Commander of the Breton Chouans who won British backing for the Quiberon landing of 1795
Born in 1755 into a noble family of Mortagne-au-Perche, he became an army officer and sat in the Estates-General of 1789 for the nobility of the Perche, supporting a constitutional monarchy. Siding with the Girondins in 1793, he commanded the federalist army of Normandy and, after its rout, went into hiding in Brittany and reorganised the Chouans. In England in 1794 he persuaded Pitt’s government to back an émigré invasion and landed on the Quiberon peninsula with 3,500 émigrés in June 1795, but a quarrel over command with d’Hervilly wasted the chance, and when Hoche sealed the peninsula he withdrew to a British ship and was accused of cowardice. Having lost the confidence of Cadoudal and the other Chouan chiefs, he gave up his command in 1797. After a failed settlement in Upper Canada he became a British subject in 1802 and died at Hammersmith in 1827.
Also known as: Joseph-Geneviève de Puisaye · Comte de Puisaye
Activities and affiliations
- 1793–1797 Military command
- 1793 Military command · Girondins
Career Timeline
- 1789Deputy of the nobility of the Perche to the Estates-General
- 1793Commander of the federalist army of Normandy
- 1793–1797Commander in chief of the Breton Chouans
- 1795Led the Quiberon landing
- 1798–1802Attempted an émigré settlement in Upper Canada
Related historical events
- 1792–1802French Revolutionary WarsÉmigré who led the British-backed Quiberon landingLanded on the Quiberon peninsula in June 1795 with an émigré force carried by a British fleet and was defeated by Hoche.
- 1793–1796The War in the VendéeChouan commander who planned the Quiberon landingPersuaded Pitt’s government to back the émigré landing of 1795, but his quarrel over command with d’Hervilly lost the advantage of surprise, and he withdrew to a British ship during the defeat.