Guillaume Marie-Anne Brune

Count of the Empire

Born on March 13, 1763 in Brive-la-Gaillarde, where his father was a lawyer and deputy public prosecutor, Guillaume Brune studied law in Paris. There, he discovered his literary vocation and became a typographer to support himself while writing his own work. It was published in 1788 under the title: Voyage pittoresque dans plusieurs provinces occidentales de la France.

The Revolution, which he fully embraced, turned him into a journalist. He set up his own newspaper, but soon had to give it up for financial reasons.

An active member of the Cordeliers district and a friend of Georges Danton since 1789, his political support earned him a lightning promotion when he embarked on a military career.

Elected adjutant-major in his volunteer battalion in 1791, he was promoted to brigadier general in August 1793. In the meantime, he had served under Charles François Dumouriez, made a name for himself by rallying the remnants of the army after the defeat at Neerwinden (March 18, 1793) and, as chief of staff of the pacification army, took part in suppressing the Federalist revolt in Calvados.

After an eclipse due to the fall of Danton, he was appointed assistant to Napoleon Bonaparte on Vendémiaire 13, year IV, to crush the royalist insurrection.

Brune then accompanied his leader to Italy, taking part in the battles of Arcole (November 15-17, 1796) and Rivoli (January 14-15, 1797), and became a major general in November 1797.

He was then given various commands, in Helvetia, in Italy, where he managed to seize the fortress of Turin without resorting to force, and finally in Holland. There, he covered himself in glory by winning the battles of Berghen (September 19, 1799) and Castricum (October 6, 1799) against an Anglo-Russian army disembarking at the Helder.

After welcoming the 18 Brumaire without undue enthusiasm, Guillaume Brune nevertheless became State Councillor (December 25, 1799) and one of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte's closest collaborators. He was first entrusted with the pacification of the West, and got the Vendée and Chouan leaders to lay down their arms. Then, in August 1800, he was appointed head of the Army of Italy, replacing André Masséna. He took Verona and Vicenza, and signed the Treviso armistice (January 15, 1801).

Such eminent service could not be ignored, and in 1804, despite the stubbornly republican views that had led him to spend two years in Constantinople as ambassador (1802-1804), Guillaume Brune was included in the first promotion of marshals of the Empire.

In the following years, Brune was given command of the Boulogne camp, became governor of the Hanseatic towns and led the observation corps of the Grande Armée.

During the Prussian campaign, he conquered Swedish Pomerania. But he was unwise enough to use the term French army instead of army of his imperial and royal majesty in the armistice he signed with the Swedish king in September 1807. Such an unprecedented error cost him his command and earned him a disgrace that lasted until 1814 .

It was therefore only natural that he should rally to Louis XVIII, who made him Peer de France and Governor of Provence during the First Restoration.

However, on Napoleon's return from Elba, he accepted from the Emperor the command of the Marseille military division. In this position, he vigorously pursued the royalist bands operating in the south of France, delaying his submission to the new authorities of the second Restoration until the end of July.

As a result, he was brutally slaughtered by royalists at the Palais-Royal hotel  in Avignon on August 2, 1815. His body was thrown into the Rhône, and a plaque bearing the inscription C'est ici le cimetière du maréchal Brune (This is the cemetery of Marshal Brune) was affixed to the bridge where the crime was committed. The plaque was not removed until the July Monarchy, and the murderers went unpunished.

His widow managed to have the marshal's remains repatriated, and kept them in their château de Saint-Just-Sauvage  until her own death in 1829. It was only then that a grave  in the village cemetery welcomed the marshal and his wife.

Appointed Pair de France during the Hundred Days, Guillaume Brune became ipso facto Comte de l'Empire, but he had no letters patent and no coat of arms.

Brune's name is inscribed on the 23rd column (south pillar) of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile.

Freemasonry: Marshal Brune was a member of the Saint-Napoléon lodge in the Orient of Paris, honorary venerable of the La Constante Amitié lodge of Sésame in 1811 and of the Frères Artistes of Paris, as well as Grand Officer of Honor of the Grand Orient of France.