Thomas-Antoine de Mauduit du Plessis | |
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Born | 12 September 1753 Hennebont, Brittany, France |
Died | March 1791 Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | Continental Army French Army |
Years of service | 1777–1778 (US) 1779–1791 (France) |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel (US) Lieutenant Colonel |
Battles/wars |
Thomas-Antoine de Mauduit du Plessis or Thomas Duplessis or Thomas-Antoine du Plessis-Mauduit (12 September 1753 – March 1791) was a French officer who fought with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Brittany, he ran away to sea at age 12 and voyaged in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for a time. Later, he attended a famous French artillery school. He was among a number of volunteers to join the fledgling American army in 1777, especially distinguishing himself for bravery at Germantown and skill at Red Bank. At Valley Forge he helped train American officers in the finer points of tactics and artillery handling.
He defended a key position at Monmouth in the summer of 1778. Receiving permission to resign from the American army at the end of 1778, he later fought with Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau's army. In 1787, he took command of a regiment in Haiti. He resisted the French Revolution, refusing to carry out instructions from the new government. Instead, he carried out a repressive counter-revolutionary program which provoked a revolt. When reinforcements arrived from France in March 1791, the new soldiers immediately took the side of the revolutionary faction. Stirred up, du Plessis' own regiment rioted and his men murdered him.
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