Camille de Polignac
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Major-General Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Nickname(s) | Prince Polecat |
| Born |
February 16, 1832 Millemont, Seine-et-Oise, France |
| Died | November 15, 1913 (aged 81) Paris, France |
| Buried | Hauptfriedhof, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Allegiance |
 Second French Empire Confederate States
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| Service/branch |
French Army Confederate States Army
|
| Years of service | 1853 - 1859, 1870 - 1871 (France) 1861 - 1865 (CSA) |
| Rank |
Brigadier General (France) Major General (CSA) |
Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac (February 16, 1832 – November 15, 1913) was a French nobleman who served with the Confederates in the American Civil War, living on to become the last surviving Confederate major-general.
After service in the French army in the Crimea, Polignac was travelling in America at the outbreak of war, when he sided with the south. He distinguished himself as a brigadier in the Red River Campaign, notably at the Battle of Mansfield, after which he was promoted divisional commander. Polignac was well-liked by his troops, who found his name hard to pronounce and called him ‘Prince Polecat’, which he apparently found amusing.
Returning to France, he commanded a division in the Franco-Prussian War, before devoting himself to the study of mathematics and music.
Polignac was born in Millemont, Seine-et-Oise, France, into one of the most famous families of the French nobility. His grandmother, Gabrielle, had been a famous aristocratic beauty and Queen Marie-Antoinette's closest friend. His father was Jules, Prince de Polignac, who had been a passionate supporter of absolute monarchy and chief minister during the reign of King Charles X of France, who trusted him implicitly and shared his political sympathies. Through his first cousin twice removed, Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois, he was related to the Grimaldis of Monaco, a family who still rule that principality today.
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