General Charles Edward Saul Jennings (19 October 1751 – 11 December 1799), also referred to as Brave Kilmaine, was an Irish soldier under French service and a revolutionary. He was a supporter of Irish independence and an active supporter of the French Revolution. Jennings is known to have been an associate of Theobald Wolfe Tone and served as a brigade and division commander under Napoleon I.
Jennings served in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. He played a minor role in the Irish independence movement. Jennings was known for being one of the most charismatic Irish generals of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. Though he was not ennobled, he is sometimes referred to as de Kilmaine and Baron de Kilmaine in reference to the Jennings' ancestral home in Kilmaine, County Mayo.
Early life
Jennings was born on 19 October 1751 at Saul's Court, Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland. His father, Dr. Theobald Jennings, of Polaniran (Ironpool), Tuam, County Galway (see Soraca Jonin) was a prominent physician who married a cousin, Eleanor Saul, daughter of Laurence Saul, a wealthy Dublin distiller. In 1738, Dr. Jennings and Eleanor left Ireland and settled in Tonnay-Charente in south-west France. In 1751, when Eleanor became pregnant, she left France for Dublin in order to have her child born in Ireland. Jennings spent his early childhood in Saul's Court with his relatives. When he was 11 years old, he left Ireland and joined his father in France. Jennings was educated in Tonnay-Charente and became proficient in French.
Military career
Jennings began his military career in 1764 at the age of 14 when he entered the Austrian army. After seven years' service as a junior officer in Austria, he entered the French army in 1774. In September 1778, Kilmaine was appointed adjutant of the Volontaires-étrangers de Lauzun (Lauzun's Legion), a mercenary unit owned and commanded by the Duc de Lauzun, Armand Louis de Gontaut. He served with this unit in Senegal in 1779 and in America under Rochambeau (1780–83) and remained after it was reorganized as a hussar regiment.
American War of Independence
In 1780, Jennings was appointed sous-lieutenant of Lauzun's Legion. He served under Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War. He was deeply affected by his experiences in America. This, combined with the impressions made upon him during his youth in Ireland and the teachings of his father, caused Jennings to imbibe strongly the revolutionary ideals of the era. He developed strong republican principles and upon his return to France, he became an energetic supporter of the French Revolution.
Chef d'Escadron
In 1786, he was awarded the title Lieutenant in command and took control of the regiment of Hussars of Duc de Lauzun. Two years later he attained the rank of Captain. A growing military reputation brought him a further promotion to chef d'escadron.
On 21 March 1791, seven months before his 40th birthday, he honourably retired from the army, was given the title of Baron and took the civic oath, sworn by all persons as a pre-condition for French citizenship. This was especially important leading up to and during the French Revolution, particularly among foreigners and nobility. He pursued family life and philanthropic interests for almost a year. In 1792, by personal invitation of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Jennings rejoined the French Army when war broke out between France and monarchic Europe.
Reinstated as a chef d'escadron, Jennings served in the French Revolutionary Wars. He was a Corps Commander under Charles François Dumouriez and Lafayette. He fought at the Battle of Valmy in September 1792 and a unit of hussars under his command saved an entire French division from annihilation. In November 1792 at the Battle of Jemappes, Kilmaine and the Duke of Chartres (Louis Philippe) turned apparent defeat into victory. On the field, he was raised to the rank of Chief Colonel and came to be known as "le brillant et courageux Kilmaine" (The brilliant and courageous Kilmaine).