THE CITIZEN ARMY of OLD REGIME FRANCE Julia Osman A
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THE CITIZEN ARMY OF OLD REGIME FRANCE Julia Osman A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved By: Jay M. Smith Lloyd Kramer Wayne Lee Richard Kohn Christopher Browning ©2010 Julia Osman ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Julia Osman, The Citizen Army of Old Regime France (Under the Direction of Jay M. Smith) While the creation of the French citizen army is often attributed to the French Revolution, I argue that it is a product of the old regime. In the seventeenth century, France’s aristocratic army began to crumble when Louis XIV first created a military bureaucracy that eventually ceased to effectively regulate army matters. During the Seven Years’ War in the mid-eighteenth century, French officers’ apathetic attitudes towards fighting in Canada proved that French warfare had become only a vehicle for noble advancement. In the context of crisis and reform that followed, both educated society and military circles looked to the citizen armies of ancient Greece and Rome for military inspiration. French representations of the army and militias of the American Revolution as contemporary embodiments of ancient citizen armies supported reformers’ belief that patriotism would revitalize the French army. In 1789, the National Guard institutionalized these ideas, making the French citizen army a forerunner of the French Revolution. iii To Mom and Dad iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For all the hem and haw about the solitude of a scholarly life, this dissertation is the result of many hands and many resources. A generous Chateaubriand Fellowship provided the necessary funding for the research of this project in Paris, and the Faherty Fund for a few months of work in Aix-en-Provence. The Tyree-Lamb Fellowship enabled me to spend over a week at the Library of the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington D.C. The archivists of the Service Historique de la Défense in Vincennes and the Archives d’Outre Mer in Aix-en-Provence were generous with their time and knowledge of the holdings, and I am grateful to all of them for their help. In particular, I would like to thank Gilbert Bodinier, former chief of the SHD, for his assistance and friendship. Beginning with my initial ventures into the archives, he has helped me locate obscure documents, recommended important sources, and been happy to discuss my work in progress. I am also indebted to Valerie Sallis, Elizabeth Frengel, and Ellen Clark of the Library of the Society of the Cincinnati. I benefited just as much from our conversations about the Society, the French, and the American Revolution as I did from viewing their superb collections. I consider them very good friends, and hope to visit their collection often While in France, I enjoyed the company and conversation of many people, all of whom contributed to the writing of this dissertation. For an initial jaunt to Paris, Sam Scott generously put me in contact with Jean-Paul Bertaud, who helped me find a direction for my eventual dissertation. Professor Jean-François Ruggiu agreed to v be my contact and mentor during my year-long stay in France, and I benefited greatly from his great kindness and his suggestions for my work. Professor Marie-Jeanne Rossignol graciously shared her time and expertise as I tried to define an exact relationship between France and America. Paris also afforded a wonderful cluster of friends who provided intellectual and emotional support: Meghan Cunningham, Michael Mulvey, Natasha Naujoks, Micah Antipaugh, Amy McKnight, Mary-Elizabeth O’Neill, Kevin Passmore, Amanda Vincent, Erika Vause, Robin Bates, and Jeannette Miller. In Aix-en-Provence, Christian Crouch and I shared many afternoons discussing the French army in the Seven Years’ War. My conversations with her are largely responsible for the eventual shape of my second chapter, as well as much of my knowledge of the profession, and I look forward to much more conversing (and cavorting) over the years. On a more personal note, I owe a great deal of thanks to the three families that hosted me during my year-long stay in France. These families opened their homes and helped me navigate the ins and outs of French life and cuisine, and culture: the Guillmotos, the Deschamps, and especially the Coulombs. Stateside, I am of course indebted to the graduate students and professors of the UNC history department. My dissertation committee, Jay Smith, Wayne Lee, Lloyd Kramer, Dick Kohn, and Chris Browning, have challenged me with thoughtful questions, criticisms, and ideas. John Lynn gave of his time during a visit to Chapel Hill to converse with me on the French army. Alan Forrest provided valuable commentary on a conference paper. The French Cultural Studies seminar and History of Military, War, and Society seminar each entertained a chapter of my dissertation and gave me a good deal of feedback and direction as I continue to shape this work. This project also greatly vi benefited from the Omohundro Institute’s “Contest for Continents” conference on the Seven Years’ War, the 2010 International Congress of Military History, the “1759 Revisited” conference, and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies New Faces Conference—all of which allowed me to present various parts of this dissertation for critique and feedback. Finally, my advisor, Jay Smith, has been my harshest critic and biggest supporter over the past six years. He has provided me with constant challenges, but also the tools to meet them, never wavering in his certainty that I could—and would—finish this project. He has passed on to me an incredible respect for language, both that of my subjects and that of my own hand, as well as a healthy, balanced approach to the profession. Thanks, Jay. I would, of course, be remiss in my thanks towards the academic community if I did not acknowledge the professors who encouraged this project when it was just an undergraduate honors thesis and helped me move forward in my scholarly pursuits: Paul Mapp, Ron Schechter, Guilia Pacini, and Jim Whittenburg. It is only now that I can appreciate just how much time and effort they poured into a disheveled and overwhelmed undergraduate who had some big ideas, but not much of a clue how to pursue them. They have all continued to provide me with a great deal of support and encouragement, for which I am very grateful. Following the adage of leaving the best for last, I now have a few words for my families. First, to Gilles and Catherine Coulomb, my French family, je vous remercie milles fois, but a thousand thanks would never be enough to express my deep and heartfelt appreciation to them for making me a part of their family. They truly made vii France a home away from home, and the greatest unforeseen blessing of this dissertation is that it introduced me to them. Most of all, I would like to thank my parents, Laura and Pete Osman, who fully supported me in this undertaking, always confident in my abilities, especially when I doubted them most, and certain that I would finish. They have been with me every step of the way through this wild adventure of a dissertation, listening, proof-reading, encouraging, affirming, and caring during this entire process. Any work would seem a poor return on their investment, but I dedicate this to them, knowing that it was a team effort. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter I. POISED TO PERISH: THE FRENCH ARMY 1661-1755 ..................................12 An Aristocratic Army ................................................................................16 Limited Rhetoric, Partisan Tactics .............................................................26 French Amy and French Society in Conflict .............................................42 War and Society: The Cultural Divide .......................................................52 II. WHEN MILITARY CULTURES COLLIDE: THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR IN NORTH AMERICA, 1755-1760 ............................................64 Warrior Rivalry: the Threat of the Natives ................................................70 Competing Hierarchies ..............................................................................89 Of Zeal and Defeat ...................................................................................101 III. FROM SOLDIERS TO CITIZENS: NEW THOUGHTS FOR AN OLD ARMY, 1760-1783 .....................................116 From Patriotism to the Citizen Soldier: Military Solutions to a Corrupted Society ............................................................................121 Patriotism and Military Reform: The Importance of the Soldier .............144 IV. A NEW ROME: FRENCH PERCEPTION OF CITIZEN WARFARE IN AMERICA .................................................................163 News from Abroad: the Image of America in the Gazettes .....................168 A Patriotic Citizen Army: How French society reproduced the American Revolution .........................................................................186 ix The French Army Redeemed and Recast .................................................201 French officers and the American Revolution .........................................212 V. THE ARSENAL OF REVOLUTION: THE COUNCIL OF WAR AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE CITIZEN WARRIOR IN FRANCE.............................................................................................227