Joseph-Geneviève de Puisaye participant of French Revolution
French Revolution
A revolutionary becomes a counter-revolutionary
In the Estates-General he supported a constitutional monarchy and aligned himself with the Girondins. His liberal reformist political position enabled him to be made the commander of the national guard in the Évreux district in 1790. He stopped attending the National Constituent Assembly after its first session and was not re-elected in 1792. After the Jacobins outlawed the Girondins in 1793, Puisaye became a counter-revolutionary, but his earlier association with the revolutionaries left him untrusted among more conservative counter-revolutionaries.In Normandy Puisaye was in command of a local troop of federalists and royalists who were surprised by Republican forces in a July 1793 attack. The troops scattered and De Puisaye went into hiding in the Pertre forest, while his estate was sacked by Republican forces. While in hiding he attempted to organise the Chouans into an anti-Jacobin army, which he hoped to join with other counter-revolutionaries. He happened to intercept communications from England to royalist force leaders, and he responded accordingly. These responses impressed the English, who started supplying Puisaye with money and equipment. Thus bolstered, he began issuing calls for the French army and populace to rebel. Puisaye left for England in 1794 to arrange a royalist invasion with the aim of starting a general insurrection.