Military career Ancien Régime He entered the École de cavalerie de Besançon then served as a volunteer in the régiment de Fumel-cavalerie (1756), and was promoted to
cornette (1757). In the course of the
Seven Years' War, he was involved in the
Hanover campaign, rising to captain in 1760 and was
demobilised at the peace. Immediately re-entering the régiment de Conti-dragons, he taught the theory of major cavalry manoeuvres at the École de Besançon and published a book on tactics : ''Instruction à l'usage du régiment de dragons Conti''. He rose to major (1768),
mestre de camp (1773) with the rank of colonel, brigadier (1 January 1784) and was promoted to
maréchal de camp on 10 March 1788, all the while remaining the commander of his regiment. He was made a
knight of Saint Louis in 1773.
French Revolution In 1790, he was one of the generals charged with verifying the regimental accounts and gathering their grievances. He was sent into
Brittany in 1791 and 1792 to appease insurrection movements that had just broken out there, and to repress those that had not yet broken out. He brought himself to note by moderation and conciliatory spirit, winning a brilliant success near
Quimper on 8 July. On 7 September 1792 he was made lieutenant général and commander of the 13e division militaire, and was put in charge of embarking at
Brest the troops intended for
Saint-Domingue. Made
lieutenant general on 7 September 1792, the
French National Convention put him in command of the
Army of the Coasts of Brest. With scarcely 12,000 men, he successfully defended
Nantes on 29 June 1793, after several fierce and deadly clashes repulsing an attack by a
Vendéen army of 50,000 Vendéens under
Jacques Cathelineau. Victorious again at the
battle of Montaigu (against
François de Charette, who he would defeat again at
Mortagne-sur-Sèvre), he was defeated at the
battle of Tiffauges and suspended from his command. Despite a subsequent success at
Saint-Symphorien, he was then replaced on 29 September. He then retired to one of his estates, at the
Château du Saussay (Essonne), but was recalled after the revolution of
9 thermidor year II (1794) and again made supreme commander of the
Army of the West. He seconded
Lazare Hoche to this army around the time of the counter-revolutionary
invasion of France in 1795, sending him for some of the reinforcements he needed. Hoche replaced him in command later in 1795, and Canclaux retired from the army.
Administrative career Sent to the
Le Midi in 1796 to organise the army intended for Italy (what would become the
Army of Italy), at the end of that year he was made
ministre plénipotentiaire to the court of
Naples, a role he held until 1797. In 1799, he was recalled to state service as a member of the military committee established after the
Directory. After the
Coup of 18 Brumaire, he adhered to
Napoleon's party, and as during the
Consulate Napoleon put him in command of the 14e division militaire, at
Caen, where he and general
Gabriel Marie Joseph, comte d'Hédouville were charged with pacifying
Normandy. In 1800 he briefly became commander of the Army of Reserve of the Second Line, which formed the nucleus of the
Army of the Grisons. He became inspector-general of the army's cavalry, and on 22 October 1804, he was appointed to the
Sénat conservateur. In 1806 and 1807, he was commander of the
gardes nationaux of
Seine-Inférieure and the
Somme. In 1808 he was made a
comte d'Empire. In December 1813, he was extraordinary-commissioner in
Ille-et-Vilaine. In 1814, he voted in the Senate in favour of deposing Napoleon.
Restoration and the Hundred Days Made a
pair de France on the
Restoration, Napoleon kept him as such during the
Hundred Days but Canclaux refused to support him, though this did not prevent him being struck from the list of peers by the royal ordinance of 24 July 1815. On 10 August 1815, he again became a
pair de France and voted in favour of the death of
Ney. His name is inscribed on the
Arc de Triomphe (west side) His house according to the "Dictionnaire Historique Des Rues De Paris" was in Paris, Charles V rue no. 7, which is still inhabited. ==Sources==