Armand Tuffin, Marquis de la Rouarie, born in the castle of Rouarie
near Rennes, France, on the 14th of April, 1756, was admitted in 1775
to be a member of the body-guard of the French king. A duel led to his
dismissal shortly after. Angry and mortified, he attempted suicide, but
his life was saved; and in May, 1777, he came to the United States,
where he entered the Continental army under the name of Count Armand.
Being granted leave to raise a partisan corps of Frenchmen, he served
with credit and great ability under Lafayette, Gates, and Pulaski. At
the reorganization of the army in 1780, Washington proposed Armand for
promotion, and recommended the keeping intact of his corps. In 1781,
he was summoned to France by his family, but returned in time to take
part in the siege of Yorktown, bringing with him clothing, arms, and
ammunition for his corps, which had been withdrawn from active service
during his absence.
After the surrender of Cornwallis, Washington again called the
attention of Congress to Armand’s meritorious conduct, and he at last
received his promotion as brigadier-general on the 26th of March, 1783.
At the close of the war he was admitted as a member of the Society
of the Cincinnati, and with warmest recommendations from Washington
returned to his native country and lived privately until 1788, when
he was elected one of twelve deputies to intercede with the king for
the continuance of the privileges of his native province of Brittany.
For this he was confined for several weeks in the Bastile. Upon his
release he returned to Brittany, and in 1789, denounced the principle
of revolution and proposed a plan for the union of the provinces of
Brittany, Anjou, and Poitou, and the raising of an army to co-operate
with the allies. These plans being approved by the brothers of Louis
XVI., in December, 1791, Rouarie was appointed Royal Commissioner
of Brittany. In March of the year following, the chiefs of the
confederation met at his castle; and all was ready for action when they
were betrayed to the legislative assembly, and troops were sent to
arrest the marquis. He succeeded in eluding them for several months,
when he was attacked by a fatal illness and died in the castle of La
Guyomarais near Lamballe, on the 30th of January, 1793.