Prince de Polignac Camille Armand Jules Born: 16 FEB 1832 Millemont, Seine-et-Oise, FRANCE Sex: M Died: 15 NOV 1913 Cause: cerebral edema Buried: ? Frankfurt am Main, GERMANY Occupation: Major General, Confederate States of America
Relationship: 17. cousin 2+4 times removed, etc.
Ancestors:
Marriage(s) and Relationships: Married to: Knight, Elizabeth Marguerite of Wolverly Child:Prince of Polignac Victor Mansfield Alfred Child:Princess of Polignac Mabel Constance Child:Princess of Polignac Helen Agnes Anne Married to: Marie Langenberger 4 NOV 1874, Ingelheim
Child:Princess de Polignac Marie Armande MathildeNotes: Source: Leo van de Pas.
Also known as "Lafayette of the South". He later fought as a General, on
the French side, in the Franco- Prussian war.
Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac was born on February 16,
1832 at Millemont, Seine-et-Oise, France. His mother was English, while
his father was a prominent member of French society, and had previously
served as president of King Charles X's council of ministers. Polignac
attended St. Stanislaus College and later won first prize in a
European-wide mathematics contest. Entering the French Army in 1853, he
served in the Crimean War at Sevastopol as a Lieutenant. Resigning his
commission in 1859, he traveled to Central America to explore and study
plants. He was there when the War Between the States broke out.
Polignac had became acquainted with P.G.T. Beauregard during his travels,
and was invited by Beuaregard to tour the defenses of New Orleans, but
had to decline. Upon the secession of the Southern states, he wrote on
March 22, 1861 to Beauregard to offer his services to the Confederacy,
and suggested raising volunteers among the hardened veterans of European
wars. Beauregard's reply must have heartened Prince de Polignac for he
arrived in New York City on June 12, 1861.
He was to wait in that city for two months as he anticipated the arrival
of his commission from the Confederate government, and he look for an
opportunity to cross the border into the South. When quizzed by reporters
as to his intent, he plainly told them that he intended to offer his
services to the Confederacy. The New Yorkers were obviously aghast at his
declaration since he said in a letter to his brother Alphonse, "You can't
imagine the fury of the Northern papers at hearing of my intention to
serve the South. All that has been published in New York about this fact
is quite diverting and can give a good idea of the Yankee's exacerbated
feeling when at their peak."
In a letter to one of his soldiers after the war, General de Polignac
explained his views on the causes for the war, and why he elected to
serve the South. He said, "it is only necessary to recall into mind the
two main currents of political opinion which ran in the United States
prior to the war. In the North, more especially in New England, the
leading men of the day aimed at a greater concentration of political
power & advocated the supremacy of the Federal government over the
states. The Southern statesmen unanimously denounced that tendency as
unconstitutional. They contended that, in practice, it must end in
placing a dictatorial power in the hands of an oligarchy & would leave
all interests, general & local, at the mercy of a shifting majority. In
conformity with traditions established by the founders of the great
republic, they adhered to the doctrine of States-Rights as the only means
of preserving an equitable balance of power throughout the
Union. With these two conflicting political tendencies, viewed in the
abstract, the social question of domestic slavery had nothing whatever to
do. The two opposed doctrines & consequently the main issue would have
remained the same if slavery had already ceased to exist in the Southern
States, only in this case the Northern wire-pullers would have had to
screen their selfish aims & motives behind another less convenient
pretext."
No information survives of how General de Polignac crossed the borders
into the South, but different letters imply that his route was through
the Midwestern United States.
He was initially commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry on July
16, 1861, and assigned as General Beauregard's Chief of Staff. He served
in this capacity through the Shiloh and Corinth campaigns, and served in
the Kentucky campaign under Bragg. He was praised for his bravery at the
Battle of Richmond, Ky. when he picked up the colors of the 5. Tennessee
and carried them through the fight, calling on the men to stand firm. The
brigade commander under whom he served at Richmond was Colonel Preston
Smith, who said in his report, "I feel it due to a gallant foreigner to
call your attention to his bearing throughout these several bloody
conflicts_Lt. Colonel C. J. de Polignac though not born on this soil, a
stranger to nearly the entire command...has freely exposed himself to all
the dangers of warfare, leading the gallant little band of which he was
in command, temporarily, through the thickest of the fight and cheering
them on to victory. He deserves the thanks of the country."
Traveling to Richmond in November, 1862, he was to remain there for five
months, meeting many of the most famous persons associated with the
Confederacy. He met with President Davis on several occasions, and due to
shared tastes in music and literature, he was on familiar terms with the
First Lady of the Confederacy, Varina Davis. He met with Judah P.
Benjamin, Samuel Cooper, Stephan Mallory, and J. E. B. Stuart.
