Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine (19 October 1751 – 11 December 1799) was an Irish-born French army officer who served under Napoleon. He was a staunch supporter of Irish independence from British rule in Ireland, while being an active supporter of the French Revolution. Kilmaine is known to have been an associate of Wolfe Tone, Thomas Paine and Napper Tandy.
Kilmaine served in both the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. He played a minor role in Irish Rebellion of 1798, going as far as to set up secret meetings between Tone and Napoleon. Kilmaine was known for being one of the most charismatic Irish generals of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. Though he was not ennobled, he is sometimes referred to as de Kilmaine and Baron de Kilmaine in reference to the Jennings's ancestral home in Kilmaine, County Mayo.
Early life
Jennings was born on 19 October 1751 in Dublin at Saul's Court, Temple Bar. His father, Dr. Theobald Jennings of Polaniran () (Ironpool), near Tuam, County Galway, was a prominent physician who married a cousin, Eleanor Saul, daughter of Laurence Saul, a wealthy Dublin distiller. One of his ancestors, Richard Og MacJonin, was hanged in 1599 during the Nine Years' War in the Elizabethan period. In 1738, Dr. Jennings and Eleanor left Ireland and settled in Tonnay-Charente in south-west France. In 1751, when Eleanor became pregnant, she left France for Dublin in order to have her child born in Ireland. Jennings spent his early childhood in Saul's Court with his relatives. When he was 11 years old, he left Ireland and joined his father in France. Jennings was educated in Tonnay-Charente and became proficient in French.
Military career
Jennings began his military career in 1764 at the age of 14 when he joined the Austrian army. After seven years' of service as a junior officer in Austria, he entered the French army. In September 1778, Kilmaine was appointed adjutant of Lauzun's Legion, a mercenary unit commanded by Armand Louis de Gontaut. He served with this unit during the French invasion of Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1779 and in America under Rochambeau (1780–83) and remained after it was reorganized as a hussar regiment.
American Revolutionary War
In 1780, Jennings was appointed sous-lieutenant of Lauzun's Legion. He served under Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War. On 18 July 1781 Jennings commanded a detachment of lancers from the legion. The lancers pushed back Hessian Chasseurs defending an outpost at Morrisania, New York, this action occurred during the march to Yorktown. He was deeply affected by his experiences in America. This, combined with the impressions made upon him during his youth in Ireland and the teachings of his father, caused Jennings to imbibe strongly the revolutionary ideals of the era. He developed strong republican principles and upon his return to France, he became an energetic supporter of the French Revolution.
Chef d'Escadron
In 1786, he was awarded the title Lieutenant in command and took control of the regiment of Hussars of Duc de Lauzun. Two years later he attained the rank of Captain. A growing military reputation brought him a further promotion to chef d'escadron.
On 21 March 1791, seven months before his 40th birthday, he honourably retired from the army, was given the French title of Baron and took the civic oath, sworn by all persons as a pre-condition for French citizenship. This was especially important leading up to and during the French Revolution, particularly among foreigners and nobility. He pursued family life and philanthropic interests for almost a year. In 1792, by personal invitation of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Jennings rejoined the French army when war broke out between France and monarchic Europe.
Reinstated as a chef d'escadron, Jennings served in the French Revolutionary Wars. He was a Corps Commander under Charles François Dumouriez and Lafayette. He fought at the Battle of Valmy in September 1792 and a unit of hussars under his command saved an entire French division from annihilation. In November 1792 at the Battle of Jemappes, Kilmaine and the Duke of Chartres (Louis Philippe) turned apparent defeat into victory. On the field, he was raised to the rank of Chief Colonel and came to be known as "le brillant et courageux Kilmaine" (The brilliant and courageous Kilmaine).
General and Division Command
Kilmaine continued to serve with the Army of the North, and proved to be one of its capable officers. Following the victory at Jemappes, the Army of the North comprised 48 infantry battalions and 3,200 cavalrymen. By December 1792, thanks to the neglect of the Revolutionary Government, these troops were shirtless, shoeless, starving and in rags. Fifteen hundred men deserted. Kilmaine's cavalry were critically short of boots, saddles, weapons and horses. Nearly 6,000 troop and baggage horses died at Lisle and Tongres for want of forage. Honourable testimony has been given to the unceasing efforts of Kilmaine to preserve order among his soldiers amid these horrors. He frequently endeavoured by private contribution to provide subsistence for his men, who roved about in bands, robbing the villages around their cantonments at Aix-la-Chapelle. Many of Kilmaine's soldiers were murdered by vengeful peasants when found straggling alone away from their billets. Kilmaine was named general of brigade on 8 March 1793.
After the defection and flight of Dumouriez in April 1793, Kilmaine adhered to the National Convention, and was rewarded with a promotion to general of division on 15 May 1793. He now redoubled his energies to restore order in the army, which by the defection of its leader was almost disbanded. Auguste Marie Henri Picot de Dampierre took command. He was so ably seconded by Kilmaine, that within one month after he assumed command discipline was completely restored.
