![LeCommandantMarchand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/LeCommandantMarchand.jpg)
:''for others with similar names, see
Jean Marchand
Jean Marchand, (December 20, 1918 – August 28, 1988) was a French Canadian public figure, trade unionist and politician in Quebec, Canada.
Life and career
During the 1949 Asbestos Strike in Quebec, Marchand led the striking workers as ...
![Groupe d’officiers supérieurs assistant à une ascension du ballon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Groupe_d%E2%80%99officiers_sup%C3%A9rieurs_assistant_%C3%A0_une_ascension_du_ballon.jpg)
General Jean-Baptiste Marchand (22 November 1863 – 14 January 1934) was a French military officer and explorer in Africa. Marchand is best known for commanding the French expeditionary force during the
Fashoda Incident
The Fashoda Incident, also known as the Fashoda Crisis ( French: ''Crise de Fachoda''), was an international incident and the climax of imperialist territorial disputes between Britain and France in East Africa, occurring in 1898. A French exped ...
.
Career
Marchand was born in
Thoissey,
Ain
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...
, on 22 November 1863.
In 1883 he enlisted as a volunteer ''soldat'' (private soldier) in the 4th Regiment of
Infanterie de Marine
The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, Armoured cavalry, armoured, Airborne forces, airborne, Military engineering, engineering, and Transmissions (French Army), transmissions (Signal ...
based at Toulon. In April 1886 he attended ''l’Ecole militaire de Saint-Maixent'' - the French military academy for training officers promoted from the ranks. He was commissioned as a ''sous-lieutenant'' on 18 December 1887, at the age of 24. After serving in the 1st Regiment of ''Infanterie de Marine'' for six months, Marchand transferred to the ''
tirailleurs sénégalais
The Senegalese Tirailleurs (french: Tirailleurs Sénégalais) were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. They were initially recruited from Senegal,
French West Africa and subsequently throughout Western, Central and Eastern Africa: ...
'' (West African colonial infantry with French officers).
He participated in the
French conquest of Senegal
The French conquest of Senegal started in 1659 with the establishment of Saint-Louis, Senegal, followed by the French capture of the island of Gorée from the Dutch in 1677, but would only become a full-scale campaign in the 19th century.
Firs ...
and was severely wounded in 1889 at the capture of
Diena
''Diena'' (''The Day'') is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published since 23 November 1990. It is one of Latvia's largest daily periodicals and used to be considered as a paper of record. Following the change of ownersh ...
by the French. In 1890 Major Marchand was sent to explore the sources of the
Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
and the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
and to occupy the area around
Fashoda
Kodok or Kothok ( ar, كودوك), formerly known as Fashoda, is a town in the north-eastern South Sudanese state of Upper Nile State. Kodok is the capital of Shilluk country, formally known as the Shilluk Kingdom. Shilluk had been an independe ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, now known as
Kodok
Kodok or Kothok ( ar, كودوك), formerly known as Fashoda, is a town in the north-eastern South Sudanese state of Upper Nile State. Kodok is the capital of Shilluk country, formally known as the Shilluk Kingdom. Shilluk had been an independe ...
, and bring it under French control. After a 24-month trek on foot and by boat from Loango at the mouth of the Congo River Marchand's expedition of 20 French officers and NCOs and 130 French Senegalese troops arrived at Fashoda, an abandoned fort on the Nile, on 10 July 1898. Marchand rebuilt the fort, but the expected support from other French columns and from
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
did not arrive.
On 18 September, a detachment led by Sir
Herbert Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his scorched earth policy against the Boers, h ...
, commander of the Anglo-Egyptian army that had just defeated the forces of the
Mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
at the
Battle of Omdurman
The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the M ...
, arrived at Fashoda. Following the battle Kitchener had opened sealed orders from London to investigate the French expedition some 600 kilometres to the south. Both sides insisted on control of Fashoda but the two commanders were diplomatic and the encounter was polite. It led to a period of intense diplomatic discussions between Paris and London, at the end of which the French Government ordered their forces to leave. Marchand had already been recalled to France and insisted on travelling through Abyssinia rather than down the British-controlled Nile. He arrived in Djibouti on 16 May 1899, having spent almost four years on his mission. This mission is commemorated by a monument in Paris in the Bois de Vincennes.
Marchand later fought with French expeditionary forces in China during the 1900
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
.
He was promoted to the rank of General in 1915 during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and was wounded in 1915 in the
Battle of Champagne and again in 1916 in the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
.
He retired from the Army in 1919.
In 1920, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
. According to the British journalist Aubrey Kennedy (1885–1965) Marchand was reportedly unhappy with the change of name from Fashoda to Kodok, remarking to
Tracy Philipps
James Erasmus Tracy Philipps (20 November 1888 – 21 July 1959) was a British public servant. Philipps was, in various guises, a soldier, colonial administrator, traveller, journalist, propagandist, conservationist, and secret agent. He served ...
in the aftermath of a
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
meeting that he regretted the 'disappearance' of Fashoda, believing it to be a historic episode that should not be forgotten.
He died at his home in Paris on 14 January 1934, after suffering from rheumatism and effects of the wounds he received in World War I.
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
* Bates, Darell ''The Fashoda incident of 1898: encounter on the Nile''. Oxford: OUP, 1984, .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchand, Jean-Baptiste
1863 births
1934 deaths
People from Ain
French diplomats
French explorers
19th-century French military personnel
French military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion
French military personnel of World War I