Because of his outstanding bravery at Richmond, Polignac was promoted to
Brigadier General on January 10, 1863, effective immediately. In March of
1863, he was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department. In early
1864, he was given command of a brigade of Texas infantry in Richard
Taylor's army. The Texans in the brigade were initially incensed at being
commanded by "a damned frog-eating Frenchman" whose name they could not
pronounce. To demonstrate their ire, the men dubbed Polignac as "Polecat"
and held their noses whenever he walked by. The men made their objections
known to General Taylor, who promised to transfer General Polignac if the
men were still dissatisfied after their first fight together. The first
chance for action came very soon thereafter, as Polignac's brigade was
sent on a sweep toward Vidalia, Louisiana to disperse jayhawkers, capture
horses, and break up Union lessee plantations. The assigned mission was
accomplished as well as engaging several Union gunboats on the Oachita
River near Harrisonburg. The grumbling in the brigade stopped as General
Taylor reported that the Frenchman had gained the brigade's confidence
due to his coolness under fire. In an assault made during the campaign,
General de Polignac was reported to have stood in his stirrups and
shouted, "Follow me! Follow me! You call me 'Polecat', I will show you
whether I am 'Polecat' or 'Polignac.'" The Texans responded by surging
forward with their rifles at 'carry' and their battle flags snapping in
the breeze.
After rejoining the army at Alexandria, the brigade was assigned to the
division of General Alfred Mouton. At the beginning of the Red River
Campaign, the brigade retreated with the army to Mansfield.
There on April 8, 1864, Taylor turned on the badly strung out Union army
commanded by Nathaniel Banks. In announcing his intent to make the fight
at Mansfield, Taylor called out to General de Polignac, "Little
Frenchman, I am going to fight Banks here if he has a million men."
Mouton's division was soon sent in a headlong charge across an open field
under withering fire. Mouton was quickly killed, and General Polignac had
to take over command of the badly shot up division. Taylor later wrote,
"The gallant Polignac pressed the shattered division stubbornly and
steadily onward". The day ended in a complete Confederate victory, the
Union forces having been pushed back several miles. Of the 2,200 men who
began the charge with General Mouton, 762 were left dead or wounded on
the field.
The next day, Polignac's division was held in reserve, due to the losses
suffered at Mansfield, when Taylor attacked Banks again at Pleasant Hill.
For several hours, the repeated Confederate assaults were beaten back,
and late in the day Polignac's division was also committed to the fray.
With a cry of "My boys, follow your Polignac", the division surged across
the field, only to suffer the same fate of the other unsuccessful
Confederate attacks. The division participated in the pursuit of Banks
and fought many skirmishes, and then suffered heavy losses attacking a
heavily fortified Union position at Yellow Bayou on May 18. Polignac's
men praised his performance during the campaign and gave him a horse as a
token of their esteem. General Polignac was promoted to Major General on
June 13, 1864, effective April 8, 1864, and given permanent command of
Mouton's division. Taylor received orders to cross the Mississippi to
assist in the defense of Mobile. However, Polignac's men threatened
mutiny when ordered to cross the heavily patrolled river, and several
hundred men actually deserted. Polignac's division was then ordered to
Arkansas instead.
After wintering in Arkansas, Polignac returned to Northern Louisiana and
volunteered to travel to France to request aid from Napoleon III. After
successfully running the blockade, the war ended while he was traveling
through Spain. After the war, Polignac returned to his French estate and
continued his academic career. He studied math and political economy, and
wrote numerous articles about the War Between the States.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he was commissioned a Major
General and led the 1. French Division in several battles, winning the
Legion of Honor. His performances on the battlefield were one of the few
bright moments of an otherwise terrible setback for the French Army. One
of his officers said of him, "I have been close to General de Polignac on
the battlefields of Freville, Beaune-La-Rolande, Villarexel and
Hericourt. All the officers and soldiers of his division could appreciate
his admirable cold blood in action, his steadiness and his decision in
command. After the fight in Hericourt, General Bourbaki ordered
Polignac's division to protect his retreat. We have had the honor to
fight against the Germans for two weeks after the ceasefire, without
leaving a single cannon, nor a sabre, or a rifle to the enemy. The
Government of Defense had forgotten us." After the end of the
Franco-Prussian War, de Polignac settled down to his great passion:
mathematics. He also met with several old friends from his days in the
Confederacy, including John Slidell. At a reception with the Slidells at
the home of the Baron Erlanger, he met his first wife Marie Langenberger,
whom he married in 1874. She bore him his first child, a daughter, the
Princess Marie Armande Mathilde de Polignac. Sadly his young wife was to
die shortly after the birth of their daughter.
General de Polignac married again to Elizabeth Marguerite Knight of
Wolverly, a young Englishwoman. To this union was born a son and two
daughters_Prince Victor Mansfield Alfred de Polignac, Princess Mabel
Constance de Polignac, Princess Helen Agnes Anne de Polignac.
While working on a math problem that had perplexed him for years, he
collapsed and died at his desk on November 15, 1913 from cerebral edema.
He was buried in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. He was the last surviving
Confederate Major General.
His widow and son were present at the unveiling of the statue erected in
his honor at the site of his great victory, Mansfield, Louisiana, on
April 7, 1925. The statue is inscribed with his name and his
well-deserved nickname, "The Lafayette of the South." Prince Victor
Mansfield Alfred de Polignac, who was named after the great Victory on
the battlefield at Mansfield, and Alfred Mouton, his father's fallen
commander, is alive today. He is a member of the Europe Camp #1612 of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans, and was recently named an Honorary Camp
Commander of the General de Polignac Camp #1648 in Arlington, Texas.
This Article Published in February 1995 by the General de Polignac Camp,
SCV on the 163. Anniversary of the birth of our namesake.
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