Bouchotte, Jean Baptiste Noël

Bouchotte, Jean Baptiste Noël

 

Born Dec. 25, 1754, in Metz; died June 8, 1840, in Bains-Saint-Martin. Figure in the Great French Revolution, a Jacobin.

As commanding officer of the Cambrai Fortress in 1793, Bouchotte organized resistance to the attempted counterrevolutionary coup of General C. F. Dumouriez. Bouchotte was war minister in the years 1793-94. He conducted a policy to democratize the army and renew the personnel of the war ministry, to which he attracted a number of activists of the Cordelier Club and of the Parisian sections. After the execution of the Hébertists, he was removed from his post and arrested. The Thermidorians attempted to organize a lawsuit against Bouchotte. In 1795 he was freed by amnesty.

REFERENCE

Herlaut, G. Le Colonel Bouchotte, ministre de la guerre en l’an II, vols. 1-2. Paris [1946].