in 1798. On Bonaparte's return from the Egyptian expedition in 1798, he made Leclerc a général de division and sent him to the
armée du RhinThe Army of the Rhine is the overall name for one of the main French Revolutionary armies, that operating in the German theatre along the River Rhine....
under
MoreauJean Victor Marie Moreau was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte to power, but later became a rival and was banished to the United States.-Biography:Moreau was born at Morlaix in Brittany...
. At this rank Leclerc was able to participate in the
coup d'etatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
of
18 BrumaireThe coup of 18 Brumaire was the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate...
(in November 1799) that made his brother-in-law Napoleon
First ConsulFirst Consul was a title used by Napoleon Bonaparte following his seizure of power in France. When he overthew the government on 18 Brumaire in 1799 he replaced the Directory with the Consulate, with him at the head as First Consul.-History of the term:...
of France - supported by
MuratJoachim-Napoléon Murat , 1st Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves, Marshal of France and Admiral of France, was King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. He received his titles in part by being the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, through marriage to Napoleon's youngest sister, Caroline...
, he ordered the grenadiers to march into the room of the
Council of Five HundredThe Council of Five Hundred , or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known as the Directory , from August 22, 1795 until November 9, 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the...
. He was next noted for his participation in the Rhine campaign and the battle of Hohenlinden, receiving the supreme command of the 17th, 18th and 19th military divisions. He then passed from that post to being commander-in-chief of an army corps that Napoleon meant to send to
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
to force it to renounce its alliance with England, though that expedition never took place.
Saint-Domingue
His brother-in-law Napoleon I then appointed him commander of the expedition to re-establish control over the French colony of
Saint-DomingueSaint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, when it became the independent nation of Haiti.Saint-Domingue is the French version of the Spanish name Santo Domingo. The Arawak, Carib and Tainos people occupied the island before the arrival of the...
(now
HaïtiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
). Slavery had been abolished in Saint-Domingue since late 1793 and the former slave and general
Toussaint L'OuvertureFrançois-Dominique Toussaint L'ouverture , also Toussaint Bréda, Toussaint-Louverture was a leader of the Haitian Revolution...
had created a constitution appointing him President for life, although he still swore loyalty to the French nation. Leclerc set off from Brest in December 1801 and landed at
Cap-FrançaisCap-Haïtien is a city of about 180,000 people on the north coast of Haiti. It is the capital of the Nord Department...
in February 1802, with other warships and a total of 40,000 troops, publicly repeating Bonaparte's promise that "all of the people of Saint-Domingue are French" and forever free. L'Ouverture's harsh discipline had made him numerous enemies and Leclerc played off the ambitions of L'Ouverture's younger key officers and competitors against each other, promising that they would maintain their ranks in the French Army and thus bringing them to abandon L'Ouverture. The French won several victories and regained control in three months after severe fighting, with L'Ouverture forced to negotiate an honorable surrender and retire to tend his plantations under house arrest. However, Napoleon's secret instructions to Leclerc were to arrest Toussaint L'Ouverture and so Leclerc seized L'Ouverture during a meeting for deportation to France, where he died while imprisoned at Fort-de-Joux in the
Jura mountainsThe Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each. The mountain range sensu Johann Gottfried Ebel is located in France, Switzerland, and Germany...
in 1803.
Despite his superiors' warnings, Leclerc did not consolidate his victory by disarming L'Ouverture's old officers and they and the black and Creole population rose up again when news reached the island of the reestablishment of slavery on
GuadeloupeGuadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also one of the twenty-six regions of France and an integral part of the Republic...
, bringing the prospect of a similar restoration on Saint-Domingue and swinging the tide inexorably against French hopes for reimposing control. Leclerc's reports to France about his counter-insurgency campaign included such statements as, "Since terror is the sole resource left me, I employ it", and, "We must destroy all the mountain negroes, men and women, sparing only children under twelve years of age. We must destroy half the negroes of the plains..." He faced the new organised and powerful insurrection bravely but fell victim to the
yellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral disease. The virus, a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus of the family of Flaviviridae is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes...
which also decimated his army, dying aged 30 on 1 November 1802. He was succeeded in command by General Rochambeau, whose brutal racial warfare drew more leaders back to the rebel armies, including black and
mulattoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who has both black ancestry and white ancestry. The term may be perceived as pejorative in some cultures and situations. Its current usage varies greatly.-Etymology:...
army officers Jean Jacques Dessalines,
Alexandre PétionAlexandre Sabès Pétion was President of the southern Republic of Haiti from 1806 until his death. He is considered as one of Haiti's founding fathers, together with Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and his rival Henri Christophe.-Early life:Pétion was born in Port-au-Prince to a...
and
Henri ChristopheHenri Christophe was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution, winning independence from France in 1804. On 17 February 1807, after the creation of separate nation in the north, Christophe was elected President of the State of Haiti. On 26 March 1811, he was proclaimed Henri I, King of Haïti...
. On 18 November 1803, Dessalines defeated Rochambeau's forces in the
Battle of VertièresThe Battle of Vertières , the last major battle of the Second War of Haitian Independence, the final part of the Haitian Revolution...
. Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Haïti and its new name on 1 January 1804. In the meantime Leclerc's body had been transported to France by his widow and buried on one of his estates.
Memorials
A statue at
PontoisePontoise is a commune in the north-western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 28.4 km from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise.-Administration:...
shows him in Napoleonic uniform, his scabbard touching the earth. It was put up by marshal
DavoutLouis-Nicolas d'Avout , better known as Davout, 1st Duc d'Auerstaedt, 1st Prince d'Eckmühl, was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Era. His prodigious talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the title "The Iron Marshal"...
and his second wife (Leclerc's sister) at the top of a staircase built in 1869 by François Lemot. Around 3m high, the statue is on a square stone pedestal inscribed with information on him in gold majuscule letters. It adjoins the south side of city's cathedral. There is also a statue of him by
Jean Guillaume Moitte- Life :Moitte was the sculptor of Pigalle then Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. He won the first prize for sculpture in 1768 with David carrying the head of Goliath in triumph...
in the Pantheon de Paris.
External links
- The Louverture Project: Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc
- Bob Corbett's Haiti Page – Online collection of resources on the revolution in Haiti. See especially links to the Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
Mailing List and Corbett’s essays on the revolutionary period.