Maréchal Randon
(1795-1871)

Jacques Louis César Alexandre Randon, 1st Comte Randon, was a French military and political leader, also a Marshal of France and governor of Algeria. He was briefly Minister of War in 1851 and then again from 1859 to 1867.

Born on 25 March 1795 at Grenoble in Dauphiné of a Protestant family, he enlisted in the French Army at sixteen, joining his uncle, General Marchand, in Warsaw, where he was promoted to sergeant on 11 April 1812. He served in the Russian campaign and was present at the taking of Moscow and the disastrous retreat to France through the Russian winter. He then fought in Napoléon’s army in Germany and France.

After the Hundred Days, his advancement stopped. Eventually, his progression in the military hierarchy continued under the July Monarchy. Between 1838 and 1847, he was stationed in Algeria. He was appointed governor-general of Algeria on 11 December 1851, a post he held until the creation of a special ministry for Algeria and the colonies on 24 June 1858.