Armand Tuffin of Rouërie

Armand-Charles Tuffin, marquis of Rouërie , Breton gentleman, (April 13rd 1751 with Ferns - January 30th 1793 close to Lamballe), is a hero of the war of American independence and the organizer of the Breton Conjuration , one of the first movements anti-republicans at the time of the French revolution. Since the end of the reign of Louis XVI until his death, it also fought to preserve the unit and the privileges of the Brittany, which makes of it sometimes a symbol of the Breton freedom fighters.

Military career

Intended to embrace the military career as of its more young age, its impetuous temperament the fact quickly of noticing. Its youth was stormy. Officer in the French guards, it was critical court there, and its beginning in the world was marked by disorders. Enthusiast of an actress (Miss Fleury), whom it, it wanted to marry could not solve there, and, of spite, fought in duel with the Count of Bourbon-Busset, his rival. These violences reflect it in the disgrace of the king: he was returned guards. Overpowered of this misfortune, it was poisoned, was helped and gone to bury with the Trap door.

Snatch by his/her friends with this alive tomb, its family makes it return to Fougères. It does not remain there a long time.

The war of independence of the United States of America

End 1776, it embarks with Nantes to join the Americans who fight for their independence. The Morris , ship on which it crossed the Atlantic, is attacked by three British buildings at the time of its arrival. It fails in the Baie of Chesapeake (Delaware) but Rouërie succeeds in gaining the American ground.

Under the orders of George Washington, it becomes the “ colonel Armand ” and recruits volunteers, paid on its own sums of money. The legion Pulaski , of the name of its commander, will become the 1st Partisan Body (or Armand' S Partisan Body ) after death of fine Pułaski 1779. Composed of infantry and cavalry, this body of foreign volunteers sees its manpower varying from 3 to 5 companies.

Created the June 25th 1778, it is dismantled the November 25th 1783, after having taken part in the battles of New York, Monmouth, Short Hills, Brandywine, Whitemarsh, the mobile warfare in Virginia and the Bataille of Yorktown.

In 1781, colonel Armand makes a return ticket in France to re-equip its troops. It is decorated there knight with the Ordre of Saint-Louis, and the March 26th 1783, one names it General Brigadier in the American Armée.

The return in France

It finally returns to France during the summer 1784, covered of glory and keeping the friendship of George Washington with which it continues to correspond.

End of monarchy

In 1785 Rouërie marries Louise-Caroline Guerin, marchioness of Saint-Brice, a rich person aristocrat. Shortly after his wife loses the reason and it is looked after by the doctor Valentine Chevetel. The two men bind friendship, discuss policy and share at the beginning the same liberal ideas.

At the time of the precursory disorders of the French revolution, it declared the champion of the nobility and the Parlement of Brittany, which fought against the court. It was one of the twelve deputies sent close to the king, in 1787, to claim the conservation of the privileges of its province.

Rouërie gives up in 1788 its military career when Louis XVI proposes a headquarters to him. He is opposed to the project aiming at removing freedoms which had been granted by the Royaume of France to Brittany during the union, which is worth to him to be locked up with the Bastille the July 15th 1788. He is released one month later but does not give up its ideas. This imprisonment which made him a reputation of popularity.

Beginnings of the French revolution

Returned with freedom, he initially saw with joy all the signs of a forthcoming revolution; but, with the convocation of the general states of 1789, it was indignant to see the Breton nobility succumbing under the claims of the Tiers state, and, exciting its order with resistance, it caused its refusal to send deputies to the states, not wanting, said he, that this ancient nobility was curved in front of the double representation of the people. Finally it was him which advised the chivalrous protest, signed blood of noble Breton, against the antimonarchic innovations of the ministry.

Breton conspiracy

Although having taken part in the war for the advent of the republic in the United States, Rouërie however remains Monarchiste and convinced Christian. Rather seeing good eye emergence of liberal ideas at the beginning of the Revolution, it is quickly shocked by excesses of the new capacity. As of 1790, it became the hope of dissatisfied with Brittany, which it rejoined to throw the bases of a royalist association.

Besides Brittany loses at that time its freedoms and its unit, with the creation of the departments. It is in particular the obligatory assermentation of the priests which pushes Rouërie to be radicalized, and to start the combat rather than to exile itself like many other noble.

The Breton Association

It founds the Breton Association in June 1791, which receives the support of the brothers of the King emigrated and the local nobility, of which the Count de Noyan, but also of the clergy, of tradesmen and sailors of all the area between Fougères and Saint-Malo. This league is militarized quickly and had several thousands of rifles. But Valentine Chevetel, the friend doctor, is also a close relation of Danton. He plays the part of double agent, under the name of Latouche, and follows the movement on behalf of the government.

He leaves his castle, goes to Coblentz, near the Count d' Artois, and its plan of association presents to him, being reserved to regulate when he is time the military organization. All was approved and covered, the December 5th 1791, of the sanction of the brothers of the king.

Rouërie was consequently like the heart and the chief of the confederation and charged to ensure success of them. It started from Coblentz, where its plan remained secret, and, of return in Brittany, it put it at execution. Soon Saint-Malo, Rennes, Fraud, Fougères had their royalist committees. One made there the census of all those which had lost with the new order of things, to excite them to confederate. Emissary slipped into the administrative and legal bodies, the public corporations and especially into the customs, the guard of the ports, the forts and the arsenals.

A multitude of writings on the intentions of the princes and a forthcoming coalition of the cabinets of the Europe propagated the doctrines of political resistance. Military and civil payments, deliberated in secret meetings, were sent to the council of the princes to be approved. Each chief of district had under him secondary chiefs, charged to militarily organize the cantons which were entrusted to them.

