French authorities honour Napoleonic-era general buried in Cork cemetery

Inauguration of the plaque commemorating the bicentenary of the death of General Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes.

French authorities have honoured a Napoleonic-era general who drowned in a shipwreck off the Cork coast.

It was only recently discovered that the body of General Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes is buried in a cemetery near Kinsale, and a plaque to his memory is to be unveiled by a number of French dignitaries today.

The event will kickstart a major conference in Cork, featuring more than 100 experts from a number of countries who will discuss the Napoleonic era and in particular Ireland’s notable 'supporting connections' with the period of Revolutionary France. 

The general, who is buried in Templetrine Cemetery, Ballinspittle, joined the French army in 1792 and rose to become aide-de-camp to Napoleon six years later.

He then fought with distinction at the 1800 Battle of Marengo, after which Napoleon’s famous white charger was named.

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The horse was reputedly born in North Cork, with arguments still raging between Buttevant and the village of Bartlemy over where he was sired.

Lefebvre-Desnouettes later fought at the bloody battle of Austerlitz (1805) against the combined might of the Russian and Austrian armies, and in the subsequent French campaigns against Prussia, before being created a ‘Count of the Empire.'

Escapes from British custody

After a spell fighting in the Peninsula Wars in Spain, he was captured by the British, but eventually escaped while on parole and made it back to France, where he played a prominent part in Napoleon’s 1812 ill-fated invasion of Russia, distinguishing himself as a leader of the highly-vaunted French cavalry, then regarded the finest in Europe.

Lefebvre-Desnouettes commanded the Guard Light Cavalry Division at Waterloo where he was again taken prisoner by the British and again tried to escape his captors, this time without success.

The ‘Royalist’ French government installed after Waterloo condemned him to death. However, Lefebvre-Desnouettes later escaped again, getting on a ship to America.

However, after a few years of toil on farmland, he became homesick and booked a ticket back home on the American ship Albion.

It sunk on its way to France off the coast of Kinsale in 1822. There was only one survivor.

The general’s body washed up on shore some weeks later, and it was only recently discovered that his final resting place is in the Ballinspittle cemetery.

The plaque to honour the general was unveiled by the President of the Center for Napoleonic Studies, Dr Jérôme Beaucancour, on Sunday in advance of a major Napoleonic conference which will take place at the Imperial Hotel, Cork, next week.