General Louis-Lazare Hoche

General Hoche is often considered one of the best of the Revolutionary generals. In 1782 he became an assistant stableman with the stables of the king, and two years later joined the French Guard. As a corporal in 1789, he served during the Réveillon riot and then left his regiment at the end of August to join the National Guard as a sergeant. On October 5th and 6th of that year, he participated in the march to Versailles as part of the National Guard.

January of 1792 saw Hoche promoted to lieutenant and joining the 10th Infantry Regiment. That May he went to Thionville and then in September was promoted to captain. During the winter he took part in the defense of Thionville and then the sieges of of Namur and Maestricht, serving under Le Veneur and eventually becoming Le Veneur's aide-de-camp in March of 1793. When their overall commander Dumouriez defected that year, both Le Veneur and Hoche came under scrutiny for their association with him. Hoche traveled to Paris to defend himself and Le Veneur, and in the meantime was promoted to chef de bataillon. He was not arrested until August, and then was tried in Douai, acquitted, and released.

Once free, Hoche traveled to Dunkirk, and was made chief of staff to Souham, earning a promotion to chef de brigade at the same time. Three days later he was promoted to general de brigade, and next he went with Vandamme on the expedition against Furnes, Nieuport, and Ostende. On the 22nd of September his forces took Furnes, and the same day he was named chief of staff to the Army of the Ardennes. A month later he was promoted to general de division and named commander in chief of the Army of the Moselle, having been a chef de bataillon only six weeks earlier.

Taking up his command on November 2nd, General Hoche initially suffered defeats that month at Bisingen and Kaiserslautern. He made up for it the next month, winning at Woerth and Geisberg. March of 1794 was a busy month for Hoche as he was named chief of the expedition to Oneille and he returned to Thionville to marry Adélaïde Dechaux, daughter of a grocery store keeper. Unfortunately, Pichegru had made allegations of treason about him, and an order for his arrest was issued on March 20th. As Hoche arrived in Nice at the quartermaster of the Army of Italy on April 1st, he was arrested and then sent to Paris. He was initially imprisoned at Carmes and then in mid May moved to the Conciergerie. While in prison, he met the widow of General de Beauharnais, Josephine de Beauharnais, who was to later become the wife of General Bonaparte. Trapped in the prison with uncertain fates, they allegedly became lovers and were not released until after the fall of Robespierre.

Back in the clear, Hoche was now named commander of the Army of the Coast of Cherbourg. Over the next year he would command various armies against the rebels in the Vendée, culminating in the signing the pacification of the Jaunaye with Charette, and then a victory over a force of émigrés at Quiberon. Continuing the fight in the Vendée, his men successfully captured the leaders Stofflet and Charette, and then obtained the surrender of Scépeaux and later the Chouans of Morbihan. Throughout this campaign he gained a reputation for humanity despite the brutality of the civil war.

In July of 1796, Hoche was selected to command the expedition to Ireland. In the midst of his preparations, he escaped an assassination attempt in Rennes on October 16th. His squadron of ships set sail on December 17th, but a fierce storm separated the ships. By the time his ship had arrived at the designated meeting location, the other ships of the fleet had decided to return to France. He arrived back in France on January 13th, and then on the 24th was named general in chief of the Army of the Sambre and Meuse. That Spring he led his army to victory at Neuwied, and then in July quit his command and returned to Paris leading 15,000 of his troops to form a new corps.

The government attempted to make General Hoche the Minister of War, but he refused the position. Instead, he returned to his position as commander of the Army of the Sambre and Meuse. On the 10th of September, he was also placed in charge of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle. Barely more than a week later, he had caught a bad cough and died unexpectedly at four in the morning in Wetzlar, Germany. Rumors of poison circulated but were never substantiated.

Napoleon once said that Hoche was a true man of war and one of the best generals that France had ever produced.

Sources:

Chandler, David G. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1979.

Elting, John R. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee. USA: Da Capo Press, 1997.

Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Who Was Who in the Napoleonic Wars. London: Arms & Armour, 1998.

Markham, J. David. Napoleon For Dummies. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing, Inc, 2005.

Six, Georges. Dictionnaire Biographique des Generaux & Amiraux Francais de la Revolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814). Paris: Gaston Saffroy, 2003.