Olympe de Gouges was an 18th century French feminist, social reformer, and writer who was guillotined during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. What's her connection to the Civil War?
Brig General Robert Selden Garnett (CSA) was the son of Olympia Charlotte de Gouges Garnett, who was the daughter of
Pierre Aubrey Aubry de Gouges, who was the daughter of Olympe de Gouges.
He was the first general officer killed in the Civil War.
She was the great grandmother of Confederate BG Robert Selden Garnett. Olympe de Gouges son was Pierre Aubry de Gouges who's daughter, Charlotte Olympia de Gouges married Robert S. Garnett, Sr. Robert Garnett, Sr. and Charlotte's son was the Confederate general.
Olympe de Gouges was the granddaughter of Olympe de Gouges, thru her son Pierre. Olympe was the mother of General Robert S Garnett - not to be confused with the more famous Richard B Garnett of Pickett's charge.
Her Great Grandson, Robert Selden Garnett, was a Confederate Brigadier General and the first general to be killed in the Civil War at Corrick's Ford Va. July 13,1861
Olympe de Gouges was the equivalent of a 19th century American abolitionist, advocating freedom and the civil rights of slaves. Great question @Zella! Thanks for introducing me to this fascinating woman...
Edit - Your statement is true, but it's not the answer we were looking for.
Charlotte Olympia De Gouges was the daughter of Olympe. Charlotte's son Robert Garnett has the unfortunate distinction of being the first CW general killed in action. This is her tie to the CW.
Olympe de Gouges, born Marie Gouze, is the great-grandmother of Robert Selden Garnett (December 16, 1819 – July 13, 1861), the first General to be killed in the Civil War.
Olympe - her son Pierre Aubry (1766 - bef. 1803) - his daughter Charlotte Olympe (Aubry) Garnett (1796 - 1856) - her son Robert Selden Garnett (1819 - 1861)
According to Olivier Blanc, after Olympe's death, her son Pierre Aubry de Gouges (from 1793 onwards in the Rhine Army) emigrated to Guyana with his wife and five children. After his death in 1802 his wife tried to return to France, but died during the voyage. The two daughters married in Guadeloupe, Marie Hyacinthe Geneviève de Gouges (the English officer Captain William Wood) and Charlotte de Gouges (the American politician Robert S. Garnett), so that descendants of Olympe de Gouges live to this day.
Gouges was a writer and playwright, a political activist, an abolitionist executed during the Reign of Terror in Paris by the guillotine. Her writings led to slave revolts in the colonies, and influenced the thought of many abolitionists leading up to the Civil War.
Edit - Your statement is true, but it's not the answer we were looking for.
Her grand-daughter, Charlotte Olympia De Gougea Garnett, was the mother of Confederate Brigadier-General Robert Selden Garnett, the first General Officer killed during the Civil War.
Olympe was an abolitionists who's play L’Esclavage des nègres, ou l’heureux naufrage (Black Slavery, or The Fortunate Shipwreck), published in 1782, protested for equal rights for white and ‘coloured’ men. Her writings and efforts for equal rights for women and abolishing slavery certainly assisted in the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Regards
David
Edit - Your statement is true, but it's not the answer we were looking for.
Olympe de Gouges was an 18th century French feminist, social reformer, and writer who was guillotined during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. What's her connection to the Civil War?
credit: @Zella
Her works on abolitionism were influential to abolitionists both in Europe and in the United States. The political ramifications of her abolitionist work included the emancipation proclamation of 1863, exactly 125 years after she published her most famous anti-slavery playZamore and Mizra, or the Happy Shipwreck.
source-http://olympedegougesinfo.weebly.com/connections.html
Edit - Your statement is true, but it's not the answer we were looking for.
She was the great-grandmother of Confederate Brigadier-General Robert Selden Garnett, from his mother's side of the family.
"He was one of seven children born to Robert Selden Garnett, Sr., and Olympia Charlotte DeGouges. Garnett's father represented Virginia for five terms in the United States Congress. His mother was the granddaughter of French playwright and feminist Olympe de Gouges, whom the Jacobins guillotined in 1793 during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution." https://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=993