Charles de Suremain (9 October 1762 - 24 September 1835), was a French military and diplomat in Swedish service during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Life

He belonged to the French nobility and emigrated in 1792 to become a part of the

Armée des Émigrés The Armée des émigrés (English: ''Army of the Émigrés'') were counter-revolutionary armies raised outside France by and out of royalist émigrés, with the aim of overthrowing the French Revolution, reconquering France and restoring the mona ...

during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In 1794, he came to be in service of the Swedish army and instructor of War science of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. He also became a favorite of the regent Duke Charles, devoted himself to court service and participated in the contacts between the duke and the Swiss adventurer and Russian spy Christin in 1796. He served in the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...

, was made

Adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of Charles XIII and sent to emperor Napoleon I of France to inform him of the

Coup of 1809 The Coup of 1809 ( sv, Statskuppen 1809) also referred to as the Revolution of 1809 (Swedish: ''Revolutionen 1809'') was a Swedish coup d'état by a group of noblemen led by Georg Adlersparre. The coup resulted in the deposition of King Gustav I ...

and negotiate peace for Sweden. He continued to serve in the Swedish army under

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...

, took lave during the war against France in 1814 but did participate in the war against Norway. His relationship to Bernadotte was not good, and when he was given a position in Pomerania in 1815, he regarded himself exiled and resigned from Swedish service. He returned to France and settled down as a landowner in Bourgogne.

Memoirs

His memoirs ''Mémoires du lieutenant-général de Suremain'' was published in 1902, describing Sweden from his own diary and notes between 1794 and 1815 and regarded to be impartial, humble and exact, though his personal emotional attachment of Charles XIII is evident in it.

References

* Mats Hemström: Charles Jean Baptiste de Suremain i Svenskt biografiskt lexikon {{DEFAULTSORT:Suremain, Charles de 1762 births 1835 deaths French emigrants to Sweden Swedish courtiers Swedish diplomats 18th-century Swedish military personnel 19th-century Swedish military personnel Swedish military commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Royal favourites Swedish military personnel of the Finnish War Swedish royal favourites 19th-century French memoirists