Louis Archinard

Louis Archinard
General Archinard
Born	(1850-02-11)11 February 1850 Le Havre, France
Died	8 May 1932(1932-05-08) (aged 82) Villiers-le-Bel, France
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Army
Years of service	1870-1915 1917-1919
Rank	General de division
Commands held	32nd Infantry Division
Battles/wars	Franco-Prussian War World War I
Awards	Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur Médaille militaire Croix de guerre 1914-1918

Louis Archinard (11 February 1850 – 8 May 1932) was a French Army general at the time of the Third Republic, who contributed to the colonial conquest of French West Africa. He was traditionally presented in French histories as the conqueror and "Pacifier" of French Soudan (today Mali). Archinard's campaigns brought about the end of the Tukulor Empire. He also spent a large amount of energy fighting Samory Toure.

Archinard was succeeded as military commander of the Sudan in 1893 by Eugène Bonnier, who left from Bordeaux on 5 August 1893 to take up his new command. Bonnier had no instructions and decided to follow Archinard's advice, use his own judgement and seize Timbuktu.^[1] He was killed on 15 December 1893 by a force of Tuaregs.^[2]

In 1897 Archinard was reassigned to French Indochina. In World War I, he commanded in August 1914 the 1er Group of Reserve Divisions, and in 1917-1918 the Polish Legion in France.