Rülcourt, Philippe de

Coat of arms of the Makar clan ^[4]

Philip Charles Felix Makard himself, better known as Baron de Rulcourt , became the first officially recognized genealogy researcher of his own kind, collecting in a variety of public and private archives of the ancestral places of residence an extensive collection of historical documents, the authenticity of which was notarized in 1772 in Merville . He explained his passion for this occupation later with the loss of his relatives the most important evidence of their rights to various possessions and descent from the Orleans clan Makar ( French Macquart ), granted by the king of France to the nobility back in 1317. This family in the second half of the 15th century became intermarried with the famous Joan of Arc through her niece Jeanne du Lys ( French: Jeanne du Lys ), and in the 16th century the representatives of one of its branches, the ancestors of the Baron, settled in Flanders , where they became seniors of a number of estates , including Rülkur ^[5] .

It took another 4 years to systematize the documents collected by de Rulcourt and develop a detailed genealogical tree, in which he was actively helped by a relative, Philippe Joseph Massie ( Fr. Philippe Joseph Massie ). In 1776, they both filed Russian in the Paris Court of Auditors a petition on the registration of all collected materials in order to “ensure the safety and prove at any time the nobility and antiquity of origin” , which, after due consideration, was satisfied ^{[K 2]} . It should be noted that Philippe de Rulcourt signed with his real name and title - Philippe Charles Felix Makar, Chevalier , Senior de Rulcourt. The reasons that prompted him to use the fake Baron title everywhere, even becoming a Chevalier-commander of the Order of St. Lazarus by 1778, are unknown ^{[K 3]} .

The early years

Philippe Charles Felix Makard was the eldest son of Charles Felix Macara ( French Charles Felix Macquart ; 1714-1771), Senor de Rulcourt ( French Seigneur de Rullecourt ) and his wife Marie Francoise Pelazhi Filippo ( French Marie Françoise Pélagie Philippo ), originating noble Spanish family. Father served in the rank of a stable ( fr. Écuyer ) at the court of Louis XV and was secretary of the king. His younger sister, married in 1775, was named Caroline Pelage ( French Caroline-Pélagie , 1748–?) ^[1] . In his youth, Philippe de Rulcourt was arrested in his homeland by the provincial parliament for some crime, but fled to Spain, where the family had extensive connections through mother's relatives. There he received initial military training and at the age of 17 he entered the service in the Flemish company of the Life Guards of the Spanish King ( French Compagnie Flamande des Gardes du Corps ), and in 1767 became captain of the Nassau-Luxembourg Infantry Regiment ( French Régiment de Nassau-Luxembourg ). In 1769 he entered the French army as a mercenary, where by 1774 he rose to the rank of major of the cavalry ^[6] .

In the Polish service

In 1775, de Rulcourt entered the service of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and became a colonel in the Massalsky regiment just formed in Vilna . However, he could not find a common language with the subordinate Poles and Lithuanians, and a conspiracy was drawn up against him in order to remove him from command and bring him to military court. In the first half of 1776, one of the officers of his regiment, Eijatović ( Polish Eydziatowicz ) filed a slanderous complaint with the Military Commission about the commander allegedly harassing him. An investigation immediately began - after the first interrogation, the baron realized that severe punishment could not be avoided, and preferred to hide. A reward of 2,000 ducats was announced for his capture as a deserter. This story was widely publicized in the French press, which reacted with sympathy to a compatriot who was in trouble in a foreign land. Since de Rulcourt's whereabouts remained unknown until September 1776, it was suggested that he fled to the main enemy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - the Russian Empress Catherine II , and he would be given command of the regiment ^[7] . This hype forced the Polish government, which was very interested in maintaining good relations with its strongest ally, France, to conduct the most stringent investigation of Eijatovich’s complaint and de Rulcourt’s escape, after which all charges from the latter were dropped ^[8] .

US Service

Despite the restoration of a good name in Poland, de Rulcourt chose not to return there. In September 1776, he appeared in Paris and visited the houses of Jacques Donacien Le Re de Chaumont and Pierre de Beaumarchais ^[9] . The first, nicknamed the "father" of the American Revolution , was responsible for diplomatic contacts with the United States , and the second, now better known as a publicist and playwright , was authorized by the French government to secretly finance and equip colonies that rebelled against the metropolis . De Rulcourt undertook to staff and lead a corps of 600 professional mercenaries (100 ecu per person) for shipment to North America . After consultations with de Beaumarchais and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count de Vergene , in October 1776, de Chaumont recommended Baron Benjamin Franklin, who had recently arrived as US Ambassador. He sought not only funding and a military alliance with France, but also volunteers to continue the struggle for independence, and therefore he vividly responded to de Rulcourt's proposal. However, by December 1776 this enterprise was phased out for unknown reasons ^[9] .

