French soldier
Jean Augustin Ernouf
(Manuel Louis Jean Augustin or Auguste Ernouf) (29 August 1753 ? 12 September 1827) was a French general and colonial administrator of the
Revolutionary
and
Napoleonic wars
. He demonstrated moderate abilities as a combat commander; his real strength lay in his organizational and logistical talents. He held several posts as chief-of-staff and in military administration.
He joined the military in 1791, as a private in the
French Revolutionary Army
; from September 1791 to September 1793, he was promoted from lieutenant to brigadier general. He and his commanding officer were accused of being counter-revolutionaries, disgraced, and then, in 1794, restored to rank. In 1804,
Napoleon I
appointed him as governor general of the French colony in
Saint-Domingue
and
Guadeloupe
, following the suppression of a widespread slave insurrection. Although he was able to reestablish some semblance of order and agricultural production, the British overwhelmed the colony in 1810 and, after a brief engagement, forced him to capitulate.
He returned to France on a prisoner exchange, but was charged with treason by
Napoleon I
, enraged by the loss of the colony to the British. Before he could be exonerated by a court, the
First Empire
fell; with the
Bourbon Restoration
, he retained his honors, and received command of the III Corps, in Marseille. After the second restoration, he held an administrative position in one of the occupation zones, and later he was elected to the
Chamber of Deputies of France
.
Military career
[
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]
After completing school, Ernouf received entered military service as a private in the Revolutionary army. He was commissioned as a
lieutenant
of infantry in the 1st Battalion of Volunteers of the
Orne
on the 24 September 1791, and as a
captain
on 22 March 1792, and 5 May 1793 he became an
aide-de-camp
of General
Barthel
's Army of the North. On 30 July 1793, he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant colonel
.
[1]
Initial successes in the Lowlands and the lower Rhine
[
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]
In 1793, during the
War of the First Coalition
, Ernouf was sent to
Cassel
to strengthen the French position. The
Duke of York
laid siege to
Dunkirk
and blockaded the town of
Bergues
, on the Belgian border, which had insufficient garrison to fend off the British. Ernouf assembled a force of a thousand men and joined
Jean Nicolas Houchard
; together they marched to the relief of Dunkirk. Once there, he led a column in attack on the British camp. On
5 complementaire an I
(21 September 1793), which would have been the last day of the first year of the new Republic, he was raised to the rank of
brigadier general
and was appointed on
9 vendemiaire an II
(30 September 1793) as chief of staff to the Army of the North.
[1]
It was also by his advice that the commander-in-chief,
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
, discovered
Josias, Prince of Coburg's
unfortunate position behind the
Wattignies
forest, compelled him to retreat across the
Sambre
and subsequently lifted the siege of
Maubeuge
: Ernouf's part in this action, the
Battle of Hondschoote
, earned him his promotion to major general on 23
frimaire
an II
(13 December 1793). When Jourdan did not order an aggressive pursuit, both he and Ernouf were recalled by the
Committee of Public Safety
in disgrace. He was suspended on suspicion of being a counter-revolutionary, but reinstated upon the end of the
Reign of Terror
in 1795. Upon his reinstatement, he was appointed chief of staff of the
Army of the Moselle
and the
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
. He held several administrative posts, including a stint in which he helped to develop the topographical and geographical military maps.
[1]
Action in Swabia and Switzerland
[
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]
In 1798, Jourdan appointed him as chief of staff for the Army of Observation. Ernouf was with the Army of Observation when it crossed the
Rhine river
, in what British historians have called a violation of the
Treaty of Campo Formio
,
[2]
resulting in the
War of the Second Coalition
. On 2 March, the Army was renamed
Army of the Danube
, and it marched to Upper
Swabia
, where it engaged
Archduke Charles'
Habsburg force at
Ostrach
on 21 March, and again on 25 March at
Stockach
.
[3]
In both battles, the Habsburg manpower, superior to the French numbers by three to one and two to one respectively, overwhelmed the French lines; Jourdan, the commander of the Army, was unable to concentrate his forces sufficiently to counteract the Habsburg numbers, and withdrew to the
Black Forest
in late March.
[4]
Ernouf took command of the Army of the Danube while Jourdan returned to Paris to request more troops.
[5]
He was replaced as commander of the Army of the Danube by
Andre Massena
, and served as Massena's chief of staff in the Swiss campaign of 1799, during which he saw action in
Zurich
and central Switzerland; he was again at
Zurich
for the French victory over
Alexander Rimsky-Korsakov
.