Rouërie, the heart of this vast plot, devoted to it its days before, its fortune and all its faculties. It épiait the moment to give the last instructions to its party, in order to be able to burst at the time when the war of the outside, which had just ignited, would present favorable chances.

Convening in its castle the principal ones confederated, it made them reading of the commission, gone back to Coblentz, the March 2nd 1792, by which the princes brothers of the king, after him to have given, as chief of the Breton royalists, the military capacities, ordered to obey to him and authorized it to join to Breton association the parts bordering on the other provinces.

Become suspect with the new authorities, it was supervised, and one made suddenly excavate his dwelling by a detachment of 400 national guards of Saint-Malo and Saint-Servan; but Rouërie and its trustworthy were dodged by unknown undergrounds. He put himself then in a state of defense, exerted his small troop with the military operations with foot and horse and made assemble the guard day and night, as in a threatened place. To the outside, it distributed money, was made new creatures, bribed emissary, which prevented it exactly all that occurred in the close cities, so that informed in advance of the house searches, it had time to be laid out to with it.

But the reverses of the royalists of the Finistere and the Ardèche, which had acted precipitately and without unit, forced it to be contained in the system of a careful circumspection. The catastrophe of the August 10th still suspended the explosion which it had prepared. Not letting itself cut down, it laid out the spirits with a general rising, while making secretly spread a proclamation emanated from him, as royalist chief.

The Chouannerie

It organized in Brittany the conspiracy which directly gave rise to the Chouannerie. When the marquis came in his cousin from Farcy, with Launay-Villiers, where it spent three months (May, June, July 1792), it found in the cantons bordering on the Brittany in Mayenne the spirits prepared for the action.

The selected moment was that of the drawing lot, which was to take place the August 15th 1792. On the whole of the edge of the border between Brittany, and Mayenne, it was the unanimous concert of the popular protests according to the same watchword.

Thus, in August 1792, to Saint-Ouën-of-Roofs, not far from Laval, Jean Chouan assembles the peasants at the time of an attempt of enrôlement at volunteers, hustles the gendarmes and constitutes a band.

Since this time, the insurrectionists are of Chouans; their engagements with the escorts, with the republican stations, the national Andouille guards, of Baconnière, with the Blacksmith S of Port-Brillet, are renewed by intervals. Meanwhile, Jean Chouan goes to Brittany to meet Rouërie or to establish the correspondence with the emigrants and is brought together with the other recognized chiefs.

End of the conspiracy

The September 2nd 1792, Latouche betrays Rouërie, which is pursued. The conspiracy having been revealed with the revolutionists of Paris, of the emissary were sent in Brittany to stop Rouërie and to ruin its company.

One tightens it closely: in vain his/her friends has a presentiment of it to leave Brittany temporarily and to withdraw themselves towards the princes to know their will; Scorning any project of retirement, II court of castle in castle, committee in committee to awake the shot down spirits, to revive the hopes, wandering in the forests, armed with all parts, never not following the beaten tracks, passing îes nights in inaccessible caves, sometimes with the foot of a oak, sometimes in the content of a ravine, never stopping at the same place.

One of its emissary, envoy with London, returned, at the end of January 1793, bringing the news that all the plans were taken again for next March; that at that time, a descent of emigrants on the coast of Brittany and the raised shields in the close departments would take place simultaneously, just as the invasion of France by the united powers; but all this plan is revealed in Paris, and the executive council, in.liaison.with the committee of general security, makes leave Laligant-Morillon with unlimited capacities, for the purpose of making sure of the main leaders of the league.

Wandering and fugitive, Rouërie, highly continued, announced in the Newspaper of Rennes , denounced at the popular company, forced by the reverses of the coalition to spend the winter without anything to undertake, is only more impatient to reach March. He wants to face the one rigorous season inclemency: its health deteriorates, and the need for rest makes him seek a hospital roof, where it can, with the shelter of the searchings, to prepare the success of its company.

It chooses the Château of Guyomarais (on the current commune of Saint-Denoual), with one mile of Lamballe; but soon it is reached there of a fatal disease. He wants to leave not to compromise his hosts; but it is forced to return by the gravity of its disease. Then he learns that Louis XVI has just perished on the scaffold. The January 30th, it expires in fits of delirium and despair, and dies of a pneumonia. Its corpse, removed mysteriously, is hidden in a nearby wood. Today still it is possible to go on the spot of its burial, announced by panels to flower of lily… You will be able to then read this inscription there: “The evil which carried it was its fidelity”.

The chiefs of association, inconsolable of the loss of a man whose character and talents made the hope of the party, keep on his death deepest silence; but Lalligand known as Morillon , the agent of the revolutionists, occurs: using the indications of the Latouche traitor, it makes unearth and decapitate the corpse and seizes papers of the conspiracy, hidden, in a bottle, with six feet of depth. It makes sure at the same time of the two families Guyomarais and Desilles and of some trustworthy; but the majority of the others remain unknown, their list having been destroyed.

On twenty-seven shown, twelve were condemned to death. The discovery of papers of Rouërie took place the March 3rd 1793, and seven days afterwards, most of Brittany, Anjou, Maine and Poitou were in insurrection for the royalty.

One cannot doubt that Rouërie did not attach the first ring of the royalist confederation of the provinces of the West of France, which renaquit so much of time of its ashes, until in 1815. The movement of the Chouannerie will still continue several years, in particular under the impulse of the count Joseph de Puisaye.

Others

Its name decides " Rouarie" and not " Rouérie".

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