Claude Alexandre de Bonneval

French soldier, adventurer, and statesman

• Born: July 14, 1675
• Birthplace: Coussac-Bonneval, France
• Died: March 23, 1747
• Place of death: Pera, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now in Istanbul, Turkey)

Bonneval was a brilliant soldier whose personal pride and drive for self-aggrandizement led him to betray all three of the nations that he served. His turbulent life and career as a professional mercenary reflected the convoluted geopolitics of early eighteenth century Europe.

Early Life

Claude Alexandre de Bonneval (klohd ah-lehk-zahn-duhr duh bawn-vahl) was the son of Jean-François de Bonneval de Blanchefort and Claude de Monceaux, members of old noble families from the central French region of Limousin. Sent to study at a Jesuit college when his father died, Bonneval developed a passion for history and Latin, demonstrating a remarkable memory that would later make him famous. His formal education, however, lasted only until he was eleven, when his uncle, Comte Anne-Hilarion de Costentin de Tourville, admiral of the French navy, made him enter the navy as a navy guard.

Life in the service appealed to the young man. In 1688, when the Wars of the League of Augsburg began, the minister of the navy, the marquis de Seignelai, noticed Bonneval in the ranks. Taking pity on so young a boy about to be sent into the horrors of naval battle, the minister told him that he was to be discharged because of his age. Bonneval, however, was too proud of his accomplishments and his family to accept dismissal, which he took as a personal affront. Haughtily, the boy responded, “One does not discard a man of my name!” Taken aback, but thoroughly pleased by the young man’s enthusiasm, the minister replied, “Whatever, Sir, the king discharges you from the navy guard but makes you an ensign.”

Life’s Work

Fortunately for Bonneval, his sharp tongue and enormous self-importance were accompanied by a quick intellect, bravery, and martial skills that allowed him to distinguish himself in three of the many naval battles of the wars, the Battles of Dieppe (France), den Haag (Holland), and Cádiz (Spain). Unfortunately, his bad temper led him into self-destructive behavior. In 1697, feeling that he had been slighted and treated as a child by his lieutenant, the comte de Baumont, Bonneval provoked a duel in which Baumont was injured. Baumont was also a man whose family connections were impressive, and under pressure from Baumont’s allies in the navy, Bonneval was forced to leave the service.

In 1698, at the age of twenty-three, Bonneval enlisted in the French Guards, where he served until the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701. Following the custom of the time, in which rich men outfitted regiments for national service, he purchased an infantry regiment for œ33,000, though in an uncharacteristic fit of humility he did not take command, instead placing himself and his regiment under the orders of the maréchal de Catinat (who was soon replaced by the duc de Villeroi, and later by the duc de Vendôme).

Bonneval distinguished himself campaigning in Italy, where Prince Eugene of Savoy, commanding the army of the Holy Roman Emperor, could not help but admire the boldness and tactical genius of the young French officer whose daring had brought the French victory at Luzzara. Although Bonneval’s superiors in his own army agreed on his bravery and admired his skills on the battlefield, however, they were hesitant to take tactical advice from one so young and inexperienced. When his regiment continued the war in Dauphiné, a region west of the Alps, Bonneval succeeded in forcing the capitulation of a region called Biélois. Finding himself cut off from his supplies, he used œ3,000 of his own money to provide his soldiers and the local military hospitals with necessary supplies.

Proud of both his success and his commitment to the well-being of his troops, Bonneval was outraged when the army superintendent refused to reimburse him for his costs. In a fit of temper, the young officer responded to the rejection of his request with a vindictive and passionate letter in which he threatened to offer his services to the Holy Roman Emperor if he was not reimbursed within three months. Only after the letter had been posted did he reflect on the implications of his threat to commit treason. To avoid being court-martialed, he requested and was granted a leave of absence, spending the winter of 1705-1706 in Italy. While in Venice, his attempts to use the offices of the French ambassador to resolve his problem failed; thus, when his funds were gone he followed the lead of another French officer, the marquis de Langallerie, who had deserted to the enemy, carrying out his impetuous threat to offer his services to the empire. Pleased to have the services of so capable an officer, the emperor gave Bonneval the same rank in his army that the young man had enjoyed in the French one.

