The incredible story of Martin Bidoure, shot twice
Jean Louis Ferdinand MARTIN was born in Barjols, Var, on August 24, 1825. He was the son of François, a pit sawyer from Apinac in the Loire, and Magdelaine Agnelly, the daughter of farmers. But how did this man of the people leave his name to streets, squares and residences?
Background
On December 2, 1851, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaimed the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale. This coup d'état was intended to keep him in power as his term of office drew to a close, giving rise to the insurgents of 1851. Since the 1848 revolution, numerous patriotic and republican clubs have sprung up under the aegis of " La Nouvelle Montagne ", a secret society instigated by Ledru-Rollint.
The Var is no exception, and the " Société des Rouges " patriotic club is very active in many villages, including Barjols. Louis Ferdinand Martin will go down in history as Martin Bidouré, the symbol of this resistance to dictatorship who was shot twice.
The facts
In 1851, the insurrection was raging, and on December 9, under the command of Pierre Arambide, the detachment of Ferdinand Martin, known as " Bidouré ", took up position on the Tourtour heights to control the road to Draguignan.The poorly-organized Republican leaders were undecided about what to do, so Arambide sent Bidouré to Aups to take orders from Duteil. Riding a horse loaned by Jean Joseph Blanc, the Tourtour blacksmith (who was later sentenced to deportation to Algeria), Martin set off on his mission.
As they galloped towards Aups, the military column, mounted from Draguignan and commanded by Colonel Trauers and Prefect Pastoureau, surprised the contingent, who scattered into the wilderness. Continuing towards Aups, the troops encountered Bidouré, who was returning with the order. Gunfire broke out, and Martin was wounded by a pistol shot to the head and several saber blows, and left for dead on the side of the road. Prefect Pastoureau's report simply states that" an estafette carrying an order for the insurgents had been shot on the road from Aups to Tourtour".
THE LEGEND IS ON THE MOVE
Poor Bidouré's story could have ended there, in a ditch by the side of a road in the Var hinterland, but destiny is sometimes obstinate when it decides to create a legend. It was the republicans exiled in Nice, then part of the County of Savoy under the reign of Victor Emmanuel II, who brought the story of Bidouré to light in its entirety in an underground newspaper, "L'Echo du Peuple", based on information from Aups, including that given by Martin himself before his execution. The June 8, 1852 issue gives Martin's version of his death. When intercepted by the gendarmes, Martin was taken before Prefect Pastoureau, who questioned him about his reasons for running. He was searched and the message from Duteil to Arambide was found. The prefect then seized a pistol from Martin and discharged it into his head. Martin is then sabered by the gendarmes and by a gentleman from Le Luc accompanying the troop. Left for dead, he was abandoned on the spot. Several hours later, however, Martin regained consciousness, and dragged himself to the nearby Domaine de la Baume. The farmer took him in and bandaged him, but learning of the insurgents' defeat, and fearing that he might be accused of assisting a rebel, he denounced him that very evening to the mayor of Aups, who had him taken to hospital, where he was cared for by the nuns, under the watchful eye of the gendarmes. The next day, he was taken before the firing squad. After asking for confession, he received the priest's blessing, then walked calmly, firmly and resignedly to his death.
L'Echo du peuple will publish :
" A subscription has been circulated in the Var department, the proceeds of which are intended to give a sword of honor to Mr. Pastoureau. The subscribers are mistaken: it's a pistol they should vote to the ex-prefect of the Var, now prefect of the Lot, in expiatory commemoration of Martin's assassination ".
Now a symbol
Martin Bidouré will henceforth be part of the Var Rouge's republican mythology.
A subscription launched shortly after the fiftieth anniversary of the uprising enabled the erection of the Barjols monument, in front of which the population demonstrated against the Nazi occupiers and their French accomplices, uniting homage to the Republican insurgents and the patriotic ideals of the Resistance. I found his birth certificate in the departmental archives.
Answers