Guillaume Brune Count of theEmpire | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait by Eugène Bataille after an original byMarie-Guillemine Benoist. The original, commissioned by Napoleon and executed in 1805, was lost in the fire that destroyed theTuileries Palace in 1871. | |
| Born | 13 March 1764 (1764-03-13) |
| Died | 2 August 1815 (1815-08-03) (aged 52) |
| Allegiance |  French First Republic First French Empire |
| Branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1791–1815 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Grand Cross of theLegion of Honour |
Guillaume Brune, 1st Count Brune (French pronunciation:[ɡijombʁyn], 13 March 1764 – 2 August 1815) was a French military commander andMarshal of the Empire who served during theFrench Revolutionary Wars and theNapoleonic Wars.
Brune was born inBrives (now called Brive-la-Gaillarde) in the province ofLimousin, the son of Étienne Brune, a lawyer, and Jeanne Vielbains.[1] He moved to Paris in 1785, studied law,[1] and became a political journalist. He embraced the ideas of theFrench Revolution, and soon after its outbreak enlisted in the ParisianNational Guard and joined theCordeliers,[1] eventually becoming a friend ofGeorges Danton.
Brune fought inBordeaux during theFederalist revolts atHondschoote andFleurus. In 1793, Brune was appointedbrigadier general and took part in thefighting of the 13 Vendémiaire (5 October 1795) against royalist insurgents in Paris.[2]
In 1796, he served underNapoleon Bonaparte in theItalian campaign and was promoted togénéral de division allegedly so as to avoid Napoleon having to concede the post toBernadotte, who was at this time a political rival to Napoleon. Brune was noted as having been particularly incompetent; one anecdote has him attempting to march three divisions down the same road, leading to confusion among the army of Italy.[3][page needed] He was subsequently removed from command. Brune commanded the French army that occupied Switzerland in 1798 and established theHelvetic Republic. In the following year, he was in command of the French troops in defence ofAmsterdam against theAnglo-Russian invasion of Holland under theDuke of York, in which he was completely successful – the Anglo-Russian forces were defeated in theBattle of Castricum, and compelled, after a harsh retreat, to re-embark. He rendered further good service inVendée and in the Italian Peninsula[2] from 1799 to 1801, winning the 1800Battle of Pozzolo.
In 1802, Napoleon dispatched Brune toConstantinople as ambassador to theOttoman Empire. During his two-year diplomatic service, he initiated relations between France andPersia.[4]
Following his coronation as Emperor of the French in 1804, Napoleon made Brune aMarshal of the Empire (Maréchal d'Empire)[2] while he was still inConstantinople. During the campaigns against Austria during theWar of the Third Coalition, Marshal Brune commanded the army in Boulogne from 1805 to 1807 overseeing drilling and keeping a watchful eye on the British. In 1807 Brune was appointed Governor General for the Hanseatic Ports and in 1808, Brune held a command of troops fighting inWar of the Fourth Coalition and occupiedSwedish Pomerania, takingStralsund and theIsland of Rugen. Despite these victories, his staunch republicanism and a meeting withGustav IV Adolf of Sweden raised Napoleon's suspicions. These suspicions were only made worse by Brune, who refused to talk to Napoleon about the matter, claiming simply that "It's a lie". Brune made his biggest blunder while drafting a treaty between France and Sweden when he wrote "the French army" instead of "His Imperial Majesty's Army". Whether an intentional insult or act of incompetence, Napoleon was infuriated and Brune was removed from duty. He then spent the next years at his country estate in disgrace and was not re-employed until 1815.[5]
After Napoleon's abdication, Brune was awarded theCross of Saint Louis byLouis XVIII, but rallied to the emperor's cause after his escape from exile inElba.[5] Leaving behind their past quarrels, Napoleon appointed Brune commander of theArmy of the Var during theHundred Days. Here he defended Southern France against the forces of theAustrian Empire andKingdom of Sardinia, with the addition of the BritishMediterranean Fleet and local Royalist guerrillas. Brune, while he heldLiguria, slowly began to retreat, holding Toulon. Brune kept the mobs in Marseille andProvence under control.
On 22 July 1815, after hearing of the defeat atWaterloo, Brune surrenderedToulon to the British.[5] Fearing the Royalist mobs inProvence and aware of their hatred towards him, Brune asked AdmiralEdward Pellew to sail him toItaly, but the request was rudely denied, with Pellew calling him "the prince of scamps" and a "blackguard". Brune then decided to travel toParis over land with the promise of Royalist protection, although none was provided.[5] He managed to arrive safely with twoaides-de-camp inAvignon, but was there shot and killed by an angry Royalist mob after being chased into a hotel, as a victim of theSecond White Terror. The new Bourbon government soon fabricated the story that Brune had committed suicide.[5] His body, thrown into theRiver Rhone, was retrieved by a fisherman and buried by local farmers and was later recovered by his wife Angélique Nicole Pierre[5] to be buried in the cemetery ofSaint-Just-Sauvage.[6]
An inquiry compelled by his widow later made public that Brune's murder had been covered up by the royal authorities, and revealed that the mob responsible was led by baseless allegations that Brune was the one paradingMarie Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princesse de Lamballe' head on a pike around Paris during theSeptember Massacres.[5] In 1839, one year after Angélique's death, a monument to Marshal Brune was erected in his hometown of Brives.[5]
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In 1793, Brune married Angélique Nicole Pierre, fromArpajon.[5] They had no issue but adopted two daughters.[7]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Brune, Guillaume Marie Anne".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 680–681. Endnotes:Marshals of theFirst French Empire | |||
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