By joining the enemy, Bonneval cut himself off from his estate in France, losing much more than the œ3,000 that had precipitated his actions. With no place else to turn, he served the emperor ably. Soon rising to the rank of major general, Bonneval brought Emperor Joseph I victories at Turin and elsewhere in Italy, ultimately penetrating France and fighting at Dauphiné (1709) and Flanders (1710), where he interceded to save the lives of two wounded French officers who had been captured. Happily for him, his moments of chivalry and compassion helped build a counterbalance to his reputation as a turncoat.

When the war ended, Bonneval attended the meeting at which Charles VI, Eugene of Savoy, and the maréchal de Villars (representing Louis XIV) signed the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). In the following year, Austria engaged in a war against the Ottomans that sent Bonneval to Hungary, where his bravery and skills once again brought him fame. Back in Vienna, he discovered that the French ambassador to Austria was now a relative of his who could be persuaded to intercede on his behalf with the duc d’Orléans, regent of France for the young Louis XV. His petition was successful, and in February, 1717, Bonneval came back to France after an absence of sixteen years. His overjoyed mother immediately arranged a marriage with Judith de Biron, but it took Bonneval only ten days to realize that he was not cut out for a married existence. Abandoning his wife, he fled to Vienna and then to Hungary.

Resuming his position in the imperial army, Bonneval fought with distinction in Sardinia, Messina, and Genoa. Poorly adapted to life without battle, Bonneval, when peace came in 1719, made an insolent remark to Prince Eugene, which brought him into disgrace but not dismissal from the army. However, when he acted improperly toward the representatives of Prince Eugene while assigned to Brussels in 1724, he was jailed twice and court-martialed. His response was predictable; enraged by the slight to his honor, in 1729 he abandoned the empire to serve its enemies, the Ottomans. Converting to the Muslim faith and changing his name to Ahmed Pasha, Bonneval wrote a treatise suggesting changes in the tactics used by the Ottoman army that could increase their effectiveness against the troops of the Habsburgs. Never completely comfortable in his new country or truly committed to anyone other than himself, he made several unsuccessful attempts in the last years of his life to leave Turkey. He died on March 23, 1747, at the age of seventy-one in Pera, a neighborhood of Constantinople.

Significance

Claude Alexandre de Bonneval was a colorful figure and an exemplar of the kind of professional mercenary that the convoluted military and political conditions of early eighteenth century Europe could produce. A man of great skills and even greater regard for his own importance, he reached positions of high rank and influence in three different armies because of his effectiveness on the battlefield. His military cleverness, bravery, and adventures, combined with his acts of personal gallantry on the battlefield, were widely admired during his lifetime.

However, his immense ego overshadowed all of his accomplishments; his actions demonstrated time and time again that his self-importance made it impossible for him to develop a primary commitment to any person, nation, or community. Failure of commitment—to nation, king, or wife—led to his lack of lasting impact on his world and to his essentially lonely and incomplete life, which ended unhappily in a land he was trying to escape.

Bibliography

Bell, David A. The Cult of the Nation in France: Inventing Nationalism, 1680-1800. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003. Examines the history of nationalism in France in the eighteenth century.

Frey, Linda, and Marsha Frey. Societies in Upheaval: Insurrections in France, Hungary, and Spain in the Early Eighteenth Century. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1987. This book describes the tragic economic dislocations, oppression, and wars in Europe in the eighteenth century.

Jones, Colin. The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. Exhaustive account of the history of eighteenth century France.

Landes, Joan B. Visualizing the Nation: Gender, Representation, and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003. Describes the role of woman in eighteenth century France.