Marquis de St Ruth

Charles Chalmot de Saint-Ruhe ( 165012 July 1691) was a French cavalry officer, serving in the armies of Louis XIV.

Despite a long career, Saint-Ruhe is remembered largely for his brief service in Ireland during the Williamite War, in which France provided military support to the Jacobite forces of James II. While in command of James's Irish Army, he was killed at the Battle of Aughrim, a defeat that led to the collapse of the Jacobite cause.

Origins and family

Saint-Ruhe or Saint-Rhue was an estate in the parish of Saint-Médard corresponding to the modern hamlet of Sainte-Rue in the commune of Celles-sur-Belle, Deux-Sèvres. The Chalmot family, of the minor nobility class, first appeared in records from Niort in the 15th century, often serving as local administrators; many were Protestants, including at least one Protestant minister. Several members left France following the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, including one, Jacques de Chalmot, who entered Dutch military service.

Robert Parker, who fought against the Jacobites at Aughrim, described Saint-Ruhe as "a gallant, brave man, and a good officer". The soldier and diplomat Saint-Simon, in his Memoirs, painted a less flattering portrait. This should be treated with some caution as he was only sixteen when Saint-Ruhe died, though he did apparently meet him. He described him as a "gentleman in a small way", tall and well built but exceptionally ugly; a gallant soldier but notorious for domestic cruelty. According to Saint-Simon, Saint-Ruhe's treatment of his wife became so brutal that she eventually asked the King to intervene. Louis treated her with great sympathy and ordered her husband to stop, but when the ill-treatment continued the King began sending him on unnecessary missions to free his wife of his company.

Career in France

Charles Chalmot served as a lieutenant in the prestigious Garde du Corps, the king's household cavalry. He was recorded as holding the rank of captain of cavalry in 1670, mestre de camp in 1672, and brigadier in 1677. In 1686, he replaced Boufflers as commander in Guyenne. A Catholic unlike many of his family, he is supposed to have taken part in Louis XIV's dragonnades, in which dragoons were quartered on Protestant households to try and force their conversion. By 1688, he had been promoted to lieutenant-general.

In 1690, Chalmot was with the army besieging the town of Annecy and played a part in the victory at the Battle of Staffarda, among other engagements. His association with the Irish conflict began while still in France, when he received the command of a brigade of Irish troops under Mountcashel, originally sent to France in 1689 in exchange for French personnel.

Campaign in Ireland

In response to requests from James II and his viceroy Tyrconnell, Louis sent Saint-Ruhe to replace James's illegitimate son Berwick as commander of the Irish Army. The decision was made in January although the Irish were not informed until April.

Athlone was seen as a significant victory and likely to provoke the collapse of the Jacobite army. The Lords Justice in Dublin issued a proclamation offering generous terms for Jacobites who surrendered, including a free pardon, restoration of forfeited estates, and the offer of similar or higher rank and pay if they wished to join William's army.

Aughrim

Unaware of the location of Saint-Ruhe's main army and assuming he was outnumbered, on 10 July Ginkel began a cautious advance through Ballinasloe down the main Limerick and Galway road.

Saint-Ruhe and Tyrconnell initially planned to fall back on Limerick and force Ginkel into another year of campaigning. The loss of Saint-Ruhe was among several factors that precipitated a collapse in the Jacobite army; the battle ended in a rout, with several thousand Jacobites dead. The site is still marked by a plaque near the Beara-Breifne Way. "St Ruth's Flag" was an irregular black stone in the old graveyard of Kilcommadan, reputed to have marked the place of his burial.