ALFRED

See also:

• ALFRED DODDS

DODDS  AMD$E (1842– ), French general, was born at St Louis, Senegal, on the 6th of February 1842; his father's family was of Anglo-French origin . He was educated at Carcassonne and at St Cyr, and in 1864 joined the marine infantry as a sub-lieutenant . He was promoted captain for his services during the disturbances in Reunion in 1868–69, in the course of which he was wounded . He served as a company commander in the Franco-German War, was taken prisoner at Sedan but escaped, and took part in the campaigns of the Loire and of the East . In 1872 he was sent to West Africa, and. except when on active service in Cochin China (1878) and Tong-King (1883), he remained on duty in Senegal for the next twenty years, taking a prominent part in the operations which brought the countries of the Upper Senegal and Upper Niger under French rule . He led the expeditions against the Boal and Kayor (1889), the Serreres (1890) and the Futa (1891), and from r888 to 1891 was colonel commanding the troops in Senegal . At the close of 1891 he returned to France to command the eighth marine infantry at Toulon . In April 1892 Dodds was selected to command the expeditionary force in Dahomey; he occupied Abomey, the hostile capital, in November, and in a second campaign (1894) he completed the subjugation of the country . He was then appointed inspector-general of the marine infantry, and after a tour of the French colonies was given the command of the XX . (Colonial) Army Corps, subsequently becoming inspector-general of colonial troops and a member of the Conseil superieur de guerre .