Pierre Cuillier-Perron

Pierre Cuillier-Perron (1755-1834), French military adventurer in India, whose name was originally Pierre Cuillier, was born at Château du Loire in France, the son of a cloth merchant.

In 1780 he went out to India as a sailor on a French frigate, deserted on the Malabar coast, and made his way to upper India, where he enlisted in the rana of Gohad's corps under a Scotsman named Sangster. In 1790 he took service under De Boigne, and was appointed to the command of his second brigade.

In 1795 he assisted to win the battle of Kardla against the "nizam" of Hyderabad, and on De Boigne's retirement became commander-in-chief of Sindhia's army. At the battle of Malpura (1800) he defeated the Rajput forces.

After the defeat of Ujjain (1891) he refused to send his troops to the aid of Sindhia. His treachery on this occasion shook his position, and on the outbreak of war between Sindhia and the British in 1803 Perron was superseded and fled to the British camp.

In the battles of Delhi, Laswari, Ally Ghur (now Aligarh) and Assaye, Perron's battalions were completely destroyed by Lord Lake and Sir Arthur Wellesley. He returned to France with a large fortune, and died in 1834.

References

*See H Compton, "European Military Adventurers of Hindustan" (1892).
*1911