Then de Rulcourt turned to Franklin directly with a very unusual project: to hire under the flag of Monaco ^{[K 4]} many privatists and disperse them throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Then, with the secret consent of the King of Naples and Sicily ^{[K 5],} to build on the island of Lampedusa belonging to him a fortified naval base under the command of the baron himself. On the appointed day, hired ships must raise the American flag and begin to attack the British merchant fleet, using Lampedusa as a place for shelter, supplies and rest in exchange for prizes ^[2] . Franklin became interested, and together with de Rulcourt they set about discussing the details and preparing the treaty, which was to be ratified by the US Congress ^[2] . In the final version, the baron, instead of the commander of the base at Lampedusa, was supposed to become the American governor of the uninhabited islands of the Chafarinas off the coast of Morocco , strengthen them, hire and place at least 500 people in the garrison. Upon completion of the fortification, de Rulcourt was to immediately begin cruising operations against Britain under the flag of the United States. The bulk of the cruisers' prize money was to go to the maintenance of the military base, repair and hiring of new ships, and the rest to the garrison soldiers and ship crews. Moreover, their payment and ration should have been no worse than in the British army. To the extent possible, Franklin pledged to supply sailors, provide supplies and the like, and de Rulcourt arranged for the initial financing of the project. January 10, 1777 the so-called American Commissioners Benjamin Franklin, Silas Dean and Arthur Lee sent a letter to Baron de Rulcourt confirming his acceptance of the service and empowerment of the project:

Sir,

On behalf of and on behalf of the Congress of the United States of America, we accept you to serve as the corps commander you need in accordance with your plan for the uninhabited islands of Chafarinas.

We authorize you, as the supreme commander in chief, to fortify and protect these islands. We agree to naturalize you and the officers of your corps, you are allowed to raise the flag of the thirteen United States of America and fight under it against their enemies ...

Original text

Sir

In the name and by the authority of the Congress of the United States of America, we take you into their service, as Cheif of a Corps, which you are to command, agreable to your plan, upon the deserted Zafarimes Islands.

We authorize you, as Commander in Cheif, to fortify and defend, the said Islands. And as we agree to your request to naturalize you and the officers of your Corps, you are allowed to carry the colors of the thirteen United States of America, and under them to combat their Enemies ...

- ^[2]

The Baron immediately began to act - he requested financial support from de Beaumarchais. He shied away from a direct answer, then de Chaumont and the Spanish ambassador Aranda allocated the necessary funds. In the twenties of January, de Rulcourt reported to the commissioners about his readiness to sail in two weeks on a 64-gun ship and the intention to hire another one in May ^[2] . Despite his efforts to keep the project secret ^{[K 6]} , English intelligence ^{[K 7]} became aware of it. The British government used diplomats to drag Spain and Morocco into a territorial dispute over the Chafarinas Islands, hoping that either one or the other country would occupy them and frustrate, thus, plans to create an American base on the Mediterranean Sea ^[3] . In March, Arthur Lee set out to settle the matter with the Courtyard of Madrid, but his embassy failed - no further steps were taken on this project, and de Rulcourt remained in France. In his last letter to Franklin, on September 7, 1777, he again proposed returning to last year’s scheme with hiring a corps of former Polish colleagues and foreigners already in the United States, but it remained without consequences ^[2] .

Jersey Invasions

In the De Nassau landing corps

At the end of 1778, Baron de Rulcourt was invited by the second commander of the Volunteer Corps de Nassau ( fr. Corps de volontaires de Nassau ) - a private enterprise of the famous adventurer and colonel of his own regiment, Prince Karl Heinrich Nassau-Siegen , formed by him at the expense of the same de Beaumarchais aim to capture the island of Jersey ^{[K 8]} . This territory, located in the immediate vicinity of the French coast and controlled by the United Kingdom , served as a base for both the Royal Navy and many privates, and posed a serious threat to the French merchant fleet, especially the convoys with weapons and ammunition that Beaumarchais supplied to the rebel colonies in North America ^[12] .

