General Marie-Victor-Nicolas de Fay Latour-Maubourg
Born: May 22, 1768
Place of Birth: La-Motte-de-Galaure, Drôme, France
Branch: Cavalry
Legion of Honor: Grand Eagle
Imperial Nobility: Count
Died: November 11, 1850
Place of Death: Dammarie, France
Arc de Triomphe: East
Latour-Maubourg was a noble who emigrated from France, but was promptly imprisoned by the Austrians. Finally able to return to France in 1799, he quickly showed talent. His older brother Marie-Charles-César-Florimond was also a general.
Shortly after Latour-Maubourg's leg was carried off by a cannonball at Leipzig, he noticed his valet weeping at the horrific nature of his wound. Latour-Maubourg told his valet, "What are you crying about, idiot? You have one less boot to polish!"
With this wound, his active service came to an end, and he did not rejoin Napoleon for the Hundred Days. Latour-Maubourg voted for the death of Marshal Ney.
Sources:
Elting, John R. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee. USA: Da Capo Press, 1997.External Links:
La Sabretache. Carnet de La Sabretache: Revue Militaire Rétrospective. Vol 3. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1895.
Senior, Terry J. The Top Twenty French Cavalry Commanders. 2005. <http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/commanders/c_twenty.html>
Six, Georges. Dictionnaire Biographique des Généraux & Amiraux Français de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814). Paris: Gaston Saffroy, 2003.