Jean Victor Marie Moreau was born in 1763 in Morlaix (Brittany, France). His father Gabriel Louis Moreau (1730-1794), a desperate royalist, married Catherine Chaperon (1730-1775), who came from a famous corsair family.
The exact date when Jean Victor Moreau was born is unknown. All that remains is a certificate of his baptism, which indicates the date - February 14, 1763. From this we can conclude that the child, who was given the name Jean-Victor-Marie, was born either on the same day or a couple of days before this date. The Catholic rites of that time implied the Sacrament of Baptism on the same day on which the child was born. Sometimes the period was extended to a week, but given the serious religiosity of the Moro family, biographers tend to believe that Moro's mother and father did not delay the baptism.
The Moro family was quite large. During her short life, Catherine gave birth to many children, some of whom died in infancy. Jean Victor Marie was the eldest son of Gabriel and Catherine Moreau.
Law Education
According to contemporaries, and even biographers, in such a family in which Jean Victor grew up, he had no choice but to become a lawyer orcivil servants. His father, who was a hereditary civil servant and judge in Morlaix, reasoned the same way and sent his son to law school in 1773, when Jean was 10 years old.
In 1775, Catherine Moreau died, and Gabrielle began to spend a large amount of money to help the poor. Jean remains at the college and in 1780 he graduated from it, having received the necessary education. There is an opinion that, without having finished his college education, Jean Victor fled to the army, but his father bought him out of there and, by a strong-willed decision, sent him back to learn legal sciences.
After college, despite the resistance of his son, Gabriel Louis sends him to the University of Rennes.
But even at the Law University, the future General Jean Victor Moreau (date of birth not specified in the sources) managed to read works on tactics and strategy. Of course, such a “double life” could not but affect his success in mastering the legal sciences, so Moreau stayed at the university, graduating only in 1790. Despite dubious success in the sciences, Jean had no equal in discipline, so he was appointed disciplinary headman.
General of Parliament. The first recognition of military talent
When, in 1788, the Parliament of Rennes refused to register royal decrees repealing concessions for Brittany, and it was surrounded by the military, Jean Moreau, as headman, gathered the students and drove the troops away from the Parliament building.
January 27, 1789 Moreau again gathers and arms about 400 students to repulse the bourgeois, who again besieged the buildingparliament. It was these events that became the beginning of the French Revolution, and Moreau began to be called the "General of the Parliament".
After graduating from the university in 1790, Jean Victor received the title of Bachelor of Laws. But he does not work a day in his speci alty, immediately getting into the National Guard as the commander of the 2nd battalion. Then he is transferred to the gunners, where after some time he becomes a captain. And on September 11, 1791, Jean Moreau became already a lieutenant colonel, commander of the 1st battalion of the National Guard of D'Isle-et-Villena.
Starting a career in the Northern Army
According to the biography, Jean Victor Moreau begins his military activities in the Northern Army under the banner of Commander Jean Charles Pichegru. He shows himself to be a very gifted officer, and in 1793 he is promoted to brigadier general at the age of 30, on the same order as the twenty-four-year-old Napoleon.
In 1794, Jean Victor becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the North, just after France conquers Holland. The news of the execution of his father almost leads Moreau to thoughts of desertion, but the commander leaves them.
Already appointed commander of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle, Moreau, along with Desaix and Saint-Cyr, win a number of high-profile victories in Germany. Despite this, the campaign was ended by the withdrawal of the French troops, the famous forty-day retreat through the marshes to the Rhine, which could save many lives of French soldiers.
Despite all his many successes in command in 1797, Jean Moreau is removed from the armyand retired. The reason was the accusation of General Pichegru of treason against the Directory. A friend and commander was sent into exile outside of France.
Italian army and battles against Suvorov
According to the biography, General Jean Victor Moreau returns to military service in 1798, having been drafted into the Italian army, becoming the first assistant to the commander-in-chief of the army, General Scherer.
