Charles François de Virot, Marquis de Sombreuil, 1723–1794
Charles François de Virot (also Viraud or Vireaux), Marquis de Sombreuil, hero of the Battle of Rocoux, born 12 January 1723 in Ensisheim (Haut-Rhin), executed 17 June 1794 in Paris, was an officer of the Ancien Régime and lieutenant-general of the French Revolution. Sombreuil was Mestre de camp en seconde of the Bercheny hussars when, on 4 January 1760, he was made commanding officer of the newly raised Corps de Chasseurs attached to the Bercheny hussar regiment. Transferred to the regiment Corse cavalerie in Algajola on the island of Corsica that same year, he became commandant of the fortress of Algajola, and was promoted brigadier on 25 July 1762. Made governor of the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, and promoted lieutenant-general on 20 May 1791, he was among the defenders of the Tuileries Palace during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792. Accused of anti-revolutionary activities, he was imprisoned at l’Abbaye, Port-Libre (ex-Port-Royal), and Sainte-Pélagie in Paris, sentenced to death 17 June 1794 and executed by Guillotine.