Frotté, Marie-Pierre-Louis, count de

(1755-1800)

   counterrevolutionary

   The leader of the chouannerie in Normandy, Marie-Pierre-Louis, count of Frotté was born in Alençon and was descended from a noble Protestant family of the region. He converted to Catholicism and was a military officer before the revolution of 1789 and, in 1792, emigrated to London. He returned to Normandy in 1795, where he founded the Compagnie des hommes de la Couronne. He then went back to England after the pacification of western France by General lazare hoche (1796), then returned again to France as a counterrevolutionary agent with the purpose of pursuing an armed struggle against the government. Having obtained a safe-conduct to return to Alençon after having surrendered, he was arrested there and shot on the orders of Napoléon Bonaparte (napoléon i).