Jean Antoine Rossignol
Encyclopedia
Jean Antoine Rossignol, (7 November 1759, Paris
– 27 April 1802, Anjouan
, an island in the Comores archipelago) was a general of the French Revolutionary Wars
, Rossignol, full of illusions and wanting to be his own master, left for the provinces. He journeyed by stages, stopping at Bordeaux
, La Rochelle
and Niort
, before regretting his decision to leave Paris after six months and returning there. Faced with difficulties in finding work, he joined the Royal-Roussillon infantry regiment at Dunkirk on 13 August 1775, before the fall of the Ancien Régime.
On the outbreak of the French Revolution, Rossignol was in Paris - in the words of his Memoirs, "On 12 July 1789 I knew nothing of the Revolution, and did not suspect in any manner that it could hold me in any way." However, he participated in the storming of the Bastille
on 14 July 1789 and in the revolutionary days of 20 June and 10 August
(he was perhaps the man who shot Galiot Mandat de Grancey
on 10 August).
, under the protection of general Charles Philippe Ronsin, he was made commander-in-chief of the armée de l'Ouest
on 27 July 1793. He engaged in widespread looting and reported several successes. He was removed from that role on 23 August 1793 by Léonard Bourdon
and Philippe Charles Aimé Goupilleau de Montaigu, but even so was defended by Georges Danton
and returned to it on 28 August 1793 by the National Convention
, supported by Robespierre
and Hébert at the Club des Jacobins in September 1793. He then became commander in chief of the armée des côtes de Brest
, armée de l'Ouest
and armée des côtes de Cherbourg
on 12 November 1793 (22 brumaire year II). He was reestablished in this role several times despite several setbacks and a notorious inability.
As a general Rossignol was accused of incompetence. The plan he proposed to the advocates of the council of war at Saumur
was called absurd by Philippeaux
and by the soldiers of the armée de Mayence, interested in the outcome. Rossignol insisted and showed that the project that he supported was the only one that could be executed. The votes divided up equally, and he said "I see what I am in - the plan is indisputable, and it was me who was bothering everyone; ah well, I retire : our great decision must not be abased by personal rivalries; I accept serving under the orders of Canclaux
, to put an end to all quarrels, if Canclaux wishes to command the march that he imposes." This gesture decided no one and Rossignol, in abstaining from taking part in the second vote, allowed his opponents to triumph in principle—but only in principle, for the turning march that they decided on resulted in the delays that he knew it would and the glorious defeat of the Mayenians themselves. It can be believed that the plan by Rossignol, an ignorant general, was not the best one, but we have an authoritative opinion of some value on the point—that of Napoleon
himself. Judging the operations of the War in the Vendee at a distance, he declared that the only party to take to the Council of Saumur was to march directly and en masse, re-stating in several lines the plan proposed by Rossignol. The conduct of general Rossignol in the Vendee war, like that of all the Hebertist generals, was poorly appreciated by historians writing at a distance from the passions of that conflict. The opinion of general Turreau
in his Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire de la Vendée, was the closest to the truth and to the ulterior motives presiding over Rossignol's fate.
député's mission to Saint-Malo
), he retired to Orléans
, re-entering civil life. Imprisoned for several days after the Thermidorian Reaction
, he was compromised in the conjuration des Égaux of Babeuf, but managed to get himself exonerated before the High Court of Vendôme
. He served the French Directory
without conviction, all the while continuing (it seemed to him) a clandestine popular militarism in the suburb in which he had been born. After the plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise
, Bonaparte used this chance to rid himself of Rossignol, imprisoning him. Transferred from prison to prison, he was condemned to deportation to the Seychelles
in 1801, with other jacobins, then transferred to the Comores. Rossignol died at Anjouan
in 1802, but the people refused to believe that their hero had died - it seemed at the time that he had committed suicide of the Fauborg. Rossignol thus survived in souvenirs, and took a position in the legend after the bad 4-volume novel Le Robinson du Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
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...
