Armand-Louis de Gontaut, duc de Biron

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Armand-Louis de Gontaut, duc de Biron

Armand-Louis de Gontaut, duc de Biron , until 1788 duc de Lauzun (born April 13, 1747 in Paris , †  December 31, 1793 ibid) was a French general .

Life

Armand-Louis became a soldier at an early age: not yet 14 he joined the Régiment des Gardes françaises commanded by his uncle, the Duke of Biron . In 1766 he married Amélie de Boufflers, then 14, but the couple lived separately and remained childless. In 1767 he became a colonel and fought (without being assigned directly) from 1769 on Corsica, which was bought from Genoa in May 1768, against the insurgents under Pascal Paoli . In 1774 he was made a colonel in the Legion Royale for his bravery . The following general peace made him unemployed as a soldier until new opportunities arose with the start of hostilities in the American War of Independence in 1775. Not least his memorandum Etat de defense d'Angleterre et de toutes ses possessions dans les quatres parties du monde on the state of the defense of the English colonial empire led to a new command when France officially entered the war in 1778. As a colonel, he took over command of the wild mercenary troop "Volontaires-étrangers de Lauzun" - called " Lauzuns Legion " and officially subordinated to the French Navy (including many Germans, German was the command language), which was thrown together from all European countries . In January 1779 he and his legion conquered Senegal and then waited in Brittany for a planned invasion of England. This was called off in favor of a direct participation in the American War of Independence in 1780 under Rochambeau . In 1781, during the siege of Yorktown in Gloucester, Lauzun targeted a battle with the dragoons of the notorious British colonel Banastre Tarleton . After the surrender of the English, Lauzun was chosen as one of two officers to bring the news of victory to France.

After his return in 1783, he transferred his legion to a hussar regiment (stationed in Alsace near Lauterburg) and became ( Maréchal de camp ). Elected in 1789 by the nobility Quercys to the assembly of estates, he declared himself in the National Assembly for the liberal ideas and joined the Duke of Orléans . During the Revolutionary Wars, he commanded a division in the Northern Department (Flanders) in 1791 , but was defeated in the Battle of Jemappes by Beaulieu .

Nevertheless, after Rochambeau's departure, he became second in command of the Northern Army and in July 1792 even Obergeneral ( Général en chef ) of the Rhine Army , where Custine replaced him , whereupon Biron commanded the Armée d'Italie on the Var and conquered the county of Nice . Transferred to the Vendée to counter the uprising there , he captured Saumur and Parthenay , but insubordination and intrigues (Generals Rossignol and Westermann accused him of falsehood and oppression) led to his requesting his dismissal. Biron went to Paris to justify himself, but was immediately arrested, sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined on December 31, 1793 . He is said to have previously dined with the executioner and asked him to drink by saying that he “needs courage in his job” .

His old legion was incorporated into the 6 e régiment de hussards in 1791 , but practically dissolved in 1792 ( desertions , surrender to the enemy). It was re-established in 1793 and is the forerunner of today's Foreign Legion .

He received the title Duke of Biron in 1788 after the death of his uncle Louis Antoine de Gontaut-Biron (1700–1788) and gave up that of Duke of Lauzun.

Honors

His name is entered on the triumphal arch in Paris in the 23rd column (BIRON).

Works

His Mémoires (1822, newly edited by Lacour, Paris 1858, German by G. Müller 1912) only lasted until 1783. In 1865 he published letters that he supposedly sent in 1789 to friends in the country. He has also written a play (Paris Conversations), which he gave to a publisher living there for posthumous publication in London on his return trip from America .

literature

Web links

Commons : Armand Louis de Gontaut de Biron  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Biron, Armand-Louis de Gontaut, duc de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French general
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1747
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 1793
Place of death Paris