- Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux
Infobox Military Person
name = Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux
born =2 August 1740
placeofbirth =Paris
died =27 December 1817
placeofdeath =Paris
allegiance =flagicon|France|royalKingdom of France
flagicon|France Kingdom of the French
flagicon|France French Republic
flagicon|FranceFirst French Empire
flagicon|France|royal Kingdom of France
rank =Général de division
serviceyears = 1756 - 1795
battles =Seven Years' War French Revolutionary Wars
Vendée (Nantes, Tiffauges, Quiberon)Chouannerie
commands =Armée des côtes de Brest Armée de l'Ouest
awards=Knight of Saint-Louis
laterwork = Ministre plénipotentiaire to the court of Naples (1796-1797)
Senator (1800-1814)Comte d'Empire (1808-1815)Peer of France (1815)Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux (
2 August 1740 , Paris -27 December 1817 , Paris) was a French general during theFrench Revolution , a commander in chief, and apair de France Life
Military career
Ancien Régime
He entered the
École de cavalerie de Besançon , then served as a volunteer in therégiment de Fumel-cavalerie (1756), in which he was promoted to cornette (1757). In the course of theSeven Years' War , he was involved in the Hanover campaign, rising to captain in 1760 and was demobbed at the peace.Immediately re-entering the
régiment de Conti-dragons , he taught the theory of major cavalry manoeuvres at the École de Besançon and published a book on tactics : "Instruction à l'usage du régiment de dragons Conti". He rose to major (1768),mestre de camp (1773) with the rank of colonel, brigadier (1 January 1784) and was promoted tomaréchal de camp on10 March 1788 , all the while remaining the commander of his regiment. He was made a knight of Saint Louis in 1773.French Revolution In 1790, he was one of the generals charged with verifying the regimental accounts and gathering their grievances. Sent into
Brittany in 1791 and 1792, to appease the insurrection movements that had just broken out there and to repress those which had not yet broken out, and brought himself to note by his moderation and conciliatory spirit, winning a brilliant success nearQuimper on8 July .On
7 September 1792 he was made lieutenant général and commander of the 13e division militaire, and was put in charge of embarking at Brest the troops intended forSaint-Domingue .Made lieutenant-général at the end of 1793, the National Convention put him in command of the
armée de l'Ouest . With scarcely 12,000 men, he successfully defended Nantes on29 June , after several fierce and deadly clashes repulsing an attack by a Vendéen army of 50,000 Vendéens underJacques Cathelineau . Victorious again at thebattle of Montaigu (against Charette, who he would defeat again atMortagne-sur-Sèvre ), he was defeated at thebattle of Tiffauges and suspended from his command. Despite a subsequent success atSaint-Symphorien , he was then demobbed on29 September . He then retired to one of his estates, at theChâteau du Saussay (Essonne), but was recalled after the revolution of9 thermidor year II (1794) and again made supreme commander of the armée de l'Ouest. He secondedLazare Hoche to this armée around the time of the counter-revolutionary invasion of France in 1795, sending him for some of the reinforcements he needed. Hoche replaced him in command later in 1795, and Canclaux retired from the army.Administrative career
Sent to the
Midi in 1796 to organise the army intended for Italy (what would become the Army of Italy), at the end of that year he was made ministre plénipotentiaire to the court of Naples, a role he held until 1797.In 1799, he was recalled to state service as a member of the military committee established after the Directory. After the coup of
18 brumaire , he adhered to Napoleon's party, and as during the Consulate Napoleon put him in command of the 14e division militaire, atCaen , where he and general Hédouville were charged with pacifyingNormandy .In 1800, he became inspector-general of the cavalry of the 2e armée de réserve, and on
22 October 1804 (30 vendémiaire year XIII), he was appointed to theSénat conservateur .En 1806 and 1807, he was commander of the gardes nationaux of
Seine-Inférieure and the Somme. In 1808 he was made acomte d'Empire .In December 1813, he was extraordinary-commisioner in
Ille-et-Vilaine .In 1814, he voted in the Senate in favour of deposing Napoleon.
Restoration and the Hundred Days
Made a pair de France on the Restoration, Napoleon kept him as such during the
Hundred Days but Canclaux refused to support him, though this did not prevent him being struck from the list of peers by the royal ordinance of24 July 1815 .On
10 August 1815 , he again became apair de France and voted in favour of the death of Ney.His name is inscribed on the
Arc de Triomphe (west side)ource
*"Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux", in Charles Mullié, Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850, 1852
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