Having learned that A. V. Suvorov himself will be his opponent, Barthelemy Louis Joseph Scherer leaves the army, leaving the entire campaign on the shoulders of General Moreau. But he, too, could not resist the genius of Suvorov, who was crushing the French armies at Novi and on the Adda River. Suvorov spoke very approvingly of his opponent, saying that he "understands him quite well." At the same time, Jean Moreau paid tribute to the military genius of the Russian field marshal.
Moro retreats to the Riviera, where he is replaced by General Joubert. But when Joubert dies, he again becomes the head of the Italian army and takes it to Genoa. There he transfers command to Jean Etienne Vachier and leaves for Paris, where he is supposed to take command of the Army of the Rhine, but it has already been given to General Claude-Jacques Lecourbe.
Relations between Moreau and Napoleon
At that time, a revolutionary change in the power of the Directory to the power of the Consulate was being prepared in Paris. The only thing missing was someone who could become the Consul of France. This role was offered to Jean Moreau. But the illustrious general was very far from politics and, in response, proposed a candidacy onlythat Bonaparte, who fled from Egypt, whom he actively supported.
General Jean Victor Moreau (photo in the article) actively participated in the change of power on November 9, 1799: by arresting the most active members of the Directory and cordoning off the Luxembourg Palace, he ensures the success of the coup.
For his actions and help, Moro receives as a "reward" the appointment of the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine and was immediately sent away from Paris to Germany. There the general wins a brilliant victory at Hohenlinden. This adds to his popularity in Paris, but relations with the First Consul become even more tense. What contributes to the failure of Bonaparte at Marengo, which only thanks to the timely actions of Desaix did not turn into a defeat. Since General Desaix died in this battle, Napoleon appropriates his merits, but the army, and with it the whole public, knows perfectly well the real state of affairs. Against this background, Moro's victory looks even more convincing and striking.
Furthermore, by marrying Eugénie Hulot d'Ozeri in 1800, Moreau further antagonized Napoleon, twice refusing him when he wooed other girls for the general, including his stepdaughter Hortense de Boarnay. Bonaparte did not like either Eugenie or her mother Jeanne Hulot. They were the type of women the First Consul would not tolerate.
But on the part of Jean Victor Moreau, it really was a marriage of love, and not of convenience, since the d'Auseri family had no weight in Parisian politics. A short time after his marriage, General Moreau again departed for the theater of the militaryaction.
Conspiracy against Napoleon
According to the information contained in historical sources, Jean Victor Moreau did not hide his relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte. He did not hesitate in expressions, speaking about his attitude towards the self-proclaimed emperor, and did not even accept the Order of the Legion of Honor granted to him. Everything that was said by Jean Victor, of course, was immediately heard by the emperor, who adores spies. The emperor did not like all this, which the general, of course, guessed, but was sure that his popularity among the troops would not allow the Corsican to do anything with him.
Moro retired from the service and, settling in his estate Grobois, moved away from politics. However, the reign of Napoleon did not suit many French people. Georges Cardual, who predicted Moreau the place of the First Consul, even organized an assassination attempt on Bonaparte. And Pichegru, once exiled from France, but secretly returned to Paris, volunteered to be an intermediary between the head of the rebels Cardual and Moreau. But Jean Victor did not participate in this ridiculous plot, which did not prevent his arrest at all when the plot was discovered.
French General Jean Victor Moreau was among the first to be arrested, accused of being aware of the conspiracy but not telling him where to go. Pichegru was arrested second, who, despite torture, did not confess to anything, and a little more than a month later was found strangled with his own tie in his own cell. True, they did not believe that this was done by Pichegru himself. Among the latter, Cardual was arrested, who confessed to everything in court and took all the blame. Hisexecuted in the summer of 1804.
According to the biography, Jean Victor Moreau was sentenced to two years in prison, but Bonaparte did not like the sentence. The emperor counted on the death pen alty, but a specially assembled panel of judges did not find what the famous commander could be executed for, and the imprisonment was replaced with exile.
