NOAILLES. This great French family took its name from the castle of Noailles, in the territory of Ayen, between Brives and Turenne in the Limousin, and dated its nobility from the 11th century. It did not obtain more than local and provincial fame until the 16 th century, when its head, Antoine de Noailles (1504-1562), became admiral of France, and was ambassador in England during three important years, 1553-1556, during which he maintained a gallant but unsuccessful rivalry with the Spanish ambassador, Simon Renard. Henri (1554-1623), son of Antoine, was a commander in the religious wars, and was made comte d’Ayen by Henry IV. in 1593. The grandson of the first count played an important part in the Fronde and the early years of the reign of Louis XIV., became a captain-general of the newly-won province of Roussillon, and in 1663 was made due d’Ayen, and peer of France. I he sons of the first duke raised the family to its greatest fame, and occupied very important positions in the later years of the reign of Louis XIV. The elder son, Anne Jules (1650-1708), was one of the chief generals of France towards the end of the reign of Louis, and, after raising the regiment of Noailles in 1689, he commanded in chief in Spain during the war of the Spanish succession, and was made marshal of France in 1693. The younger son, Louis Antoine (1651-1729), took orders, and rose to the most important position of the church in France when he was made archbishop of Paris in 1695. He held this high dignity for more than thirty years, until his death in 1729; he was made a cardinal in 1700. These two distinguished brothers had made their family the most famous in France, with the exception of the Rohans, and the name occurs with almost confusing reiteration throughout the 18th century. ...Adrien Maurice (1678-1766), the third duke, was also a soldier, and learned war under his father in Spain. He served in all the most important wars of the reign of Louis XV. in Italy and Germany, and became the second maréchal de Noailles in 1734. His last command in the war of the Austrian succession was not a successful one, for he was beaten by the English at the battle of Dettingen in 1743. Two sons of the third duke also attained the rank of marshal of France. The elder, Louis (1713-1793), who bore the title of due d’Ayen till his father’s death in 1766, when he became due de Noailles, served in most of the wars of the 18th century without particular distinction, but was nevertheless made a marshal of F rance, as the maréchal de N oailles, in 1775. He refused to emigrate during the Revolution, but escaped the fate of most noblemen by dying in August 1793, before the Terror reached its height. On the 4th Thermidor, just before the fall of Robespierre, the aged duchesse de Noailles was executed with her daughter-in-law, the duchesse d’Ayen, and her granddaughter, the vicomtesse de Noailles. Jean Paul François (1739-1824), the fifth duke, was, like his family, in the army, but his heart was bent on scientific pursuits, and for his eminence as a chemist he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1777. He became due d’Ayen in 1766 on his grandfather’s death, and due de Noailles on his father’s in 1793. Having emigrated in 1792, he lived in Switzerland until the restoration in 1814, when he took his seat as a peer of France. He had no son, but several daughters, one of whom married La Fayette, and another her cousin, the vicomte de Noailles. He was succeeded as due de Noailles by his grand-nephew, Paul (b. 1802), who has won some reputation as an author, and who became a member of the French Academy in the place of Chateaubriand in 1849. The grandfather of Paul de Noailles, and brother of the fifth duke, Emmanuel Marie Louis (1743-1822), marquis de Noailles, was a distinguished diplomatist of the 18th century: he was ambassador at Amsterdam from 1770-1776, at London 1776-1783, and at Vienna 1783-1792; and, like his brother, he survived the Revolution, and lived to see the Restoration.
One other branch of the family deserves notice. Philippe (1715- 1794), comte de Noailles, was a younger brother of the fourth duke, and a more distinguished soldier than his brother. He served at Minden and in other campaigns, and was made a marshal on the same day as his brother, under the title of maréchal de Mouchy. He was long in great favour at court, and his wife was first lady o z f honour to Marie Antoinette, and was nicknamed by her Madame Etiquette. This court favour brought down punishment in the days, of the Revolution, and the old marshal and his wife were guillotined on the 27th June 1794. His two sons, the prince de Poix and the vicomte de Noailles, were both members of the Constituent Assembly. The prince de Poix, who was a captain of the body guards, sat on the right of the assembly, and emigrated in 1792, but, surviving the Revolution, he returned to Paris in 1814, and was made a lieutenant-general. Louis Marie (1756-1804), vicomte de Noailles, was the second son of the maréchal de Mouchy, and the most distinguished of all his family. He served brilliantly under his brother-in-law La Fayette in America, and was the officer who concluded the capitulation of Yorktown. He was elected to the states-general in 1789, and at once showed his enthusiasm for liberty. He began the famous “orgie,” as Mirabeau called it, on 4th August, when all privileges were abolished, and with d’Aiguillon proposed the abolition of titles and liveries in June 1790. When the Revolution became more pronounced he emigrated to America, and became a partner in Bingham’s bank at Philadelphia. He was very successful, and might have lived happily had he not accepted a command against the English in San Domingo, under Rochambeau. He made a brilliant defence of the mole St Nicholas, and escaped with the garrison to Cuba; but in making for Havana his ship was attacked by an English frigate, and after a long engagement he was severely wounded, and died of his wounds on 9th January 1804. The whole family of Noailles had not a more brilliant representative than the friend of La Fayette, Louis, vicomte de Noailles.
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