Baron André Joseph Boussart

André Joseph Boussart was one of the most prominent Belgians to have served in the Revolution and in the French Napoleonic army. During his life he served in the Austrian army, the army of the United Belgian States and the French army, seeing action in Europe, Africa and the East. He was born on 13 November 1758 in Binche, Hainaut. At the time Belgium was officially the Austrian Netherlands and he wanted adventure so he joined the Austrian army and by 1789 had become a junior lieutenant in the Austrian cavalry (which they were famous for). When the Brabant Revolution began he immediately left the Austrian service to give his full support to the revolutionary patriots and the United States of Belgium. He easily became a captain because of his prior military service but the United States of Belgium did not last long, being crushed by the Austrians, and Boussart escaped to France where he joined the army there, still determined to carry on the fight and joined other Belgians in the Hainault Dragoon Regiment in which he fought the Austrians again. Later he fought with the “Army of Italy” and earned many promotions because of his daring and fearlessness which also caused him to be frequently and badly wounded. By 1797 he was chef de brigade.

Boussart was a supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte and he accompanied Napoleon on his grand campaign to North Africa and the Near East. He fought at the epic battle of the Pyramids in 1798 and the battle of Aboukir in 1799. In 1800 he was promoted to general and in 1801 he fought the British at the battle of Alexandria where he was wounded three times and had to be sent back to France. For his bravery he was made a member of the legion d'honneur in 1803. During the Third Coalition War he led a cavalry brigade of dragoons at the stunning French victory at Austerlitz. In the next war he missed out of the battle of Jena but earned great fame for his participation in the pursuit of the Prussians after. His victories over the Prussians were probably the most remarkable of his career. He played a critical part in the battle of Prenzlau against the Prussians and later also captured the port of Wolgast on the Baltic. He served also under Grouchy at the battle of Lübeck and the battle of Czarnowo where he was wounded. He was badly wounded again at the battle of Pultusk where he fought with the unit of Nicolas Léonard Beker. He fought also at the battle of Eylau and in 1808 Napoleon made Boussart a Baron of the Empire and transferred him to the front in Spain.

He defeated superior Spanish forces at the battle of Margalef and then fought at the victorious siege of Lerida and later the victorious siege of Tortosa. He fought at the siege of Tarragona where he killed far more of the enemy than his own forces lost. Later his participation was also crucial in a victorious attack at the siege of Valencia despite being almost killed. In 1812 he was promoted to general of division and served at the battle of Castalla. He had to leave the front to recover from his bad wounds but was unable to and finally died because of his injuries on 11 August 1813.

Hapsburg Belgium

The Hapsburg Imperial Family reigned over Belgium for a long time, Belgium did very well most of the time when the Hapsburgs were in charge, Belgium went through her "Golden Age" during the Hapsburg rule. But some people have a bias against the Hapsburgs because of what happened in 1789 and everything related to that period. But without the Hapsburg leadership there would possibly be no Belgium at all. When the United Provinces (that became The Netherlands) revolted from the Spanish Hapsburgs and the Low Countries became the battlefield for the contest between the Catholic and Protestant powers it was the Hapsburgs who made sure that Belgium was retained as a Catholic country, unique and different and did not become a part of the Dutch Republic. I think that if that happened, over the following era Belgium would have been absorbed to become indistinguishable from The Netherlands, in culture, politics and religion.

The spread of the revolution that resulted in the United States of Belgium was because of two causes. There were the republicans who supported the revolutionary ideas of France and wanted to break away from Austria to follow their example but there were also those traditional Catholics who were upset by the policies of the Hapsburg Emperor Joseph II who wanted to bring the Church under closer state control. But, if not for the years of Hapsburg rule both of these very different factions who came together in opposition to the Hapsburgs might have been disappointed, each in a different way. If not for the Hapsburgs Belgium might have not been Catholic at all in the 18th Century but might have become Protestant along with the Dutch as part of the United Provinces. The revolutionaries would not, probably, have been happy with this also since the House of Orange played such a dominant part in the Dutch Republic and even there, already there existed two factions; the republicans and the Orange party that supported becoming a stronger or more strongly united Dutch monarchy. At the same time in The Netherlands there was, therefore, already much division and fighting among themselves between those who wanted to strengthen the House of Orange and those who wanted to get rid of them to become a revolutionary republic. Because of the Hapsburgs, Belgium was a unique place that was spared the same thing and something revolutionaries and Catholics would not have liked.

