Charles Marie Auguste Joseph de Beaumont, comte d'Autichamp (; 8 August 1770 – 6 October 1859, La Rochefaton). He was one of the few Royalist survivors of the

War in the Vendée The War in the Vendée () was a counter-revolutionary insurrection that took place in the Vendée region of French First Republic, France from 1793 to 1796, during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately so ...

Life

Revolution

A captain in the régiment de Condé in 1789, the comte d'Autichamp emigrated then returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and was admitted to the Garde constitutionnelle du Roi. Although the latter was dissolved, on 5 June 1792, he continued to serve and escaped being murdered at the massacre of 10 August 1792. Taking refuge in Anjou in the house of his cousin and brother-in-law, Charles Melchior Artus de Bonchamps, he became one of the leaders of the Vendeen revolt, participating in the Siege of Nantes in June 1793, won the Battle of Chantonnay, on 5 September repulsed Louis Marie Turreau at Les Ponts-de-Cé, on 12 September. After the defeats at Cholet and Beaupréau, he captured the bridge across the Loire at Varades, allowing the Vendéens to cross and take

Ancenis Ancenis (; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Ancenis-Saint-Géréon. It is a former Subprefectures in France ...

. After the death of the marquis de Bonchamps, he commanded one of the columns which tried in vain to take Granville, on 14 October. Captured at the

battle of Le Mans The Battle of Le Mans was a German victory during the Franco-Prussian War that ended French resistance in western France. Background After capturing the armies of the Second French Empire, French Empire at Battle of Sedan, Sedan and Siege of M ...

, he managed to escape with help from the hussards in the Republican division of Tilly who gave him a hussard uniform. Freed after the pacification of Saint-Florent, he took up arms again under Nicolas Stofflet and, after Stofflet was killed, took over as head of the remains of the royalist army of Anjou and Haut Poitou. Conscious of his troops' weakness and disorganisation, he then negotiated with

Lazare Hoche Louis Lazare Hoche (; 24 June 1768 – 19 September 1797) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars. He won a victory over Royalist forces in Brittany. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on ...

in May 1796. When peace returned, he spent some time in Paris then had to hide, since he fell under the law of hostages. Although favouring peace at the La Jonchere discussions, he resumed the war in 1799, failed before Cholet and was beaten at Les Aubiers.

First Empire

The comte d'Autichamp submitted on 18 January 1800 and went into retirement until the fall of the First Empire. 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 raised a small army of Vendéens and took Cholet without a fight, but was beaten at the

Battle of Rocheservière The Battle of Rocheserviere was fought at Rocheservière on the 20 June 1815, between Vendéan Royalists, who had remained loyal to King Louis XVIII during the Hundred Days, and Napoleon's Army of the West, commanded by General Jean Maximilien ...

, on 19 and 20 June 1815.

Bourbon Restoration

Made a

peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

and inspector general of the infantry by

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 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 ...

, he retired on the accession of

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

and favoured the adventure of Caroline of the Two Sicilies, duchesse de Berry in 1832, leading to his exile for 7 years.

Second Empire

He lived out his last years in Lhoumois and died on 6 October 1859.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autichamp 1770 births 1859 deaths People from Angers Counts of France Legitimists Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration French generals Royalist military leaders of the War in the Vendée Recipients of the Legion of Honour