Jean-Andoche Junot

Jean-Andoche Junot Duke of Abrantes
Junot as a grenadier in 1792, by Félix Philippoteaux (1834)
Military Governor of Paris
In office 1803 – 1804
Monarch	Napoleon I
Preceded by	Édouard Mortier
Succeeded by	Joachim Murat
In office 1806 – 1807
Preceded by	Joachim Murat
Succeeded by	Pierre-Augustin Hulin
Personal details
Born	(1771-09-24)24 September 1771 Bussy-le-Grand, Burgundy, Kingdom of France
Died	29 July 1813(1813-07-29) (aged 42) Montbard, Côte-d'Or, French Empire
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of France First French Republic First French Empire
Branch/service	Army
Battles/wars	See list: French Revolutionary Wars War of the First Coalition Siege of Toulon Battle of Lonato War of the Third Coalition Battle of Austerlitz Peninsular War Campaign in Portugal Battle of Vimeiro French Invasion of Russia Battle of Smolensk Battle of Borodino

Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantes (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃dɔʃ ʒyno], 24 September 1771 – 29 July 1813) was a French military officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Early life

Junot was born in Bussy-le-Grand, Côte-d'Or, son of Michel Junot, a farmer (1739–1814), and wife Marie Antoinette Bienaymé (1735–1806). His father was the son of François Junot (?–1759) and wife Edmée Laurain (1703–1784), while his mother was the daughter of Guy Bienaymé and wife Ursule Rigoley. Jean-Andoche went to school in Châtillon. He was studying law in Dijon when the French Revolution started. After joining a battalion as volunteer, he was twice wounded and also made sergeant. He first met Napoleon Bonaparte during the siege of Toulon in 1793, when he became his secretary (aide de camp).

Italian campaign

He distinguished himself in Italy but received a serious head wound at the Battle of Lonato, which some claim led to a permanent change in his character, reduced the quality of his judgement and made him rash and temperamental. He was made a general of brigade at the beginning of the Egyptian campaign but was injured in a duel and captured when he was returning as an invalid to France. He later participated in the coup of 18 Brumaire. He married Laure (Laurette) Martin de Permond, a long-time friend of the Bonapartes, in 1800. He was briefly ambassador to Portugal before hurrying back to serve under Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805).

Peninsular War

Junot's major command was during the Peninsular War, when he commanded the 1807 Invasion of Portugal. Setting out in November from Salamanca, with the promise of a ducal title and a marshals baton, his vanguard accomplished a bloodless occupation of Lisbon on 30 November. For this feat, he was granted the ducal victory title of Duc d'Abrantès and was made Governor of Portugal, though he was not given the baton.

However, when a British expeditionary force landed, Junot was beaten at the Battle of Vimeiro on 21 August 1808, and he was cut off from France. Only the signing of the advantageous Convention of Sintra allowed him to avoid capture, taking with him "the weapons and baggages" and pillage the army had managed to gather—an expression that later became famous in Portuguese usage. He went back to France in October, narrowly escaping a court martial. He returned to the Iberian peninsula in 1810 in command of the VIII Corps, under Marshal André Masséna, and was badly wounded.

Later years

In the Russian campaign Junot's record was erratic. He was blamed for allowing the Russian army to retreat following the Battle of Smolensk (17 August), but at the Battle of Borodino (7 September 1812) he commanded the 7th Corps competently. Junot's performance at Smolensk infuriated Napoleon to the point that he vowed never to grant Junot a baton.

In 1813 he was made Governor of the Illyrian Provinces but his growing mental instability, caused by his fall from favor, led to him being returned to France, to be placed under the surveillance of his father. During his time with his family, he jumped of a building thinking he was a bird, broke his leg and a few hours later locked himself in the kitchen and started to cut his fractured leg. He died of infectious complications several days later.

Family and relations

He had two daughters and three sons:

• Othello (Egypt, c.1798), the child of an Abyssinian slave named Xraxarane born during the French campaign in Egypt. Junot brought Othello to France.
• Joséphine Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, 2 January 1802 – Paris, 15 October 1888), married in November 1841 to Jacques-Louis Amet
• Constance Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, 12 May 1803 – 1881), married in 1829 Louis Antoine Aubert (1799 – 1882), and had issue
• Louis Napoléon Andoche Junot, 2nd Duc d'Abrantès (Paris, 25 September 1807 – Neuilly, 20 February 1851), who died unmarried and without issue
• Andoche Alfred Michel Junot, 3rd Duc d'Abrantes (Ciudad Rodrigo, 25 November 1810 – killed in action at Solferino, 24 June 1859), married firstly on 2 April 1845 Marie Céline Elise Lepic (9 October 1824 – 6 June 1847), and married secondly on 10 January 1853 Marie Louise Léonie Lepic (19 July 1829 – 17 August 1868), both sisters, daughters of Joachim Lepic, 1st Baron Lepic, and wife Anne-Marguerite Pasquier, and had:
  • Jeanne Joséphine Marguerite Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, 22 May 1847 – Lasray, 21 March 1934), married in Paris, 16 September 1869 Xavier Eugène Maurice Le Ray (Sèvres, 15 July 1846 – Paris, 1 December 1900), who was created 4th Duc d'Abrantès in 1869, and had issue extinct in male line in 1982
  • Jérôme Napoléon Andoche Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, 16 June 1854 – Paris, 10 March 1857)
  • Marguerite Louise Elisabeth Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, 25 January 1856 – 1919), married in Paris, 11 November 1883 César Elzéar Léon Vicomte Arthaud de La Ferrière (1853 – 1924).

During the peninsular war, he had a relationship with Juliana de Almeida e Oyenhausen, daughter of Leonor de Almeida Portugal, 4th Marquise of Alorna.

References

• Chartrand, René. Vimeiro 1808. London: Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-309-8
• Haythornthwaite, Philip. Napoleon's Commanders (1) c. 1792–1809. London: Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-055-2

Further reading

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Junot, Andoche" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 560–561.