Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc

Prince Charles Eugène of Lorraine-Brionne, Duke of Elbeuf (25 September 1751 – 2 November 1825) was the head of and last male member of the House of Guise, the cadet branch of the House of Lorraine which dominated France during the Wars of Religion, remained prominent as princes étrangers at court throughout the ancien régime, and participated in the émigré efforts to restore the Bourbons to the throne.

Charles Eugène was born on 25 September 1751 in Versailles, France, to Louis de Lorraine, Prince of Brionne by his third wife, Princess Louise of Rohan-Rochefort (1734-1815).

Victoire, the former governess of Empress Marie Louise, was the daughter of French nobleman François Méderic Folliot de Crenneville (1735-1802) and Anne Pierrette Charlotte du Poutet (b.

[citation needed] In the early days of the French Revolution, Charles Eugène's Allemand Dragoons were an important element in the protection of the Louis' Court.

[citation needed] In the course of the attack, many were injured, twenty-two protesters died,[4] and Charles Eugène was held popularly responsible, although no charges were filed.

When hostilities between France and the Habsburgs reached a crisis point in 1791, he left his Allemand Dragoons and followed the Bourbon cause with his younger brother, Joseph Louis, Prince of Lorraine-Vaudémont.

In the Battle of Fleurus, on 26 June 1794, he charged with four squadrons of 5th Carabiners Albert to rescue part of Campaign Marshal Prince von Kaunitz's infantry, which had been surrounded by three French cavalry regiments.

In 1796 he served in Germany under Field Marshal Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser in the Army of the Upper Rhine; on 11 May of that year, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.

Charles Eugene's first wife, Anna Cetner (Zetzner) by Pietro Labruzzi .
Charles Eugène leading the Allemand Dragoons against the mob, 12 July 1789, Musée de la Révolution française .