Georges Cadoudal

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Georges Cadoudal (Template:Langx; 1 January 1771 – 25 June 1804), sometimes called simply Georges, was a Breton counter-revolutionary and leader of the Chouannerie during the French Revolution. He was posthumously named a Marshal of France in 1814 by the reinstated Bourbons. Cadoudal means in Breton language "warrior returning from the fight".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Biography

Born in Brech, in Brittany, after completing his education, he remained true to his Royalist and Roman Catholic convictions during the start of the Revolution. From 1793 he organized a rebellion in the Morbihan against the National Convention of the First Republic. It was quickly suppressed, and he thereupon joined the army of the Vendée insurrection, taking part in the battles of Le Mans and of Savenay in December of the same year.Template:Sfn

File:Georges Cadoudal Coutan.jpg

Portrait by Amable-Paul Coutan, 1827

Returning to Morbihan, he was arrested, and imprisoned at Brest. He succeeded, however, in escaping, and began again the struggle against the Revolution. In spite of the defeat of his party, and of the fact that he was forced several times to take refuge in England, Cadoudal did not cease both to wage war and to conspire in favour of the Royalist pretender Louis, count of Provence.Template:Sfn In 1799 he was a regular visitor at Mont Orgueil, Jersey where he would meet Philippe d'Auvergne, a British spymaster.<ref name="JAitES">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp He refused to come to any understanding with the government, although offers were made to him by Napoleon Bonaparte, who admired his skill and his obstinate energy.Template:Sfn

From 1800 it was impossible for Cadoudal to continue to wage open war, so he centered his efforts on conspiracies. In December, he was indirectly involved in an attempt on the life of the First Consul, led by Template:Interlanguage link in the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise, and fled to England again.Template:Sfn

On the night of 23 August 1803, Template:HMS landed Georges and several other Chouans at the foot of the cliffs of Biville.<ref>Le Notre, G. The House of the Combrays. Template:Webarchive – accessed 7 October 2013.</ref> The conspirators wanted to undertake a new kidnap or assassination attempt on Bonaparte whilst on the road to Malmaison.<ref name=JAitES/>Template:Rp Although under nominal police surveillance, he succeeded in eluding pursuit for six months, but was arrested for long periods. Found guilty and sentenced to death, he refused to ask for pardon and was guillotined in Paris, along with eleven of his companions.Template:Sfn Before being executed, he shouted to the crowd: "And now, it's time to show to the Parisians how Christians, Royalists and Bretons die".<ref>Sanson, Mémoires des bourreaux (Paris, 1688-1847, tome 6)</ref>

During the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Cadoudal was made a Marshal of France posthumously by Louis XVIII.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cadoudal features as a main character in the 1940 Rafael Sabatini novel, The Marquis of Carabas (also known as Master-At-Arms). He is also portrayed in The Companions of Jehu and The Knight of Sainte-Hermine by Alexandre Dumas, père.

References

• {{#if: |

   |{{#ifeq: Cadoudal, Georges |
                |{{#ifeq: |
                             |
                             |
                           }}
                |
               }}
  }}{{#ifeq:  |
   |{{#ifeq:  |
                                    |This article
                                    |One or more of the preceding sentences
                                   }} incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
  }}{{#invoke:template wrapper|{{#if:|list|wrap}}|_template=cite EB1911
   |_exclude=footnote, inline, noicon, no-icon, noprescript, no-prescript, _debug

   | noicon=1
  }}{{#ifeq:  ||}} In turn, it cites as references:

• • Procès de Georges, Moreau et Pichegru (Paris, 1804, 8 vols.)
  • Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Mémoires
  • Jean-Guillaume, baron Hyde de Neuville, Mémoires
  • Guillaume Lejean, Biographie bretonne
  • G. Lenotre, Tournebut
  • Jean Rohu, Mémoires
  • Alexandre Dumas, The Last Cavalier