We can also see what happened in the years when the Hapsburg had been pushed out and Belgium was absorbed by the French Empire of Napoleon. This also caused painful divisions between those who wanted independence and those who wanted to be part of France. I do not think there were many that were still loyal to Austria by that time but probably there were at least a few also. But partly because of 1789 I do not think Belgium was going to be subject to another country for long. Obviously the country did not stay for long united with The Netherlands but even if Belgium had remained a Hapsburg dominion as the Austrian Netherlands, I do not think that would have lasted either because Belgium was too far from Austria and there was the growing power of Germany coming between the two. Perhaps Belgium would have still become an independent kingdom but with a Hapsburg monarch as some of the leaders of the Revolution of 1830 even favored who wanted to give the throne to Archduke Karl. Of course, I am happy with how history unfolded for Belgium, becoming independent with the monarchy of the Coburgs. But we are fortunate I think because the House of Orange and the House of Hapsburg both have been good dynasties that have always tried to do the best for their people.

General Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau

Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau was one of the famous Belgian figures of the Revolutionary period and Napoleonic period. He was born in Brussels on 7 November 1760 and became a well respected architect. Even after making a career in the army he continued to design great buildings. He was also ideologically aligned with the patriotic crowd and was one of the minor leaders in the Brabant Revolution (United States of Belgium) and he served in that first effort for independence as captain of the famous “Canaries” from Namur. That name was given to these volunteer soldiers because of their bright yellow uniforms. The volunteers were men who had been determined “unsuited for the hardships of military life” because they were too short or some other minor reason and yet Dumonceau turned them into one of the best military units of United Belgian States. He became one of the most famous patriots because of his work with the “Canaries” and his courage and dare-devil attitude. But when the Austrians succeeded in suppressing the United States of Belgium, Dumonceau had to flee to France.

In France he continued his military passion for the liberal policies of the emerging revolution. He commanded a battalion of volunteers from his country, a ‘Legion of the Belgians’ and became a famous face in the revolutionary forces. In 1793 he was promoted to general of brigade and military commander of Den Haag. He was instrumental in the capture of Netherland with his military planning. In 1795 he was promoted to lieutenant general of the Batavian Republic (revolutionary Netherland) and fought against the Anglo-Russian invasion of the country. He was wounded at Bergen and commanded the Dutch forces at the siege of Wurzburg. In 1805 he commanded the Batavian Corps of the French Napoleonic Army in the Austerlitz campaign and he distinguished himself in many, many battles of that campaign. Afterwards he was made a councilor of state to King Louis of Holland (brother of Napoleon) and was briefly ambassador for King Louis in Paris. When the British invaded Walcheren he led the French defenses until he was replaced by Marshal Bernadotte (future King of Sweden). With the support of Napoleon, King Louis made Dumonceau Count of Bergendael and the King made him a Marshal of the Kingdom of Holland. Since Napoleon did not recognize this, when Holland was absorbed by the French Empire he was reduced to general of division.



The famous "Canaries"

In the Saxon campaign of 1813 General Dumonceau was an active participant and he saved the French army from total destruction at the battle of Kulm where he was also again wounded. Finally, his good fortune epxended, he was captured by the Allied forces at Dresden. He was finally released back to France and although involved was not a major participant in the campaign of Waterloo. His son, however, was possibly the one who warned Marshal Grouchy about the Prussians at Wavre. General Dumonceau was widely respected by all sides and was known as the “unblemished general”. After the war when Belgium was united with Holland as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands General Dumonceau was a military advisor to King Willem I. His name appears on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and his son Francois was captain of the Red Lancers in the Dutch army. One of the most famous and respected Belgians in the world of his time he died on 29 December 1821 before seeing the final independence of his country.

Regent of Belgium, Surlet de Chokier

Erasme Louis, Baron Surlet de Chokier was one of the "Founding Fathers" (as Americans would say) of the modern Belgium. He was a man on the 'cutting edge' of the new ideas and great changes that were sweeping Europe during the entire revolutionary era. He was born on 27 November 1769 in Liège and for the established elite he was basically trouble from the very start! In 1789, inspired by the French Revolution there was the Heureuse Révolution that Surlet de Chokier participated in with enthusiasm which drove away from power the last prince-bishop of Liège. He was a proud revolutionary soldier in this army which was acting independently of but in the same general time and trend of the revolution that birthed the United States of Belgium (again, inspired by the current events in France and the recent American Revolution also).

These revolutionaries joined in alliance with the Brabant rebels of the United Belgian States but, of course, they were soon defeated by the Imperial Austrian military at Hasselt and Zutendaal. This forced Surlet de Chokier to flee to Breda, since he had been a leader of the independence forces, and he was not able to come back to Gingelom in 1792. Now there is a little problem with the first Belgian head of state for his nationalist credentials. When the French revolutionary government absorbed Liège, Surlet de Chokier became an enthusiastic supporter of the French revolution and of an admirer of the dynamic new leader of France Napoleon Bonaparte. Leaving the revolutionary army (or being rather forced out of it that was destroyed) Surlet de Chokier decided to enter politics and in 1800 he was elected mayor of Gingelom and member of the départemental council of Meuse-Inférieure. In 1812 he became a member of the French parliament and is still remembered in France because of that. He gave Napoleon and the French Empire his full support as the new, driving force in Europe. But the old powers were not prepared to accept the rule of the French Emperor and united against him.

