Louis Jean-Baptiste d'Aurelle de Paladines (9 January 1804 – 17 December 1877) was a French general.

Life

He was born at

Le Malzieu-Ville Le Malzieu-Ville (; oc, Lo Malasiu) is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. Medieval ramparts. Church. Tourist office. Leisure Park along the river Truyère. Notable people * Vital de Lestang (1588-1621), Bishop of Carcass ...

, Lozère, educated at the

Prytanée National Militaire The Prytanée national militaire is a French military school managed by the French military, offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish ...

and St Cyr, and entered the army as sub-lieutenant of foot in 1824. He served with distinction in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

between 1841 and 1848, becoming

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

and an officer 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, ...

; took part in the Roman campaigns of 1848 and 1849, and was made colonel. He served as

general of brigade Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

throughout the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

of 1854-56, being promoted

general of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corp ...

and commander of the Legion of Honour. During the campaign in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

in 1859 he commanded at

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, and superintended the despatch of men and stores to the seat of war, and for his services he was made a grand officer of the Legion of Honour. Placed on the reserve list in 1869, he was recalled to the Marseilles command on the outbreak of the Franco-German War of 1870-71. After the first capture of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Government of National Defense The Government of National Defense (french: Gouvernement de la Défense nationale) was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the proclam ...

, in November 1870, to the command of the

Army of the Loire An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

(notwithstanding his monarchist and catholic beliefs). He was at first very successful against von der Tann-Rathsamhausen, winning the

battle of Coulmiers The Battle of Coulmiers was fought on 9 November 1870 between French and Bavarian forces during the Franco-Prussian War, ending in French victory. The struggle The Army of the Loire, under General D'Aurelle de Paladines, surprised a Bavaria ...

and compelling the Germans to evacuate Orléans, but the capitulation of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

had set free additional German troops to oppose him, and, after his defeat at Beaune la Rolande and subsequent unsuccessful fighting near Orléans, resulting in its recapture by the Germans in December, Aurelle retreated into the

Sologne Sologne (; ) is a natural region in Centre-Val de Loire, France, extending over portions of the departements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher. Its area is about . To its north is the river Loire, to its south the river Cher, while the districts ...

and was superseded. After the government surrendered to Prussia in January 1871, General Paladines was appointed as head of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, whose members deeply resented having him as their commander. After the armistice he was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

by the departments both of

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

and

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

. He sat for Allier as a member of the ''Centre gauche'' parliamentary group and was one of the fifteen officers chosen to assist in the peace negotiations. He was decorated with the grand cross of the Legion of Honour, and was given the command at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, but retired in 1872. Elected a life senator in 1875, he supported the monarchical majority of 1876. He died at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

in 1877. He was the author of ''La Première Armée de la Loire'', published in 1872.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurelle de Paladines, Louis Jean-Baptiste d' 1804 births 1877 deaths People from Lozère Politicians from Occitania (administrative region) Members of the National Assembly (1871) French life senators French generals French military personnel of the Crimean War French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur