JUNOT, ANDOCHE, Duke of Abrabantes (1771-1813), French general, was born at Bussy-le-Grand (Côte d’Or), on the 23rd of October 1771. He went to school at Chatillon, and was known among his comrades as a blustering but lovable creature, with a pugnacious disposition. He was studying law in Paris at the outbreak of the Revolution and joined a volunteer battalion. He distinguished himself by his valour in the first year of the Revolutionary wars, and came under the special notice of Napoleon Bonaparte during the siege of Toulon, while serving as his secretary. It is related that as he was taking down a despatch, a shell burst hard by and covered the paper with sand, whereupon he exclaimed, “Bien! nous n’avions pas de sable pour sécher l’encre! en voici!” He remained the faithful companion of his chief during the latter’s temporary disgrace, and went with him to Italy as aide-de-camp. He distinguished himself so much at the battle of Millesimo that he was selected to carry back the captured colours to Paris; returning to Italy he went through the campaign with honour, but was badly wounded in the head at Lonato. Many rash incidents in his career may be traced to this wound, from which he never completely recovered. During the expedition to Egypt he became a general of brigade. His devotion to Bonaparte involved him in a duel with General Lanusse, in which he was again wounded. He had to be left in Egypt to recover, and in crossing to France was captured by English cruisers. On his return to France he was made commandant of Paris, and afterwards promoted general of division. It was at this time that he married Laure Permon (see [Junot, Laure]). He next served at Arras in command of the grenadiers of the army destined for the invasion of England, and made some alterations in the equipment of the troops which received the praise of the emperor. It was, however, a bitter mortification that he was not appointed a marshal of France when he received the grand cross of the legion of honour. He was made colonel-general of hussars instead and sent as ambassador to Lisbon, his entry into which city resembled a royal progress. But he was so restless and dissatisfied in the Portuguese capital that he set out, without leave, for the army of Napoleon, with which he took part in the battle of Austerlitz, behaving with his usual courage and zeal. But he soon gave fresh offence. Although his early devotion was never forgotten by the emperor, his uncertain temper and want of self-control made it dangerous to employ him at court or headquarters, and he was sent to Parma to put down an insurrection and to be out of the way. In 1806 he was recalled and became governor of Paris. His extravagance and prodigality shocked the government, and some rumours of an intrigue with a lady of the imperial family—it is said Pauline Bonaparte—made it desirable again to send him away. He was therefore appointed to lead an invading force into Portugal. For the first time Junot had a great task to perform, and only his own resources to fall back upon for its achievement. Early in November 1807 he set out from Salamanca, crossed the mountains of Beira, rallied his wearied forces at Abrantes, and, with 1500 men, dashed upon Lisbon, in order, if possible, to seize the Portuguese fleet, which had, however, just sailed away with the regent and court to Brazil. The whole movement only took a month; it was undoubtedly bold and well-conducted, and Junot was made duke of Abrantes and invested with the governorship of Portugal. But administration was his weak point. He was not a civil governor, but a sabreur, brave, truculent, and also dissipated and rapacious, though in the last respect he was far from being the worst offender amongst the French generals in Spain. His hold on Portugal was never supported by a really adequate force, and his own conduct, which resembled that of an eastern monarch, did nothing to consolidate his conquest. After Wellesley encountered him at Vimiera (see Peninsular War) he was obliged to conclude the so-called convention of Cintra, and to withdraw from Portugal with all his forces. Napoleon was furious, but, as he said, was spared the necessity of sending his old friend before a court martial by the fact that the English put their own generals on their trial. Junot was sent back to Spain, where, in 1810-1811, acting under Masséna, he was once more seriously wounded. His last campaign was made in Russia, and he received more than a just share of discredit for it. Napoleon next appointed him to govern Illyria. But Junot’s mind had become deranged under the weight of his misfortunes, and on the 29th of July 1813, at Montbard, he threw himself from a window in a fit of insanity.
JUNOT, LAURE, Duchess of Abrantes (1783-1834), wife of the preceding, was born at Montpellier. She was the daughter of Mme. Permon, to whom during her widowhood the young Bonaparte made an offer of marriage—such at least is the version presented by the daughter in her celebrated Memoirs. The Permon family, after various vicissitudes, settled at Paris, and Bonaparte certainly frequented their house a good deal after the downfall of the Jacobin party in Thermidor 1794. Mlle. Permon was married to Junot early in the consulate, and at once entered eagerly into all the gaieties of Paris, and became noted for her beauty, her caustic wit, and her extravagance. The first consul nicknamed her petite peste, but treated her and Junot with the utmost generosity, a fact which did not restrain her sarcasms and slanders in her portrayal of him in her Memoirs. During Junot’s diplomatic mission to Lisbon, his wife displayed her prodigality so that on his return to Paris in 1806 he was burdened with debts, which his own intrigues did not lessen. She joined him again at Lisbon after he had entered that city as conqueror at the close of 1807; but even the presents and spoils won at Lisbon did not satisfy her demands; she accompanied Junot through part of the Peninsular War. On her return to France she displeased the emperor by her vivacious remarks and by receiving guests whom he disliked. The mental malady of Junot thereafter threatened her with ruin; this perhaps explains why she took some part in the intrigues for bringing back the Bourbons in 1814. She did not side with Napoleon during the Hundred Days. After 1815 she spent most of her time at Rome amidst artistic society, which she enlivened with her sprightly converse. She also compiled her spirited but somewhat spiteful Memoirs, which were published at Paris in 1831-1834 in 18 volumes. Many editions have since appeared.
Of her other books the most noteworthy are Histoires contemporaines (2 vols., 1835); Scènes de la vie espagnole (2 vols., 1836); Histoire des salons de Paris (6 vols., 1837-1838); Souvenirs d’une ambassade et d’un séjour en Espagne et en Portugal, de 1808 à 1811 (2 vols., 1837).
(J. Hl. R.)
JUNTA (from juntar, to join), a Spanish word meaning (1) any meeting for a common purpose; (2) a committee; (3) an administrative council or board. The original meaning is now rather lost in the two derivative significations. The Spaniards have even begun to make use of the barbarism métin, corrupted from the English “meeting.” The word junta has always been and still is used in the other senses. Some of the boards by which the Spanish administration was conducted under the Habsburg and the earlier Bourbon kings were styled juntas. The superior governing body of the Inquisition was the junta suprema. The provincial committees formed to organize resistance to Napoleon’s invasion in 1808 were so called, and so was the general committee chosen from among them to represent the nation. In the War of Independence (1808-1814), and in all subsequent civil wars or revolutionary disturbances in Spain or Spanish America, the local executive bodies, elected, or in some cases self-chosen, to appoint officers, raise money and soldiers, look after the wounded, and discharge the functions of an administration, have been known as juntas.
The form “Junto,” a corruption due to other Spanish words ending in -o, came into use in English in the 17th century, often in a disparaging sense, of a party united for a political purpose, a faction or cabal; it was particularly applied to the advisers of Charles I., to the Rump under Cromwell, and to the leading members of the great Whig houses who controlled the government in the reigns of William III. and Anne.