Lecomte commanded the troops sent on 18 March 1871 to fetch, on the hill of Montmartre, the cannon guarded by the National Guard. His soldiers refused to fire and fraternised with the crowd; the Commune was beginning. Arrested the same day, he was shot with General Clément-Thomas. The Assembly voted a decree and had their monument raised; it opens with the words “République Française”.
The story
On 18 March 1871 General Claude Martin Lecomte marched up to Montmartre with his troops to retake the cannon of the National Guard. His soldiers refused to carry out his orders and fraternised with the crowd. It is one of the most famous moments in the history of Paris, and the Commune began there.
Born at Thionville on 8 September 1817, out of Saint-Cyr — the Comète intake — and a colonel since 13 August 1865, he was arrested and shot by the crowd that same day, together with General Clément-Thomas. He was fifty-three.
The two men lie beneath a national monument in Division 4: the National Assembly passed a decree commemorating their murder, and the inscription opens with the words “République Française.” Few graves at Père-Lachaise were raised by a vote of parliament.
A few hundred metres away, the Communards' Wall carries the memory of those shot at the end of that same insurrection. Both sides of the spring of 1871 sleep in the same cemetery.
The grave
A national monument, shared with General Clément-Thomas, shot the same day as he was. The inscription begins with the words “République Française” and recalls that “l'Assemblée Nationale a adopté” — the National Assembly adopted — a decree commemorating the assassination of the two men. It is one of the rare monuments at Père-Lachaise raised by parliamentary decision — a few hundred metres from the Communards' Wall, where the Communards fell.
On site, do not miss
A national monument shared with General Clément-Thomas. The inscription begins with “République Française” and recalls the decree of the National Assembly.
Visitors' questions
Where is General Lecomte's grave?
In Division 4, avenue Principale, first row, under a national monument he shares with General Clément-Thomas, shot on the same day. The inscription opens with “République Française”.
General Clément-ThomasHow did he die?
Shot by the crowd, on 18 March 1871, on the first day of the Commune. His own soldiers had refused to carry out his orders at Montmartre, where the army had come to take back the National Guard's cannon.
The Communards' WallWhat happened on 18 March 1871?
The army goes up to Montmartre to take back the National Guard's cannon; the troops fraternise with the crowd and refuse to fire. Generals Lecomte and Clément-Thomas are arrested and shot. The Commune begins.
Charles DelescluzeWhat was his career?
That of an officer of the imperial army: Saint-Cyr, the Comète intake (1835-1837), then colonel on 13 August 1865. He was in command at Montmartre the day his men disobeyed him. He was fifty-three when the crowd shot him.
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