CAVAIGNAC, LOUIS-EUGÈNE. - French general, b. 15 Oct. 1802 in Parigi, d. 28 Oct. 1857 at the estate of Ourne, near the castle of Loir, in the depart-
ment of Sarthe. Having attended the Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1828 with the rank of captain, he took part in the French expeditionary corps in Greece.
A man of republican and democratic sentiments, C. was transferred in 1832 to Algeria, where he remained until 1848. After the February revolution, the provisional government appointed him general of division and governor-general of Algeria. Elected deputy to the Constituent Assembly, he became minister of war. During the insurrection of June 1848, the Constituent Assembly granted C. dictatorial powers and, after suppressing the uprising, passed a law delegating executive authority to him with the title of president of the Council of Ministers. He left this office in Dec. of the same year, having obtained about one and a half million votes in the presidential elections that saw the triumph of Luigi Napoleone Bonaparte. In Nov. 1848, while at the head of the government, C. sent de Corcelles, his personal friend, on a special mission to Pio IX, in order to persuade the Pope to seek refuge in French territory. By this move C. intended to strengthen the shaken position of moderate liberalism and of the Catholic liberals or Neo-Guelphs, both in Italy and in France. The offer, however, came to nothing, because Pio IX did not leave Gaeta. After the coup d’état of 2 Dec. 1851, C. was forced to withdraw from public life.