Erasmus-Gaspard de Contades, comte de Contades et de l'Empire (12 March 1758 – 9 November 1834) was a French aristocrat, politician, and Lieutenant-General of the King's Armies.
After the French campaign, he reached Aix-le-Chapelle, then Dusseldorf, where he began to write his memoirs, before arriving in January 1795 in London, which had become the headquarters of the emigrants. A Major General in the Royal Army, along with Joseph-Geneviève de Puisaye, he participated in the preparation of the unsuccessful Quiberon landing (in an attempt to end the French Revolution and restore the French monarchy). Contades was one of the first to affirm that there had never been a written surrender by Lazare Hoche.[2]
After spending some time on the Île d'Yeu, where he continued writing his memoirs, he returned to France. Following the death of his grandfather in 1795, and of his father (who was killed during the War in the Vendée in 1794), Contades became the head of the family. During the War, his wife and four children stayed in Anjou. His wife and her mother had been arrested in Angers, but were released in Blois and transferred to Paris following the Coup d'état of 9 Thermidor.[2]
At the Restoration, he was made a member of Chamber of Peers and divided his time between the Luxembourg Palace and the Château de Montgeoffroy. In 1825, he was awarded the Commandeur of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis.[2]
In 1885, his handwritten memoirs were posthumously published by his great-grandson, Count Gérard de Contades.[3]
Personal life
On 22 October 1781, Contades was married to Marie-Françoise-Madeleine-Rose de Villiers de Riou (c. 1757–1833), the only daughter of Jacques de Villiers d'Aubernière, Lord of Theil de Riou. Together, they lived at the Château de Montgeoffroy and were the parents of:[4]
Gaspard de Contades (1785–1817), who married Marie-Henriette d'Oms in 1813.[4]