Dunois, JEAN

Dunois, JEAN, called the Bastard of Orleans, Count of Dunois and Longueville, one of the most brilliant soldiers that France ever produced, was born in Paris, 23d November 1402, the natural son of Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI., and was brought up in the house of that prince along with his legitimate children. His first important military achievement was the overthrow of the English at Montargis (1427). He next threw himself into Orleans with a small body of men, and bravely defended the place till the arrival of the famous Joan of Arc, whose religious enthusiasm combined with the valour of Dunois restored the drooping spirits of the French, and compelled the English to raise the siege. This was the turning-point in the fortunes of the French nation. In 1429 Dunois and the Maid of Orleans won the battle of Patay, after which he marched, with a small body of men, through the provinces then overrun by the English, and took the fortified towns. The capture and death of Joan of Arc arrested for a moment the progress of the French arms, but the heroism of Dunois was irresistible. He took Chartres, the key of Paris, forced Bedford to raise the siege of Lagny, chased the enemy from Paris, and within a very short period deprived them of all their French conquests except Normandy and Guienne. In 1448-50 he drove the English from Normandy, and in 1455 he had swept them from Guienne also, and permanently secured the freedom of France from all external pressure. For his participation in the league of the nobles against Louis XI. he was deprived of all his offices and possessions, which were, however, restored to him under the treaty of Conflans (1465). He died 24th November 1468. There is no name so popular in France as that of Dunois; there is no hero so national; he laboured twenty-five years for the deliverance of his country, and this alone—his sword was never unsheathed, except against the English. He never had a force under him which could enable him to win a victory that might balance Agincourt or Crécy, but the multitude and constancy of his petty successes served the cause of France more effectively than greater and more dear-bought victories would have done.