Jean-Nicolas Stofflet
Jean-Nicolas Stofflet (born February 3, 1753 in Bathelémont-lès-Bauzemont , Lorraine , † February 23, 1796 in Angers ) was one of the leaders of the Armée catholique et royale de Vendée during the uprising there against revolutionary France .
biography
He was born the son of a miller whose ancestors came from the Montafon, Vorarlberg and served for years as a simple soldier in a Swiss regiment. He then held the post of game warden in the service of Count Colbert-Maulévrier. When the Vendée uprising broke out, he joined it and took part in several battles in which he distinguished himself. In 1794 he was appointed "major-général" (not a rank, but a position - so he was not a major general) and in the same year he succeeded Henri de La Rochejaquelein as commander in chief of the troops.
Mutual distrust and probably also ambition and envy were the reasons why he fell out with the other commanders of the insurgents: In April 1794 he had his colleague General Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny tried in absentia before a court martial and sentenced to death; the sentence was carried out immediately after he was captured on July 10, 1794. A year later, Stofflet got into an argument with François Athanase de Charette de la Contrie , another leader of the Vendée army, because of military failures ; shortly afterwards he resigned and on May 2, 1795 submitted to a judgment of the National Convention .
In December 1795 he broke the agreements that had been made with the republic and was taken over by the Count of Provence, the younger brother of Louis XVI. and later King Louis XVIII. promoted to maréchal de camp . However, his military activities failed; He was of the revolutionary troops under Jacques Mesnage in the Battle of Châtillon captured by a military court sentenced to death and on February 25, 1796 Angers shot . He was 43 years old.
rating
Victoire de Donnissan de La Rochejaquelein , who at her husband's side witnessed several events of the Vendée uprising at first hand, describes Stofflet as “intelligent and brave”, but also as “haughty and vain” and as “tough and brutal” towards his own soldiers who feared him. His behavior towards his general colleague Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny is generally considered to be completely exaggerated.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Victoire de Donnissan de La Rochejaquelein : Mémoires de Madame la marquise de la Rochejaquelein. Paris 1848, p. 150
literature
- Modern biographies, or brief reports of the lives and deeds of the most famous people by Karl Reichard. Leipzig, 1811. Commissioned by Peter Hammer.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stofflet, Jean-Nicolas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | General on the side of the Catholic-royalist motivated Vendée uprising against revolutionary France |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 3, 1753 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bathelémont-lès-Bauzemont , Lorraine |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 23, 1796 |
| Place of death | Angers |