Florent Joseph Duquesnoy

See also: Duquesnoy

Florent Joseph Duquesnoy (1761 - 1801), is a Général French.

Brother of Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy. Old of the royal gendarmerie in Nancy, Captain with the 4th battalion of the volunteers of the Pas-de-Calais in 1792, general in July 1793, victorious of François of Cart on February 10th 1794 and wounded with Light, it was suspended of his functions under the reaction thermidorienne. He was distinguished with 3 recoveries over one 12 months period, of February 1793 in February 1794.

First of all with the Battle of Hondschoote close to Dunkirk, with the head of its riders it inaugurated a new tactic consisting in passing behind the enemy lines while exploiting speed and the surprise, at the point to worry the representatives come to follow the battle. Its actions were regarded as decisive and involved its promotion with the rank of brigadier general by Carnot, in spite of the opposition of his/her Ernest brother, the conventional one who regarded it as an incompetent.

The choice of Carnot appeared judicious because the action of Duquesnoy was again decisive with the Bataille of Wattignies in the south of Maubeuge the October 16th 1793. Paris was so anxious fate of this confrontation against the best general of the time, the Clairfayt marshal, than the decision was made to precipitate the execution of the queen Marie-Antoinette this October 16th 1793. Napoleon regarded this battle as the principal one of all the revolution.

Duquesnoy will announce one 3rd time in a curious way in February 1794. Being indicated to control all the operations in the Vendée, he refused the command under pretext of bad health. He could not refuse the command of the army of North (winners of Wattignies) and will use a trick to disobey the general Turreau. He was the republican general not to only want to fight against the women and the children, were he Vendean and royalist. For that purpose, when he was confronted with nearly a thousand of civilians fleeing the engagements close to Light, he will give the order to his men to stop and await his orders, letting flee the civilians, this time very anxious not to be continued and cut the throat of by the republican troops. Then, Duquesnoy made write a missive with Turreau, which he scorned, to announce to him that he was surrounded royalist gangsters, women and children and that he awaited written orders of Turreau. The violent written answer of Turreau, preserved at the public records, constitutes the best patent of humanity allotted to general Duquesnoy. Denounced like traitor with the fatherland by Turreau and several other generals, it did not have his survival that with the events of the summer 1794 with the fall of Robespierre.

One put it at the retirement in January 1796 and contrary to the historical book of Michelet (often fictionalized), he did not die in the Invalides but in her sister, Marie-Antoinette Huret, with Aix-Noulette in the Pas-de-Calais or he is buried (death certificate of the parish). It was then in greatest misery not touching its pension of general in spite of several requests whose originals are with the Public records. Its principal biographer was Henri Mayeur, historian regionalistic of Aix-Noulette.

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