Anton Poiret
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1670--
Born into a wealthy and privileged family in County Saint Michele, Anton was the second of five children of Edmund and Annabelle Poiret. With his elder brother Brian destined to have the family estates, Anton was steered (like so many Sicinian younger sons) toward a career in the military. His father Edmund, a successful land- and mineowner, enrolled him in Montelaban Artillery School, at the age of sixteen, where he quickly rose to first in his class.
The eruption of the Panselle War raised the call for officers to an almost fever pitch, and Poiret was given command of an artillery company in the newly creatd 3rd Shock Army. Poiret was at first disappointed that he had not been assigned to the 1st or 2nd Shock Armies, or even one of the scrappy corps d'armees fighting near Akaseia. However, the Sicinian defeats outside Taeana sent the 3rd on the march. Anton Poiret was going to war at last.
A combinationg of his father's influence and money and his own tactical genius saw Poiret promoted from a Major of Artiller to the Brigadier General of the 3rd's Artillery. It was a position Poiret had dreamed of, and he soon proved his worth. At the battle of Teur d'Montagne Rocheuse, The green 3rd Shock Army found itself hard-pressed by attacking veteran Akaeians. Only the prompt intervention of Poiret's artillery, who bravely continued to pour canister into the enemy columns that were now only twenty paces away, sent the Akaeians back in retreat. However, the Akaeians succeeded in turning the 2nd Shock Army's flank and nearly encircling the 3 Sicinian Armies. The 2nd and 3rd managed to escape, but barely.
The 3rd's commander, General George Barnstable, was killed by enemy shrapnel, while his second in command, Lieutenant General Elijah Lourven, lost his leg. Major General Hugo Bedenne took over command, and unexpectedly chose Poiret as his second in command. At the battle of Marbicourt Bedenne was knocked unconscious by a piece of falling masonry, and Poiret took command of the beleaguered 3rd. In what he would later term 'his finest day', his embattled men were able to first hold and then utterly routed the much larger Akaeian force, saving Saint Michele from attack and Sicinia Salis from defeat. In gratitude he was knighted by the King, promoted to General, and given command of the 3rd Shock Army.
Set in charge of the southern front. Poiret fought a series of inconclusive clashes with Akaeian forces before the war's end. The Panselle War had bankrupted the kingdom, had lost Sicinia much of the Southern Downs, and had resulted on no clear victory. The following ovethrow of the king and the beginning of The Commiserat cost Poiret, a strong supporter of the king ,dearly. He was too popular among both the people and the army to remove, so he and his army were kept on garrison duty at Mont Remy. The Restoration of King Reynarde was at first a happy occurrence for Poiret, who found himself once again in favor. However, he and Reynarde, ten years his younger, did not get along. Reynarde was jealous of Poiret's success and suspicious of his loyalties, so Poiret found himself in virtual exile to the north.
Disenchanted with the King, Poiret ignored the call to arms to defeat the rebels, and kept his army away from the fighting and guarding the frontier. Because of his non-involvement, Admiral Jean Francois de la Martinique allowed Poiret to stay on as commander. Poiret later went on to win fame, glory, and a barony during the Three Day's War. He served with little accalim during the Zagorlad War, due mainly to the fact that the General of the 4th Shock Army, Edouard Alexandre, would gain glory for the new administration and not the royalist Poiret.
Anton Poiret currently resides in his barony at Akaseia, where he and his adopted son of his late sister, Peter Poiret, handle military and administrative matters.
