Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French general in Revolutionary France. With Toussaint Louverture and Abram Petrovich Gannibal in Imperial Russia, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas stands as one of the highest-ranking men of African descent ever to lead a 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 and Toussaint Louverture were the two highest-ranking officers of sub-Saharan African descent in the Western world until 1975, when "Chappie" James achieved the equivalent rank of four-star general in the United States Air Force.