Early life Dodds was born on 6 February 1842 in
Saint-Louis, Senegal. His father was Antoine Henri Dodds, a merchant, and director of the Saint-Louis post office, a
quadroon and of
Métis descent; his mother was Charlotte de la Chapelle, a
signare of French and African descent. He was the eldest of 10 children. His paternal grandfather was John Dodds, a British Army officer and
aide-de-camp to the last English governor of Saint-Louis. John Dodds was married to a Senegalese woman of French and African descent.
Military career Dodds graduated from the
École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1862. He was promoted to lieutenant in the
Troupes de marine in 1867 and subsequently posted to the
French colony of
Réunion where he distinguished himself during the riots of 1868. He made captain in December 1869. During the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870, his military prowess was noted at the
Blue Division when he was made Knight of the
Legion of Honour. Captured, he escaped after the capitulation of the
Battle of Sedan, and rejoined the
Armée de la Loire and later the ''
Armée de l'Est''. He was held in
Switzerland at the end of the war. in 1892 He served in
Senegal from 1871 to 1878, in
Cochinchina from 1878 to 1879. Made battalion leader in 1879, he then served again in Senegal and participated in the fighting in
Casamance from 1879 to 1883. Then made a lieutenant colonel, he served in the war of conquest in
Tonkin. A colonel in 1887, he served in the counter-insurgency warfare in the
Fouta Djalon in
French Guinea. He was decorated Commander of the Legion of Honour in 1891 and was given command of the Eighth Colonial Army in
Toulon. Then, in 1892, he was appointed superior commander of
Dahomey and led the
Second Franco-Dahomean War. Dodds was named
général de brigade, inspector of naval infantry, and Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honour in 1892, then
General of Division in 1898. In 1900, he was given the High Command of colonial troops in
French Indochina. From 1903 to 1907 he was high commander of naval infantry and a member of the High Council of War. He was given the
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and
Military Medallion in 1907. == References ==