Charles de lorencez biography of alberta

French general (–)

Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Comte de Lorencez (23 May –16 July ) was a French Army general^[1] under Napoleon III during the 19th century.

He was a relative of the Empress Carlota of Mexico, who was the only daughter of King Leopold I, King of the Belgians and wife of Maximilian I of Mexico. He was most notable for losing the Battle of Puebla in the early stages of the Second French intervention in Mexico (ultimately culminating in the Second Mexican Empire) although he would continue to have military command during France's war with Prussia.

Early career

Lorencez was born in Paris to a minor noble family. His parents were Caroline Nicolette Oudinot de Reggio and Guillaume Latrille de Lorencez, a veteran of the French Revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic Wars, making the young Lorencez the grandson of Marshal Oudinot.

He studied at the military academy of Saint-Cyr, one of France’s most prestigious military schools, from to