– 27 April 1802, Anjouan
Anjouan
Anjouan is an autonomous island, part of the Union of Comoros. The island is located in the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Mutsamudu and its population as of 2006 is about 277,500. The total area of the island is 424 sq. kilometers Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani) is an autonomous island,...
, an island in the Comores archipelago) was a general of 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...
Early life
Rossignol began his Memoirs, published in 1820 by Victor Barrucand, with the words: "I was not born into a poor family. My father, who died before I was born, was a Bourguignon. He came to Paris and, after some years, he sought to marry. He thus got to know my mother and they married. Of the five children they had, I was the last." In 1774, aged 14, after 3 years' apprenticeship as a goldsmithGoldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
, Rossignol, full of illusions and wanting to be his own master, left for the provinces. He journeyed by stages, stopping at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
and Niort
Niort
Niort is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.The Latin name of the city was Novioritum.The population of Niort is 60,486 and more than 137,000 people live in the urban area....
, before regretting his decision to leave Paris after six months and returning there. Faced with difficulties in finding work, he joined the Royal-Roussillon infantry regiment at Dunkirk on 13 August 1775, before the fall of the Ancien Régime.
On the outbreak of the French Revolution, Rossignol was in Paris - in the words of his Memoirs, "On 12 July 1789 I knew nothing of the Revolution, and did not suspect in any manner that it could hold me in any way." However, he participated in the storming of the Bastille
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...
on 14 July 1789 and in the revolutionary days of 20 June and 10 August
10th of August (French Revolution)
On 10 August 1792, during the French Revolution, revolutionary Fédéré militias — with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the "insurrectionary" Paris Commune and ultimately supported by the National Guard — besieged the Tuileries palace. King Louis XVI and...
(he was perhaps the man who shot Galiot Mandat de Grancey
Galiot Mandat de Grancey
Antoine Jean Galiot Mandat , known as the Marquis de Mandat, was a much-admired French nobleman, general and politician...
on 10 August).
Vendée
Lieutenant-colonel of the gendarmerie in 1793, général de brigade in the VendéeVendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
, under the protection of general Charles Philippe Ronsin, he was made commander-in-chief of the armée de l'Ouest
Armée de l'Ouest
The Army of the West was one of the French Revolutionary Armies. It was created on 1 August 1793 by merging the armée des côtes de Brest, the armée des côtes de La Rochelle, and the armée de Mayence, and was sent to fight the revolt in the Vendee.- Reorganisation :Visiting Republican soldiers of...
on 27 July 1793. He engaged in widespread looting and reported several successes. He was removed from that role on 23 August 1793 by Léonard Bourdon
Léonard Bourdon
Louis Jean Joseph Léonard Bourdon de la Cronière was a French politician of the French Revolution. He was president of the National Constituent Assembly and substitute for the procureur of the Commune de Paris.- Bibliography :* Michael J. Sydenham, Leonard Bourdon. The Career of a Revolutionary...
and Philippe Charles Aimé Goupilleau de Montaigu, but even so was defended by Georges Danton
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton was leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in theoverthrow of the monarchy and the...
and returned to it on 28 August 1793 by the National Convention
National 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...
, supported by Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
and Hébert at the Club des Jacobins in September 1793. He then became commander in chief of the armée des côtes de Brest
Armée des côtes de Brest
The Army of the Coasts of Brest was a French Revolutionary Army formed on 1 April 1793 by splitting the Army of the Coasts into this army and the Army of the Coasts of Cherbourg. It was put under the command of Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux and charged with combatting the Chouans and...
