Armand Alexandre de Castagny

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Armand Alexandre de Castagny (30 November 1807 – 13 November 1900) was a French general who served for 43 years. As a young lieutenant he helped defend Antwerp during the 1832 siege and later served in Algiers. He fought in all the Wars of the Second Empire. At the start of the Crimean War he was a lieutenant colonel and became a colonel of light infantry; he fought in the Battle of the Chernaya and earned many decorations. In 1859, as a brigade general in the Italian campaign, he led the 2nd Zouaves and the Foreign Legion. He was with General Espinasse when Magenta happened. In the Franco-Mexican War he helped in the siege of Puebla, then marched toward Monterrey and into the Sierra Madre Oriental toward Mazatlán. Promoted to general of division in 1864, Maximilian I put him in charge of the Northwest and sent him on a difficult mission to Sonora and Sinaloa. He burned the city of San Sebastián and shot Nicolás Romero and his followers. In 1870, during the Franco‑Prussian War, Castagny commanded a division of the 3rd Army Corps. He fought at Forbach and at Borny–Colombey, where he was badly wounded. After returning from captivity he joined the General Staff in 1872. He retired in 1878, first near Nantes and then in Paris, finally settling in Belle‑Île‑en‑Mer. He died in 1900 in Vannes at age 93, after a 43-year military career.