French general, born in Les Planches. He conquered the Austrian Netherlands in 1794 and invaded the Republic. He negotiated with the Austrians and later intrigued with them to restore the French monarchy. In 1797 he was arrested and deported to Cayenne. He escaped to England the following year and in 1803 joined Cadondal's conspiracy against Napoleon in France. Arrested a month later, he was found strangled in his cell and declared a suicide.
Jean-Charles Pichegru (February 16, 1761—April 15, 1804) was a French general and political figure of the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars.
Early life and career
Born at Arbois (or, according to Charles Nodier, at Les Planches, near Lons-le-Saulnier), he was the son of a peasant.
When the Revolution erupted in 1789, he became leader of the Jacobin Club in Besançon, and, when a regiment of volunteers of the départment of the Gard marched through the city, he was elected Lieutenant Colonel.
Rhine front
The fine condition of his regiment was noticed in the French Revolutionary Army section of the Rhine, and his organizing ability got him appointed in the headquarters, and then promoted Général de brigade.
In 1793 Lazare Carnot and Louis de Saint-Just were sent to find roturier (non-aristocratic) generals who could prove successful (see: French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1793). In co-operation with Hoche and the army of the Moselle, Pichegru, as Général de division and in command of the army of the Rhine, had to reconquer Alsace and to reorganize the defeated troops of the French Republic.
Northern front
In December 1793 Hoche was arrested, probably owing to his colleague's denounciations, and Pichegru became commander-in-chief of the army of the Rhine-and-Moselle, and then he was summoned to succeed Jourdan in the army of the North in February 1794, subsequently fighting three major campaigns of one year (see: French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1794).
After attempting to break the Austrian center, Pichegru suddenly turned their left, and defeated the Count of Clerfayt at Cassel, Menen and Kortrijk, while Jean Victor Moreau, his second-in-command, defeated Prince Josias of Coburg in the battle of Tourcoing in May 1794.
Pichegru began his second campaign by crossing the Meuse on October 18, and, after taking Nijmegen, drove the Austrians beyond the Rhine.
This major victory was marked by unique episodes, such as the capture of the Dutch fleet, which was frozen in Den Helder, by the French hussars, and exceptional discipline of the French battalions in Amsterdam, who, although faced with the opportunity of plundering the richest city in Europe, behaved self-restraint.
Thermidor and Directory
Although a former associate of Saint-Just, Pichegru offered his services to the Thermidorian Reaction, and, after having received the title of Sauveur de la Patrie ("Saviour of the Motherland") from the National Convention, subdued the sans-culottes of Paris, when they rose in insurrection against the Convention on 12 Germinal (April 1).
Pichegru then took command of the armies of the North, the Sambre-and-Meuse, and the Rhine, and, crossing the Rhine in force, took Mannheim in May 1795.
Coup attempts and death
He planned a coup d'état known as the 18 Fructidor, but was arrested, and with fourteen others deported to Cayenne, French Guiana, in 1797.
He went to Paris in August 1803 with Georges Cadoudal to head a Royalist rising against the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte.
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