[6]
Caribbean appointment
[
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]
In 1804, Ernouf became a Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honor
.
[7]
Shortly afterward, he was sent to
Guadeloupe
and
Saint-Domingue
as Captain General of the colony, to restore order in the wake of the slave and mulatto rebellion against slavery led by
Louis Delgres
and the
Saint-Domingue campaign
of
Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc
.
[1]
[8]
Within a year, after burning former slaves who refused to go back to the plantations, Ernouf had restored slavery and agricultural production. From his base on Guadeloupe, he dealt generously with many of the refugee planters who escaped the previous years' carnage. He also took over the Swedish island of
St. Barts
, where the rebels of St. Domingo had taken refuge, and from which they coordinated privateering 80 million francs.
[1]
There is some evidence to suggest that he either actively encouraged, or at least permitted, the earlier practice of privateering against British and American shipping; British officers later found open commissions, signed by Ernouf, which suggested he was granting commissions to pirates for "services" rendered.
[9]
Four privateer ships sailing from Guadeloupe between 1805 and 1810 bore the name
General Ernouf
, one of which was the captured sloop-of-war
HMS
Lilly
), which underscores his encouragement of privateering. His task was further complicated by the failure of the
Treaty of Amiens
and the outbreak of
war
with Britain. To protect Guadeloupe, he established coastal batteries.
[1]
The British
capture of
Martinique
in 1809 marked a critical point for the French on Guadeloupe; blockaded on all sides by the naval forces of the British, the French civilians and soldiers were reduced to near starvation.
[1]
In January 1810, the British initiated an
invasion of Guadeloupe
; Sir
Alexander Cochrane
's naval force landed 11,000 British troops under the command of Lieutenant General
George Beckwith
landed at
Capesterre
, or the eastern side of the islands.
[10]
Attacked on three sides at the end of January 1810, Ernouff's force mounted a spirited, although short defense and capitulated on 6 February 1810, after which he was transported to Britain. He was repatriated to France in a prisoner exchange in 1811. Irritated at the loss of Guadeloupe to the British, Napoleon accused him of abuse of power,
embezzlement
, and
treason
. Ernouf spent 23 months in captivity in France while the courts debated how to proceed.
[1]
Restoration
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]
At the
Bourbon Restoration
, Louis XVIII suspended the proceedings against him for lack of evidence and Ernouf entered into
Bourbon
service.
[1]
He was created
Chevalier
of
Saint-Louis
, on 20 August of that year, and he was appointed Inspector General of Infantry. On 3 January 1815, he went in that capacity in
Marseille
. In March 1815, he received a command in the 1st Corps, under the general command of
Charles, Duke of Angouleme
.
[1]
Napoleon's return
[
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]
Ernouf was on an inspection away from this command when Napoleon landed at
Cannes
. Upon his landing, many of the soldiers of Angouleme's army flocked to Bonaparte's banner, beginning the
Hundred Days
. The mere news of Napoleon's escape from Elba and the defection of some of the troops caused Charles, Duke of Angouleme, to panic and capitulate. Ernouf returned to
Marseille
, where he learned that Andre Massena also had chosen the
imperial cause
, after which he left for Paris. Napoleon rescinded Ernouf's honors and titles, and dismissed him from his post in the military on 15 April 1815. After Napoleon's final defeat at the
Battle of Waterloo
, the second restoration of the Bourbons that summer also restored Ernouf's rights and property.
[1]
Later years
[
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]
On 3 May 1816, Louis XVIII granted him the title of
Baron
with the Commander's Cross of the
Order of Saint Louis
, which entitled him to wear a red sash (right shoulder to left hip); he automatically received a pension, and hereditary nobility was granted to the son and grandson of knights. On 11 November 1816, Enrouf received command of the III Division, located at Metz, which was occupied by Allied troops as a condition of the
Second Treaty of Paris
; his role was to maintain harmony between residents and the foreign soldiers.
[1]
Elected by the
Moselle
, in 1816, he obtained in 1818 permission to sit in the
Chamber of Deputies
, and left the command of the III Division when he became eligible for retirement on 22 July 1822. He died in Paris on 12 September 1827.
[1]
Family
[
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]
Ernouf was married to Genevieve Miloent (d. 22 November 1822).
