François Certain de Canrobert
François Marcellin Certain de Canrobert (born François Certain Canrobert; 27 June 1809 – 28 January 1895) was a French Marshal. He demonstrated ability during the Second French Empire while participating in the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Magenta, the Battle of Solferino and the Battle of Gravelotte. A staunch supporter of Napoleon III, he became, under the French Third Republic, one of the leading figures in the Bonapartist party () and chairman, from 1876 to 1894, of the Senate () within the French parliamentary group "Call upon the people" (). Biography. Family background. François Certain de Canrobert was born  in Saint-Céré in Lot, where a statue (1897) in his effigy was erected in "place de la République" due to Alfred Lenoir. At his birth, his father, Antoine Certain Canrobert, a former captain, was already 55 years old. This officer of the Ancien Regime had emigrated in 1791 and served in the Armée de Condé (). His half-brother, Antoine, a brilliant officer and graduate of Saint-Cyr, was killed by a cannonball at the Battle of Ligny () on June 16, 1815, while fighting for Emperor Napoleon I. Through his father’s sister, Marie-Louise, François Certain de Canrobert was  the cousin of Adolphe and Marcellin Marbot, who became respectively maréchal de camp (général de brigade) and lieutenant-général (général de division) during the July Monarchy of 1830-1848. Early military career. On 19 November 1826, aged 17, Canrobert entered the École Royale spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr where he was designated as a caporal (corporal) on 18 May 1828. At his graduation, he was posted to the 47th Line Infantry Regiment () (RIL), with the rank of Sous-lieutenant starting 1 October. He served until 1840 and was promoted to lieutenant on 20 January 1832. North Africa. In 1835 he  arrived with his unit in Algeria, where he engaged in combat on the edges of Oued Sig and Habra. In 1836 he fought in actions at Dar el Achen, Tafna, Sidi Yacoub, La Silal and Bet el Laham. He was designated as Lieutenant Adjudant Major on 28 September 1836. On 26 April 1837 he was promoted to captain and occupied the function of Captain Adjudant Major. He took part in the combat of Medjeoly-Amar and the Siege of Constantine () where, as an assistant to colonel Michel Combes (), he was wounded, Thus, at the age of 27, Canrobert earned the  Knight Cross of the Legion d'honneur. He was assigned to the 6th Chasseurs Battalion à Pied (), on 17 October 1840. He took part in the battle of col de Mouzaïa in 1840 (). In the following year, he participated in actions at de Nador, de Moursia and confronted the Flittas. Designated as chef de bataillon (commandant – major) on 22 May 1842, he joined the 13th Light Infantry Regiment (). On 16 October he transferred to the 5th Chasseurs Battalion à Pied (), where he gained the Officer Order of the Legion d'honneur while demonstrating combat capability at Gontas, Baal, Tadjena, Battle of Sidi  Brahim (), then near Oued Lemig, during the combat Isly and at Riou. Promoted lieutenant-colonel, on October 26, 1845, he was assigned to the 16th Line Infantry Regiment (), on 4 September. On 8 June 1847 he was assigned to the 2nd Line Infantry Regiment () and commanded the subdivision of Batna. Transfer to the Legion. Promoted to colonel, on 8 November, he was assigned to the 78th Line Infantry Regiment () which he left on 31 March 1848 to take up the functions of regimental commander of the 2nd Foreign Legion Regiment 2 R.E.L.E, while simultaneously maintaining the subdivision of Batna. With  this unit, he took on Ahmed Bey (). In June he substituted for colonel Jean-François de Cariés de Senilhes () and took command of the 3rd Zouaves Regiment () and the subdivision of Sour El-Ghozlane. In 1849 he was in Beni Mélikech, Sameur, Al Amri. Then he commanded at the battle of Zaatcha (). He accordingly earned the Commander Neck Order of the Legion d'honneur on December 10. General of the Second Empire. Recalled to France by the Prince-President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, he was designated as maréchal de camp (général de brigade) starting 12 January 1850. He was nominated as commandant  of the infantry brigade of the 1st Division of Paris, on 8 March 1850, then to the command of the 3rd Brigade on 9 February 1851; he contributed to the success in Paris of the French coup d'état of 1851. In the afternoon of 4 December 1851, on the Boulevards Montmarte and Poissonnière, the soldiers of the Division commanded by Canrobert came into contact with a crowd formed of the curious and protestors. In a certain confusion, the soldiers opened fire. The carnage resulted in a hundred to 300 dead as well as hundreds of wounded, however on the night  of 4 December the Parisian resistance to the coup collapsed. The result then, was 300 to 400 persons killed, not counting the soldiers. While two-thirds of the protestors comprised workers, amongst them also featured the innocent and curious, victims of the division of Canrobert on the grand boulevards. In all France, 26,884 people were arrested, essentially in the South-East, the South-West and a couple of departments in the Center. Almost 21,000 people were condemned by mixed commissions (composed in each department by prefects, a general, and a magistrate) out of which 9,530 ended in transportation to Algeria  and 239 were sent to Cayenne in Guiana. On the other hand and quite quickly, all pronounced repression measures declared by the 82 mixed commissions worried President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who delegated in extraordinary mission, generals Canrobert, Espinasse, and State Council Quentin Bauchart, in order to revise the arrest decisions taken and to prepare acts of "grâce" (forgiving