Louis Archinard (11 February 1850 – 8 May 1932) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

general at the time of the Third Republic, who contributed to the colonial conquest of

French West Africa French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...

. He was traditionally presented in French histories as the conqueror and "''Pacifier''" of

French Soudan French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

(today

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

). Archinard's campaigns brought about the end of the Tukulor Empire. He also spent a large amount of energy fighting

Samory Toure Samory Toure ( – June 2, 1900), also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Muslim cleric, a military strategist, and the founder and leader of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic empire that was in present-day ...

. Archinard was succeeded as military commander of the Sudan in 1893 by

Eugène Bonnier Tite Pierre Marie Adolphe Eugène Bonnier (4 January 1856 –15 January 1894) was a French soldier. He served in New Caledonia, Senegal and Tonkin. He and most of the men in his column were killed by a force of Tuaregs in a dawn massacre outside Ti ...

, who left from

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 ...

on 5 August 1893 to take up his new command. Bonnier had no instructions and decided to follow Archinard's advice, use his own judgement and seize Timbuktu. He was killed on 15 December 1893 by a force of Tuaregs. In 1897 Archinard was reassigned to

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

. In

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 ...

, he commanded in August 1914 the 1er Group of Reserve Divisions, and in 1917-1918 the Polish Legion in France.

Decorations

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

**Knight (25 August 1881) **Officer (9 July 1889) **Commander (11 July 1903) **Grand Officer (30 December 1908) **Grand Cross (11 July 1914) *

Médaille militaire The ''Médaille militaire'' ( en, Military Medal) is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, ...

(6 July 1919) *

Croix de guerre 1914-1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

* Médaille Interalliée 1914–1918 *

Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War The Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War (french: Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1870–1871) was a French military campaign medal awarded to those who served during the Franco-Prussian War. The war, declared by Emperor Napoleon ...

. * Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1914–1918 *

Médaille Coloniale The Colonial Medal (french: "Médaille Coloniale") was a French decoration created by the "loi de finances" of 26 July 1893 (article 75) to reward "military services in the colonies, resulting from participation in military operations, in a colon ...

with "Soudan" bar.

References

Sources

*E. Réquin, Archinard et le Soudan, Éditions Berger-Levrault, 1946 *Martine Cuttier, Portrait du colonialisme triomphant - Louis Archinard 1850-1932, Éditions Lavauzelle, 2006 -
A. S. Kanya-Forstner, The Conquest of the Western Sudan
(Cambridge University Press, 1969). Chapter VII. The `Total Conquest' of the Sudan, 1888-93. *O'Toole, Thomas E., ''Historical Dictionary of Guinea'', (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1987) p. 18 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Archinard, Louis 1850 births 1932 deaths People from Le Havre French colonial governors and administrators Colonial Governors of French Mali People of French West Africa People of the French Third Republic French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War French military personnel of World War I Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) 19th-century French military personnel 20th-century French military personnel