, senior member of the academy of sciences of France, was born July 16,
, senior member
of the academy of sciences of France, was born July 16,
1714, at Angouleme. His family had been a long time rendered illustrious in arms by An. re* De Montalembert, count
d'Esse“, lieutenant-general to the king, commander of his
armies in Scotland, governor of Terouane near St. Omers,
and who died on the breach, the 12th of June 1553. In
1732 the young Montalembert entered into the army, and
distinguished himself at the sieges of Kehl and Philipsburg
in 1736. He was afterwards captain of the guards to the
prince of Conti. In peace he studied the mathematics and
natural philosophy: he read a memoir to the academy of
sciences, upon the evaporation of the water in the salt
works at Turcheim, in the palatinate, which he had examined, and was made a member in 1747. There are in
the volumes in the academy some memoirs from him upon
the rotation of bullets, upon the substitution of stoves for
fire-places, and upon a pool, in which were found pike
purblind, and others wholly without sight. From 1750 to
1755 he established the forges at Angoumoisand Perigord.
and there founded cannon for the navy. In 1777 three
volumes were printed of the correspondence which he held
with the generals and ministers, whilst he was employed
by his country in the Swedish and Russian armies during
the campaigns of 1757 and 1761, and afterwards in Britanny and the isle of Oleron, when fortifying it. He fortified also Stralsund, in Pomerania, against the Prussian
troops, and gave an account to his court of the military
operations in which it was concerned; and this in a manner which renders it an interesting part of the History of
the Seven-years War. In 1776 he printed the first volume
of an immense work upon Perpendicular Fortification, and
the art of Defence; demonstrating the inconveniences of
the old system, for which he substitutes that of casemates,
which admit of such a kind of firing, that a place fortified
after his manner appears to be impregnable. His system
has been, however, uot always approved or adopted. His
treatise was extended to ten volumes in quarto, with a
great number of plates; the last volume was published
in 1792, and will doubtless carry his name to posterity
as an author as well as a general. He married, in 1770,
Marie de Comarieu, who was an actress, and the owner of
a theatre, for whom the general sometimes composed a
dramatic piece. In 1784 and 1786 he printed three operatical pieces, set to music by Cambini and Tomeoni: they
were,
” La Statue,“” La Bergere qualite,“and
” La
Bohemienne." Alarmed at the progress of the revolution,
he repaired to England in 1789 or 1790, and leaving his
wife there, procured a divorce, and afterwards married Rosalie Louise Cadet, to whom he was under great obligation during the Robespierrian terror, and by whom he had a
daughter born in July 1796. In his memoir published in
1790, it may be seen that he had been arbitrarily dispossessed of his iron forges, and that having a claim for
six millions of livres clue to him, he was reduced to a pension, but ill paid, and was at last obliged to sell his estate
at Maumer, in Angoumois, for which he was paid in assignats, and which were insufficient to take him out of
that distress which accompanied him throughout his life.
He was sometimes almost disposed to put an end to his
existence, but had the courage to resume his former
studies, and engaged a person to assist him in compleating some new models. His last public appearance was in
the institute, where he read a new memoir upon the mountings (affect) of ship-guns. On this occasion he was received with veneration by the society, and attended to
with religious silence: a man of eighty-six years of age
had never been heard to read with so strong a voice. His
memoir was thought of so much importance, that the institute wrote to the minister of marine, who sent orders to
Brest for the adoption of the suggested change. He was
upon the list for a place in the institute, and was even proposed as the first member for the section of mechanics, but
learning that Bonaparte was spoken of for the institute, he
wrote a letter, in which he expressed his desire to see the
young conqueror of Italy honoured with this new crown.
His strength of mind he possessed to the last, for not above
a month before his death he wrote reflections upon the
siege of St. John d'Acre, which contained further proofs
of the solidity of his defensive system, but at last he fell ill
of a catarrh, which degenerated into a dropsy, and carried
him off March 22, 1802.