Marie-Thérèse Figueur
Encyclopedia
Marie-Thérèse Figueur was a French heroine involved in the French Revolutionary Army
.
.
On 9 July 1793, aged only 19, her tutor authorised her to join the Légion des Allobroges commanded by colonel Pinon, from which she successively moved into the 15th and 9th Dragoons. She fought in all the campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars
and Napoleonic Wars
in the cavalry. She took an active part in the siege of Toulon (where she was wounded), the campaigns of year II (1792), the year 3 (1793) campaigns to the Pyrénées-Orientales
, and the years 4-8 (1794-1798) campaigns in the armée du Rhin
, armée d'Allemagne
and armée d'Helvétie. At the battle of La Fonderie in year 3 she saved the life of general Nouguez, grievously wounded in the head by a musket ball. She was wounded herself by four sabre cuts at on 4 November 1799, having three horses killed under her and being captured twice.
In 1815, after being imprisoned in England, she assisted in a review by Napoleon in a chasseur uniform and was recognised as a woman by Napoleon I of France
, putting an end to her army career. In July 1818 she married the former soldier Clément Joseph Melchior Sutter. On leaving the army, was known by the nickname Sans-Gêne due to her masculine character and adventurous career(unlike Belrand).
Memory of her was almost wiped out by the 1893 Théâtre du Vaudeville
play Madame Sans Gêne by Victorien Sardou
, which re-attributed the nickname to maréchale Lefebvre
, not Belrand.
The Mémoires of Marie-Thérèse Figueur were first published in 1842 under the title Les campagnes de mademoiselle Thérèse Figueur, aujourd'hui madame veuve Sutter, ex-dragon aux 15e et 9e régiments, de 1793 à 1815, écrites sous la dictée par Saint-Germain Leduc, Paris chez Dauvin et Fontaine, and were republished in 1894. The newspapers and reviews of this era also recall her bravery.
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army is the term used to refer to the military of France during the period between the fall of the ancien regime under Louis XVI in 1792 and the formation of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary...
.
Life
Daughter of the miller François Figueur and Claudine Viard, Marie-Thérèse Figueur was orphaned aged nine and entrusted to a maternal uncle, Jean Viard, a sous-lieutenant in the Dienne-Infanterie, who retired from the army at the rank of captain with the cross of the Légion d'HonneurLégion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
On 9 July 1793, aged only 19, her tutor authorised her to join the Légion des Allobroges commanded by colonel Pinon, from which she successively moved into the 15th and 9th Dragoons. She fought in all the campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in the cavalry. She took an active part in the siege of Toulon (where she was wounded), the campaigns of year II (1792), the year 3 (1793) campaigns to the Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish enclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain.- History :...
, and the years 4-8 (1794-1798) campaigns in the armée du Rhin
Armée du Rhin
The Army of the Rhine is the overall name for one of the main French Revolutionary armies, that operated in the German theater along the River Rhine...
, armée d'Allemagne
Armée d'Allemagne (1797)
The Army of Germany was one of the French Revolutionary armies, formed by a decree of the French Directory dated 29 September 1797 by merging the armée de Sambre-et-Meuse and the armée de Rhin-et-Moselle and commanded from the decree until 6 October by général Saint-Cyr under général Hoche...
and armée d'Helvétie. At the battle of La Fonderie in year 3 she saved the life of general Nouguez, grievously wounded in the head by a musket ball. She was wounded herself by four sabre cuts at on 4 November 1799, having three horses killed under her and being captured twice.
In 1815, after being imprisoned in England, she assisted in a review by Napoleon in a chasseur uniform and was recognised as a woman by Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, putting an end to her army career. In July 1818 she married the former soldier Clément Joseph Melchior Sutter. On leaving the army, was known by the nickname Sans-Gêne due to her masculine character and adventurous career(unlike Belrand).
Memory of her was almost wiped out by the 1893 Théâtre du Vaudeville
Théâtre du Vaudeville
The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles....
play Madame Sans Gêne by Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
, which re-attributed the nickname to maréchale Lefebvre
Cathérine Hübscher
Catherine Hubscher was a First French Empire noblewoman, maréchale Lefebvre and duchesse de Dantzig by her marriage to François Joseph Lefebvre....
, not Belrand.
The Mémoires of Marie-Thérèse Figueur were first published in 1842 under the title Les campagnes de mademoiselle Thérèse Figueur, aujourd'hui madame veuve Sutter, ex-dragon aux 15e et 9e régiments, de 1793 à 1815, écrites sous la dictée par Saint-Germain Leduc, Paris chez Dauvin et Fontaine, and were republished in 1894. The newspapers and reviews of this era also recall her bravery.