Page "Louis Lebègue Duportail" Paragraph 4

Returning to France in October 1783, Duportail became an infantry officer and in 1788 a field marshal.

He served as France's minister of war from November 16, 1790, through December 7, 1791, during the beginning of the French Revolution and promoted military reforms.

Forced into hiding by radical Jacobins, he escaped to America and bought a farm near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

He lived there until 1802, when he died at sea while attempting to return to France.