Charles Denis Bourbaki

France state institutions 1816–1897 ○ Natural causes

French general who commanded the Imperial Guard and then the Army of the East, whose remnant was driven into Switzerland in 1871

Born at Pau in 1816, the son of a Greek colonel killed in the Greek War of Independence, he passed through Saint-Cyr and joined the Zouaves. He made his name in Algeria, in the Crimean War and in the Italian war of 1859, and in 1862 declined to be a candidate for the Greek throne. In 1870 he commanded the Imperial Guard around Metz, and was criticised for refusing to commit its reserves at Gravelotte. Deceived by the adventurer Régnier into leaving Metz, he offered his services to Gambetta and was given the Army of the North and then the Army of the East. His attempt to relieve Belfort ended in defeat on the Lisaine in January 1871; driven towards the Swiss frontier by Manteuffel, he handed over command and tried to shoot himself, and the remnant of his army was disarmed in Switzerland. He later commanded at Lyon.

Also known as: Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki