Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de Ghaisnes de Bourmont (2 September 1773 – 27 October 1846) was a French general, diplomat, and statesman who was named Marshal of France in 1830. A lifelong royalist, he emigrated from France soon after the outbreak of the French Revolution. Bourmont would later join the counter-revolutionary Army of Condé for two years, before joining the insurrection in France for three more years before going into exile. Returning to France he was arrested after assisting the Georges Cadoudal conspiracy, but escaped prison to Portugal.
In 1807, he took advantage of an amnesty to rejoin the French army and served in several campaigns until 1814. He rose in rank to become a général de division in the imperial army. During this period, he was suspected of being an agent of the Comte d'Artois, and of passing information to France's enemies. Though he was notoriously anti-Napoleon and many officers did not trust him, he was employed again during the Hundred Days. Immediately after the campaign began, he deserted to the Prussian army with Napoleon's plans.
Bourmont would give evidence against Michel Ney in 1815. King Louis XVIII gave Bourmont a command in the Spanish expedition of 1823. Charles X (the former Comte d'Artois), put Bourmont in command of the Invasion of Algiers in 1830. Despite Bourmont's military success, in his absence, the absolutist rule of Charles X fell to the July Revolution. Bourmont refused to recognize King Louis Philippe I. After being involved in a plot against the new government, he fled to Portugal in 1832, where he led the army of Dom Miguel in the Liberal Wars. After the liberals won, Bourmont fled to the Papal states. Bourmont lived in Rome until he accepted another amnesty in 1840, and died in France six years later.
Early life
Bourmont was born at the Château de Bourmont in modern day Freigné (then part of Anjou), to an old Angevin noble family, long established in the region.
He had a rigorous and classical upbringing, with strong emphasis on faith and loyalty. His mother, Joséphine Sophie de Coutances, played an important role in maintaining family bonds and values that would be tested during the turmoil of the French Revolution.
A soldier of the Empire (1807-1814)
When Junot invaded Portugal in 1807, Bourmont offered him his services and was employed as chief of staff of General Louis Henri Loison's division. Arrested when re-entering France in 1809, he was released upon the intercession of Junot and employed in the Imperial Army.
According to historian David Hamilton-Williams, the Comte d'Artois asked Bourmont to remain a royalist agent. Bourmont requested to continue in command, but the new Minister of War, Marshal Davout refused to employ Bourmont. Davout would go as far as writing to Napoleon, "I cannot sit idly and watch this officer wear the uniform of this country; his treasonous statements concerning the Emperor are well known to all; the brigade and regimental commanders of the 14th Infantry Division despise him. Who would trust such a man?" Nevertheless, General Gérard, leader of the IV Corps, vouched for him so he retained his position.
On the morning of the 15th June, as the French Army of the North advanced into Belgium, the 14th Division led the IV Corps column of march. Near Florennes, Bourmont halted his division. On the pretence of scouting ahead, he and his staff, rode ahead with a squadron of lancers. After gaining a suitable distance from French lines, he sent the lancers back with a letter for Gérard. In the missive, he explained that he was deserting but promised, "They will not get any information from me which will injure the French army, composed of men I love." He and his staff put the white Bourbon cockade on their hats and galloped for the nearest Prussian position. He immediately handed over Napoleon's operational plans to the Prussians. Blücher's chief of staff Gneisenau was pleased to receive this windfall. However, Blücher had no use for turncoats and called Bourmont a traitor to his face. When Gneisenau noted that Bourmont was wearing the white cockade, making them allies, Blücher screamed, "Cockade be damned! A dirty dog is always a dirty dog!"
The Trial of Marshal Ney
After the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's fall, Bourmont gave evidence at Ney's trial.
Bourmont would also give evidence against Jean-Gérard Bonnaire [Fr].
In 1832 Marshal Bourmont took part in the rising of Caroline Ferdinande Louise, Duchesse de Berry, and on its failure fled to Portugal. He commanded the army of the absolutist monarch King Miguel during the Liberal Wars. The Miguelists would be defeated by the constitutional party, Bourmont fled once more to the Papal States. He died on the 27 October 1846 at the Château de Bourmont.
Honours
Knight of Saint-Louis, May 13, 1796