Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte

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Jean-Baptiste Noël Bouchotte (born December 25, 1754 in Metz , † June 7, 1840 in Le Ban-Saint-Martin near Metz) was Minister of War of the First French Republic from April 4, 1793 to April 20, 1794 .

Baptiste Noël Bouchotte

Life

Bouchotte was born the son of a rent master and served in the Régiment de Nassau from 1773 . In 1775 he changed to the regiment Royal-Nassau hussards as a sous-lieutenant and from 1784 served as captain in the regiment d'Esterhazy hussards .

During the revolution, Bouchotte was one of Hébert's supporters . In the spring of 1792 he fought against the Austrians and was promoted to colonel because of his services in the defense of Cambrai. On April 4, 1793 Bouchotte took over the Ministry of War.

The National Convention had approved the levy of 300,000 men for the army on 24 February 1,793th This caused unrest in many places, which was suppressed after a few days. Only in the Vendée and in areas of the adjacent departments of Deux-Sèvres , Maine-et-Loire and Loire-Inférieure did the uprising of the peasant masses become a threat to the French Republic. The adopted excavation completed Bouchotte quickly and ruthlessly. By mid-August 1793, a total of 700,000 men had been raised for the Republican army.

Bouchotte energetically tried to enforce the law on premier amalgams of February 21, 1793 in the army. This law contained essentially the ideas of Dubois-Crancé to reorganize the army. Dubois-Crancé demanded a line regiment, two volunteer battalions and an artillery company to "merge" (amalgamers) into a half-brigade (demi-brigade ) and thereby increase the combat strength of the republican army. The expansion of the war against Austria and the uprising in the Vendée required rapid implementation of the amalgam law. The law remained controversial, the Montagne approved it and the majority of Girondins rejected it. It was not until early 1796 that the provisions of the law were enforced throughout the army.

Bouchotte removed royalists and moderate republicans from the War Department and the officer corps. Most of those released from the War Ministry were replaced by supporters of Hébert.

In the officer corps, Bouchotte promoted able men like Kléber , Masséna , Moreau or Bonaparte, but also failures like Jean Léchelle . Bouchotte earned lasting merits due to his measures to improve the supply and equipment of the army and to reorganize the medical system. Following the guidelines of Carnot , Prieur de la Cote-d'Or , Jeanbon Saint-André and Lindet , who, as members of the Welfare Committee, actually determined military policy, he standardized warfare to defend France against the troops of the allied Austrians and Piedmontese. Only the commanders-in-chief of the armies caused Bouchotte difficulties, such as Custine , who despised him because of his political origins as " sans-culottes minister " . Because of this, Bouchotte resigned as Minister of War on May 26, 1793. The fall of the Girondins from May 31 to June 2, 1793, however, required him to remain in office. On June 11, 1793, Bouchotte again declared his resignation, which he revoked after it became known that Alexandre de Beauharnais should be his successor.

Bouchotte faced further difficulties with the factional struggles of the Jacobins between the " indulgent " around Danton and Desmoulins , the supporters of Robespierre and the " Hébertists " . The intrigues of Fabre d'Églantines , a follower of Desmoulin, led on December 17, 1793 to the arrests of the Secretary General in the Ministry of War, François-Nicolas Vincent , and the leader of the Parisian revolutionary troops, Charles Philippe Ronsin . After this blow against his most important colleagues, Bouchotte was attacked directly on January 5, 1794. In his “Vieux Cordelier”, Camille Desmoulins complained about the free distribution of Hébert's newspaper “Père Duchesne” in the army and claimed that Bouchotte supported this paper financially with funds from the Ministry of War. Only when the scandal surrounding the India company became known and Fabre d'Églantine's involvement in the embezzlement of public funds prevented Bouchotte's fall. An abuse of public funds by the "Hébertists" could not be proven beyond doubt and on February 2, 1794 Vincent and Ronsin were released due to public campaigns. Both then took part in the power struggles between the "Hébertists" , the "indulgent" and the supporters of Robespierre. Bouchotte stayed out of the power struggles and was therefore able to save his life. Because Hébert and his followers were subject to their political opponents and were executed on March 24, 1794 in Paris. After all ministries were dissolved on April 1, 1794 and replaced by government commissions, Bouchotte's tenure as Minister of War officially ended on April 20, 1794.

Jean-Baptiste Noël Bouchotte was arrested on June 22, 1794. Even after Robespierre's fall on July 27, 1794, he remained in prison and was only released again as a result of the general amnesty of October 26, 1795. Bouchotte returned to Metz and was elected official in 1798. However, a few weeks later, the Directory obtained his dismissal. In 1799 he went back to Paris and joined the mane club. After the coup d'état of 18th Brumaire VIII (9/10 November 1799) Bouchotte asked for his promotion to the Général de briagde . However, the first consul Napoleon Bonaparte found no use for the former minister of war and put him into retirement. Bouchotte retired to Metz, stayed away from political events ever since and married the widow of his former assistant Villain d'Aubigny on April 29, 1805. Jean-Baptiste Noël Bouchotte died on June 7, 1840 in Le Ban-Saint-Martin near Metz.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Bouchotte, Jean Baptiste Noël
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bouchotte, Jean-Baptiste Noël
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Politician during the French Revolution
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1754
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1840
Place of death Le Ban-Saint-Martin