In the early morning of May 1, 1779, 1,500 paratroopers, under the command of Prince Nassau-Siegen and Baron de Rulcourt, appeared in the Gulf of Saint-Ouen on five frigates, several cutters , bombardier boats and 50 landing boats with the intention of coup de main to capture Jersey. However, parts of the British regular forces and the island police who arrived at the landing site in time were numbering up to 500 people under the command of the lieutenant governor Major Moses Corbet Islands ( English Moses Corbet ), backed by several field tools , suppressed this intention. De Rulcourt was the only one of the entire landing party who managed to reach the coast on his boat, and after landing, he immediately declared the island part of the Norman Duchy ^[13] . However, the ebb that soon began caused the main flotilla to retreat to the depths - the baron with his tiny detachment had no choice but to follow her. Having lost one boat with 40 paratroopers from enemy fire ^[14] , Prince Nassau-Siegen decided to try his luck in the other bay of the island - St. Brelade . But even there, parts of the Jersey police were waiting for him, and the landing was forced to retire to Saint-Malo with nothing ^[15] .

A few days later, in response, the English squadron under the command of Sir James Wallace overtook and burned at the anchorage a large part of the prince’s landing flotilla in Kankal’s bay, capturing the 32-gun frigate “Danae” as a prize and two smaller vessels, thus depriving Nassau-Siegen and de Rulcourt of a chance for revenge ^[16] . This unsuccessful military adventure, however, was not entirely fruitless, since it diverted the British squadron under the command of Admiral Mariot Arbatnot to help the islanders. Ultimately, the convoy entrusted with guarding him with reinforcements for loyalists in North America was delayed by almost two months, which significantly worsened their situation ^[17] .

Unsuccessful, the prince decided to get rid of the military property that burdened him, and by August 1779 he sold the de Nassau corps, losing the largest part to the king ^[18] . The remnants of it went to another ambitious French military chevalier de Montmorency-Luxembourg , who renamed his personal army into Legion de Luxembourg ( Fr. Légion de Luxembourg , otherwise - volunteers de Luxembourg ) ^[19] and appointed de Rulcourt as his commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel ^[20] .

In the Legion of De Luxembourg

By the end of 1780, with the entry of the war into an active phase, the damage to French commercial shipping from the actions of the Jersey privatists only worsened. In addition, having safely completed the first large supply convoy for besieged Gibraltar and defeating the Spaniards at the Battle of the Moonlight , Britain showed its superiority over the allies at sea. A military operation was required that could distract at least part of the Channel fleet from guarding the next convoy , which the British were preparing by early 1781. At the same time, de Montmorency-Luxembourg, who had already received the title of prince, was looking for an opportunity to distinguish himself in the calculation of the generous reward of the king. Therefore, the new plan for the capture of Jersey proposed by de Rulcourt was immediately approved and presented to Louis XVI , who earnestly supported him and even promised the baron the rank of general and the Order of St. Louis as soon as he took possession of the island's capital St. Helier , and the Prince of Jersey if successful. However, many French military expressed fears that the new expedition would only be a waste of resources, since having repelled the invasion of 1779, the British administration significantly strengthened the island's defense: repaired old coastal batteries and erected new fortifications, and the total number of garrison and police exceeded 9,000 people. This did not bother either the prince or the baron, who had very detailed maps of the coast, drawings of coastal fortifications and knew the exact location and number of troops, thanks to the intelligence network established on the island - de Rulcourt even secretly visited Jersey in the summer of 1780, using the services of smugglers ^{[21 ]} , and made many “friends” there. After that, both commanders were convinced that the island’s population, most of them francophones , would not resist them, and that the British garrison could be defeated by military cunning and coup de main, just as Prince Nassau-Siegen planned one and a half years ago ^[22] .

The second commander, Baron de Rulcourt chose Mira Sayyad ( fr. Mir Saïd ) nicknamed Prince Emir ( born Prince Emire ), a shaggy basurman ( born a bewhiskered Turk ), armed with Qatar and intimidating with his "barbaric" appearance, both the enemy and his own soldiers. All that is known about this exotic person is that he was a Muslim from southern India, a high-ranking military man, forced to seek refuge in France, where, like the baron himself, he became a mercenary ^[23] . Mir Sayyad advised his commander to “plunder everything and put the city [Saint Helier] on fire and a sword” , on which he promised him a harem of Jersey ladies if the operation was successful ^[24] . Having thus gotten along, the commanders began to replenish the ranks of the “de Luxembourg” legion, stationed for disguise in Le Havre , away from Jersey, volunteers at the expense of the French treasury. They were joined by several hundred soldiers and officers of other regular French units who “deserted” with the permission of their superiors, as well as about 600 convicted criminals brought from various prisons. In total, the landing corps totaled by December 1780 about 2,000 people in four divisions ^[21] . Prince de Luxembourg initially planned to personally participate in the landing in Jersey, but in the end refused, saying that he was ill ^[25] .

