Louis d'Aurelle de Paladines

Monarchist general who won at Coulmiers with the Army of the Loire and was made head of the Paris National Guard by Thiers in March 1871

Born at Le Malzieu-Ville in 1804, he went through Saint-Cyr and became a sub-lieutenant in 1824. He fought in Algeria from 1841 to 1848, took part in the Roman expedition of 1849 and served as a brigadier general in the Crimean War, becoming general of division in 1855. Placed on the reserve list in 1869, he was recalled in 1870 and, despite his monarchist and Catholic beliefs, given command of the Army of the Loire by the Government of National Defence. He won at Coulmiers and forced the Germans out of Orléans, but they retook the city and he was relieved in December. On 6 March 1871 Thiers's government named him commander-in-chief of the Paris National Guard, whose members deeply resented him, and when the rising of 18 March broke out he took refuge in Versailles. He sat in the National Assembly and as a life senator, supporting the monarchist majority in 1876.

Also known as: Louis Jean-Baptiste d'Aurelle de Paladines