General Antoine-Charles-Louis Lasalle

Lasalle was good friends of Napoleon's most famous spy, Carl Schulmeister, and one of the most unpredictable and unstable men of the army, General Fournier-Sarlovese.

The idol of the light cavalry, General Lasalle was an a flamboyant adventurer who once remarked that any hussar who wasn't dead by age thirty was a blackguard, though he made it past age 30 by a few years. Born of noble birth, his father was a Marshal of France, and he followed his father's footsteps and joined the military. Unfortunately, his rank was stripped from him with the Revolution, but he enlisted and slowly but surely earned his rank back.

Quite the drinking and swearing master, Lasalle was actually charming and witty but preferred to cultivate an image of a rough, swaggering soldier. He was known to sneak behind enemy lines to enjoy some entertaining time with a woman, even one of the enemy's nation. He later had an affair withVictor-Lèopold Berthier's wife, and upon their divorce married her, becoming a devoted husband and father and even taking care of his wife's children by Berthier.

Dashing as usual, Lasalle personally saved Davout's life in Egypt at Redemieh. Years later, at Heilsberg, Lasalle saved the life of Marshal Murat who repaid this favor by saving Lasalle's life a short while later in the same battle.

After the victorious battles of Jena and Auerstädt, Lasalle participated in the pursuit of the Prussians, and with only 800 cavalry soldiers, convinced the governor of Stettin to surrender his fortress to Lasalle. This was despite the fact that Stettin had over 5000 soldiers defending it, and Lasalle's cavalry stood no chance of being able to breach the walls.

Napoleon thought highly of Lasalle and would pay off his debts and forgive his rowdy behavior unfitting of an officer. When a prefect asked why Napoleon didn't discipline Lasalle for his conduct, Napoleon responded that it only took a stroke of a pen to create a prefect, but it took twenty years to make a Lasalle.

On the morning of the Battle of Wagram, Lasalle had a presentiment about his death. He drew up a petition to the Emperor to take care of his children, and gave it to one of his friends to deliver to Napoleon if he was killed at Wagram. Towards the end of the battle, Lasalle was leading a charge when he was shot in the forehead and killed instantly.

Sources:

Chandler, David G. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1979.

Elting, John R. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee. USA: Da Capo Press, 1997.

Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Who Was Who in the Napoleonic Wars. London: Arms & Armour, 1998.

Senior, Terry J. The Top Twenty French Cavalry Commanders. 2005. <http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/commanders/c_twenty.html>

Savary, Anne-Jean-Marie-Rene. Memoires du Duc de Rovigo (Memoires ecrits de sa main pour servir a l'histoire de l'empereur Napoleon). Paris: H. Colburn, 1828.

Six, Georges. Dictionnaire Biographique des Generaux & Amiraux Francais de la Revolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814). Paris: Gaston Saffroy, 2003.

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