Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-06-12
Sketch OF the new French Pre.i-
dent. 20 q.

Sketch OF the new EreO en- RFeNI~
dent. " pre-. q,
Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac
Mahon, Duke of Magenta, better known
as Marshal MacMahon, the distinguished
Marshal of France, who has been elect
ed to succeed NJ. Theirs as President Of
the French Republic, is the descendant
of an ancient Catholic family of Ireland
whose ancestors followed the fortunes
of James IL, the last of the Stuarts, and
after the fall of that house emigrated 10
France. He was born at Sully, in the
province of Saone-and Loiry, on the 18th
of July, 1903. His father was peer
of France, and a personal friend of
Charles x, and as such his son, young
MacMahon, was admitted in the year
1925 to the royal military school of st.
Cyr. Graduating thence, he entered the
army, and most Immediately after pro-
Ceeded to actual service in Algiers,
where he distinguished himself So ear
nest was he in the exercise of his pro-
fession, after serving on the stall OF all
the African Generals, and participating
in the desperate assault upon Constan-
tine, MacMahon was nominated as Ma
ior of Foot Chasseurs in 1910. In 1912
he became Lieutenant Colonel OF the
Foreign Legion, and Colonel of the for
ty-first regiment. OF the line in 1915.
The year 1848 found him still holding
the position of Colonel, besides being an
officer in the Legion of Honor.
When the revolution of AS occurred
in France MacMahon was a Conserya-
tive, and. like many others in the Alg2-
rian army, preferred. to await events be-
| fore taking any decided stand. tie had
watched the fall of Louis PHILIPPE with
silent contempt, and attributed 1t All 70
Liberalism, and though he suffered
j himself to be promoted to Generalshlp
! in the new government-tor one should
! never decline fayors-yet he assuredly
! clunr to the hope that France might
soon be blessed with regime OF or
/ der" again, which generally seems to
! mean regime that has been tried before,
! and has given fitful order to the streets
by introducing disorder into the public
| finances, into the public morals, and into
| the public ideas of international amlty
On the establishment OF the En-
pire under Louis Napoleon, MacMahor
/ proved quite ready to give his oath OF
! fealty, though recent writers profess &c
believe that he would have preferred
! Bourbon restoration but Henry Y. be
ing unenterprising, Napoleon Ill. was
no bad substitute. MacMahon was a
this time a vigorous looking gentleman
with clear blue eyes, a firm mouth, anC
silent ways. He had little to say on any
subject; but he was regarded asthe mos
chiYalrous among officers.
When the Crimean war began, Mac
MahOn was summoned to France, ant
on the retirement of Gen. Canrober
from the field in front of Sebastapol du
ring the wear 1866, he handed over the
command of his division to the new as
pirant for martial honors, the emperor
sirnifying his great reliance upon thu
capability and heroism of the ''lrelan
4 dalse." as he was even then known IL
the army. The assault upon the Rus
sian works being determined upon by
the allied chiefs on the 9Th of Septem
Der. they assigned to Gen. MacMahoI
the perilous post of leading the Frencl
column against the Malakoff. The re
suit of that terrible engagement is wei
| known, and for his brilliant services OF
that dav the General was given thu
Grand Gross of, the Legion of Honor
In 1856 he was nominated by Queer
Victoria as a. Knight of the Grand eros
of the Order of Bath.
At the commencement of the Italian
war, in 1869, Gen. MacMahon was natu
ralIv esteemed one of the best tactician
in France, and he maintained his hlgl
reputation for gallantry and the sue
cessfuI command OF large bodies o
troops by signal service at the battles O
Solferino and Magenta. SO great wa
his renown at the time that Napoleon
III. gave him the baton of Field Mar
shall, and also created him Duke OF Ma
genta. When the war closed MacMa
hon was one of the idols OF the hour
and received ovations wherever he ap
reared in France In 1861 he was sen
to represent the nation at the coronatlol
of the present Emperor of Germany a
King of Prussia, and in the following
| wear was given the command of tn
Third Corps. de Armee. In 1864 he wa
nominated Governor General of Alge
ria.
| In this position. he inaugurated ney
system of government in the Colony
the tendency of which was to create an
establish an Arab Kingdom. But tn
movement proved a decided failure, tn
colpnists becoming dissatisfied and unru
w. and in 1868, large numbers of then
left Algeria for Brazil, suffering grea
hardships,. while thousands of the Arab
persisted of hunger and disease. Thes
facts raised a great cutlery against Mac
; Mahon, and as the accession to powe
of the Olivier Cabinet was the pretex
chosen for abandoning the idea of found
:. INC. an Arab kingdom under militar
rule, MacMahan resigned the Governor
Generalship. On the declaration of wa
with Prussia, he was appointed to tn
command of the First Corps dArmee
charged with the defense of Elsass an
on the 9th of August, 1870, he was, de
feated between Woerth and Reichsoffe
by the Crown Prince of Prussia an
forced to abandon the line of the Vosges
He had 35, 000men under his orders, cor
sisting of Canrebert,s and Faillys corps
The Prince was at the head of 75,00l
and MacMahon's disaster was complete
though the French held strong defen:
i've position. The Prussians,- however
turned the French line at two points, an
also broke their left. and center in th
face of and despite a fierce eayalr
charge ordered by MacMahon as de-
nier resort. In this engagement he los
1000 prisoners, thirty six cannon, an
two standards. His subsequent retres
to Nancy with only 1S, 900 men was so abl
conducted, however, that the Empere
confided to him the command-in-chef c
the new levies then mastering at Cha
Ions. UnIuekily, he was thwarted b
and tod Hovxy, 70 af