Gallifet
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GASTON ALEXANDRE AUGUSTE, MARQUIS DE, a French general; born in Paris, GALLINULINÆ France, Jan. 23, 1830. He joined the army in April, 1848, and became colonel in December, 1867. He served in the Crimea, Mexico (severely wounded at Puebla, 1863), Algeria (1860-1868). He commanded the 3d Regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique, took part with the Army of the Rhine during the Franco-German War, being made prisoner at Sedan, and was promoted to the rank of General of Brigade, Aug. 30, 1870. During the second siege of Paris he commanded a brigade of the Army of Versailles, and distinguished severity to the was for Communard prisoners. In 1872 he was sent to Africa and had a considerable share in the pacification of the unsubdued tribes. He took charge of the expedition on El-Goliah, executed a rapid march through a desert country and severely punished the revolted tribes (December, 1872-March, 1873). On the general reorganization of the army, the Marquis de Gallifet was named to the command of the 3d Brigade of Infantry of the 8th Army Corps, and of the subdivision of the department of the Cher, Promoted to the rank of General of Division, May 3, 1875, he obtained the command of the 1st Division of Cavalry, and in February, 1879, that of the 9th Regiment. He was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1855, made officer in 1863, and commander in 1873; Member of the Council of War in 1885, and Minister of War in 1899. He died July 8, 1909.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's, writing in 1921 only twelve years after his death, notes that Galliffet (the usual modern spelling doubles the f) showed "severity to the Communard prisoners" during the crushing of the Paris Commune in 1871, and lists his appointment as Minister of War in 1899 without comment. Both of those lines have since become the whole of his reputation: historians of the semaine sanglante treat him as one of the officers responsible for summary executions of prisoners, and he is widely known as the "butcher of the Commune," while his year at the War Ministry under Waldeck-Rousseau is now remembered for the pardon of Alfred Dreyfus in September 1899, which Collier's does not mention at all. Dreyfus himself was fully exonerated in 1906, three years before Galliffet died. His most durable legacy is sartorial: the flared cavalry breeches he favoured, the culotte Galliffet, gave Russian its ordinary word for riding breeches, galife.
Written for this edition, 2026.