Général de la Motte-Rouge
(1804-1883)

Trained at the École Militaire de Saint-Cyr between 1819 and 1821, he was posted to the Spanish expedition of 1823 as a second lieutenant in the 22nd Infantry. He was present at the battles of A Coruña and San Sebastián, and was part of the occupying forces in Madrid until 1825.

In 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, he was assigned to the Army of the North under Marshal Gérard and took part in the fighting against the Kingdom of Holland, which ended with the taking of Antwerp (December 1832); he was promoted to Captain.

After various assignments in the North of France, he was appointed brigadier general after the coup d'état of 1851. During the Crimean War he took part in the Battle of Alma and the Battle of Inkerman. Promoted Major General in June 1855, he received command of the 2nd Division of the Eastern Army and was twice wounded in the general assault that ended the battle of Traktir.

After having been commander of the 15th Military Division in Nantes, he was commander of the 1st Division of MacMahon's 2nd Army Corps at the beginning of the Italian Campaign (1859). His division fought in the battle of Turbigo and Magenta, and played a decisive role during the battle of Solferino. He retired from the Army in 1869.

However, after the débâcle of Sedan, the Government of National Defence reintegrated him into the army and entrusted him with the command of the 15th Army Corps stationed in Nantes, the first core of the Army of the Loire. The government ordered him to march on Orléans, which he reached on 6 October 1870, but his troops were beaten at Artenay by the Bavarian general von der Thann. He was forced to evacuate Orléans on 11 October. He was immediately dismissed and replaced by General d'Aurelles de Paladine.

He died at the Château de la Motte-Rouge at Hénanasal on 29 January 1883.