Thomas Prosper Jullien
Encyclopedia
Thomas Prosper Jullien was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars
. Aide de camp to Bonaparte
, he rose to the rank of captain and was brother of the famous general Louis Joseph Victor Jullien de Bidon
.
of Lapalud, which had just been created. Aged 19 he became a sous lieutenant in the régiment d’Aquitaine, which later became the 35th Infantry Regiment. Six months later, in 1792, he rose to lieutenant and replaced Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire
At the siege of Toulon (September - December 1793), Thomas Prosper met Bonaparte, then a lieutenant in the 34th Infantry Regiment, and took command of the chasseur
s in second battalion. He then became a captain attached to the adjutant general St Hilaire (1794) and rose to captain on 3 April 1795.
from Milan to Paris with Junot and Louis Bonaparte
. He became Bonaparte's aide de camp on 9 April 1798 but the end of the Italian campaign ended before he could take up the post. In 1797, Bonaparte chose him to accompany Marmont on his embassy to Rome to meet pope Pius VI
, thinking that Prosper would make a good impression on the Romans as to the manners of the French army. General Desaix also described Prosper in his Journal de voyages as "a jolly boy, good manners, swarthy". René Bouscayrol wrote of him as "a handsome, swarthy infantry captain"
. On 30 July 1798 Jullien left for Alexandria, escorted by a dozen men of 75th demi-brigade, with letters addressed to admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
"ordering him to moor immediately in the Old Port [of Alexandria] or take refuge in Corfu
" and to generals Kléber
and Jacques-François Menou
. He and his escort were massacred by the inhabitants of the village of Alkam (also spelled Alquam) shortly afterwards, on 2 August.
In Alexandria, Kléber wrote to Bonaparte on 22 August 1798, saying "I learned with true sorrow of the death of poor Julien [sic], your aide de camp". Bourienne wrote about the investigation into the killing, saying "No one has found any trace of this sad even besides a jacket button in the dust of a hut, situated not far from Alkam. This button bears the number of the corps which provided his escort.". On 25 August Bonaparte ordered general Lanusse to retaliate for the massacre by pillaging then destroying the village. This operation was carried out by captain Joseph-Marie Moiret (Jullien's escort formed part of the 1st battalion of the regiment in which Moiret was serving) and it discovered the bloodied clothing of Jullien and his men in one of the houses. Moiret wrote in his memoirs:
These soldiers bodies were rediscovered - Ida de St Elme mentions:
Although bloodied weapons and uniforms were found at Alkam, it is very improbable that Jullien's corpse was rediscovered. The attack occurred on the Nile or its banks and the punitive expedition arrived twenty days after the events.
(or Fort Jullien in some sources) in his honour. It was in the course of fortifications work there that the Rosetta Stone
was discovered. Faithful to Jullien's memory, Bonaparte set up a 0.63m high and 0.43m wide marble bust of him by Louis-Simon Boizot
(1743–1809), executed in around 1803, in the salle des maréchaux, in the Tuileries throughout the First French Empire
. This bust is now on show at the Trianon in the palace of Versailles
. His brother, general and Comte d’Empire, commissioned five plaster copies, of which two are were placed in Jullien's houses at Lapalud, two at Vannes (including one at the prefecture). O’Meara
, Bonaparte's doctor on St Helena, declared in his memoirs that "the emperor loved [Jullien] greatly", whilst Bourienne's memoirs state he was a very worthy officer with great things ahead of him. All specialists on the First Empire agree that Jullien was a very talented officer who would probably have been promoted to Maréchal d’Empire by Napoleon had he not died in Egypt.
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...
. Aide de camp to Bonaparte
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...
, he rose to the rank of captain and was brother of the famous general Louis Joseph Victor Jullien de Bidon
Louis Joseph Victor Jullien de Bidon
Louis Joseph Victor Jullien de Bidon was a French officer and nobleman.-Life:He was the elder brother of Bonaparte's aide de camp in Egypt Thomas Prosper Jullien. He became a supernumerary student of artillery on 16 August 1781, a student on 18 January the following year, and a lieutenant on 1...
.
Early military career (1792-95)
In 1789, aged 17, he entered the National GuardNational Guard (France)
The National Guard was the name given at the time of the French Revolution to the militias formed in each city, in imitation of the National Guard created in Paris. It was a military force separate from the regular army...
of Lapalud, which had just been created. Aged 19 he became a sous lieutenant in the régiment d’Aquitaine, which later became the 35th Infantry Regiment. Six months later, in 1792, he rose to lieutenant and replaced Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire
Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire
Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond, comte de Saint-Hilaire was a French general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Early career:...
At the siege of Toulon (September - December 1793), Thomas Prosper met Bonaparte, then a lieutenant in the 34th Infantry Regiment, and took command of the chasseur
Chasseur
Chasseur [sha-sur; Fr. sha-sœr] is the designation given to certain regiments of French light infantry or light cavalry troops, trained for rapid action.-History:...
s in second battalion. He then became a captain attached to the adjutant general St Hilaire (1794) and rose to captain on 3 April 1795.
