Jacques Albert Verly was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica, on 5 January 1815, was a French

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, accompanying him in many battles, and a member of the

Cent-gardes Squadron The Cent-gardes Squadron ( French: L'Escadron des Cent-gardes), also called ''Cent Gardes à Cheval'' (Hundred Guardsmen on Horseback), was an elite cavalry squadron of the Second French Empire primarily responsible for protecting the person of t ...

created in May 1854. He died in Paris on 25 July 1883.

Biography

Jacques Albert Verly was the son of a plantation owner of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

. Orphan at age 6, he studied in France and then enlisted in the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

in 1833. Becoming

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in 1841, he was appointed Lieutenant to the 6th

Chasseur ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army o ...

s Regiment in July 1843, and Lieutenant in 1847. In 1848 he becomes commanding officer of the armed forces of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1852, he moved on to the Regiment of Guides, embryo of the guard which provided security for the Prince President. This contact with the future Emperor favors him and then he moves on to the Cent-gardes Squadron. In the middle of his social life, richly married, he took part in military campaigns accompanying the Emperor Napoleon III. He was seriously wounded in the arm on 24 June 1859 at

Solferino Solferino ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a small town and municipality in the province of Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, approximately south of Lake Garda. It is best known as being close to the site of the Battle of Solferino on 24 June 1859, part ...

. Lieutenant Colonel in October 1859, and then again

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 26 October 1864, he is kept commanding the Cent Guards as a sign of imperial favor. He is made Baron of the empire in 1867, Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1869, receiving numerous foreign decorations thereafter. Despite being linked to the splendor of the empire, he suddenly falls prisoner of the emperor in Sedan. Verly is set to compulsory retirement by the republic in October 1870.

References

External links

Souvenirs du Second Empire
by Albert Verly at

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

1815 births 1883 deaths French Army officers Military personnel from Kingston, Jamaica French people of Haitian descent 19th-century Jamaican people {{France-mil-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links