Auguste Mercier

Auguste Mercier (8 December 1833, Arras – 3 March 1921, Paris) was a French general and Minister of War at the time of the Dreyfus Affair.

Auguste Mercier entered the École Polytechnique at the age of 19 in 1852, and came 4th in a class of 106. He continued for a second period in 1854 and chose to enter the artillery.

Appointed in 1856 as a second lieutenant in the 13th Regiment of Mounted Artillery, then in 1856, he was assigned to the 2nd Regiment of Mounted Artillery. Subsequently he was assigned to the Regiment of Horse Artillery of the Guard.

Promoted to Lieutenant in 1857, he was appointed captain of the 18th Regiment of Horse Artillery in 1860 until December 1861. Next in 1862 he was posted to the 5th Regiment of Foot Artillery. In Mexico from 1862 to 1864, he was deputy commanding general of the depot. He ran the foundry during the siege of Puebla. He was a recipient of the Medal of Mexico, Knight of the Legion of Honour (1863), Knight of the Order of Guadalupe (1865), Knight of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus (It) (1865). He received the Order of Charles III in 1869, having accompanied a Spanish general during the Universal Exhibition of 1867.

In the countryside around Metz he was briefly a prisoner of war. He then commanded the 16th Battery of the 6th Artillery Regiment in the town. He fought in Neuilly, Courbevoie, and Asnieres. He distinguished himself in the capture of the fort of Issy (Officer of the Legion of Honour) and was present during operations in Paris from 22 May to 1 June 1871.

Mercier was responsible for the War portfolio in December 1893 in the cabinet of Casimir-Perier. He succeeded Julien Loizillon, who had replaced Charles de Freycinet at the beginning of 1893. His reputation was that of an intelligent and thoughtful officer, who had Republican sympathies. He was a Catholic, although he married an English Protestant who did not go to Mass, but was open to liberal ideas. He was polite, very talkative, very energetic, and had an amazing memory.

...
Wikipedia