Life in the United States
The former general was expelled from France the very next day after the verdict was announced. When he crossed the border into Spain, his wife and children voluntarily joined him. Jean Victor Moreau spent some time trying to somehow resolve the issue with the property. On July 5, 1805, the Moreau family arrives in the USA.
In the States, they buy an apartment on Warren Street in New York, which is used for living in the winter. For the rest of the year, the Moros live in Philadelphia on the small estate of Morrisville.
President Jefferson very cordially receives the disgraced commander and even invites him to head the schools where future military men are trained. But Jean Moreau refuses and retires to his estate to hunt, fish and engage in other joys of exile life.
But the life of the former French general in exile was not easy and cloudless. In 1807 he received the news that his sister Marguerite had died, and in 1808 Madame Hulot, his mother-in-law, died. In the same year, the only son Eugene, who remained in France, dies.
In 1812, with the permission of the emperor, a seriously ill woman returned to Francewife of Jean Victor Moreau with daughter Isabelle. That same year, Morrisville Manor burns down, caused by an unknown man on a horse, as described by the locals.
Return to Europe
In addition to Moreau, there were a large number of Frenchmen in the USA who were sent into exile. With many of them, the disgraced general maintained relations. In 1811, his adjutant and friend, Colonel Dominique Rapatel, on the advice of Jean Victor, gets a job in the Russian troops.
In 1813, at the request of Alexander I, Rapatel initiates a correspondence with Jean Victor, in which he invites the former French general to fight against the usurper Bonaparte at the head of an army of French prisoners.
Besides the proposal of the Russian monarch, Moreau wanted to see in Europe General Bernadotte, a former comrade in the republican opposition, and now Karl Johan, the Swedish crown prince. Hatred of Bonaparte and a frankly dull existence in solitude pushes the general to the fact that he decides to return to Europe, and together with Pavel Svinin (better known as the military attaché Paul de Chevennin) left the United States on the high-speed ship Hannibal on June 25, 1813 year.
Already on July 27, a ship with General Moreau on board moored in Gothenburg. Upon arrival, Jean Victor learns that it was not possible to form an army of French prisoners. Most refused to fight against their homeland, despite the very controversial figure of Napoleon at the head.
Death of General Moreau
Moro is already going back to America,since he did not intend to go at the head of an army consisting of non-French people. He already hated to fight against his country. But Alexander I offers him the position of adviser to the three kings.
Jean Moreau agrees to this proposal, but does not accept any ranks, although Alexander Pavlovich wanted to immediately give him the rank of Field Marshal in the Allied army. Upon Moreau's arrival at the location of the Russian emperor, a festive dinner was organized in honor of his arrival, where Alexander I introduces the former general and opponent of Bonaparte's power to the allied Prussian and Austrian monarchs.
General Moreau accompanied Alexander I already on August 27 in the battle of Dresden, where he, having advised the Russian emperor to fall behind a little, was mortally wounded.
Moro was quickly carried out of the theater of operations and the life doctor did everything possible by amputating both of his legs, which were partially torn off by the ill-fated core. Jean Victor Marie Moreau died on 2 September in Launa. With him, Pavel Svinin was inseparable. He also painted the dying portrait of the general.
Posthumous honors
After Alexander I is informed of the death of General Moreau, he writes a letter to his widow with regrets and condolences, accompanied by a one-time payment of one million rubles. Subsequently, the Russian emperor makes a request to Louis XVIII, who in 1814 assigns Moreau the posthumous title of marshal, and his wife, as the widowed wife of a marshal, a pension of 12 thousand francs.
In the place where General Moreau died, Alexander I ordered to erect an obelisk in memory of the famous commander. Jean Moreau was buried in the current St. Petersburg in the church named after St. Catherine, owned by Catholics. On the day of the funeral, the fallen general was given field marshal honors. From the opposite end of the famous Nevsky Prospekt, on which the church stands, is the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where A. V. Suvorov is buried.
