Jean Victor Marie Moreau | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byFrançois Gérard,c. 1797 | |
| Born | 14 February 1763 |
| Died | 2 September 1813(1813-09-02) (aged 50) |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of the French First French Republic Russian Empire |
| Rank | Général de Division Marshal of France (posthumous) |
| Commands | Army of Italy Army of the Rhine and Moselle |
| Conflicts | |
| Alma mater | University of Rennes |
| Signature |  |
Jean Victor Marie Moreau (French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃viktɔʁmaʁimɔʁo], 14 February 1763 – 2 September 1813) was a French general who helpedNapoleon Bonaparte rise to power, but later became his chief military and political rival and was banished to the United States.[1] A product of theFrench Revolution, he is among the foremost French generals in military history.[1][2] He led theFrench Revolutionary Army to a series of victories, including the majorBattle of Hohenlinden; however, he also suffered defeats against such capable military commanders asArchduke Charles andAlexander Suvorov.
Moreau was born atMorlaix in Brittany. His father was a successful lawyer, and instead of allowing Moreau to enter the army, as he attempted to do, insisted on Moreau studying law at theUniversity of Rennes.[3]
Young Moreau showed no inclination for law, but revelled in the freedom of student life. Instead of taking his degree, he continued to live with the students as their hero and leader, and formed them into a sort of army.[3]
In the run up to theFrench revolutionParlemont's were sites of confrontation as they resisted tax proposals of theancien régime.Rennes was the seat of the localParlemont of Brittany.[4] As tempers grew in 1789 Moreau commanded the students in daily affrays against supporters of the Bourbons.[3]
In 1791, Moreau was elected a lieutenant colonel of the volunteers ofIlle-et-Vilaine. With them he served underCharles François Dumouriez, and in 1793 the good order of his battalion, and his own martial character andrepublican principles, secured his promotion asgénéral de brigade.Lazare Carnot promoted Moreau to begénéral de division early in 1794, and gave him command of the right wing of the army underCharles Pichegru, inFlanders.[3]
The 1794Battle of Tourcoing established Moreau's military fame, and in 1795 he was given the command of theArmy of the Rhine and Moselle, with which he crossed the Rhine and advanced into Germany. He was at first completely successful and won several victories and penetrated to theIsar, but at last had to retreat before theArchduke Charles of Austria. However, the skill he displayed in conducting his retreat—which was considered a model for such operations—greatly enhanced his own reputation, the more so as he managed to bring back with him more than 5000 prisoners.[3]
In 1797, after prolonged difficulties caused by want of funds and materiel, he crossed the Rhine again, but his operations were checked by the conclusion of the preliminaries ofPeace of Leoben between Bonaparte and theAustrians. It was at this time he found a traitorous correspondence between his old comrade and commanderCharles Pichegru and the émigréPrince de Condé. He had already appeared as Pichegru's defender against imputations of disloyalty, and now he foolishly concealed his discovery, with the result that he has ever since been suspected of at least partial complicity. Too late to clear himself, he sent the correspondence to Paris and issued a proclamation to the army denouncing Pichegru as a traitor.[3]
Moreau was dismissed, and only re-employed in 1799, when the absence of Bonaparte and the victorious advance of theRussian commanderAleksandr Suvorov made it necessary to have some tried and experienced general in Italy. He commanded theArmy of Italy, with little success, for a short time before being appointed to theArmy of the Rhine, and remained withBarthelemy Catherine Joubert, his successor in Italy, until theBattle of Novi had been fought and lost. Joubert fell in the battle, and Moreau then conducted the retreat of the army toGenoa, where he handed over the command toJean Étienne Championnet. When Bonaparte returned from theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria, he found Moreau in Paris, greatly dissatisfied with theFrench Directory government both as a general and as a republican, and obtained his assistance in thecoup d'état of18 Brumaire, when Moreau commanded the force which confined two of the directors in theLuxembourg Palace.[3]
In reward, Napoleon again gave him command of the Army of the Rhine, with which he forced back the Austrians from the Rhine to the Isar. On his return to Paris he married 19-year-old Eugénie Hulot, born inMauritius[5] and friend ofJoséphine de Beauharnais, an ambitious woman who gained a complete ascendancy over him. After spending a few weeks with the army in Germany and winning the celebratedBattle of Hohenlinden (3 December 1800),[6] he settled down to enjoy the fortune he had acquired during his campaigns. His wife collected around her all who were discontented with the aggrandisement ofNapoleon. This "Club Moreau" annoyed Napoleon, and encouraged the Royalists, but Moreau, though not unwilling to become a military dictator to restore the republic, would be no party to an intrigue for the restoration ofLouis XVIII. All this was well known to Napoleon, who seized the conspirators.[3]
Moreau's condemnation was procured only by great pressure being brought to bear by Bonaparte on the judges; and after it was pronounced theFirst Consul treated him with a pretense of leniency, commuting a sentence of imprisonment to one of banishment. In 1804, Moreau passed throughSpain and embarked forAmerica.[3]
Moreau arrived with his wife in New York City, in August 1805. He was received with enthusiasm in the United States, but refusing all offers of service he traveled for some time through the country and settled in 1806 inPennsylvania, where he bought a villa formerly belonging toRobert Morris near theDelaware River inMorrisville, across the river fromTrenton. He lived there until 1813, dividing his time between fishing, hunting, and social intercourse. Hisabode was the refuge of all political exiles, and representatives of foreign powers tried to induce him to raise his sword against Napoleon. At the outbreak of theWar of 1812, PresidentJames Madison offered him the command of the U.S. troops. Moreau was willing to accept, but after hearing the news of the destruction of theGrande Armée inRussia in November 1812, he decided to return to Europe.[3][7]
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Moreau, probably at the instigation of his wife, returned to Europe and began to negotiate with an old friend from the circle of republican intriguers: the former Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, nowCrown prince Charles John of Sweden (later KingCharles XIV of Sweden). Charles John andTsarAlexander I of Russia were now together with thePrussians and the Austrians leading an army against Napoleon. Moreau, who wished to see Napoleon defeated and a republican government installed, gave advice to the Swedish and Russian leaders about how best to defeat France. Moreau was mortally wounded in theBattle of Dresden on 27 August 1813 while he was talking to Tsar Alexander and died on 2 September inLouny. Earlier, on 17 August 1813, the tsar had demanded the post of supreme commander of the allied armies for himself, with Moreau andAntoine-Henri Jomini as his deputies, a request that had been resisted with great difficulty by Austrian Foreign MinisterKlemens von Metternich since the post had already been offered to and taken byKarl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. After Moreau was shot down at his side, the tsar observed to Metternich: "God has uttered his judgment. He was of your opinion".[8]
Moreau was buried in theCatholic Church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg. His wife received a pension from the tsar, and Moreau was given the rank ofMarshal of France byLouis XVIII, but theBonapartists spoke of his "defection" and compared him toDumouriez andPichegru.[3]
Moreau's fame as a general stands very high, his combinations were skillful and elaborate, and he kept calm under pressure. Moreau was a sincere republican, although his own father wasguillotined in theReign of Terror. His final words, "Soyez tranquilles, messieurs; c'est mon sort," ("Be calm, gentlemen; this is my fate") suggest that he did not regret being removed from his equivocal position as a general in arms against his own country.[3]
The town ofMoreau, New York is named after him.
Valentin Pikul's 1985 novel,Kazhdomu svoyo, centers on Moreau.
Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921)."Moreau, Jean Victor" .Collier's New Encyclopedia. New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Moreau, Jean Victor Marie".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 827.| International | |
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