Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand (November 2, 1863 – January 13, 1934) was a French military officer and explorer in Africa. Marchand is best known for commanding the French expeditionary force during the Fashoda Incident
Marchand was born in Thoissey, Ain and attended l’Ecole militaire de Saint-Maixent. He participated in the French conquest of Senegal and was severely wounded in 1889 at the capture of Diena by the French. In 1890 he was sent to explore the sources of the Niger River and the Nile and to occupy the areas around Fashoda (now known as Kodok in Sudan) and bring it under French control. After a 14-month trek by foot and boat across Africa, Marchand's expedition of 20 French officers and NCOs and 130 French Senegalese troops arrived at Fashoda, an abandoned fort on the Nile, on 10 July 1898. Marchand rebuilt the fort, but the expected support from other French columns and from Abyssinia did not arrive and on September 11, a flotilla of British gunboats, led by Sir Herbert Kitchener, commander of the Anglo-Egyptian army that had just defeated the forces of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman, reached Fashoda. Both sides insisted on control of Fashoda. This led to several weeks of intense debate between Paris and London, at the end of which, Marchand was ordered to leave Fashoda to the British. He greeted his recall with extreme disgust and returned to France through Abyssinia (Fashoda Incident).
Marchand later fought with French expeditionary forces in China during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. He was promoted to the rank of General in 1915 during World War I and was wounded in 1915 in the Battle of Champagne and again in 1916 in the Battle of the Somme. He retired from the Army in 1919
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.