On December 19 of the same year, the Baron with his army marched from Le Havre to Granville , which reached December 27. His soldiers were so atrocious and looting in all Norman villages along the route that not a single city or fortified settlement agreed to let them stand. We had to spend the night in a field under the open sky, which made sick legionnaires immediately victims of robbery by their comrades ^[26] .

In Granville, the Legion de Luxembourg was expecting with a flotilla of 30 small vessels with a displacement of four to 70 tons, Jean-Louis Régnier ( Frenchman Jean-Louis Régnier ), armor and owner of the Chose Islands - an intermediate expedition base ^[27] . The Baron ordered to immediately sail there, however, because of the calm, which later gave way to a storm, they could only reach the target by December 30th. On January 1, 1781, the de Rulcourt flotilla sailed to Jersey, but was scattered by a sudden storm - the baron with most of the landing party ( 1,200 people) returned to Chauze, the rest of the ships hid from bad weather in the ports of mainland France, or were lost. To keep his undisciplined army during these trials, de Rudcur was only able to display extreme cruelty: for example, while standing on the islands, one paratrooper who thought of complaining about the harsh conditions of the campaign, split a skull, and another, dissatisfied with the soldiers ’ration, ordered him to be chained to a rock so that he drowned at high tide ^[24] .

Finally, on January 5, despite a strong wind, the detachment left Choze and headed for Jersey - the baron expected that bad weather would avoid meeting with British ships. Thanks to Pierre Journeau, a fugitive assassin from Jersey who hired skippers to him, the baron managed to lead his flotilla through the dangerous waters abounding with underwater cliffs and sandbanks, to Cape La Rocque ( French La Rocque ) of the Parish of Grueville to where the English least expected the enemy. The day was also not chosen by chance - on January 6, “ Old Christmas” was traditionally celebrated in Jersey as a holiday, and the island garrison commanders were still on Christmas holidays in England ^[20] . Having landed around 5 in the morning, the attackers managed to slip unnoticed past the coast guard post ^{[K 9]} . However, their detachment now numbered no more than 900 people with almost no artillery, as the boats transporting it crashed on coastal reefs, or got lost in the dark and returned to Granville. After killing the sentries and capturing the artillerymen a small battery of four guns in Groveville, the baron sent 120 people to guard her and moved with the main forces to the capital of the island of Saint Helier ^[21] .

Between 6 and 7 in the morning, de Rulcourt's detachment occupied the market square (now the Royal Square, the Royal Square ) of the sleeping city. Killing the sentry and taking the rest of the guard by surprise, the attackers captured from the bed the island's lieutenant governor Major Moses Corbet, the one who so successfully repelled the 1779 landing. Assuring that thousands of Frenchmen had landed with him, and threatening to give the city away to his thugs, led by Mir Sayyad, he forced Corbet to sign a surrender and orders all the island’s troops to immediately lay down their arms. Thus, Lieutenant Colonel Baron de Rulcourt fulfilled the king's condition and became a French general. After that, he sent small detachments to the places of deployment of the English garrison with orders from the governor to accept their surrender, as well as create the impression of a large mass of invading troops on the enemy. However, the regiment commanders refused to obey him and almost everywhere drove the French with gunfire. Upon learning of the British resistance, General de Rulcourt said: “Since they do not want to give up, I came [here] to die” ^[21] .

Meanwhile, the senior garrison officer, 24-year-old Major Francis Pearson, who, after the governor's capture, became commander in chief, gathered about 2,000 regular troops and militias. When it became clear that the landing did not exceed 900 people, he put forward an ultimatum to General de Rulcourt, and after 10 minutes allotted for an answer, he moved to the market square, where the French took up defense, armed with several captured field guns. However, they could not find heavy guns , while the British rolled out one howitzer for direct fire and, according to an eyewitness, each shot “cleared all the surroundings of the French” ^[21] . Their resistance lasted a little over 15 minutes (according to French sources - about 3 hours ^[28] ) - from their light guns they managed to make only 1-2 volleys. The onslaught of the British did not stop even when Major Pearson was killed by a musket bullet - he was replaced by a subaltern of police Philip Dumaresq ( English Philip Dumaresq ). The retreating French tried to hide in the courthouse, from where their comrades fired. Suddenly, de Rulcourt appeared in the square, accompanied by several officers, leading the captive Major Corbet by the hand. The very first salvo of the British struck down the baron - two bullets went to fly the thigh, one hit the throat, and another crushed the lower jaw. Grabbing the arms of a mortally wounded commander, his associates again took refuge in the courthouse, from where they fired back for some time.