Italy (1796-97)
With St Hilaire, he moved to the armée d’Italie, where he met the chief of staff in Milan. On 7 September 1796, Prosper fought in the battle at Covelo and the crossing of the Brenta gorges, where he was mentioned by Bonaparte in the same despatches as he mentioned Duroc and Augereau. On 5 October 1796, he rose to captain and Bonaparte attached him to his chief of staff, in which role the young Prosper often had the chance to meet Bonaparte at home on the rue Chantereine. He escorted JosephineJoséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
from Milan to Paris with Junot and Louis Bonaparte
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...
. He became Bonaparte's aide de camp on 9 April 1798 but the end of the Italian campaign ended before he could take up the post. In 1797, Bonaparte chose him to accompany Marmont on his embassy to Rome to meet pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI , born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was Pope from 1775 to 1799.-Early years:Braschi was born in Cesena...
, thinking that Prosper would make a good impression on the Romans as to the manners of the French army. General Desaix also described Prosper in his Journal de voyages as "a jolly boy, good manners, swarthy". René Bouscayrol wrote of him as "a handsome, swarthy infantry captain"
Egypt (1798)
On 3 May 1798 Bonaparte left Paris to embark at Toulon, accompanied by Josephine and Jullien. He became Bonaparte's aide de camp and together they set out for Egypt on 19 March that year on board the OrientFrench ship Orient (1791)
The Dauphin-Royal was an Océan class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.During the French Revolution, she was renamed Sans-Culotte in September 1792, and eventually Orient in May 1795....
. On 30 July 1798 Jullien left for Alexandria, escorted by a dozen men of 75th demi-brigade, with letters addressed to admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was the French commander in the Battle of the Nile, in which the French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout the...
"ordering him to moor immediately in the Old Port [of Alexandria] or take refuge in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
" and to generals Kléber
Kléber
Kléber may refer to:* Jean Baptiste Kléber , a French general* Kléber de Carvalho Corrêa , a Brazilian football player* Kléber de Souza Freitas , a Brazilian football player...
and Jacques-François Menou
Jacques-Francois Menou
Jacques-François de Menou, baron de Boussay was a French general under Napoleon I of France. Born Jacques Menou in Boussay on 3 September 1750, he died in Mestre in the Veneto on 13 August 1810...
. He and his escort were massacred by the inhabitants of the village of Alkam (also spelled Alquam) shortly afterwards, on 2 August.
In Alexandria, Kléber wrote to Bonaparte on 22 August 1798, saying "I learned with true sorrow of the death of poor Julien [sic], your aide de camp". Bourienne wrote about the investigation into the killing, saying "No one has found any trace of this sad even besides a jacket button in the dust of a hut, situated not far from Alkam. This button bears the number of the corps which provided his escort.". On 25 August Bonaparte ordered general Lanusse to retaliate for the massacre by pillaging then destroying the village. This operation was carried out by captain Joseph-Marie Moiret (Jullien's escort formed part of the 1st battalion of the regiment in which Moiret was serving) and it discovered the bloodied clothing of Jullien and his men in one of the houses. Moiret wrote in his memoirs:
These soldiers bodies were rediscovered - Ida de St Elme mentions:
Although bloodied weapons and uniforms were found at Alkam, it is very improbable that Jullien's corpse was rediscovered. The attack occurred on the Nile or its banks and the punitive expedition arrived twenty days after the events.
Posthumous honours
The ancient Fort Rashid, commanding the boghâz of the River Nile at the river's junction with the Mediterranean, was renamed Fort JulienFort Julien
Fort Julien was a fort in Egypt, originally built by the Ottoman Empire and occupied by the French during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt and Syria between 1798-1801. It stood on the left bank of the Nile a couple of miles north-east of Rashid on the north coast of Egypt...
(or Fort Jullien in some sources) in his honour. It was in the course of fortifications work there that the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
was discovered. Faithful to Jullien's memory, Bonaparte set up a 0.63m high and 0.43m wide marble bust of him by Louis-Simon Boizot
Louis-Simon Boizot
Louis-Simon Boizot was a French sculptor whose models for biscuit figures for Sèvres porcelain are better-known than his large-scale sculptures.- Biography :...
(1743–1809), executed in around 1803, in the salle des maréchaux, in the Tuileries throughout the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
. This bust is now on show at the Trianon in the palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. His brother, general and Comte d’Empire, commissioned five plaster copies, of which two are were placed in Jullien's houses at Lapalud, two at Vannes (including one at the prefecture). O’Meara
Barry Edward O'Meara
Barry Edward O'Meara was an Irish surgeon and founding member of the Reform Club, who accompanied Napoleon to St. Helena and became his physician, having been surgeon on board the Bellerophon when the emperor surrendered himself. He is remembered as the author of Napoleon in Exile, or A Voice...
, Bonaparte's doctor on St Helena, declared in his memoirs that "the emperor loved [Jullien] greatly", whilst Bourienne's memoirs state he was a very worthy officer with great things ahead of him. All specialists on the First Empire agree that Jullien was a very talented officer who would probably have been promoted to Maréchal d’Empire by Napoleon had he not died in Egypt.