fuckyeahhistorycrushes:General Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, also known as Alexandre Dumas, wa
fuckyeahhistorycrushes: General Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, also known as Alexandre Dumas, was the first black general in French history and remains the highest-ranking person of color of all time in a continental European army. He was the first person of color in the French military to become brigadier general, the first to become divisional general, and the first to become general-in-chief of a French army. Dumas shared the status of the highest-ranking black officer in the Western world only with Toussaint Louverture until 1989, when the American Colin Powell became a four-star general, the closest United States equivalent of Général d’Armée, Dumas’s highest rank. One of the most fascinating stories of the period, and also father of the author of The Count of Monte Christo (one of my favourite novels ever) -- source link