Castries
Château de Castries
Maréchal de France, ministre de la Marine de Louis XVI
→Personnalité historique
Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries
Marquis de Castries · Marshal of France (1783) · Secretary of State for the Navy (1780–1787) · Baron of the Estates of Languedoc · Count of Charlus
Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix, marquis de Castries (Paris, 25 February 1727 – Wolfenbüttel, 11 January 1801), is the most illustrious figure of the family that owned the château de Castries. Son of Joseph-François de La Croix de Castries, governor of Montpellier, and Marie-Françoise de Lévis-Charlus, he enjoyed a distinguished military career during the Seven Years' War and distinguished himself at the victory of Clostercamp in 1760, a battle in which the Chevalier d'Assas fell. Summoned by Louis XVI to the secretariat of state for the Navy in 1780, he reorganised the fleet that contributed to the Franco-American victory at Yorktown (1781); he was made Marshal of France in 1783. He left the ministry in 1787 and emigrated in 1789, becoming military adviser to the Count of Provence, future Louis XVIII. He died in exile. The capital of the island of Sainte-Lucie, Castries, bears his name. At the family château, the Estates Room (salle des États) preserves the terracotta bas-relief The Death of the Chevalier d'Assas (1776), a memento of Clostercamp; his descendant René de Castries devoted a biography to him in 1956.
Naissance25 février 1727, Paris
Décès11 janvier 1801, Wolfenbüttel
FonctionMarquis de Castries · Marshal of France (1783)
MaisonMaison de La Croix de Castries
Époque18th century – reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI
Histoire & patrimoine
Clostercamp and the Chevalier d'Assas
The victory of Clostercamp (1760) is the marquis's principal military achievement. It remains associated with the sacrifice of the Chevalier d'Assas, an officer who is said to have raised the alarm at the cost of his life. The château de Castries preserves, in the Estates Room, the terracotta model of a bas-relief commemorating this death, dated 1776 and the work of the sculptor Antoine; it is classified as a historic monument.
Château de CastriesRepères dans sa vie
25 février 1727
Born in Paris, son of the marquis Joseph-François de Castries and Marie-Françoise de Lévis-Charlus.
1739
Joins the Roi-Infanterie regiment.
16 octobre 1760
Victory of Clostercamp (Seven Years' War), marked by the death of the Chevalier d'Assas.
1780
Appointed Secretary of State for the Navy by Louis XVI.
1781
The fleet he had reorganised contributes to the victory at Yorktown.
1783
Raised to the dignity of Marshal of France.
1787
Leaves the Ministry of the Navy.
1789
Emigrates; becomes military adviser to the Count of Provence.
11 janvier 1801
Dies in exile at Wolfenbüttel.
Patrimoine associé
1 lieuLes châteaux liés à cette personnalité
Réseau historique
Personnalités liées
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Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries dans l’histoire
Minister of the Navy under Louis XVI
From 1780 to 1787, Castries directed the Navy during the American War of Independence. He modernised the organisation of the fleet and supported the naval operations that weighed on the outcome at Yorktown. His resignation followed the dismissal of Necker, with whom he was close.
A memory maintained at Castries
The Duke René de Castries, who bought back the château in 1935, devoted a biography to his ancestor in 1956, which was crowned by the Académie française. The current visitor route through the château recounts the history of this lineage in the service of the monarchy.
Sources de la fiche
Cette synthèse croise plusieurs sources pour documenter les lieux, événements et relations historiques.
- Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries – notice — FranceArchives / Archives nationales
- Inauguration de la salle des États du château de Castries — DRAC Occitanie
- René de Castries – Les Immortels — Académie française
- Dukes of Castries — Dukes and Princes
- Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix — Wikipedia