Charles Guillaume Marie Appollinaire Antoine Cousin-Montauban, 1er Comte de Palikao (; 24 June 1796 – 8 January 1878) was a French general and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

Biography

Montauban was born in

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. As a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

officer he saw much service in

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, but he was still only a

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when in 1847 he effected the capture of Abdel Kadir. Between January 1855 and November 1857, Montauban commanded the Division of Oran in western Algeria. In 1855 he was sent to fight in the

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. He was appointed in 1858 to a command at home, and at the close of 1859 was selected to lead the French troops in the Anglo-French expedition to China. His conduct of the operations did not escape criticism, but in 1862 he received from

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, the title of comte de Palikao (from the Battle of Palikao); he had already been made a senator. The allegation that he had acquired a vast fortune by the plunder of the

Old Summer Palace The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

seems to have been without foundation. In 1865 he was appointed to the command of the IV army corps at

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, in the training of which he displayed exceptional energy and administrative capacity. In the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870 he was not given a command in the field, but after the opening disasters had shaken the Ollivier ministry he was entrusted by the empress-regent with the portfolio of war, and became president of the council (10 August). He at once, with great success, reorganized the military resources of the nation. He claimed to have raised Marshal MacMahon's force at Châlons to 140,000 men, to have created three new army corps, 33 new regiments and 100,000 gardes mobiles, and to have brought the defences of the capital to a state of efficiency – all this in 24 days. He conceived the idea of sending the ''

Army of Châlons The Army of Châlons () was a French military formation that fought during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Formed in the camp of Châlons on August 17, 1870, from elements of the Army of the Rhine which the formation was issued from, the Army of ...

'' to raise the blockade of

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. The scheme depended on a precision and rapidity of which the ''Army of Châlons'' was no longer capable, and ended with the disaster of Sedan. After the capitulation of the emperor the dictatorship was offered to Palikao, but he refused to desert the empire, and proposed to establish a council of national defence, with himself as lieutenant-general of government. Before a decision was made, the chamber was invaded by the mob, and Palikao fled to

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. In 1871 he appeared before the parliamentary commission of inquiry, and in the same year established Un Ministre de la guerre de vingt-quatre jours. He died at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

References

External links

* Charles Cousin-Montauban,
Souvenirs
' (Paris: Plon, 1932)-- extracts concerning the China campaign of 1860. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palikao, Charles Cousin-Montauban, Comte de 1796 births 1878 deaths Politicians from Paris Counts of Palikao Counts of the Second French Empire Bonapartists Prime ministers of France Ministers of war of France French senators of the Second Empire French generals French military personnel of the Crimean War French military personnel of the Second Opium War Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War

Biography

See also

References

External links