Amédée Willot

Amédée Willot

Amédée Willot
Born 31 August 1755
Belfort, France
Died 17 December 1823 (aged 68)
Boissy-Saint-Léger, Val-de-Marne, France
Allegiance Kingdom of France Kingdom of France
France France
Service/branch Infantry
Years of service Kingdom of France, 1771–1792
France, 1792–1797
Kingdom of France, 1798–1818
Rank General of Division
Battles/wars
Awards Légion d'Honneur, 1816
Order of Saint-Louis, 1821
Other work Count, 1816

Amédée Willot (31 August 1755 – 17 December 1823) held several military commands during the French Revolutionary Wars but his association with the traitor Jean-Charles Pichegru led to his exile from France in 1797. He joined the French Royal Army as a volunteer in 1771 and was a captain by 1787. He was elected commander of a volunteer battalion in 1792 and served in the War of the Pyrenees. Shortly after being promoted commander of a light infantry regiment Willot was appointed general of brigade in June 1793. A few months later he was denounced as a Royalist and jailed. In the light of later events, this may have been an accurate assessment of Willot's sentiments. After release from prison in January 1795, he led troops in Spain during the summer campaign. He was promoted to general of division in July 1795.

Willot transferred to the War in the Vendée where he served until spring 1796. During this period he was temporarily in command of the Army of the West. He was in charge of the 8th Military Division at Marseilles until his election to the Council of Five Hundred in April 1797. He frequented the Club de Clichy which was regarded as a threat by powerful men in the French Directory. After the Coup of 18 Fructidor he was deported to French Guiana with others belonging to Pichegru's faction, but later escaped. Willot overtly embraced the Royalist cause and drifted to several nations, spending the years of the First French Empire in the United States. Returning to France with King Louis XVIII he was ennobled as a count and given awards for his loyalty. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 34.

Early career

Willot was born in Belfort, France on 31 August 1755. He joined the army as a volunteer in the provincial Mantes Regiment in 1771 and by 1787 he had become a captain of grenadiers. His regiment was disbanded in March 1791 and he soon was appointed commander of the National Guard of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In June 1791 he became aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Claude Gabriel de Choisy. On 23 March 1792 he was elected lieutenant colonel of the 5th Chasseurs Cantabres Battalion. One source stated that he fought in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees.[1] However, a second source listed the 5th Light Infantry in the 1793 order of battle for the Army of the Western Pyrenees.[2] According to a third source, the 5th Chasseurs Cantabres became the 5th Light Infantry Battalion in 1791 and was expanded into the 5th Light Infantry Demi-brigade during the 1793 amalgame.[3]

General officer

On 1 June 1793, Joseph Marie Servan de Gerbey promoted Willot to chef de brigade (colonel) of the enlarged 5th Light.[4] The unit was engaged in an action at Chateau-Pignon[3] on 6 June[5] and stormed the Montaigne Louis XIV redoubt[3] on 22 June. These battles occurred in the Army of the Western Pyrenees sector.[5] On 23 June, the representatives on mission elevated Willot to the rank of general of brigade and assigned him to lead the army advance guard. However, on 4 October 1793 he was removed from command as a suspected Royalist and incarcerated at Bayonne.[6] The army commander Étienne Deprez-Crassier was dismissed on the same day and arrested four days later.[7]

Willot finally emerged from prison in January 1795. He regained his rank as general of brigade on 13 April. He became the acting commander of the 1st Division of the Army of the Western Pyrenees in place of Jean-Antoine Marbot.[6] On 6 July 1795 he was promoted general of division.[3] On 13 July, the army commander Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey sent Willot and 3,500 troops from Salvatierra toward Vitoria while another 4,500-man column under Bernard Dessein reached Vitoria from the north. The Spanish troops managed to slip out of the trap but they were forced to abandon their supplies. Dessein and Willot then joined forces and occupied Bilbao. When the news of the Treaty of Basel arrived on 5 August 1795, the French occupied Miranda de Ebro.[8] The French troops started back to Bayonne on 17 August. Two divisions numbering 10,995 soldiers were assembled under Willot and Dessein and ordered to march to join Lazare Hoche's Army of the West. By the time the reinforcement reached its destination at Fontenay-le-Comte, heavy desertion reduced its numbers to 4,000 men.[9]

The reinforcement missed the Battle of Quiberon on 21 July 1795 where Hoche smashed the Royalists.[10] Historian Ramsay Weston Phipps stated that Willot became "a thorn in Hoche's side", without giving an explanation.[11] Yet when Hoche was called to Paris on 17 December, Willot assumed the acting command of the Army of the West.[12] He held the interim leadership role from 22 December until 7 January 1796.[6] Later, Willot was given command of the South Division rather than the more senior Emmanuel Grouchy who was miffed at being passed over.[13] By March 1796 the War in the Vendée was practically won and Hoche turned his attention to the Chouannerie which was suppressed by May. Though they lost the war, the rebels gained some rights. This outcome was denounced by some in Paris who blamed Hoche; the same people praised Willot.[14]

On 13 April 1796, Willot transferred to the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle then he took command of the 8th Military Division on 25 July the same year.[6] This was in Marseilles where he tried to be impartial but offended the Jacobin party. Napoleon Bonaparte was influential in getting him removed. At this time he joined the Royalist faction.[15] Evidently, his political leanings were well-known because Pierre Augereau blustered that Willot in Marseilles had nearly sabotaged the Battle of Arcole campaign by failing to reinforce the Army of Italy.[16] Willot was elected to the Council of Five Hundred on 11 April 1797. He was elected for the Bouches-du-Rhône by 102 out of 203 votes. He became the Council's Secretary and later Inspector.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Lambert 2004, p. 239.
  2. ↑ Smith 1998, p. 41.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Broughton 2002.
  4. ↑ Lambert 2004, pp. 239–240.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Phipps 2011a, p. 146.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lambert 2004, p. 240.
  7. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 147.
  8. ↑ Phipps 2011a, pp. 205–207.
  9. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 209.
  10. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 42.
  11. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 46.
  12. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 49.
  13. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 50.
  14. ↑ Phipps 2011a, p. 53.
  15. ↑ Phipps 2011a, pp. 211–212.
  16. ↑ Phipps 2011b, p. 157.

References