 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2012) |
Mathieu Dumas | |
|---|---|
_-_Le_g%25C3%25A9n%25C3%25A9ral_Comte_Dumas_(1753-1837).jpg) Portrait byLouise Adélaïde Desnos, 1842 | |
| Born | (1753-11-23)23 November 1753 |
| Died | 16 October 1837(1837-10-16) (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of France,.svg) Kingdom of France (1791–1792), French First Republic, First French Empire,.svg) Bourbon Restoration,July Monarchy |
| Years of service | 1780–1815 |
| Rank | General of Division |
| Battles / wars | American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
| Awards | Name inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, |
| Other work | Peer of France, Member of the council of state, Author of military memoirs |
Mathieu, comte Dumas (French pronunciation:[matjøkɔ̃tdymɑ]; 23 November 1753 – 16 October 1837) was aFrench general and politician.
Born inMontpellier, France, of anoble family, he joined the French army in 1773 and entered upon active service in 1780, asaide-de-camp toRochambeau in theAmerican Revolutionary War. He had a share in all the principal engagements that occurred during a period of nearly two years. On the conclusion of peace in 1783 he returned to France as a major.[1]
During 1784 to 1786 Dumas explored the archipelago and the coasts ofTurkey. He was present at the siege ofAmsterdam in 1787, where he co-operated with theDutch against thePrussians.[1]
After the outbreak of theFrench Revolution (1789) he acted withLafayette and the constitutional liberal party. TheNational Constituent Assembly entrusted him with the command of the escort which conducted KingLouis XVI toParis after theFlight to Varennes (June 1791). In 1791 as amaréchal de camp he was appointed to a command atMetz, where he rendered important service in improving the discipline of the troops.[1]
Chosen a member of theLegislative Assembly in the same year by thedépartement ofSeine-et-Oise, he was in 1792 elected president of the Assembly. When the extreme republicans gained the ascendancy, however, he judged it prudent to make his escape toEngland. Returning after a brief interval, under the apprehension that his father-in-law would be held responsible for his absence, he arrived in Paris in the midst of theReign of Terror, and had to flee toSwitzerland.[1]
Soon after his return to France he was elected a member of theCouncil of Ancients in the period of theDirectory. After the coup of the 18th Fructidor (4 September 1797) Dumas, being proscribed as amonarchist, made his escape toHolstein, where he wrote the first part of hisPrécis des événements militaires (published anonymously at Hamburg, 1800).[1]
Recalled to his native country whenBonaparte becameFirst Consul (1799), Dumas took over the organisation of the "Army of Reserve" atDijon. In 1805 he was nominated a councillor of state. He did good service at theBattle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805), and went in 1806 toNaples, where he became minister of war toJoseph Bonaparte.[1]
On the transfer of Joseph to the throne of Spain (1808), Dumas rejoined the French army, with which he served inSpain during the campaign of 1808, and inGermany during that of 1809. After theBattle of Wagram (5–6 July 1809), Dumas participated in negotiating the armistice withAustria.[1]
In 1810 he became grand officer of theLegion of Honour and a count of theEmpire. In theRussian campaign of 1812 he held the post of intendant-general of the army, which involved the charge of the administrative department. The privations he suffered in the retreat fromMoscow brought on a dangerous illness. Resuming, on his recovery, his duties as intendant-general, he took part in the battles of 1813, and was made prisoner after the capitulation ofDresden.[1]
On the accession ofLouis XVIII (1814), Dumas rendered his new sovereign important services in connection with the administration of the army. WhenNapoleon returned fromElba in theHundred Days (1815), Dumas at first kept himself in retirement, but Joseph Bonaparte persuaded him to present himself to the Emperor, who employed him in organising theNational Guard.[1]
Obliged to retire after the restoration of Louis XVIII (1815), Dumas devoted his leisure to the continuation of hisPrécis des événements militaires, of which nineteen volumes, embracing the history of the war from 1798 to the peace of 1807, appeared between 1817 and 1826. A growing weakness of sight, ending in blindness, prevented him from carrying the work further, but he translatedNapier'sPeninsular War as a sort of continuation to it.[1]
In 1818 Dumas returned to favour and became a member of the council of state, from which, however, he was excluded in 1822. After theJuly Revolution of 1830, in which he took an active part, Dumas was created a peer of France, and re-entered the council of state. He died in Paris on 16 October 1837.[1]
Besides thePrécis des événements militaires, which forms a valuable source for the history of the period, Dumas wroteSouvenirs du lieutenant-général Comte Mathieu Dumas (published posthumously by his son, Paris, 1839).[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dumas, Guillaume Mathieu, Count".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 657.