[1] His father was a gamekeeper for the Eaux et Forêts and his mother was a cleaning lady whose customers included Xavier Rogé, head of the local Société de Pont-à-Mousson iron works.

He returned to the college for a few months after it reopened in the spring of 1871, then entered the École des Arts et Métiers in Châlons-sur-Marne on 15 October 1871.

Rogé managed to raise capital in the Saarland and restart the business, selling most of its production to forges in the Ardennes and Champagne.

He focused the company on pipe production, and found a ready market when cities began to make large investment in water supply after 1871.

Cavallier worked at the company for four months before being called up on 5 November 1874 for a year of military service, which he spent at Versailles in the 1st Regiment of Engineers.

The job was to establish regional agencies, monitor demand, watch competitors and draw up quotations for tenders.

He achieved excellent results in selling the cast iron pipes, and in 1883 won the tenders for the city of Paris.

[3] Xavier Rogé began to investigate land around Auboué near the part of Lorraine that had been annexed by Germany, and on 1 December 1882 found the upper layers of the iron oxide formation of the Briey Basin.

In April 1883 a layer 4 metres (13 ft) thick was found, and on 11 August 1884 the Société de Pont-à-Mousson was granted the concession.

[2] A general strike started at Pont-à-Mousson in September 1905, the first, triggered by dismissal of the union's treasurer but caused by long-running grievances over pay.

[7] In 1910 the steelmaker François de Wendel ran for election as deputy in Briey, opposed by a local physician who was supported by the Fédération républicaine.

[8] Unlike self-made men such as Cavallier and Alexandre Dreux of the Aciéries de Longwy, Wendel was aristocratic, which did not endear him with the other industrialists.

It also took stakes in the Micheville and Marine-Homécourt steel makers, and after the war would take interests in steelworks in Lorraine and the Saar.

[3] At the 23 January 1900 meeting Cavallier pointed out the importance of securing a supply of coke, and proposed to acquire a concession to open a new coal mine.

A test drill of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) near the central station of the Pont-à-Mousson plant found several layers of coal, but only at great depth.

[3] At the start of World War I the Pont-à-Mousson factory was occupied by the Germans for a few days, and remained less than 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the front line.

His son in law, Marcel Paul, was given responsibility for the plant, which was built on 50 hectares (120 acres) between the railway and the river.

[10] Towards the end of the war study groups under Humbert de Wendel defined the demands of the Comite des Forges for the post-war settlement.

[11] In the post-war period the company faced a massive task of reconstruction, while training new workers to replace those lost in the war.

[3] President Raymond Poincaré lit the first reconstructed blast furnace at Pont-à-Mousson 23 November 1919 in a solemn ceremony.

In early 1922 Robert Pinot of the Comité des forges explained to Camille Cavallier that this had "permitted a boycotting of our minette ore these past years.

His strategy as a pipe specialist led him to move into the export market early on so the company would not depend on fluctuating domestic demand.

[2] Cavallier knew that exports forced industry to become more competitive and efficient, and reduced costs helped domestic customers.

He died of a heart attack on 10 June 1926 at his property of Gentilly, at Maxéville, near Nancy, the day after presiding over a general shareholders meeting.

[3] At the time of his death he was a member of the board of the Comité des Forges de France, director of about twenty companies, and had received many honors and official commissions.