Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers

Louis-Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, 1st Comte Baraguey d'Hilliers (6 September 1795 – 6 June 1878), was a Marshal of France and politician.

Baraguey d'Hilliers was born in Paris, the son of the French revolutionary general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers. He was educated at the Prytanée National Militaire and joined the Grande Armée. Baraguey d'Hilliers served as a second lieutenant in the Russian campaign of 1812, and in 1813 was an aide-de-camp to Marshal Marmont at the Battle of Leipzig, where he lost his left hand. He was then appointed commander-in-chief of the French troops that invaded the revolutionary Roman Republic, in 1849, in the context of the First Italian War of Independence.

In 1851, he replaced as commander of the army of Paris Nicolas Changarnier, whom President Napoleon Louis Bonaparte distrusted, and was a supporter of the latter's coup d'état later in that year. In 1853, Baraguey d'Hilliers was sent to Constantinople as ambassador extraordinaire, and recalled in 1854. During the Crimean War he was given command of the expeditionary force destined for the Baltic Sea. After capturing Bomarsund, Baraguey d'Hilliers was promoted to Marshal of France and made a Senator of the French Second Empire. He would later serve as vice-president of the French Senate. During the Italian campaign of 1859, Baraguey d'Hilliers commanded the I Corps with which he distinguished himself by capturing the town of Solferino during the Battle of Solferino. After the war he was given command of V Corps in Tours.

Made governor of Paris in 1870, by his frankness he made himself unpopular with the Empress Eugénie and with Count Palikao. On 12 August, he was replaced by Trochu. After the end of the Franco-Prussian War, Adolphe Thiers made him president of a commission investigating the causes of the French defeat. He died in 1878 in Amélie-les-Bains.

Honours Baton of Maréchal de France Grand Croix of the Legion of Honour Médaille militaire Commemorative medal of the 1859 Italian Campaign Saint Helena Medal Crimea Medal Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus