Louis Cavagnari

Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari

Cavagnari between Afghan tribesmen

Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari , KCB , CSI , (born July 4, 1841 in Stenay , † September 3, 1879 in Kabul ) was a British major in British India who was murdered by Afghan insurgents in 1879 .

The son of the Italian count and general in French service Louis Adolphus Cavagnari and the Irish noblewoman Caroline Lyons-Montgomery was born in France, but received his education in Addiscombe England. At the age of 17 he entered the military service of the British East India Company as a lieutenant and witnessed the Indian uprising of 1857 and the campaign against Oudh . He became deputy commissioner for Kohat and in 1877 for Peshawar . In September 1878, General Neville Chamberlain tried to obtain the right to represent the Afghan emir in Kabul . His mission, in which Cavagnari was also involved, was intercepted by the Afghans and forced to turn back. As a result of the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Afghan War , Shir Ali fled Kabul. Mohammed Yakub Khan succeeded the throne and had to sign the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879 , which placed Afghan foreign policy under British control. On the British side, Cavagnari signed the treaty, which was appointed envoy in Kabul. He was ennobled for his services in the conclusion of the contract.

On July 24, 1879, Cavagnari entered Kabul with an escort of 89 armed men as British envoy. On September 3, Louis Cavagnari and his entire staff were murdered in an attack by insurgents on the embassy building, whereupon the British occupied Kabul again.

Movie and TV

1984: Cavagnari is portrayed by John Gielgud in the British mini-series Palace of the Winds .

literature

• Byron Farwell: Queen Victoria's Little Wars , Wordsworth Editions Limited, Hertfordshire 1999. ISBN 1-84022-215-8