Mitrailleuse
The first "mitrailleuse" was a manually fired 50-barrel volley gun originally developed in Belgium in 1851 by the Belgian Army Captain Fafschamps, who made a rough prototype and drawings of his invention. The system was improved during the 1850s by Louis Christophe and the Belgian engineer Joseph Montigny, with the completion of the 37-barrel Montigny mitrailleuse in 1863. From 1859, Joseph Montigny proposed his design to Napoleon III, which led to the development of the French Reffye mitrailleuse, designed by Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye with the collaboration of Montigny, and which was adopted by the French Army in 1865. Initially kept under wraps as a secret weapon, it was widely used in battle by French artillery during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). Smaller numbers of other designs, including the Gatling gun, were also purchased by the French government during the latter part of that conflict. The Reffye model had initially been built in small numbers and in secrecy: only about 200 were available at the beginning of the conflict. This also kept regular French field artillery in a neglected position in the eyes of French emperor Napoleon III, with dire consequences during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.
François Mireur
Mireur was born in Escragnolles in 1770, and studied as a medicinal doctor at the Faculty of Medicine in Montpellier. In 1792, he became a doctor, but volunteered for the army shortly afterwards. That year, he sang Rouget de Lisle's war song when he was headed to Marseilles to organize and lead volunteers from nearby towns. The song thus became known as "La Marseillaise", which was adopted as the French national anthem in 1795. During the war, he fought at the Battle of Valmy and later served in the Italian Campaign of Napoleon, twice refusing the rank of general. In 1798, he was promoted to general and served alongside Louis Desaix in the Egyptian Campaign, where he fought the Mamelukes and Ottomans. It was in this war that Mireur met his end. While riding a newly purchased Arabian stallion, after only a short distance, he was ambushed by three Mamelukes, and killed before he could call for help. His name was inscribed on the 28th pillar of the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the south pillar, near the avenue Kleber. He was honored as a national hero because of his role in popularising the "Marseillaise".