# Sylvain Charles Valée

Sylvain-Charles, comte Valée (17 December 1773 – 16 August 1846), born in Brienne-le-Château, was a Marshal of France.

## Service in the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars

Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution, Valée enlisted in the French revolutionary army and was sent to serve in the Army of the Nord. Promoted to captain in 1795 he fought in the Rhine campaign of 1799-1800 including fighting at Hohenlinden. By1804 he was lieutenant colonel.
When the war of the third coalition broke out in 1805 he was the inspector general of the train of the artillery reserve of the Grande Armée in this role he fought at Ulm, Austerlitz and Jena, distinguishing himself at Jena. In November of 1806 Valée was made chief of staff of artillery of the Grande Armée.Valée was made colonel in a few months later along with command of the 1st Artillery Regiment which he led in the 1808 campaigning season.
In 1809, Valée was sent to Spain seeing service at the siege of Zaragoza before being made commander of the artillery of the III Corps in Spain, where he distinguished himself in the sieges of Lleida, Tarragona, Tortosa and Valencia. In 1811 Valée was promoted to général de division and in 1814 Napoléon created him a count.
With the restoration of the House of Bourbon to the throne of France, Valée was made Inspector-General of the artillery. Although Napoléon upon his return from Elba made him commander of the artillery of the 5th military division.

## Under the restored Bourbons

After the failure of the Waterloo campaign and the second restoration, Valée was retained by Louis XVIII as Inspector-General of the artillery. In this position he reorganized the French artillery, implementing the "Valée system". He was put on the non active list in September 1830.

## July revolution and service in Algeria

The July revolution saw another change in government in France, some years later Valée was made a Peer of France in 1835. In 1837 when the need arose for an experienced artillery general, Valée was reinstated on the active service list and sent to Algeria.
He commanded the artillery in the expedition against Constantine, and after the death of the army's commander, general Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, Valée took over command and captured the city the following day, a feat which gained him the Marshal's baton. Valée founded Skikda, and built the largest Roman theatre in Algeria in the town. It was built upon the ruins of ancient Roman and Phoenician history.
Valée was then made governor-general and in 1839 organised the Iron Gates expedition this restarted the war between France and Abd-el-Kader. While victorious in some minor engagements, around Boufarik and the Mouzaïa pass he oversaw French forces occupying Cherchell, Medea and Miliana. But these did not quell the uprising and infact only gave the French greater garrisoning requirements that complicated their task in supressing Abd el-kader's insurgency. In 1840 Valée was replaced by General Bugeaud, who would take a different strategy to Valéé. While Valéé had focused on subduing major population centres, focusing on large calibre artillery, Bugeaud focused on lighter forces often equipped with more mobile mountain guns it was with such innovations in tactics that Bugeaud brought the conquest to a conclusion.
Count Valéé died in 1846 in Paris.
Valéé's name is inscribed on the west pilar of the Arc de Triomphe.