Napoleon was destroyed and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands created under the Dutch House of Oranje. Still devoted to his country, Surlet de Chokier remained in politics and was elected to the House of Representatives of the Staten-Generaal and soon became leader of the Southern (that is Belgian) opposition -so his rebellious nature had not been dampened. His resistence to the Dutch-dominated government was so strident that he was nicknamed Surlet de Choquant. As a peace gesture to the Belgians King Willem I made Surlet de Chokier a baron in 1816 but he caused the King so much political headaches that he used his royal powers to ensure that the baron was not reelected in 1828. But Belgian opposition and unhappiness was bigger than this one veteran revolutionary and getting rid of him did not solve the problems for the King of the Netherlands.

When the Belgian revolution came in 1830 was involved from the start and was chosen by the arrondissement Hasselt as a deputy to the National Congress and he was then elected Chairman of the Congress. In that capacity Surlet de Chokier played an important part in the creation of the Belgian Constitution. When looking for a liberty-loving monarch the Belgians first asked Louis Duc de Nemours, second son of "Citizen King" Louis-Philippe, but he refused that offer. While another candidate was sought out someone had to be in charge of things and so the esteemed patriot Baron Surlet de Chokier was appointed Regent of Belgium on 24 February 1831 and so was really the first Head of State of modern day Belgium in which capacity he served until Leopold I took the oath as King of the Belgians on 21 July 1831. Honored by his country he went finally to retire and in the years later died August 7, 1839 in Gingelom.

U.S.B. Armee

Here is a look at the army of the United States of Belgium, our first effort at independence (from Austria) that did not last long. They looked well dressed at least...

The United States of Belgium

All the time people make the mistake of thinking that there was no Belgium or Belgians before the years 1830/31 when actually the history goes back all the way to ancient times and even in "modern" Europe the unique identity of Belgium and the Belgian people was still there when the country was ruled by the illustrious House of Hapsburg as the "Austrian Netherlands". You can see this with the creation of the United States of Belgium or the United Belgian States (États-Belgiques-Unis). This was a national organization that existed during the year 1790 when the Belgians made a rebellion against the liberal-secular policies of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. In this way it also shows that Belgium was a much more traditionally religious country than today but also traditionally a country that was opposed to the concentration of power in the hands of a big central government.

The Austrian Emperor Joseph II enacted laws that made the laws, courts and government uniform throughout his empire. He also suppressed religious orders, public displays of religious like processions, saying rosaries, favored government regulated education rather than religious education and the special rights and traditions of individual areas throughout the Hapsburg empire. The Catholics of Belgium quickly made rebellion against these policies led by men like Jan Frans Vonck (who first supported some of the changes and more revolutionary on the French model) and Henri Van der Noot (who wanted foreign support and restoration of traditional rights). Van der Noot went to Breda in the Dutch republic and organized the rebels into an army that then returned to Belgium and defeated the Austrian army at the battle of Turnhout. Ghent was captured later and the Austrian regents in Brussels fled the country and the remaining Austrians fortified themselves in Luxembourg and Antwerp while the rebels took over the rest of the country.

Taking ideas from the Dutch Republic and the recently formed United States of America the rebel leaders formed the United States of Belgium, which included most of the Austrian Netherlands except for Luxembourg. The Bishopric of Liege had also revolted on its own, the rebellion not part of the Brabant revolution, but joined forces with the United Belgian States as well. However, like the situation of today Belgians are very familiar with, the two factions that made the rebellion and made it successful from the start were also in constant deadlock and disagreement with each other. Some supported some of the imperial policies, others wanted everything to go back the way it had been, some wanted to unite with the Dutch republic and others wanted to stay independent and some also wanted their old traditions preserved within the Hapsburg empire. There were finally, few people who really agreed on everything.

Joseph II died that year and his brother Leopold II became Emperor. He did not carry on all the same policies of his brother and sent powerful Austrian forces into Belgium to put down the rebellion and independence movement (divided and constantly on the edge of civil war within itself). Because of the dis-unity of the rebel leaders and their factions, in the end it was not especially difficult for the Austrians to restore their rule over Belgium and break up the independence government such as it was. In October Namur was captured and returned to imperial rule, followed quickly by West Flanders. By the month of December the United States of Belgium was gone and the Austrian Netherlands was restored and would remain until the tumult of the French Revolutionary wars. Like many ideas that sound very good it had ended in disaster but one thing that could not be destroyed was the idea of "Belgium". Contrary to what people think, Belgians had always thought of themselves as a unique people and while they might think the United Belgian States had been a rather poorly planned enterprise they were not going to abandon the idea of having an independent kingdom of their own.