Jean Francois de la Martinique
| Jean Francois de la Martinique | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
|
Admiral Jean Francois de la Martinique
The beloved leader of the United Counties of Sicinia Salis was born in the city of Martinique on 26 February, 1644, a date now known as Premier day.
The son of a prostitute and an unknown father, Jean was abandoned at the age of six. He learned to survive in the dark and dangerous back streets of Martinique, and became the leader of his own small gang of cutpurses and pickpockets. By the age of nine he was the leader of twelve boys, and was deadly with a blade. However, his success put him at odds with the Blasse Pas, or Guild of Thieves. He found himself fighting for his life, and fled to the docks of Martinique harbor to try to escape. He signed on as a ships boy on the Serafin, one of His Majesty's ships of the line. There his charisma and leadership made him popular with both officers and crew, and by 1688 had been made sailing master.
Later in life he would earn the nickname "Lucky Jean", but to hear him tell it his luck began in 1688 as well. Tensions between Sicinia and neighboring Akaeia had reached a boiling point, and after the sinking of the Royal Navy ship Panselle war began. To cope with the sudden necessary expansion of the fleet new captains wer promoted, among them Jean. He was given the 28-gun frigate Marie Claude and quickly established himself as a brilliant naval tactician. Cruise after cruise brought in more prizes, and recieved the Order of Servatus after defeating a 74-gun Akaeian ship-of-the line. The Panselle War ended in 1695 with borders roughly the same as they had been seven years earlier, yet Sicinia had established itself as a naval power and Captain Jean Francois had made his fortune. He returned to his native Martinique and married Rosette, one of the daughters of the Duc of Martinique.
The future looked at first rosy for Jean and his family, yet things deteriorated quickly. The Panselle War had bankrupted the Crown, and Jean was discharged and placed on shore with half-pay, whose meager income he eventually lost as the treasury situation worsened. With three children and an aristocratic wife to support, the fortune he had made during the war dwindled almost two nothing, and it was only by generous loans from his father in-law that they managed to survive.
In 1711, immense upheaval shook Sicinia to its very core. King Auguste, already suffering from dementia, died and his Minister of Trade, Henri Rechamp, seized power. The army and navy went to a purge of officers, and Rechamp approached Jean with the offer of and Admiralty post. Desperate for money and to return to the sea, he agreed. And for four years, his life entered an almost golden age. He commanded the 4th Fleet, based in Martinique, and earned the respect and affection of all those under his command. He was wealthy again, and his son and two daughters were the joy of his life. As if to complete the picture his father in-law died, leaving him as the next Duc of Martinique.
However, in 1715 disaster struck. Prince Reynarde, exiled son of the late King Auguste, secretly returned to Sicinia and in a stunning move, overthrew Rechamp. While the former Minister for Trade fled for his life, Reynarde began a reign of terror to root out those he considered traitors. Since Jean had served the rebel Rechamp, he was singled out. Too popular to simply execute, the powder magazine his flagship the "Groisbeine" was ignited while he was aboard off the coast of Aristiden. The Admiral miraculously survived the explosion, but watched in horror as other survivors were hacked to pieces as they staggered ashore. Rushing home to Martinique, he discovered his family had been murdered on Reynarde's order. Vowing revenge, Jean headed north, to where he knew other revolutionaries to be in hiding.
Reynarde's reign of terror actually had the reverse effect of what it had intended, for thousands began to flee or resist his rule. Some of those joined with Jean Francois and Henri Rechamp, who had allied with each other to destroy the king. Their forces grew, until in 1722 they stormed the fortress city of Mont Remy in the north. King Reynarde marshalled his forces and those of his vassals and rushed to meet the rebels. They met at the town of Bas-Armand a dozen miles south of Mont Remy. As the armies joined in battle half the Royal Army, numbering some 30,0000 men, defected to the opposite side. The result was a slaughter, with only a few hundred of the loyal 30,000 surviving. The stunning victory won Jean the respect and admiration of many, who had before the battle dismissed his tactical ability as only fitting that of a "sea-captain". Several lords switched to the rebel side after the battle including Peter, the Comte of Chanaud, who began to compete with Rechamp for power. The squabbling slowed the rebels' pace, and by the time they had reached Saint Michele Reynarde, who had escaped Bas-Armand, had set up an almost impregnable defense.
However, Jean had friends within the city, including the brother of the king, Duc Armand de le Saint Michele. The Festival of the Lilies had begun the day before the siege had, and Jean promised the revolution would be over before the Festival came to an end. He fulfilled his promise, for on the last night of the Festival Armand and some of his loyal guard occupied a gate and opened it to the waiting rebels. The result was a total victory, with most of the loyalists killed or captured and King Reynarde slain. Jean had his body thrown at the foot of the graves of his wife and children.
Jean Francois reconvened the Parliament and the Congress of Lords in 1726, who both voted him Premier with total executive and legislative powers. He saw through a restructuring of the land system in Sicinia, and oversaw the conquest of the West Downs from Akaeia. In April of 1728 Admiral Jean Francois de la Martinique passed away in his family's home in Martinique, his last words being: I will see my children grown now.
