Gallifet, Gaston-Auguste, marquis de

(1830-1909)

   general

   Born in Paris, Gaston-Auguste, marquis de Gallifet was an ordnance officer in the army of napoléon III, and was severely wounded in Mexico during the siege of Puebla (1863). Placed in charge of the African Chausseurs in 1870, at the beginning of the franco-prussian war he was taken prisoner at Sedan (September 2, 1870). Upon returning to France, he took command of the army at Versailles and became known for the violence with which he suppressed the commune of Paris. Sent shortly after to be commander of a subdivision at Batna, Algeria, he led a campaign into southern Algeria. Governor of Paris (1880), he was named minister of war in the cabinet of pierre waldeck-rousseau at the time of the Dreyfus affair (1899), but he was replaced in 1900.