French general
Jacques Francois Coquille
(
French pronunciation:
[?ak
f???swa
k?kij]
), known as
Dugommier
(
French pronunciation:
[dy??mje]
; 1 August 1738 – 18 November 1794), was a French military leader during the
French Revolutionary Wars
.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Jacques Francois Coquille was born on 1 August 1738 in
Trois-Rivieres
in the island of
Guadeloupe
, in the
French West Indies
.
[1]
He was the son of Germain Coquille, a
planter
and royal councilor, and Claire Laurent. In 1785, he took the name "Dugommier" after the coffee
plantation
"Le Gommier" in
Basse-Terre
, which he bought from his parents in 1768.
[2]
[3]
Dugommier began his military career in the company of "
gentlemen cadets
" of the colonies in
Rochefort
, at the age of fifteen.
[4]
He was employed in the naval batteries at
La Rochelle
and
Ile de Re
before being assigned to an infantry company in 1758.
[1]
Dugommier fought in the West Indies theatre of the
Seven Years' War
, serving in the
defense of Guadeloupe
in 1759 and the
defense of Martinique
in 1762.
[1]
He was discharged at his request in 1763, with the rank of ensign of the
compagnies franches de la marine
, and retired to his plantations in Guadeloupe.
[1]
In addition to Le Gommier, Dugommier owned the
sugar plantations
Grand'Anse (34 slaves recorded in 1777) and Grands Fonds, in Trois-Rivieres,
[2]
and Peru in
Les Abymes
(74 slaves recorded in 1784).
[3]
He briefly returned to service in 1778, during the
American War of Independence
, when he led a company of volunteers at the
Battle of St. Lucia
.
[1]
In 1765, he married Marie-Dieudonnee Coudroy-Bottee (1740-1810) in
Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe
.
[2]
At the start of the
French Revolution
, Dugommier was one of the few planters in Guadeloupe who supported the revolutionary cause. They were opposed to the aristocratic planters, who controlled the colonial assembly and held influence over the
governor of Guadeloupe
. A long conflict then opposed the two camps.
[5]
In 1790, part of the troops of the Guadeloupe Regiment, led by Dugommier, participated in three expeditions in support of the revolutionaries of Martinique, but failed to overthrow the governor and the colonial assembly.
[5]
Dugommier left Guadeloupe definitively in July 1791, in order to represent the interests of the revolutionaries of the colonies in
Paris
, as a deputy to the
National Convention
.
[2]
French Revolutionary Wars
[
edit
]
Having shown himself a true republican in the National Convention, Dugommier was made a
marechal de camp
(
brigade general
) of the
French Revolutionary Army
on 10 October 1792, though he initially had no assignment.
[2]
He was given command of a brigade in the
Army of Italy
in May 1793.
[1]
In September 1793, Dugommier drove the troops of the
Habsburg monarchy
and the
Kingdom of Sardinia
from the
County of Nice
, and defeated
Joseph De Vins'
Austrians at the
Battle of Gilette
[
fr
]
on 19 October.
[1]
Dugommier was promoted to
general of division
on 3 November 1793.
[1]
On the same day, he was appointed to succeed General
Jean Francois Carteaux
as commander of the army carrying out the
Siege of Toulon
.
[1]
Recognizing that the attack plan of a young artillery captain,
Napoleon Bonaparte
, was the correct one, Dugommier implemented it. He suffered bruises in the right arm and shoulder while repelling a British
sortie
on 30 November.
[1]
On that occasion, Bonaparte reported that "General Dugommier fought with true republican courage."
[6]
On 17 December, Dugommier led the final assault which recaptured Toulon's fortifications, bringing the siege to a successful conclusion.
[1]
Eastern Pyrenees campaign
[
edit
]
In January 1794, Dugommier was appointed commander of the
Army of the Eastern Pyrenees
, which was engaged in the
War of the Pyrenees
against
Spain
.
[1]
His assignment was to retake the territory of
Roussillon
from the Spanish army of
Antonio Ricardos Carrillo
. He reorganized the army, weakened as it was by the hard combat of the preceding year spent incessantly and fruitlessly storming the Spanish positions. The Spanish became paralyzed by a leadership crisis following the successive deaths of Carrillo and his replacement,
Alejandro O'Reilly
, to disease, making Dugommier's task easier.
On 28 April, Dugommier was victorious at the Battle of Tech, followed by a success at the Battle of Albere on 30 April. He achieved a decisive victory against the
Count of La Union
at the
Battle of Boulou
on 1 May, which led to the recovery of Roussillon.
[1]
Port-Vendres
was evacuated by La Union (who had under his command 400 French noblemen of the
Legion Panetier
) in May.
Collioure
fell on 29 May after a
four-week siege
, in the course of which Dugommier was wounded.
[1]
He repelled a Spanish assault on 13 August in the
Battle of Sant Llorenc de la Muga
, and retook the
Fort de Bellegarde
on 17 September (the siege had lasted since 7 May).
[1]
On 22 September, an audacious attack gave Dugommier the redoubt and camp of
Costouge
, putting the Spanish army to flight and capturing most of its equipment.
Dugommier was killed by a Spanish
artillery shell
on 18 November at the
Battle of the Black Mountain
. His successor in command, General
Dominique-Catherine Perignon
, ended the battle with a French victory on 20 November. Dugommier was buried under a
liberty tree
in the Fort de Bellegarde on 19 November,
[1]
and later reburied in
Perpignan
, where he rests in a pyramidal monument. On 25 November, the National Convention ordered his name to be engraved on a column of the
Pantheon
in Paris.
[1]
Napoleon kept his souvenir, bestowing 100,000 Francs to his son for the memory of the Siege of Toulon.
Legacy
[
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]
- His name is inscribed in the Pantheon.
- The
Boulevard Dugommier
in
Marseille
is named in his honour.
- A station
of the
Paris Metro
is named for him.
References
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