Pierre Thouvenot

Pierre Thouvenot ( , ; 9 March 1757 – 21 July 1817) was a French Army officer who served with distinction in the Anglo-French War (1778-1783). He fled from France during the revolution but returned under an amnesty and went on to serve in Napoleonic Wars. Thouvenot is most famous for his defence of Bayonne in 1814 and the sortie he made when the war was all but over, which drew criticism from both sides, particularly from the Duke of Wellington, who branded him a "blackguard".

Early career Thouvenot was born on 9 March 1757 in Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. He did not join the military until 1779, having spent the previous five years as a geographical engineer. He enrolled at L'école d'artillerie de La Fère, leaving as a cadet in the French artillery during December 1779. He served for a time on the Île de Ré where he became a Second-lieutenant in 1780 before being sent to Guadeloupe. He distinguished himself in Bouillé's attack on St Lucia in May 1781, and took part in the subsequent invasion of Tobago. Thouvenot received a promotion to lieutenant in 1783 and continued to serve in the Caribbean following the Treaty of Paris. He was promoted to captain in 1788 and was made a Chevalier de Saint-Louis (Knight of Saint Louis) in 1791 and was appointed to the foundry at Indret, near Nantes, initially as an inspector but later as its director. Towards the end of 1792, Thouvenot was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and was transferred, as director, to the foundry at Malines.

Return to military service Thouvenot returned to France and the military; and with a promotion to colonel, was part of a force sent to Saint-Domingue to combat insurgency by the slaves there and served as Chief of staff to Generals Edme Étienne Borne Desfourneaux, Bertrand Clausel and Jean-Baptiste Salme successively.

In recognition of his actions, which included the liberation of Port-de-Paix from insurrectionists, Thouvenot was promoted again, on 15 October 1802, this time to general of brigade, and given command of the artillery of the Army of Santo Domingo.

Thouvenot's version of events regarding the Rochambeau affair, was accepted by Napoleon, and in 1805; Thouvenot was sent to the Rhineland, where he joined the second division of the II Corps in the Grande Armée and took part in operations in Prussia and Pomerania.

On 27 February 1814, having crossed the River Adour, Wellington's army began to lay siege to the city of Bayonne. During the fight for the suburb of St Etienne, which the British required to complete their investment, Thouvenot was wounded by a bullet to the thigh. The British and their allies were slow to start their preparations and had thus failed to force the city to surrender when, on 13 April 1814, news of Napoleon's abdication reached the British lines. Despite having received the news unofficially on 12 April and although it was widely known that a new French government would sue for peace; Thouvenot ordered a sortie which proved to be the last major action of the Peninsular War. On the morning of 14 April, Thouvenot attacked the British siege lines with 6,000 men. French casualties totalled 905 men, including 111 killed, 778 wounded and 16 missing. The siege of Bayonne continued obstinately until 27 April when written orders from Marshal Soult finally compelled Thouvenot to hand the fortress over to the British.

Thouvenot's actions were condemned by both sides as a needless waste of lives. Particularly scathing was the Duke of Wellington who branded Thouvenot a "blackguard". Sir Charles Colville did not join in the criticism either. He thought Thouvenot to be, "a well intentioned and gentlemanly individual" and suggested that perhaps the sortie had been forced upon him by his subordinates.

Thouvenot was sent back to Bayonne when Napoleon returned from exile in Elba but after defeat at Waterloo and the restoration of the monarchy, Thouvenot was labelled inactive and never served the French military again. He died in Orly on 21 July 1817. Pierre Thouvenot is one of the 660 names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.