François Certain Canrobert François Certain de Canrobert , usually known as François Certain - Canrobert and later simply as Maréchal Canrobert ( 27 June 1809 , Saint - Céré , Lot – 28 January 1895 , Paris ) , was a marshal of France . Biography . His father , Antoine Certain de Canrobert , Knight of Saint Louis , was the scion of a relatively obscure family whose grandfather had been ennobled in 1738 ( the senior branch of the family , extinct in 1918 , used the surname " Certain de La Meschaussée " ) : he became a Royalist émigré and consequently his few properties were confiscated during the French Revolution and he was even briefly imprisoned in the Temple in 1801 . His mother was born Angélique de Niocel , also from a family of recent nobility ( her grandfather had been ennobled in 1775 and her brother married a niece of Marshal Joachim Murat , brother - in - law of Napoleon ) . The future Marshal was educated at Saint - Cyr ; he received a commission as sub - lieutenant in 1828 , becoming lieutenant in 1832 . Sent to Algeria in 1835 , he served in the expedition to Mascara , at the capture of Tlemcen , and in 1837 was promoted to captain and then captain adjudant - major . In the same year he received the Légion d ' honneur for courageous conduct . In 1839 he was employed in organizing a battalion of the French Foreign Legion for the Carlist Wars . In 1841 he was again serving in Algeria . Promoted lieutenant - colonel in 1846 and colonel of the 3rd regiment in 1847 , he commanded the expedition against Ahmed Sghir in 1848 , and defeated the Arabs at the Djerma Pass . Transferred to the Zouaves ( 1848 – 50 ) , he defeated the Kabyles , and in 1849 displayed both courage and energy in reinforcing the blockaded garrison of Bou Saada , and in command of one of the attacking columns at Zaatcha ( December 1849 ) . For his valour on the latter occasion he received the rank of general of brigade and the commandership of the Legion of Honour . He led the expedition against Narah in 1850 and destroyed the Arab stronghold . Summoned to Paris , he was made " aide - de - camp " to the president , Louis - Napoléon Bonaparte , and took part in the " coup d ' état " of December 2 , 1851 . In the Crimean War he commanded a division at the Battle of Alma , where he was twice wounded . He held a dormant commission entitling him to command in case of Saint - Arnaud ' s death , and he thus succeeded to the chief command of the French army a few days after the battle . He was slightly wounded and had a horse killed under him at Inkerman , when leading a charge of Zouave s . Disagreements with the British commander - in - chief , Lord Raglan , and in general , the disappointments due to the prolongation of the siege of Sevastopol led to his resignation of the command , but he did not return to France , preferring to serve as chief of his old division almost up to the fall of Sevastopol . After his return to France in August 1855 he was sent on diplomatic missions to Denmark and Sweden , and created a Marshal of France and a Senator for Life . He was also made grand cross Legion of Honour , and honorary Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath . He commanded the III Army Corps in Lombardy in 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence , distinguishing himself at Magenta and Solferino . He successively commanded the camp at Châlons , the IV army corps at Lyon and the army of Paris . During the Franco - Prussian War he commanded the VI army corps , which was almost annihilated at Mars - la - Tour and at the Gravelotte , where Canrobert commanded on the Saint - Privat position . The VI Corps was amongst those shut up in Metz and included in the surrender of that besieged fortress . After the war Canrobert was appointed a member of the superior council of war , and was also active in political life , being elected Senator for Lot in 1876 and for Charente in 1879 and again in 1885 . He died in Paris and was buried in the Hôtel des Invalides , receiving a state funeral : due to Canrobert ' s role in the coup of December 1851 and in the French defeat at Metz , it provoked protests from a deputy of the left , Gustave Hubbard , who was subsequently badly wounded during a duel by Canrobert ' s firstborn son . The Marshal married in 1863 Leila - Flora MacDonald , daughter of a captain of the British army and a great granddaughter of the Jacobite heroine Flora MacDonald . They had a daughter and two sons . His memoirs ( " Souvenirs " ) were published in 1898 at Paris .