Camille Alphonse Trézel (5 January 1780 – 11 April 1860) was a French

général de 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 corps ...

, Minister for War and peer of France during the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

. He was the assistant chief of the general staff on the Morea expedition, and served in the 1830s in the

French conquest of Algeria The French conquest of Algeria (; ) took place between 1830 and 1903. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Regency of Algiers, and the French consul (representative), consul escalated into a blockade, following which the Jul ...

, where he suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Macta.

Life

In 1801, Camille Alphonse Trezel entered as a draftsman into the office of the war and in 1803 attained the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the body of topographical engineers. Posted in 1804 to Army of Holland, he was promoted the following year to assistant engineer geographer. After the Polish campaign, he was appointed acting aide to General Gardane at French embassy to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1807–1808, then aide to General Armand Charles Guilleminot on his return in 1809. He was secretary of the Committee on Delimitation of

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

, was promoted to captain (1810), and transferred to the

Spanish army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

. Recalled to Germany in late 1811, he worked at the Hanseatic

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

department, on the campaign to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, became lieutenant-commander (1813), Chief of Staff of the 13th Division, and worked on the defense of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. For the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

campaign, he was called to the Grand Army, and showed such bravery in the

Battle of Ligny The Battle of Ligny, in which French troops of the under the command of Napoleon I defeated part of a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, was fought on 16 June 1815 near Ligny in what is now Belgium. The result was a tactical victor ...

, where he took a shot to the left eye, that he was promoted to brigadier general by decree on 5 July 1815. This appointment was canceled the following month by the Bourbons, so he resumed his place in the headquarters in 1818 as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, and was attached to the commission of delimitation of the East (1816–1818), then the filing of war (1822). He distinguished himself again in the Spanish Civil War of 1820–1823, and was a member of the advisory committee of staff and secretary of the committee reorganization. He joined the Morea expedition as Deputy Chief of Staff (1828), and was promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

in 1829.

Algerian campaign

In 1831, he went to Africa. He commanded the expedition of Bougie and was wounded in the leg while taking possession of the city on 29 September 1833. Called to replace Louis Alexis Desmichels in the province of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, he won several victories against the Zmalas and Douairs, commanded by Agha Mustapha Ben Ismail, Chief of the Douairs, Agha Kadour Ben El Morsly, chief of the Beni Amer (

Mounted infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. Unlike cavalry, mounted infantry dismounted to fight on foot. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Editio ...

, and Agha Benaouda Mazari, chief of the Zmal. At the 16 June 1835 camp of ''Valmy Figuiers'' (El Karma), a treaty was concluded between the Chief and General Trezel, whereby Zmal Douairs and recognized each subject, tributaries and soldiers of France. These tribes refused to pay the zakat (Ashura) was the Emir Abd el-Kader. The general saw himself obliged to act against Abd-el-Kader to protect these tribes that wanted to punish the emir. This led to the disaster of the Battle of Macta on 28 June, following another defeat the day before in the forest of Muley Ismail. In both attacks, Trezel was attacked by ten thousand men, when he had only 1,700 men and 600 horses. In his report to the governor, Trezel nonetheless called himself solely responsible for the disaster: "I submit without complaint and blame any severity that the royal government deems necessary to exercise to me... hoping he will not refuse to reward the brave who have distinguished themselves in these two fights. Count Erlon, who was governor, withdrew his command. Recalled to France, he returned to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

the following year to take part in the Constantine Expedition of 1836, during which he was seriously wounded and recalled to France. In 1837, during the Constantine Expedition of 1837 on the same city, he was given command of the 2nd Brigade. He was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

on 11 November 1837 and became the staff director of the Department of War (15 May 1839) and committee member of staff. He was given the title Peer of France on 21 July 1846. He became war minister under Jean-de-Dieu Soult on 9 May 1847, instead of

Alexandre Pierre Chevalier Moline de Saint-Yon Alexandre Pierre Moline de Saint-Yon (29 June 1786, Lyon – 17 November 1870, Bordeaux) was a French general, writer, and politician. Biography He was the son of Honore de Saint-Yon and Gabrielle Antoinette Rivoire Alexandre Moline, He graduated ...

. He held these positions in the government of

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator and Politician, statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics between the July Revolution, Revolution of 1830 and the Revoluti ...

until the fall of the

on 24 February 1848. Automatically set to retire on 8 June 1848, in 1853, he was called by Philippe d'Orleans and Robert d'Orléans to become military governor and retained this office until the majority of the Comte de Paris in 1856.

Decorations

* 13 January 1837 : Grand-officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Works

* ''Notice sur le Ghilan et le Mazenderan'', in : ''Voyage en Arménie et en Perse, fait dans les années 1805 et 1806, par P.-Amédée Jaubert'', Paris, Pélicier et Neveu, 1821, in-8

Sources

* Narcisse Faucon, ''Le livre d'Or de l'Algérie'', Challamel et Cie Éditeurs Librairie Algérienne et Coloniale, 1889 *

Bibliography

* Jean-Baptiste Dumas, ''Un fourrier de Napoléon vers l'Inde : les papiers du lieutenant-général Trézel, ... : première partie : 1780-1812'', Paris, H. Charles-Lavauzelle, 1915

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trezel, Camille Alphonse 1780 births 1860 deaths Politicians from Paris Ministers of war of France Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy French generals French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour French expatriates in Iran