, 1st Duc d'Abrantès
– July 29
) was a French general
during the Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
Junot was born in Bussy-le-Grand
, son of Michel Junot (1739-1814, son of François Junot, d. 1759, and wife Edmée Laurain, b. 1703 and d. 1784) and wife Marie Antoinette Bienaymé (1735-1806, daughter of Guy Bienaymé and wife Ursule Rigoley), and studied in Chatillon
. He was studying law in Paris
when the French Revolution
started, he joined a volunteer battalion
was twice wounded and made sergeant
. He first met Napoleon Bonaparte
during the Siege of Toulon
in 1793 when he became his secretary.
He distinguished himself in Italy but received a serious head wound at 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 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 Brumaire. He married Laure (Laurette) Martin de Permond
in 1800. He was briefly ambassador to Portugal
before hurrying back to serve under Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz
Junot's major command was during the Peninsular War. He commanded the invasion of Portugal in 1807, setting out in November from Salamanca
he captured Lisbon
in 30 November
or early December and was granted the ducal victory title
of Duc d'Abrantès
and made Governor of Portugal.
But when the British arrived in August 1808, the French were beaten at Vimeiro (August 21) and Junot was almost cut off; only the signing of the advantageous Convention of Sintra allowed him to avoid capture taking however with him all the weapons and baggages the army had managed to gather, expression that later became famous in the Portuguese usage, and he returned to France in October, narrowly escaping a court martial. He returned to the Iberian peninsula in 1810 as part of the army under Marshal André Masséna and was badly wounded.
In the Russian campaign Junot's record was erratic; he was blamed for allowing the Russian army to retreat following the Battle of Smolensk
), but at the Battle of Borodino
) he commanded the 8th Corps competently.
In 1813 he was made Governor of Illyria but his growing mental instability led to him being returned to France. He committed suicide in Montbard.But some of his family members believe that he created this story of fear of being persicuted by those who over-threw Bonaparte. It is said that he fled the country and came down to New Orleans, where he had family.
He had two daughters and two sons:
- Joséphine Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, January 2 1802 – Paris, October 15 1888), married in November 1841 to Jacques-Louis Amet
- Constance Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, May 12 1803 – 1881), married in 1829 Louis Antoine Aubert (1799 – 1882), and had issue
- Louis Napoléon Andoche Junot, 2nd Duc d'Abrantès (Paris, September 25 1807 – Neuilly, February 20 1851), who died unmarried and without issue
- Andoche Alfred Michel Junot, 3rd Duc d'Abrantes (Ciudad Rodrigo, November 25 1810 – killed in action at Brescia, July 19 1859), married firstly on April 2 1845 Marie Céline Elise Lepic (October 9 1824 – June 6 1847), and married secondly on January 10 1853 Marie Louise Léonie Lepic (July 19 1829 – August 17 1868), both sisters, daughters of Joachim Lepic, 1st Baron Lepic, and wife Anne-Marguerite Pasquier, and had:
- Jeanne Joséphine Marguerite Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, May 22 1847 – Lasray, March 21 1934), married in Paris, September 16 1869 Xavier Eugène Maurice Le Ray (Sèvres, July 15 1846 – Paris, December 1 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, June 16 1854 – Paris, March 10 1857)
- Marguerite Louise Elisabeth Junot d'Abrantès (Paris, January 25 1856 – 1919), married in Paris, November 11 1883 César Elzéar Léon Vicomte Arthaud de La Ferrière (1853 – 1924) .
- Chartrand, René. Vimeiro 1808. London: Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-309-8
- Haythornthwaite, Philip. Napoleon's Commanders (1) c1792-1809. London: Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-055-2