 charles guillaume marie appollinaire antoine cousin montauban, comte de palikao (; 1796â1878) was a french general and statesman. ==biography== montauban was born in paris. as a cavalry officer he saw much service in algeria, but he was still only a colonel when in 1847 he effected the capture of abdel kadir. between january 1855 and november 1857, montauban commanded the division of oran in western algeria. in 1855 he was sent to fight in the crimea. he was appointed in 1858 to a command at home, and at the close of 1859 was selected to lead the french troops in the joint french and british expedition to china. his conduct of the operations did not escape criticism, but in 1862 he received from napoleon iii, the title of comte de palikao (from the battle of palikao in peking); he had already been made a senator. the allegation that he had acquired a vast fortune by the plunder of the peking summer palace seems to have been without foundation. in 1865 he was appointed to the command of the iv. army corps at lyon, in the training of which he displayed exceptional energy and administrative capacity. in the franco-prussian war of 1870 he was not given a command in the field, but after the opening disasters had shaken the ollivier ministry he was entrusted by the empress-regent with the portfolio of war, and became president of the council (august 10). he at once, with great success, reorganized the military resources of the nation. he claimed to have raised marshal macmahon's force at chÃ¢lons to 140,000 men, to have created three new army corps, 33 new regiments and 100,000 gardes mobiles, and to have brought the defences of the capital to a state of efficiency - all this in twenty-four days. he conceived the idea of sending the army of chÃ¢lons to raise the blockade of metz. the scheme depended on a precision and rapidity of which the army of chÃ¢lons was no longer capable, and ended with the disaster of sedan. after the capitulation of the emperor the dictatorship was offered to palikao, but he refused to desert the empire, and proposed to establish a council of national defence, with himself as li
1796_births 1878_deaths French_military_personnel_of_the_Crimean_War French_military_personnel_of_the_Second_Opium_War People_from_Paris