Failly, Pierre Louis Charles De
FAILLY, PIERRE LOUIS CHARLES DE (1810-1892), French general, was born at Rozoy-sur-Serre (Aisne) on the 21st of January 1810, and entered the army from St Cyr in 1828. In 1851 he had risen to the rank of colonel, and Napoleon III., with whom he was a favourite, made him general of brigade in 1854 and general of division in 1855, after which for a time De Failly was his aide-de-camp. In the war of 1859 De Failly commanded a division, and in 1867 he defeated Garibaldi at Mentana, this action being the first in which the chassepot was used. In 1870 De Failly commanded the V. corps. His inactivity at Bitsch on the 6th of August while the I. corps on his right and the II. corps on his left were crushed at Wörth and Spicheren respectively, gave rise to the greatest indignation in France, and his military career ended, after the V. corps had been severely handled at Beaumont on the 30th of August, with the catastrophe of Sedan. The rest of his life was spent in retirement. De Failly wrote Campaigne de 1870, Opérations et marche du 5me corps jusqu'au 30 août (Brussels, 1871).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
