Editing Aimable Pélissier

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Aimable Pélissier
| image         = Portret van maarschalk Aimable Pélissier tijdens de Krimoorlog Maréchal Pelissier (titel op object), RP-F-F80055.jpg
| image_size    =
| caption       = [[Marshal of France|Maréchal]] '''Aimable Pélissier, duc de Malakoff''', {{circa|1855}}
| nickname      =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1794|11|06|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Maromme]], [[First French Republic|France]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1864|05|22|1794|11|06|df=y}}
| death_place   = Algiers, [[French Algeria|Algeria]]
| placeofburial =
| allegiance    = {{flag|Bourbon Restoration}}<br />{{flag|July Monarchy}}<br />{{flag|French Second Republic}}<br />{{flag|Second French Empire}}
| branch        = [[French Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1818–1864
| rank          = [[Marshal of France|Maréchal de France]]
| unit          =
| commands      =
| battles       = [[Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis|Spanish Campaign]]<br />[[French conquest of Algeria|Conquest of Algeria]]<br />[[Crimean War]]
* [[Battle of the Chernaya]]
| awards        = [[Legion of Honour]] (Grand Chancelier)
| relations     =
| laterwork     =
| signature     = Signatur Aimable Pélissier.PNG
}}
'''Aimable-Jean-Jacques Pélissier''', '''1st Duc de Malakoff''' (6 November 1794{{snd}}22 May 1864), was a [[Marshal of France]]. He served in Algeria where he became widely known for his cruel conduct and extermination of entire tribes. He also served elsewhere, and as a general commanded the French forces in the [[Crimean War]].

== Biography ==
Pélissier was born at [[Maromme]] (''[[Seine-Maritime|Seine Inférieure]]''), of a family of prosperous artisans, his father being employed in a powder-magazine. After attending the [[military college of La Flèche]] and the special school of [[École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr|St Cyr]], he entered the army in 1815 as second-lieutenant in an [[artillery]] regiment. Brilliant examination results in 1819 secured his appointment to the staff. He served as ''[[aide-de-camp]]'' in the Spanish campaign of 1823, and in the [[Morea expedition]] 1828–1829. In 1830, he took part in the expedition to Algeria, and on his return was promoted to the rank of ''[[chef d'escadron]]''.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Pélissier, Aimable Jean Jacques|volume=21|pages=68–69}} Endnote: See Marbaud, ''Le Maréchal Pélissier'' (1863), [[Hippolyte Castille|Castille]], ''Portraits historiques'', 2nd series (1859).</ref>

After some years of staff service in Paris, he was again sent to Algeria as chief of staff of the province of [[Oran]] with the rank of [[lieutenant-colonel]], and remained there until the [[Crimean War]], taking a leading part in many important operations.  However, the severity of his conduct in suffocating the whole Ouled Riah tribe in the Dahra or Dahna caves, near [[Mostaganem]], where they had taken refuge (18 June 1845), aroused such indignation in Europe that [[Marshal Soult]], the minister of war, publicly expressed his regret; but [[Thomas Robert Bugeaud de la Piconnerie|Marshal Bugeaud]], the governor-general of Algeria, not only approved, but secured for Pélissier the rank of [[général de brigade]] (Brigadier-General), which he held until 1850, when he was promoted to [[général de division]] (Major-General).<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1852 he successfully commanded the [[Siege of Laghouat]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Aimable Pélissier.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Maréchal Pélissier, by [[Henryk Rodakowski]], {{circa|1857}}]]
After the battles of October and November 1854 before [[Sevastopol]], Pélissier was sent to the [[Crimean Peninsula|Crimea]], where on 16 May 1855 he succeeded [[François Certain Canrobert|Marshal Canrobert]] as commander-in-chief of the French forces before the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|Siege of Sevastopol]]. His command was marked by relentless pressure of the enemy and unalterable determination to conduct the campaign without interference from Paris. His perseverance was crowned with success in the storming of the [[battle of Malakoff|Tower of Malakoff]] on 8 September which ended the Siege of Sevastopol, crowning the Anglo-French [[Crimean War]] against Russia with victory. On the 12th he was promoted to marshal. On his return to Paris he was named [[Senate of France|senator]], created ''Duke of Malakoff'' (22 July 1856; the only other victory title awarded by Napoleon III, also ducal, was for the victory by [[Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta|Patrice de MacMahon]] in the [[battle of Magenta]], in the Italian campaign), and rewarded with a grant of 100,000 [[franc]]s per annum.<ref name="EB1911"/>

From March 1858 to May 1859, he was French ambassador in London, but was recalled to take command of the army of observation on the [[Rhine]]. In the same year, he became Grand Chancellor of the [[Legion of Honour]]. In 1860, he was appointed [[Governor-General]] of unruly colony of Algeria.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[Excellency|His Excellency]] the Duke died there in 1864, when the [[duke]]dom became extinct.<ref name="EB1911"/>

== Honours ==
* {{flag|Second French Empire}}: Baton of [[Marshal of France|Maréchal de France]]
* {{flag|Second French Empire}}: Grand Chancelier and Grand Croix of the [[Legion of Honour]]   
* {{flag|Second French Empire}}: [[Médaille militaire]]
* {{flag|Bourbon Restoration}}: [[Order of Saint Louis]]
* {{flag|Spain}}: [[Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand]]
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: Honorary Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Bath]] (military division), ''12 November 1855''<ref>Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) ''The Knights of England'', '''I''', London, [https://archive.org/details/cu31924092537418/page/n281/mode/2up p. 191]</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: [[Crimea Medal]]
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]]
* {{flag|Kingdom of Sardinia}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Military Order of Savoy]]
* {{flag|Kingdom of Sardinia}}: [[Sardinian Crimea Medal]]
* {{flag|Kingdom of Portugal}}: [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]]
* {{flag|Tunisia}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Glory (Tunisia)|Order of Glory]]
* {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Medjidie]]

==See also==
* [[List of Ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/napoleon.htm#2nd Heraldica.org- Napoleonic heraldry]

==Popular culture==
In 1855, [[Stephen Glover (composer)|Stephen Glover]] wrote [https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Duke_of_Malakoff%27s_March_(Glover,_Stephen_Ralph) The Duke of Malakoff's March].

{{Commons category|Aimable Pélissier}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Rulers of Algeria}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelissier, Aimable}}
[[Category:1794 births]]
[[Category:1864 deaths]]
[[Category:Algerian genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Dukes of Malakoff|Aimable Pelissier]]
[[Category:Marshals of France]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:French senators of the Second Empire]]
[[Category:École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni]]
[[Category:Grand Chancellors of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:19th-century French diplomats]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Governors general of Algeria]]