Gaston de Galliffet

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Marquis de Galliffet, photo by Nadar

Gaston Alexandre Auguste, Marquis of Gallifet, Prince de Martignes (born January 23, 1830 in Paris , † July 8, 1909 there ) was a French general and minister of war .

Life

Galliffet joined the army in 1848 , became a sub-lieutenant in 1853 , a captain in 1860 , a staff officer in 1863 and took part in the campaign in Mexico . Galliffet rose in 1865 to lieutenant-colonel and in 1867 for Colonel on. He then commanded the 3rd regiment of the Chasseurs d'Afrique . Since August 30, 1870 Général de brigade , on September 1, during the Battle of Sedan, in place of the fatally wounded Général de division Margueritte, he led the French cavalry in the attacks on the Prussian infantry standing near Floing and also distinguished himself here by stormy Bravery and reckless use of oneself. After the surrender of Sedan , Galliffet remained in German captivity until the end of the war , then took command of a brigade of the Army of Versailles and led it during the suppression of the uprising of the Paris Commune .

In a quote from Karl Marx , Civil War in France, it says:

"Galliffet, the 'Louis' of his wife, so notorious for the shameless display of her body at the feasts of the Second Empire, Galliffet boasted in a proclamation that he had the murder of some of the National Guards who were surprised and disarmed by his horsemen, including their captain and lieutenant, have ordered. "

Galliffet then took over command of the subdivision in Batna in Algeria , put down an uprising by the Arabs in the winter of 1872/73 with a daring march to El Golea , and in 1873 took over command of an infantry brigade of the VIII Corps. In 1875 he became Général de division and received the 15th Infantry Division in Dijon , then, despite his Bonapartist and clerical sentiments, publicly joined the republican party and soon became the declared favorite of Léon Gambetta .

Galliffet undertook to reorganize the French cavalry and for this purpose was endowed with a power that no cavalry general had possessed before him. Through lectures on the training and service of the cavalry, on riding and horse care, Galliffet spread uniform ideas about the handling of the service among the higher commanders of the weapon and took over the upper direction of the great cavalry maneuvers, which he initiated at his instigation, in which he worked tirelessly proved active to prepare the troops for battle as well as for strategic reconnaissance and to train them in the movements in the large unit.

Galliffet was headed the IX in 1879. Corps in Tours and took over the chairmanship of the cavalry committee. In this position he exercised decisive influence in all personnel issues relating to the cavalry and eliminated all elements that contradicted his views. In 1880 he became commander of the troops in Paris . In 1882 he resigned this command and remained only a member of the Supreme War Council and President of the Cavalry Committee, from which War Minister Boulanger removed him in 1886 . After he himself had resigned from the scene, Galliffet was reactivated. In 1895 he retired from active service after reaching the age limit, but from June 22, 1899 to May 29, 1900 he held the office of Minister of War in the Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau cabinet .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl Marx: The Civil War in France. May 30, 1871, Retrieved August 29, 2011 (Chapter 2).
personal data
SURNAME Galliffet, Gaston de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gallifet, Gaston Alexandre Auguste de; Gallifet, Alexandre Auguste von (Meyers); Gallifet Prince de Martignes, Gaston Alexandre Auguste Marquis of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French general
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1909
Place of death Paris