[11]
Ernouf's son,
Gaspard Augustin
(8 December 1777 ? 25 October 1848), was also a military commander during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
[12]
Gaspard and his wife, Adelaide Guesdon, were the parents of the 19th century historian,
Alfred Auguste Ernouf
(1816?1889).
[13]
Sources
[
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]
Citations and notes
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
Mullie, Charles (1852).
"Ernouf (Jean-Augustin, baron)"
.
Biographie des celebrites militaires des armees de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850
(in French). Paris: Poignavant et Compagnie.
- ^
Ramsey Weston Phipps.
The Armies of the First French Republic
, volume 5:
The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the
coup d'etat
of Brumaire, 1797?1799
. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939, pp. 49?50.
- ^
Timothy Blanning.
The French Revolutionary Wars
, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 41?59.
- ^
Theodore Ayrault Dodge,
Napoleon: A History of the Art of War
. vol. 3, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1904, pp. 581?582.
- ^
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan.
A Memoir of the operations of the army of the Danube under the command of General Jourdan, taken from the manuscripts of that officer
, London: Debrett, 1799, p. 204.
- ^
Digby Smith.
The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792?1815
. Greenhill, Pennsylvania: Stackpole, 1998,
ISBN
1-85367-276-9
pp. 146?155.
- ^
Grand Officers were paid very generously ? 5000 francs. Pierre-Louis Roederer, "Speech Proposing the Creation of a Legion of Honour",
Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents
. Rafe Blaufarb (ed.). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008, pp. 101?102.
- ^
"Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc"
.
The Louverture Project
. Archived from
the original
on 6 August 2016.
- ^
Roy and Lesley Adkins.
War for all the Oceans.
New York: Penguin, 2008, p. 327.
- ^
Adkins, p. 327.
- ^
Etat civil reconstitue 1798?1860: Mariages, naissances, deces. Paris: ARFIDO S.A., 2006.
- ^
Mullie, Charles (1852).
"Ernouf (Gaspard-Augustin)"
.
Biographie des celebrites militaires des armees de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850
(in French). Paris: Poignavant et Compagnie.
- ^
Charles Dudley Warner (ed.). "Alfred Auguste Ernouf."
Biographical Dictionary and Synopsis of Books Ancient and Modern
. Akron, Ohio: Werner, 1902. Alfred August Ernouf wrote several books, his most enduring being
The art of gardens, their history, practice, and use
, 1868;
Recollections of the reign of terror
, which appeared in English editions in 1870,
Maret, duc de Bassano
, 1878, and a biography of
Denis Papin
, in 1874. He also edited over 70 volumes, including volumes 11?14 of
History of France
by Louis-Pierre-Edouard Bignon, after Bignon's death.
[1]
Alfred Auguste Ernouf.
References
[
edit
]
- Adkins, Roy and Lesley
.
War for all the Oceans.
New York. Penguin, 2008, 978-0143113928.
- Blanning, Timothy.
The French Revolutionary Wars
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
ISBN
0-340-56911-5
.
- Blaufarb, Rafe (ed.). "Pierre-Louis Roederer, Speech Proposing the Creation of a Legion of Honour".
Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents
. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.
- Dodge, Theodore Ayrault.
Napoleon: A History of the Art of War
. vol. 3, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1904.
- (in French)
Etat civil reconstitue 1798?1860:
Mariages, naissances, deces
. Paris: ARFIDO S.A., 2006.
- Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste.
A Memoir of the operations of the army of the Danube under the command of General Jourdan, taken from the manuscripts of that officer
. London: Debrett, 1799.
- Mullie, Charles (1852).
"Ernouf (Gaspard-Augustin)"
.
Biographie des celebrites militaires des armees de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850
(in French). Paris: Poignavant et Compagnie.
- Mullie, Charles (1852).
"Ernouf (Jean-Augustin, baron)"
.
Biographie des celebrites militaires des armees de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850
(in French). Paris: Poignavant et Compagnie.
- Phipps, Ramsey Weston.
The Armies of the First French Republic, volume 5: The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the coup d'etat of Brumaire, 1797?1799
. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939.
- Smith, Digby,
The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792?1815
. Greenhill, Pennsylvania: Stackpole, 1998,
ISBN
1-85367-276-9
.
- Warner, Charles Dudley (ed.). "Alfred Auguste Ernouf."
Biographical Dictionary and Synopsis of Books Ancient and Modern
. Akron, Ohio: Werner, 1902.
External links and sources
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