General Jean Victor Moreau

Army commander during the French Revolution who was exiled for plots against Napoleon

Born: February 13, 1763

Place of Birth: Morlaix, Finistère, France

Died: September 2, 1813

Cause of Death: Mortally wounded

Place of Death: Louny, Austria

Arc de Triomphe: MOREAU on the east pillar

Pronunciation:

The son of a lawyer, Jean Victor Moreau was pushed by his father to become a lawyer and therefore he studied law at Rennes. He left the school and joined the army but his father tracked him down and paid for his release from military service. Next Moreau returned to the law school in Rennes, where he became provost of students. With the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 he formed a company of canonneers of the National Guard of Rennes and he was made captain of this company. Two years later in September of 1791 Moreau was elected lieutenant colonel of the 1st Battalion of Volunteers of Ille-et-Vilaine. The next year his unit was initially sent to the Army of the North to serve under General Dumouriez and then later they served under Champmorin. In February of 1793 Moreau and his men seized the fort of Stephenswerth, and then the next month Moreau distinguished himself at Neerwinden . At the end of the year he was promoted to général de brigade by the representatives of the people.

In 1794 Moreau was sent to assist General Pichegru who commanded the Army of the North. That April he was promoted to général de division and given command of the 2nd Division. Later that month Moreau led his division and he fought at Mouscron and took Menin, and then in May he fought at Tourcoing and Pont-à-Chin. Over the following months he and his men seized Ypres, Ostende, Nieuport, the fort of Ecluse, Ruremonde, and Venloo. Also during that summer his father was guillotined for sending money to émigrés, despite Moreau's contributions to the army.¹ In the fall when General Pichegru fell ill, Moreau temporarily took command of the Army of the North for two months.

March of 1795 saw General Moreau being named commander of the Army of the North. A year later he was named commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle and with that appointment he left the Army of the North. Taking command of the army in April, Moreau led a campaign against the Austrians under Archduke Charles. In June his forces crossed the Rhine and seized the fort of Kehl. The next month they won at Rastadt and Ettlingen, and then in August they won again at Neresheim and Friedberg. In September, due to General Jourdan's retreat, Moreau was forced to strategically retreat with the Army of the Rhine and Moselle. While his forces fell back, they won at Biberach in October and traversed Hell's Valley but then were defeated at Emmendingen. Finally Moreau won at Schliengen and then his army recrossed the Rhine, taking up defensive positions.

In April of 1797 Moreau began a new offensive, crossing the Rhine but then stopping at Offenbourg due to the preliminary treaties of Leoben that came about due to General Bonaparte's successes in Italy. In the meantime some of his men captured letters between General Pichegru and the émigré forces. Moreau read through the letters but did not report them to the Directory. After Pichegru was arrested as part of the coup of 18 Fructidor, Moreau suddenly produced the letters and denounced Pichegru as a traitor. The Directory was not pleased with Moreau's conveniently timed reveal of the letters, and they summoned him to Paris and forcibly retired him.

Moreau lived in retirement for a year, but his skills were too good to be ignored, and in September of 1798 he was called up to be the inspector general of infantry of the Army of Italy. That December he was given command of a corps of four divisions, and then the following March he commanded three divisions at Pastrengo. In April Moreau fought at Magnango and he took command of the Army of Italy, but was then defeated at Cassano. He then made up for that last defeat by winning at San Giuliano in June. The next month, Moreau was selected to become the commander of the Army of Rhine, but he stayed with the Army of Italy until General Joubert could arrive in August to take command there. Joubert arrived in Italy and Moreau stayed on as the deputy commander, but within two weeks they fought at the Battle of Novi where Joubert was killed in the opening moves. Moreau assumed command and still lost the battle, but remained in command until September. Afterwards, he returned to Paris in October and met with General Bonaparte when Bonaparte returned from the expedition to Egypt. Moreau agreed to participate in the coup of 18 Brumaire that brought Napoleon and the Consulate to power, and he helped by detaining Directors Gohier and Moulin at the Luxembourg Palace during the coup.

First Consul Bonaparte rewarded Moreau by making him commander of the army formed from the Army of the Rhine and the Army of Switzerland. He then also gave Moreau a pair of pistols with the names of Moreau's victories on them. Moreau took up his command in December, and then in April of 1800 he began a new campaign. In May he defeated Kray at Engen, then he went on to win at Messkirch, Biberach, and Memmingen. That June Moreau won at Höchstädt and then occupied Bavaria before signing the armistice of Parsdorf in July. Hostilities were renewed in September, but then further negotiations were attempted, so he returned to Paris in October.

Back in Paris, Moreau married Mademoiselle Hulot, a friend of Josephine. On November 19, when it appeared that peace negotiations would be unsuccessful, Moreau left to rejoin the army at Augsbourg. Before long the Austrians launched an attack on his forces, and his army fell back to Hohenlinden to make a stand. Despite the bad weather, on December 3rd the French under Moreau's leadership won a great victory at Hohenlinden over the Austrians under Archduke John. Moreau sent his army after the retreating Austrians, and finally the Archduke Charles agreed to sign an armistice on Christmas Day.

Moreau quit his command the next year and returned to Paris, but he began to resent Napoleon's popularity and government. His wife hosted a social circle of individuals dissatisfied with the Consulate, and the group began to be known as the "Moreau Club". At one such party, Moreau announced he was naming his cook as a "Knight of the Casserole of Honor", deliberately mocking Napoleon's Legion of Honor, an award that Moreau had been awarded and refused to accept.² Meanwhile Pichegru had secretly returned to France with Georges Cadoudal to assassinate Napoleon and place a Bourbon monarch on the throne. Pichegru, having worked extensively with Moreau during the French Revolution and knowing of Moreau's resentment towards Napoleon, approached Moreau to gain his assistance in the plot. Moreau felt no love for Napoleon, but he also did not want a return of the Bourbons, so he refused to join the plot. However, much like when he uncovered Pichegru's treachery years before, he did not report his knowledge of the plot to the authorities. Once the plot was uncovered by the police and the conspirators arrested, Moreau's indirect involvement was discovered. He was put on trial and found guilty and sentenced to two years of prison. Napoleon instead intervened and gave exile as a punishment, and Moreau chose to go live in the United States in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, near the Delaware River.

Moreau lived in the United States for a number of years, but after Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Russia in 1812, Tsar Alexander and former French marshal Bernadotte invited Moreau to join the allied powers against France. Moreau agreed and arrived in Prague on August 17th, 1813. He accompanied the command staff of the Coalition armies at the Battle of Dresden. During that battle, while talking with the Tsar, Moreau was struck by a cannonball that shattered his right knee, went through his horse, and destroyed his left leg below the knee. Badly wounded, he smoked a cigar while both of his legs were amputated, and he was transported to Louny. Moreau's last words were, "Rest easy, gentlemen, it's my destiny", implying his death was justice for his decision to join the Coalition forces against France.³ For his part, Tsar Alexander had Moreau's body transported to St. Petersburg and buried at the Catholic Church there, and he gave Moreau's wife a Russian pension.

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Bibliography

External Links:

Monuments to Moreau

Updated September 2024