LA MORICIÈRE, LOUIS-CHRISTOPHE-LÉON JUCHAULT de. — French general and commander-in-chief of the Papal army, born at Nantes into a noble Breton family on 5 February 1806, died at the Château de Prouzel (Amiens) on 11 September 1865. Having chosen a military career (1826), he attended the École Polytechnique in Paris and the Application School at Metz for two years, graduating as a second lieutenant of artillery. He left for Africa in 1830 and distinguished himself at the capture of Algiers to such an extent that he was appointed captain of the zouaves, marking the beginning of an exceedingly rapid career. He was provisional governor of the colony following the victory at Isly (1845), reaching the height of his renown when, on 23 December 1847, he compelled the most distinguished of his adversaries, the intrepid emir Abd-el-Kader, to capitulate definitively.
Once Algeria had been pacified, he had the opportunity to devote himself to politics. Already elected in 1846 by the Legitimists as deputy for the district of St-Calais (Sarthe), he opposed Guizot, was appointed Minister of War with Thiers, became commander of the National Guard, and was gravely wounded during the disturbances of 24 February 1848, which marked the end of the “July Monarchy.” The Constituent Assembly of the Second Republic elected him deputy for the department of Sarthe (April 1848), and the new regime emerged safely from the tragic June insurrections largely through the energy and the “sublime” courage of La M., as Alexis De Tocqueville wrote. Having sided with Cavaignac, he took over the War portfolio (28 June 1848), and subsequently became French ambassador to Moscow, where he also defended Catholic interests (1849). He also firmly opposed Louis Napoleon’s designs, and thus became one of the first designated victims of the coup d’état of 2 December 1852. Arrested, taken to Mazas and Ham, and finally expelled from France, he spent nine years in exile in England, Germany, and Belgium, during which, through the efforts of Montalembert and Dechamps, later archbishop of Malines, he wished to return to that faith and observance of religious duties which made him a fervent and exemplary Catholic.
This led to the last of his exploits. When Pius IX, after the secession of the Romagne (June 1859), seeing his freedom threatened, appealed for help to the Catholics of the whole world, the first among those summoned was none other than La M. Although he knew that he was embarking upon a desperate undertaking, with the prospect of compromising his military reputation, La M. was ready and magnanimous. To De Corcelles, who sounded out his intentions (October 1859), he declared that he would be glad even to die for such a cause; to his relative and former comrade-in-arms, Mgr De Merode, who brought him the formal invitation (3 March 1860), he added that a son cannot fail to hasten to his Father’s call. He secretly left Paris, landed at Ancona, and assumed supreme command of the Papal troops in Rome (9 April). Volunteers and officers from every country soon followed his example: a few months sufficed for La M., assisted by the new Minister of Arms, Mgr De Merode, to renew and strengthen the entire structure of the army. And when his four mobile brigades and the antiquated fortresses were unexpectedly attacked by overwhelming royal forces in the Marches and Umbria (11 September 1860), new and old Papal soldiers knew how to fight and die, keeping the honor of the flag high. The resistance offered to the enemy’s advance by the fortresses of Pesaro, S. Leo, and Spoleto, and the field actions of the Schmidt brigades in the area of Perugia and of De Courten in that of S. Angelo, enabled La M. to cross the Apennines with the De Pimodan and Kropt brigades. Arriving at Loreto on the evening of 17 September, he found the road to Ancona blocked by approximately three royal divisions; nevertheless, he succeeded in surprising them the following morning CASTELFIDARDO, BATTAGLIA DI (v.), from where, thanks to the sacrifice of almost all the troops, he managed to shut himself up in Ancona (v. ANCONA E NUMANA, ARCIDIOCESI DI, ARCIODICESI di). There he held out with only four thousand men against two army corps and the entire naval squadron for ten full days of stubborn defense (19–29 September).
Taken prisoner to Genoa, where he landed feverish (7 October), he soon returned to Rome, where he was received with paternal affection by Pius IX, who, after unsuccessfully offering him the title of Roman count and the portfolio of the Arms, wished to confirm him in supreme command and confer upon him the Order of Christ and honorary Roman citizenship. La M. then composed a lucid and objective Report on the campaign fought (cf. Giornale di Roma, Suppl. al n. 259, a. 1860), and, having retired to his Château of Prouzel amid expressions of esteem and respect, he also declined the French gift of an honorary sword, since, as he said, he had been able to save nothing but the honor of the army he commanded. He spent his final years reorganizing the Papal troops and in charitable works. He was buried in the church of S. Filiberto near Nantes.