La Forgue de Bellegarde joined the French Army in 1860, enrolling at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a junior officer in the 2nd Chasseurs Regiment, becoming a lieutenant in 1868. Following the Franco-Prussian War, during which he was captured and taken prisoner, he became an instructor at Saint-Cyr, where he rose to the rank of général de brigade. He retired in 1904.[1]
Bellegarde was born in Gap on 29 March 1841, the son of politician Calixte Joseph Camille de La Forgue de Bellegarde. He was married and had two sons. On 23 October 1905, he suffered a stroke and died at his home in Cellettes.[1]
^Other sources report the rider in that event was Jacques de Prunelé; the rider could also have been one of Bellegarde's sons, a lieutenant in a dragoon regiment of the French Army.
^Richard, Éric (10 May 2011). "Les Dieux de l'Olympe". www.lanouvellerepublique.fr. La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest. Retrieved 21 February 2018.