Charles Edward Kilmaine
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Charles Edward Kilmaine (1751-1799), French general, was born at Dublin in October 1751. At the age of eleven he went with his father, whose surname was Jennings, to France, where he changed his name to Kilmaine, after a village in Mayo.
He entered the French army as an officer in a dragoon regiment in 1774, and afterwards served as a volunteer in the Navy (1778), during which period he was engaged in the fighting in Senegal. From 1780 to 1783 he took part in the American Revolution under Rochambeau, rejoining the army on his return to France.
In 1791, as a retired captain, he took the civic oath and was recalled to active service, becoming lieutenant-colonel in 1792, and colonel, brigadier-general, and lieutenant-general in 1793. In this last capacity he distinguished himself in the wars on the northern and eastern frontiers. But he became an object of suspicion on account of his foreign birth and his relations with England. He was suspended on the 4th of August 1793, and was not recalled to active service until 1795. He then took part in the Italian campaigns of 1796 and 1797, and was made commandant of Lombardy. He afterwards received the command of the cavalry in Napoleon's "army of England", of which, during the absence of Desaix, he was temporarily commander-in-chief (1798). He died on the 15th of December 1799.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
