French revolutionary general, commander of the 1798 Irish expedition
On 22 August 1798 he landed at Killala and on 27 August defeated British forces under Lord Lake at Castlebar. The Connacht republic was proclaimed on 31 August, and on 8 September he was defeated and taken prisoner at Ballinamuck.
Born in 1767 at Saint-Nabord in the Vosges, he volunteered in 1792, rose quickly, and became a général de brigade in 1794. In 1798 he commanded the expedition to Ireland, landing at Killala on 22 August and defeating British forces at Castlebar on 27 August; he took part in the proclamation of the Connacht republic on 31 August, but surrendered at Ballinamuck on 8 September and returned home in a prisoner exchange. He later served in the Saint-Domingue expedition, moved to the United States in 1813, aided US forces at New Orleans in 1815, and taught French in his last years; he died at New Orleans in 1823.
Also known as: General Humbert · général Humbert
Activities and affiliations
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French First Republic state institutionsCommander of the Irish ExpeditionMain
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1792Enlisted as a volunteer in the 13th battalion
- 1794Promoted to général de brigade
- 1798Commanded the Irish expedition, landing at Killala and winning at Castlebar
- 1802Served in the Saint-Domingue expedition
- 1813Emigrated to New Orleans in the United States
- 1815Aided US forces at the Battle of New Orleans
Related historical events
- 1791–1804The Haitian RevolutionGeneral of the expeditionLanded at Port-de-Paix in February 1802, climbed the Trois Rivières gorge and received Maurepas's surrender.
- 1792–1802French Revolutionary Warscommander of the 1798 Irish expeditionLanding in Ireland in 1798, he won at Castlebar but was ultimately defeated and forced to surrender.
The Saint-Domingue Expedition and a Republican's Dismissal (1801-1803)
After becoming a général de brigade in 1794, Humbert served through several fronts, including the Army of the Rhine and Helvetia, and in 1801 he joined the Saint-Domingue expedition sent by Napoleon. The expedition was an invasion intended to subdue Toussaint Louverture, who had pressed abolition and self-rule, and to restore French colonial control and slavery; it departed in December 1801 and ended in French defeat in 1803. Assigned to Rochambeau's division, Humbert fought at Cap-Haïtien and took Port-au-Prince and Port-de-Paix in February 1802, and that summer he was named commander of Môle Saint-Nicolas.
His record in that expedition is contested. General Brunet accused him of plundering, and there were also rumors of a scandal involving Pauline Bonaparte, the wife of his commanding officer Leclerc. In October 1802 Leclerc ordered Humbert back to France, on grounds of prevarication and liaison with local notables and rebel leaders. A committed republican, he was displeased by Napoleon's imperial pretensions, and in 1803 he was dismissed and retired to Morbihan in Brittany. He remained effectively inactive until 1810. This phase marks his transition from a general of the revolutionary army to a position outside the imperial order.