Marie Alphonse Bedeau (19 August 1804 – 29 October 1863) was a French general and minister.

Life

Bedeau was born on 19 August 1804 in

Vertou Vertou (; br, Gwerzhav) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. It is located on the river Sèvre Nantaise, and was a historical town of Brittany. Today, Vertou is a component of the Nantes Métropole and is the fif ...

(Lower Loire). He studied at the military school of Saint-Cyr, from the age of 16, 29 October 1820, until 1 October 1822, as lieutenant-student, school of enforcement staff. He served in the 8th Cuirassiers, and the Lancers of the Royal Guard. On 1 October 1828 he was promoted to lieutenant adjutant of the 2nd regiment of mounted artillery, and captain in the 5th light on 12 July 1831. He was seconded to General Ferrier, where he became the adjutant. Attached to Gerard and Schramm, he was under their command, during the Belgian campaign of 1831 and 1832. During the Belgian campaign, he received the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

on 16 January 1833. With the reorganization of the army in 1836, he was appointed battalion commander of the Foreign Legion, training in Pau. Lieutenant-Colonel of the 17th Light, on 11 November 1837, he fought in Algeria during several expeditions. He was at Setif on 16 and 17 October 1838 and in May 1839. He was promoted on 4 December 1839 to the rank of colonel in the 17th light. He was wounded twice at Cherchell. On 2 May 1840, the famous passage cervical

Mouzaïa Mouzaïa is a town and commune in Blida Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinate ...

, he is responsible for repelling the attacks of the enemy in the rear of the army and resisted the troops of Abd-el-Kader in the marabout Sidi Moussa. He noted also in the supplies of Miliana. On 27 May 1841 the Colonel was appointed brigadier and made available to the Governor General of Algeria, which supported operating on the border of Morocco. In 1844 he took part in the

Battle of Isly The Battle of Isly () was fought on August 14, 1844 between France and Morocco, near the . French forces under Marshal Thomas Robert Bugeaud routed a much larger, but poorly organized, Moroccan force, mainly fighters from the tribes of , but als ...

, after which he was appointed lieutenant general and commander in chief of the province of

Constantine, Algeria Constantine ( ar, قسنطينة '), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman Empire, Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honor of emperor Const ...

. He made two campaigns in spring and autumn of 1845 with General

Jean-François Gentil Jean-François-Madeleine de Gentil (born in Artaise-le-Vivier on 8 March 1789 and died in Paris on 29 March 1852) was a French officer who participated to the French conquest of Algeria. Family Jean-François Gentil is the son of Louis-França ...

, and stands in 1847 in the expedition against the Kabyle of Bougie. On 10 July he was appointed Acting Governor-General and replaced by the Duke of Aumale. He was in Paris in February 1848. On the 24th, at the head of the troops, he patrolled the streets of Paris, trying to restore order. The first regiments who marched along the boulevards, the butt in the air in front of the popular uprising, are guided by it. He commanded the Orleans chauseurs at the time of the attack on the station at Gabrielle. After his conduct on this occasion, he was being proposed as minister of war of the new regime. He declined the offer, but accepted the position of military governor of Paris and the term representing the Lower Loire to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, he became vice president. He was appointed representative of the Seine to the Legislature. Wounded in fighting the insurgency in June, he was a member of the right in the Legislature. Hostile to the coup of 2 December 1851, he was arrested on the night of 2 December by Marshal St. Arnaud and imprisoned at Ham. He retired on 5 August 1852 to Belgium, where he lived until the amnesty of 1859. Bedeau was a Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honor 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 ...

. He died on 29 October 1863 in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. In 1883 the village Bedeau was named in his honor. It is located near Saida in the department of

Oran, Algeria Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

References

* * Division histoire et patrimoine de la Légion étrangère {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedeau, Marie Alphonse 1804 births 1863 deaths People from Loire-Atlantique Politicians from Pays de la Loire Party of Order politicians French Ministers of War Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic French people of the Revolutions of 1848 Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Governors general of Algeria