Anne-Pierre, marquis de Montesquiou-Fézensac (17 October 173930 December 1798) was a French general and writer. Due to his literary talent, he became a member of the Académie française in 1784. He was elected to the

Estates-General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...

. He assumed command of the Army of the Midi in February 1792 and successfully invaded Savoy in September. Nevertheless, he was accused of treason by the Revolutionary government and fled to Switzerland before he could be arrested. He was allowed to return to France in 1795 and he died there three years later.

Career

He was born in Paris, of a family from

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

. He was brought up with the children of the king of France, and showed some taste for letters. He entered the army in 1754, was successively colonel of the Grenadiers and the Royal-Vaissaux regiment, and in 1780 was made '' maréchal-de-camp''. Some pieces of verse and several comedies gained him admission to the Académie française in 1784. He was elected deputy to the

by the nobles of Paris, and, animated by liberal ideas, he soon joined the

Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...

, and seconded

Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Genevan banker and statesman who served as finance minister for Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innovations sometimes caused great discontent. Necker was a constitutional monarchi ...

's financial schemes. This cites P. L. Roederer, ''Éloge de Montesquiou'', reprinted in Roederer's Works (1853–1859). He served on the committee charged with the issue of

assignat An assignat () was a monetary instrument, an order to pay, used during the time of the French Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars. France Assignats were paper money (fiat currency) issued by the Constituent Assembly in France from 1 ...

s, and was named president of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

on 14 March 1791. In May 1791 he was promoted lieutenant-general, served under

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

, and in February 1792 was given the command of the Army of the South. In September of the same year he completed the conquest of Savoy. In November 1792 he was accused of royalist leanings, and he fled to Switzerland. In 1795 his name was erased from the list of

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

s and he returned to Paris, where he died on 30 December 1798. His is one of the

names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe The following is a list of the 660 names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them represent generals who served during the French First Republic (1792–1804) and the First French Empire (1804–1815). Underlined names signify ...

, in column 23.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montesquiou-Fezensac, Anne-Pierre, marquis de 1739 births 1798 deaths Military personnel from Paris Members of the Académie Française Anne-Pierre Marquesses of Montesquiou-Fésensac French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe