Étienne-Charles De Damas-Crux
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Étienne-Charles, Duke of Damas-Crux (10 February 1754 - 29 May 1846) was a
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
soldier and politician. He derived from one of France's oldest noble families, the
House of Damas The House of Damas is one of France's oldest noble families, recorded since the 9th century and including lords of Vergy, counts of Vermandois and barons of Semur. Notable members * Sybille of Bâgé, daughter of Guy I Damas de Baugé, Baron o ...
- he was the last son of Louis Alexandre de Damas, count of Crux (died 1763) and his wife Marie-Louise (1712-1796), daughter of François-Charles, marquis of
Menou Menou () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. Demographics On 1 January 2019, the estimated population was 185. See also *Communes of the Nièvre department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. ...
(1671-1731). He became a brigadier des armées du roi and was received into the
Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...
.


Early life

Étienne-Charles was born at the
Château de Crux Crux-la-Ville is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. Demographics On 1 January 2019, the estimated population was 395. See also *Communes of the Nièvre department References

...
in
Nivernais Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers, which forms the modern department of Nièvre. It roughly coincides with the former Duchy of Nevers.Bonne Marie Félicité de Montmorency-Luxembourg Bonne or Bonné can refer to: People ; Given name * Bonne of Armagnac (1399 – 1430/35), eldest daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and of Bonne of Berry * Bonne of Artois, (1396-1425), daughter of Philip of Artois, Count of Eu and of Ma ...
, ''dame d'atour'' to
Princess Élisabeth of France Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...
in 1776–92, and ''dame d'honneur'' to
Marie Thérèse of France Marie-Thérèse Charlotte (19 December 1778 – 19 October 1851) was the eldest child of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and their only child to reach adulthood. In 1799 she married her cousin Louis Antoine, Duke of Angou ...
in 1799–1823.


Military career


Early service

Étienne-Charles de Damas-Crux joined the
Régiment de Limousin A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
as a second lieutenant on 22 February 1770 and rose to captain in the same regiment on 5 May 1772. He was made second in command of the
Régiment d'Aquitaine 35th Infantry Regiment (''35e régiment d'infanterie'') is an infantry regiment of the French Army. Its origins date back to the formation of the régiment de Nemond in 1604 by a member of the gentry from Lorraine (duchy), Lorraine whose surname ...
on 3 October 1779 and fought with that regiment on all its campaigns in the
East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...
during the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. He was also put in command of a
sepoy ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...
regiment and when one day this unit panicked and fled, Damas-Crux remained on the battlefield almost alone and was finally overrun and captured. Peace was concluded between France and Britain soon after his capture, enabling him to return to France, where he became a
mestre-de-camp Mestre de camp or Maître de camp (; "camp-master") was a military rank in the Ancien Régime of France, equivalent to colonel. A mestre de camp commanded a regiment and was under the authority of a Colonel General, who commanded all the regiments ...
, commanding the
Régiment de Vexin A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service, or specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one ...
in 1784.


French Revolution

On the French Revolution, Damas-Crux backed the king and emigrated - part of the Vexin regiment came to join him from the
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and these men fought under his command in the 1792 campaign. In 1793 he raised the émigré 'Légion de Damas', leading it on the campaigns that year in the Netherlands. When the French Revolutionary Army invaded the Netherlands, the legion passed into British pay. The unit wished to land in western France, but this led to its infantry being largely destroyed on 21 July during the
Quiberon expedition The invasion of France (also known as the Battle of Quiberon) was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitive ...
. In 1796 Damas-Crux concluded a surrender with the
Prince of Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The f ...
that allowed Damas-Crux to form a squadron of hussars out of the remains of his legion - he then commanded this squadron as part of the
Army of Condé The Army of Condé () was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several Émigré armies of the French Revolutionary Wars, émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had b ...
. In 1795
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 â€“ 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...
(or the
Count of Artois The count of Artois (, ) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French Revolution, French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric () *Altmar () *Adelelm (?–932) *''C ...
) had promoted Damas-Crux to maréchal-de-camp. He followed Condé's army to Poland in 1801 and he and Condé joined the Russian army the following year. Damas-Crux was the
Duke of Angoulême Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
's attaché in Russia, as first gentleman of the chamber, and accompanied him from Mittau to join Condé's army, then to Warsaw and finally to England.


Bourbon Restoration

He finally returned to France in March 1814 with the Coalition armies and joined the Duke of Angoulême in his trip to the
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
, "helping him in his counsels and his arms" on all occasions. On the following 21 March (or 22 June) he was made
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
and on 22 August 1814 a knight grand cross of the
Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis () is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the fi ...
. He initially accompanied the Duke of Angoulême during the
Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...
. He was sent to
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
as a royal commissioner alongside Eugène François d'Arnauld, but was arrested by order of General de Laborde and conducted to the Spanish frontier. He then rejoined the Duke of Angoulême in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, from which he was sent to Tolosa and
Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...
to enlist French Royalists there. De Damas-Crux entered
Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
on 25 July, escorted by 1,800
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who he had recruited. He had refused all help from the Spanish general Enrique José O'Donnell, who had offered to put his force under de Damas-Crux's orders. After Napoleon's defeat, de Damas-Crux was made governor of the 11th and 20th military divisions and commander of the Army of the Pyrénées. On 17 July 1815 he was made a peer of France, voting for the death sentence for
Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 â€“ 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...
. On 3 February 1816 he was made a duke in return for his services during the Napoleonic Wars and took an oath to obey the royal court at that rank on 19 February. He was made a knight of the
Order of the Holy Spirit The Order of the Holy Spirit (; sometimes translated into English as the Order of the Holy Ghost) is a French order of chivalry founded by Henry III of France in 1578. Today, it is a dynastic order under the House of France. It should not be c ...
in Paris on 5 February 1824, taking this up formally on 14 May 1826. On 26 September 1815 he was replaced as commander of the 11th military division by Antoine-Louis-Marie de Gramont, moving instead to the 25th division (
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
) and then on 10 January 1816 to the 2nd military division. In March 1816 the Duke of Angoulême gave him various missions in the Midi, which he completed - the measures he took, however, undermined the royal family's in that area. De Damas-Crux retired from the upper chamber after the
July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...
, after remaining faithful to the old government and refusing to take an oath to obey the new one. He retired from the army at the rank of lieutenant general on 30 June 1832 and died in Paris fourteen years later. He and his wife had no issue so the Damas-Crux branch (senior branch of the
House of Damas The House of Damas is one of France's oldest noble families, recorded since the 9th century and including lords of Vergy, counts of Vermandois and barons of Semur. Notable members * Sybille of Bâgé, daughter of Guy I Damas de Baugé, Baron o ...
) died out with him - he had taken measures to be succeeded in the peerage by
Alexandre de Damas Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Alexandra (disambiguation) * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (di ...
, but since Étienne-Charles had been dismissed from the peerage for refusing to take the oath to Louis Philippe his heir could not sit in the House of Peers.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damas-Crux, Etienne-Charles de 1754 births 1846 deaths French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars People from Nièvre Etienne-Charles Peers of France