Early life Born in
Paris to Charles Antoine de Gontaut de Biron (8 October 1708 – 25 Octobre 1798) and his wife Antoinette-Eustachie née Crozat du Châtel (25 October 1727 – 16 April 1747), daughter of
Louis François Crozat (1691–1750), granddaughter of banker
Antoine Crozat, the first proprietary owner of
French Louisiana, from 1712 to 1717. Armand Louis bore the title of
Duc de Lauzun, which had passed, on the death of
Antoine Nompar de Caumont, duc de Lauzun (1633–1723), to his niece, the wife of
Charles Armand de Gontaut, duc de Biron (1663–1756). It was strongly rumored at the time that duc de Biron's actual father was
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, his mother's lover and close friend of his father. In 1788, he succeeded to the duchy of Biron on the death of his uncle,
Louis Antoine de Gontaut, duc de Biron (1700–1788). On 4 February 1766 he married
Amélie de Boufflers (5 May 1751 – guillotined on 27 June 1794), only daughter of Charles-Joseph de Boufflers (1731–1751) and Mary Anne Philippine de Montmorency Logny (1732–1797). He lived apart from his wife, had no children (legitimate, at least), even though his wife was a young woman described as a paragon of gentle, virginal shyness; a combination of shrewdness and simplicity. Similarly the Duke was a popular companion and house guest. He served in the guards as early as 1761, and in 1767 made the expedition of Corsica as aide-de-camp of de Chanvelin. On 29 June 1769, he was made chevalier of the order of Saint Louis. Traveling throughout Europe, engaging in idle frivolity, and – according to his Memoirs – various love affairs, he wasted his fortune, which in 1777 forced him to transfer his estates to
Henri Louis, Prince of Guéméné (grand chamberlain and captain lieutenant of the gendarmes of the king's ordinary guard), upon the payment of an annuity of 80,000 livres. The prince, however, became bankrupt and the annuity was reduced more than half. Around that time he attracted attention by an essay on the military defenses of Great Britain and its colonies (État de défense d’Angleterre et de toutes ses possessions dans les quatres parties du monde), leading to his appointment to a command against the British in 1779, in which he had some success. That in turn lead to his being sent with some ships under the command of
Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil on an expedition to Senegal and other coast possessions of the British, de Veudreuil capturing
Senegal in January 1779, shortly before sailing to North America in aid of
Rochambeau in 1780. Though the fortress at Cape Blanc he seized on 30 January 1779 was recaptured directly after his departure during the same year, de Vaudreuil was awarded the Grand Cross of St. Louis in 1789, whereas Lauzun received the title of colonel of hussars, and became colonel of a
foreign regiment named after him. Appointed brigadier on the first of March, 1780, Lauzun decided to take part in the
War of American Independence.
American Revolution service Following his appointment to a command against the British in 1779, commanding the troops that captured
Fort St Louis, in Senegal, from the British, Lauzun raised an army of volunteer
hussars and infantry, subsequently known as
Lauzun's Legion, for service in
North America. He arrived with 600 of his men in
Rhode Island; the remainder were in France, prevented from leaving. Despite having only a portion of his force, he engaged in several active skirmishes, including one near Gloucester, Virginia on 4 October 1781. From the hilltop in North Stratford, now Abraham Nichols Park, one could easily see for seventy miles past
Long Island Sound to New York and beyond. The French used this time to conduct reconnaissance on British ships in New York harbor. In May 1793, he was transferred to the command of the
French Revolutionary Army on the
La Rochelle front, the
Army of the Coasts of La Rochelle, operating against the
Vendéan insurgency against the
Reign of Terror. He gained several successes, among them the capture of
Saumur and the victory of
Parthenay (
Bataille de Parthenay), but the insubordination of his troops and the suspicions of his political supervisors made his position intolerable and he sent in his resignation, ending his command on 16 July 1793. Imprisoned in the
Abbaye,
sentenced to death by the
Revolutionary Tribunal and
guillotined. His wife,
Amélie de Boufflers, was herself executed on 27 June 1794. ==Works==