He vainly tried to escape the rapid progress of the illness by
travel in Italy and the south of France, but returned to Paris only to
die on the 8th of October 1834.
Lives of Boieldieu have been written by Pougin (Paris, 1875), J.A.
Refeuvaille (Rouen, 1836), Hequet (Paris, 1864), Emile Duval (Geneva,
1883). See also Adolphe Charles Adam, _Derniers souvenirs d'un
musicien_.
BOIGNE, BENOIT DE, COUNT (1751-1830), the first of the French military
adventurers in India, was born at Chambery in Savoy on the 8th of March
1751, being the son of a fur merchant. He joined the Irish Brigade in
France in 1768, and subsequently he entered the Russian service and was
captured by the Turks. Hearing of the wealth of India, he made his way
to that country, and after serving for a short time in the East India
Company, he resigned and joined Mahadji Sindhia in 1784 for the purpose
of training his troops in the European methods of war. In the battles of
Lalsot and Chaksana Boigne and his two battalions proved their worth by
holding the field when the rest of the Mahratta army was defeated by the
Rajputs. In the battle of Agra (1788) he restored the Mahratta fortunes,
and made Mahadji Sindhia undisputed master of Hindostan. This success
led to his being given the command of a brigade of ten battalions of
infantry, with which he won the victories of Patan and Merta in 1790. In
consequence Boigne was allowed to raise two further brigades of
disciplined infantry, and made commander-in-chief of Sindhia's army. In
the battle of Lakhairi (1793) he defeated Holkar's army. On the death of
Mahadji Sindhia in 1794, Boigne could have made himself master of
Hindostan had he wished it, but he remained loyal to Daulat Rao Sindhia.
In 1795 his health began to fail, and he resigned his command, and in
the following year returned to Europe with a fortune of L400,000. He
lived in retirement during the lifetime of Napoleon, but was greatly
honoured by Louis XVIII. He died on the 21st of June 1830.
See H. Compton, _European Military Adventurers of Hindustan_ (1892).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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