General of the Algerian wars who was vice-president of the Second Republic's assembly and was arrested in the coup
Born at Vertou in 1804, he trained at Saint-Cyr. He served in the Belgian campaigns of 1831–1832 and in 1836 went to Algeria as a battalion commander of the Foreign Legion to fight Abd el-Kader. After the battle of Isly in 1844 he became lieutenant-general and commander of the province of Constantine, and in 1847 acting governor-general of Algeria. He led troops in Paris in the February Revolution of 1848, declined the war ministry of the new regime but became military governor of Paris and deputy for the Loire-Inférieure, and vice-president of the Constituent Assembly. Wounded fighting the June insurgents, he was briefly foreign minister under Cavaignac. He sat on the right in the Legislative Assembly but opposed the coup of 1851, was arrested on the night of 2 December and lived in Belgium until the amnesty of 1859.
Activities and affiliations
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1822–1830
French monarchy state institutions
Military command -
1830–1852
France state institutionsLieutenant-general; acting governor-general of AlgeriaMain
Military command -
1848
Diplomacy and international organization
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1848–1851
Legislature and state representation
Career Timeline
- 1831–1832Belgian campaigns
- 1836Battalion commander of the Foreign Legion; Algeria
- 1844Lieutenant-general; commander of the province of Constantine
- 1847Acting governor-general of Algeria
- 1848Military governor of Paris; vice-president of the Constituent Assembly; foreign minister
- 1849–1851Deputy for the Seine
- 1852–1859Exile in Belgium