, armée de l'Ouest
Armée de l'Ouest
The Army of the West was one of the French Revolutionary Armies. It was created on 1 August 1793 by merging the armée des côtes de Brest, the armée des côtes de La Rochelle, and the armée de Mayence, and was sent to fight the revolt in the Vendee.- Reorganisation :Visiting Republican soldiers of...
and armée des côtes de Cherbourg
Armée des côtes de Cherbourg
-History:Formed by splitting the Army of the Coasts in April 1793, it was put under the command of Georges Félix de Wimpffen and charged with defending the coasts of Manche against British invasion, and fighting against the federalist revolt in Normandy and Caen...
on 12 November 1793 (22 brumaire year II). He was reestablished in this role several times despite several setbacks and a notorious inability.
As a general Rossignol was accused of incompetence. The plan he proposed to the advocates of the council of war at Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
was called absurd by Philippeaux
Pierre Philippeaux
Pierre Philippeaux, was a French lawyer who was a deputy to the National Convention for Sarthe.-Life:A lawyer then judge at the district tribunal for Le Mans, he created the newspaper Le défenseur de la Liberté at the start of the French Revolution...
and by the soldiers of the armée de Mayence, interested in the outcome. Rossignol insisted and showed that the project that he supported was the only one that could be executed. The votes divided up equally, and he said "I see what I am in - the plan is indisputable, and it was me who was bothering everyone; ah well, I retire : our great decision must not be abased by personal rivalries; I accept serving under the orders of Canclaux
Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux
Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux was a French general during the French Revolution, a commander in chief, and a pair de France.- Ancien Régime :...
, to put an end to all quarrels, if Canclaux wishes to command the march that he imposes." This gesture decided no one and Rossignol, in abstaining from taking part in the second vote, allowed his opponents to triumph in principle—but only in principle, for the turning march that they decided on resulted in the delays that he knew it would and the glorious defeat of the Mayenians themselves. It can be believed that the plan by Rossignol, an ignorant general, was not the best one, but we have an authoritative opinion of some value on the point—that of Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
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...
himself. Judging the operations of the War in the Vendee at a distance, he declared that the only party to take to the Council of Saumur was to march directly and en masse, re-stating in several lines the plan proposed by Rossignol. The conduct of general Rossignol in the Vendee war, like that of all the Hebertist generals, was poorly appreciated by historians writing at a distance from the passions of that conflict. The opinion of general 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...
in his Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire de la Vendée, was the closest to the truth and to the ulterior motives presiding over Rossignol's fate.
Later life
Finally removed from office by the Comité de Salut Public, in April 1794, following disagreements with Billaud-Varenne during this MontagnardThe Mountain
The Mountain refers in the context of the history of the French Revolution to a political group, whose members, called Montagnards, sat on the highest benches in the Assembly...
député's mission to Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine.-Demographics:The population can increase to up to 200,000 in the summer tourist season...
), he retired to Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, re-entering civil life. Imprisoned for several days after the Thermidorian Reaction
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
, he was compromised in the conjuration des Égaux of Babeuf, but managed to get himself exonerated before the High Court of Vendôme
Vendôme
Vendôme is a commune in the Centre region of France.-Administration:Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It has a tribunal of first instance.-Geography:...
. He served the French Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
without conviction, all the while continuing (it seemed to him) a clandestine popular militarism in the suburb in which he had been born. After the plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise
Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise
The plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise, also known as the Machine infernale plot, was an assassination attempt on the life of the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Paris on 24 December 1800...
, Bonaparte used this chance to rid himself of Rossignol, imprisoning him. Transferred from prison to prison, he was condemned to deportation to the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
in 1801, with other jacobins, then transferred to the Comores. Rossignol died at Anjouan
Anjouan
Anjouan is an autonomous island, part of the Union of Comoros. The island is located in the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Mutsamudu and its population as of 2006 is about 277,500. The total area of the island is 424 sq. kilometers Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani) is an autonomous island,...
in 1802, but the people refused to believe that their hero had died - it seemed at the time that he had committed suicide of the Fauborg. Rossignol thus survived in souvenirs, and took a position in the legend after the bad 4-volume novel Le Robinson du Faubourg Saint-Antoine.