Battle of Raismes and Retreat to Conde Kilmaine commanded Dampierre's advance guard in the campaign against the allied powers after the failure of the Congress of Antwerp on 8 April 1793. Dispatches testified to Kilmaine's gallantry during the "murderous affairs of the 1st and 2nd May" in which, according to the official report, he had two chargers killed from under him as he managed to fight off a determined attack. Six days of incessant skirmishing followed. Kilmaine displayed extraordinary valour on 8 May during the Battle of Raismes, fought by Dampierre to deliver Condé-sur-l'Escaut. The French were defeated with heavy losses. Dampierre was slain, and Kilmaine was ordered to fight a rearguard action to cover the retreat. The infuriated and disorderly army fell back to the barrier town of Condé, which was at that time under the nominal lordship of the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien.
François Joseph Drouot de Lamarche succeeded Dampierre and sent Kilmaine with his division to the Armée des Ardennes. He remained there only a short time before being recalled to the main army, which he found in the most critical circumstances.
The fall of de Dampierre and the arrest of Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine acted fatally on the Army of the North. It was now reduced to about thirty thousand rank-and-file soldiers. These men remained in a disorderly state, without a proper chief, and without aim or object. The Army's manoeuvrings were committed to chance or directed by ignorance, for, with the exception of Kilmaine, its leaders were destitute of skill, experience, and energy. Quitting the camp of Caesar, they returned to their fortified position at Famars, three miles distant from Valenciennes, the approach to which it covered. Here they were attacked on 23 May, driven back, and obliged to abandon the city to its own garrison under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armée du Nord Kilmaine was named Commander-in-Chief of the Armée du Nord on 17 July 1793. He rejoined the army with his division from the Armée des Ardennes. Kilmaine's presence for a time appeased the disorder in the army. The Army of the North occupied positions on the banks of the Scheldt, facing a much larger opposing force jointly commanded by the Duke of York and Albany and the Prince of Coburg. Kilmaine, with only 24,000 troops, did not wish to attack due to their smaller numbers. Only 40 leagues lay between Kilmaine's position and Paris. If he fought and lost the day, he could thereafter assume no position of sufficient strength to prevent the allies from penetrating Paris and crushing the convention. Kilmaine's position was untenable. He did not abandon the capital or retire beyond the Loire, as the tides of war and politics were setting in against him. In the Battle of Caesar's Camp on 7–8 August Kilmaine withdrew his army rather than wait to be surrounded. Although he carried out a retreat, the Convention styled it (at the time) "completely mutinous."
Imprisonment and release Due to his retreat at Caesar's Camp and suspicions regarding his foreign birth and relations abroad, Kilmaine was relieved of his command, discharged from the army and sent into exile to Luxembourg. Regarding his situation, he said "I am ready, to serve the cause of the Republic in whatever rank I am placed, and wherever sent I shall do my duty."
Kilmaine returned to Paris undercover and retired with his wife to the Parisian suburb of Passy. There they lived quietly for a few months. When the Reign of Terror began, he and his wife were arrested and imprisoned. Kilmaine escaped the guillotine and was released after the fall of Robespierre in July 1794. He and his wife were released on an order signed by Lazare Carnot and remained for some time in Paris.
Italian Campaign Kilmaine was involved in quelling the Jacobin Uprising in May 1795. He assisted Jean-Charles Pichegru in the defence of the National Convention against excited mobs of Parisian faubourgs. Kilmaine continued to fight for the convention until the 13th Vendemiaire, 1796, actively cooperating with Napoleon and the Revolutionary Party.
Early in 1796, he set out with Bonaparte on the Italian Campaign. He fought at the Battle of Lodi on 10 May and contributed to the victory by leading a cavalry charge. In September, he was appointed Commander of Northern Italy. His actions in this campaign significantly increased his reputation throughout Europe.
In October, Kilmaine was one of Napoleon's subordinate commanders during the siege of Mantua. The Austrians, who were commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, attempted to break out and were repulsed with the loss of 1,100 men and five pieces of cannon. Kilmaine played a key role in repulsing them. Bonaparte, in his dispatch to the Directory on 1 October 1796 wrote: General Kilmaine, who commands the two divisions which press the siege of Mantua, remained on the 29th ultimo in his former position, and was still in hopes that the enemy would attempt a sortie to carry forage into the place, but instead they took up a position before the gate of Pradello, near the Carthusian convent and the chapel of Cerese. The brave General Kilmaine made his arrangements for an attack, and advanced in two columns against these two points, but he had scarcely begun to march when the enemy evacuated their camps, their rear having fired only a few musket-shots at him. The advanced posts of General Vaubois have come up with the Austrian division which defends the Tyrol and made one hundred and ten prisoners."
Early in December, Wurmser attempted another breakout. The Austrians began their operation just before dawn advancing under a furious cannonade. However, as Bonaparte noted, "Kilmaine made him return, as usual, faster than he came out, and took from him two hundred men, one howitzer, and two pieces of cannon. This is his third unsuccessful attempt."