Charles-François Dumouriez

Charles-François Dumouriez (1739-1823), French general who played a leading role in the early stages of the wars of the French Revolution. Born in Cambrai on January 25, 1739, Dumouriez entered the French army in 1758, serving with distinction in the Seven Years' War, and on subsequent military and diplomatic missions. During the Revolution he was a moderate reformer, connected with the Girondin Party. In June 1791 he took command of the Loire district. Following the flight of the émigrés he was called to Paris, in February 1792, as one of the few loyal senior officers. In March he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, just as war broke out. Dumouriez tried to limit French ambition, and to secure the alliance of Great Britain. The radicalization of French politics caused him to resign from office in June. In August he was appointed to command the Army of the North, which he trained and motivated. On September 20 he and François-Christophe Kellerman won the decisive cannonade in the Battle of Valmy, halting the Austro-Prussian invasion of France for the year, and breaking up the coalition. On November 6 he defeated the Austrians at Jemappes, clearing them from Belgium. Unhappy with the radical and aggrandizing policies of the revolutionary government in Belgium, Dumouriez, always a political general, considered using his army. On March 18, 1793, he was defeated at Neerwinden and evacuated from Belgium. On November 25 he decided, with Austrian support, to lead his army to Paris, overthrow the government, and restore the monarchy. His army deserted and he went over to the Austrians on April 5. After a period in exile near Hamburg, he arrived in Britain in late 1800, and prepared an elaborate memorandum for the British government on the defence of the country against a French invasion. He remained in Britain, a pensioner of the British, and later of the restored Bourbon monarchies. He died on March 14, 1823, at Henley-on-Thames.