Perhaps this was de Rulcourt's last desperate attempt to misinform the enemy. In any case, freed and miraculously survived without a single scratch, Corbet told his that the besieged people in the courthouse were awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from La Roque, consisting of two infantry battalions and an artillery company, from any moment. However, this trick did not work, because the British knew that the French detachment left in Groveville was already blocked, there were no more than 200 enemy soldiers on the whole island, and their own numerical superiority was such that many soldiers had no one to aim at and instead of the enemy they shoot in the air. Soon, the remnants of the French landing laid down their arms and scattered across the fields in the hope of getting to the boats, which only some managed, while the others were caught by the locals. A total of 86 French mercenaries were killed and 72 wounded, about 456 surrendered. The British that day lost 16 people dead and 65 wounded.

General De Rulcourt died 6 hours later from wounds in the house of Dr. Philippe Lerrier ( fr. Dr. Philippe Lerrier ) on the market square. The British got a "general's chest" with the papers of the baron, which helped to reveal and arrest many of his agents on the island. He was buried with military honors in the parish cemetery of Saint Helier. His grave has survived to the present day.

In 1768 he married Marie-Felicite du Wissel ( French: Marie-Félicité du Wissel ), daughter of Count Antoine de la Ferte Morteville ^[1] . According to other sources, she was the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis d'Argenso ( French: Marquis d'Argenso ), a nun whom de Rulcourt stole from the monastery ^[29] . They had two daughters: Marc-Felicite ( Fr. Marc-Félicité ) and Philippe-Adelaide ( Fr. Philippe-Adélaïde , 1774—?) ^[1] .

The invasion of Jersey under the leadership of Baron de Rulcourt is one of the most significant events in the new history of the island and is considered the last full-scale battle of the British forces against the French in their own island territory. Since the 19th century, many parades, ceremonies, and historical reconstructions have been held in memory of this event, dedicated to various places, episodes, and dates associated with it ^[21] .

The episode of the battle at St. Helier, when his comrades-in-arms take out the mortally wounded Baron de Rulcourt from the battlefield, became a fragment of the battle painting “ Death of Major Pearson ” by the English artist J. C. Copley , written in 1783. This painting is owned by the Tate Gallery in London, but exhibited at the Royal Court of Jersey on a long-term lease. It is also printed on the back of 10-pound jersey banknotes issued since 1972.

The former home of Dr. Philippe Lerrier ( Fr. Dr. Philippe Lerrier ) on the Royal (Market) Square in St. Helier has a commemorative plaque telling about the events of January 6, 1781 and the role of the baron in them. Now in this building, where he died of his wounds, is the pub The Peirson , named after his fallen opponent - Major Francis Pearson.

The old sailor song “Capture of St. Helier” ( French: La prise de Saint-Hélier ) in the shanti genre tells of the expedition of Baron de Rulcourt to Jersey in 1781 from the first person of its participant, French sailor or soldier. It became widespread - at the beginning of the 20th century, it completed the main cabaret program of the port cities of Normandy, and now it is included in the repertoire of the popular shanti group Marée de paradis . In 1997, Norman musicians included her in their 3rd CD album, Quai de l'Isle ^[30] .

A man of exceptional courage and courage, treacherous, ferocious and furious by nature, impulsive and imprudent, de Rulcourt combined the spirit of frivolity and gloomy isolation.

Original text

de Rullecourt was a man of extraordinary courage, mendaciousness and audacity, fierce and violent in temper, impulsive, deficient in prudence, and mingling giddiness of spirit with morose sullenness.

- Rev. Alban E. Reg, “The Popular History of Jersey” ^[20]

One of the inspirers of both French expeditions to Jersey, General Charles Francois Dumourier , commander of the naval port of Cherbourg , although he supported Baron de Rulcourt in his endeavors, spoke of him rather scornfully:

A real libertine and rogue, of those who, mired in debt, pays lenders with a sword, he then headed this thieving rabble, Luxembourg volunteers, looting everywhere on their way through Normandy. De Rulcourt could have succeeded [in Jersey] if he had regular units at his disposal, and he himself had more experience and less arrogance.

Original text

A roué in every sense of the word, head over ears in debt, who pays his creditors with sword-thrusts and then puts himself at the head of those light-fingered gentry, the Luxembourg Volunteers, who pillaged Normandy from end to end as the marched along. De Rullecourt would have succeeded had he been in command of a troop of regulars and possessed more experience and less confidence.

- ^[31]