Louis-Eugène Cavaignac | |
---|---|
Chief of the Executive Power | |
In office 28 June 1848 – 20 December 1848 |
|
Preceded by | Executive Commission |
Succeeded by |
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte as President of the Republic |
20th Prime Minister of France | |
In office 28 June 1848 – 20 December 1848 |
|
Preceded by | François Arago |
Succeeded by | Odilon Barrot |
Minister of War | |
In office 17 May 1848 – 29 June 1848 |
|
President | Executive Commission |
Prime Minister | François Arago |
Preceded by | Jean-Baptiste-Adolphe Charras |
Succeeded by | Juchault de Lamoricière |
In office 20 March 1848 – 5 April 1848 |
|
President | Jacques Dupont de l’Eure |
Prime Minister | Jacques Dupont de l’Eure |
Preceded by | Jacques Gervais Subervie |
Succeeded by | François Arago |
Governor of Algeria | |
In office 24 February 1848 – 29 April 1848 |
|
President | Jacques Dupont de l’Eure |
Prime Minister | Jacques Dupont de l’Eure |
Preceded by | Henri d'Orléans |
Succeeded by | Nicolas Changarnier |
Personal details | |
Born | 15 October 1802 Paris |
Died | 28 October 1857 Ourne, Sarthe |
(aged 55)
Political party | Republican |
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (French pronunciation: [lwi øʒɛn kavɛɲak]; 15 October 1802 in Paris – 28 October 1857) was a French general who put down a massive rebellion in Paris in 1848, known as the June Days Uprising. This was a 4-day riot against the Provisional Government, in which Cavaignac was the newly appointed Minister of War, but soon had to be granted dictatorial powers in order to suppress the revolt. By adopting ruthless methods, he achieved his objective, though some have claimed that he spent too long preparing for the operation, allowing the mob to strengthen their defences. He received the thanks of parliament, but failed to be elected president, losing heavily to Louis-Napoleon.
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac was the second son of Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac and brother of Éléonore Louis Godefroi Cavaignac.
After going through the usual course of study for the military profession, he entered the army as an engineer officer in 1824, and served in the Morea (Peloponnesus) in 1828, becoming captain in the following year. When the revolution of 1830 broke out he was stationed at Arras, and was the first officer of his regiment to declare for the new order of things. In 1831 he was removed from active duty in consequence of his declared republicanism, but in 1832 he was recalled to the service and sent to Algeria.
This continued to be the main sphere of his activity for sixteen years, and he won special distinction in his fifteen months' command of the exposed garrison of Tlemcen, a command for which he was selected by Marshal Bertrand Clausel (1836–1837), and in the defence of Cherchell (1840). Almost every step of his promotion was gained on the field of battle, and in 1844 the duc d'Aumale himself asked for Cavaignac's promotion to the rank of maréchal de camp. This was made in the same year, and he held various district commands in Algeria up to 1848, when the provisional government appointed him governor-general of the province with the rank of general of division.