François Achille Bazaine

François Achille Bazaine (February 13, 1811 – September 23, 1888) is an officer of the French army.

Rising from the ranks, during four decades of distinguished service (including thirtyt-five years on campaign) under Louis-Philippe and then Napoleon III, he holds every rank in the army from Fusilier to Marshal of France.

He becomes renowned for his determination to lead from the front, for his impassive bearing under fire and for personal bravery verging on the foolhardy, which resulted in him being wounded on numerous occasions and having his horse shot from under him twice.

From 1863 he is a Marshal of France, and it is in this role that he surrenders the last organized French army to Prussia during the Franco-Prussian war, during the siege of Metz.

Sentenced to death by the government of the Third Republic following the war, his sentence is commuted to twenty years imprisonment in exile, from which he subsequently escapes.

He eventually settles in Spain where aged seventy-seven, he dies alone and impoverished in 1888.

To the Foreign Legion he remains a hero and to this day is honored as one of their bravest soldiers.

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