Adolphe Niel

Adolphe Niel
Born 4 October 1802 (1802-10-04)
Muret, France
Died 13 August 1869 (1869-08-14) (aged 66)
Paris, France
Allegiance France
Service/branch French Army
Years of service 1827–1869
Rank General de division
Commands held IV Corps, Army of Italy
Battles/wars Crimean War
Franco-Austrian War
Awards Marshal of France
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor
Médaille militaire
Other work Minister of War

Adolphe Niel (4 October 1802 – 13 August 1869) was a French Army general and statesman, also Marshal of France.

He was born at Muret, Haute-Garonne and entered the École Polytechnique in 1821. Niel entered the engineer school at Metz, became lieutenant in the Engineers Corps in 1827, and captain in 1833. At the storming of Constantine, Algeria, Niel led the engineer detachment with one of the storming parties, and his conduct gained for him the rank of chef de bataillon in 1837. Niel was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1840 and to colonel in 1846. His next war service was as Chief of Staff to General Vaillant during the 1849 siege of Rome, after which he was made general of brigade and director of engineer services at headquarters.[1]

In 1851, Niel became a member of the Committee of Fortifications. He became a member of the council of state in 1852 and in 1853 was promoted to general of the division. In the first part of the Crimean War, Niel was employed in the expedition to the Baltic Sea and directed engineering operations against Bomarsund. Early in 1855 Niel was sent to the Crimea, where he succeeded General Bizot as chief of engineers. For some years Niel had been the most trusted military adviser of Napoleon III, and he was now empowered to advise the generals on the spot in accordance with the wishes of the sovereign and the home government.[1]

Niel managed to carry out this delicate and difficult task with as much success as could be expected, and he directed siege operations at the Battle of Malakoff. His reward was the grand cross of the Légion d'honneur. From 1855 to 1859 Niel was employed at headquarters and also served in the French Senate. In the war against the Austrians, Niel commanded the IV Corps and took part in the Battle of Magenta and the Battle of Solferino. Niel was made a marshal of France on the field at Solferino.[1]

After he served for some years in a home command, Niel became minister of war and held the position from 1867 to 1869. In this capacity he drafted and began to carry out a far-reaching scheme of army reform, based on universal service and the automatic creation of large reserves which needed only time to mature.[1] Under his system, those men who had purchased exemption from conscription into the army would nonetheless be called up into a new service, the Garde Mobile. He also was able to rearm the whole of the army with the chassepot rifle, but not the Garde Mobile. He did not live to complete the development of his system.[1]

Niel died in Paris during an operation for a bladder stone, and a year later the Franco-Prussian War destroyed the old imperial army upon which the new formations were to have been grafted.[1]

Decorations

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Niel, Adolphe". Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 670.
Preceded by
Jacques Louis Randon		 Minister of War
20 January 1867 – 13 August 1869 		Succeeded by
Charles Rigault de Genouilly
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