Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier

Born Nov. 6, 1794, in Maromme, Seine-Maritime Department; died May 22, 1864, in Algiers. Marshal of France (1855), duke of Malakhov (1856).

Pélissier graduated from military school at St. Cyr in 1815. He fought in the suppression of the Spanish Revolution of 1823 and in the 1830’s and 1840’s in the operations to conquer Algeria. He became infamous for his extreme cruelty toward the Arab population. During the Crimean War of 1853–56 he fought in the siege of Sevastopol’. In January 1855 he became commander of the I Corps, and in May 1855 of the French Army in the Crimea. He directed the final assaults on Sevastopol’, when the Malakhov Kurgan was captured. In 1858–59 he was ambassador to Great Britain. During the Austro-Italo-French War of 1859, he commanded the Rhine Army. In 1860 he became governor-general of Algeria.