the condemned by mercy). Espinasse and Canrobert, placed in charge of the South-West and Languedoc, showed little indulgence towards the condemned, they both accorded a little more than a thousand acts of forgiveness, while State Counselor Quentin-Bauchart, charged with the  South-East, accorded alone 3,400 forgiveness sentences, while Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in his own right forgave numerous condemnations. Following these events Canrobert gained the function of aide de camp to the Prince-President, and later to the Emperor. Promoted Général de division on 14 January 1853, he commanded the infantry division at camp Helfaut-Saint Omer, as of 27 April. In May he became the inspector general of the 5th Infantry Arrondissement for the year 1853 before being designated to the infantry division of the Orient Army on 23 February 1854. Crimea. As Général de division, he participated to the  Crimean War of 1853-1856 and became commander in chief after Marshal Saint-Arnaud, who died in September 1854. He took part in action at Dobruja (July 1854) and in the Battle of Alma (20 September 1854), where he was slightly wounded. He was elevated to the Grand Officer Order of the Legion d'honneur on 1 October. Present at the Battle of Balaclava (25 October 1854) and the Battle of Inkerman, he was wounded during the course of the latter, on 5 November 1854. He was accordingly promoted to the Order of the Grand-Croix of the Légion d'honneur. On  13 January 1855, he received the Medaille Militaire. Judged too timorous, he was relieved by general Aimable Pélissier (16 May 1855). He accordingly reassumed command of his former division, which became the 1st Infantry Division of the 2nd Corps. This situation having become difficult, Napoleon III insisted that Canrobert return to France. After several refusals, in August 1855 Canrobert returned to Paris to take up his functions as aide de camp. His disputes with Lord Raglan, general of the British Army, obliged him to relinquish his command. On March 18, 1856, he was elevated to the dignity of Marshal of  France. Italy. In February 1858 he commanded the division of the East at Nancy, then the Camp de Châlons, starting from 1 June 1858. On 22 April 1859 he received the command of the 3rd Army Corps of the Alpes and participated in the campaign of Italy from April to July, passing by Turin, Dorial, Balba, Magenta and Solferino. He distinguished himself during the Battle of Magenta (4 June 1859) and was a major contributor to the victory at the Battle of Solferino on 24 June 1859. France. He then joined the garrison at Nancy with his army corps. He  became commandant of the 3rd Military Arrondissement at Nancy, on 27 August. In 1862 he commanded the troops of the Camp de Châlons, then took command of the 4th Army Corps at Lyon, starting in October. On 22 June 1856 he commanded the 1st Army Corps of the 1st Military Division of Paris. 1870-1871. Following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War on 19 July 1870, on 12 August 1870, Canrobert declined to take command of the Army of the Rhine, petrified by the responsibilities which would ensue. Abandoning the post to Bazaine, Canrobert became an obedient subordinate. He  took part in the battles of Sainte-Barbe, Noisseville and Landonchamps. On August 16/18, he commanded the 6th Army Corps and demonstrated distinguished capability at Saint-Privat where he shook three corps of Général von Steinmetz and decimated the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Prussian Guard (). However, due to a mistake in the supply of ammunition and reinforcements, he abandoned his position. He was made prisoner - with Marshal Bazaine - during the surrender of Metz on 28 October 1870. Following several months in captivity, he was liberated and returned to France in March 1871. End of his military career and political  career. He was accordingly designated as President of the advancing commission of the infantry then a member of the Conseil supérieur de la guerre in 1872, member of the defense committee in 1873. He led a political career in the "Call upon the people" group (), while being elected as Senator of Lot in 1876, the Senator of Charente in 1879, a function which he held until 1894. His colleague Victor Hugo, would not be tender for him: « J'ai vu Canrobert au Sénat. Caboche de reître. Méchant, mais bête (Victor Hugo :"I saw Canrobert in the Senate. Full of Cavaliering. Mean  but silly. Close to President-Marshal Duke de Mac Mahon, he voted, in June 1877, for the dissolution of the Chamber and supported the Government of Albert de Broglie (). In 1873, he represented the French Government at the funeral of King Victor Emmanuel II. A well-known figure of the Bonapartist Party, his participation in the political debates was mainly focused on military issues. He voted in general on the conservative side, most notably against law projects on education, against judicial reforms, against the expulsion of princes or against divorce, abstaining on the reestablishment of the voting arrondissement or the  restricted law project of the freedom of the press. "Doyen" of the Marshals of France of his époque, he attended the funeral of President-Marshal Duke de Mac-Mahon and was saluted by Russian Admiral Avellane on behalf of the Russian Emperor (). This was his last public official appearance. He died in his Parisian home, on January 28, 1895. His funeral was celebrated on Sunday, February 3, 1895, at the Church of Saint-Louis-des-Invalides where he was buried. Amiral Henri Rieunier, Ministère de la Marine, was designated to hold one of the five cordons of the funeral chariot . He was the owner of the Eglantine Castle, which since 1991 has housed the Musée de la toile de Jouy. Honors and posterity. The name of Canrobert was given to: