The Hussar General at 250
“Général Lasalle.” – François Flameng, 1906
We would be remiss if we let May escape without observing the 250th birthday of Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle.
Born on 10 May 1775 in Metz, the son of an officer in the French Royal Army and knight of the Order of Saint Louis, as well as a great grand nephew of a Marshal of France from the 30 Years’ War (Abraham de Fabert, marquis d’Esternay), it was no surprise that Lasalle joined he Army at the tender age of 11 and became an officer by 14.
Sadly, he was a leg in the Alsace Regiment of the Baron de Esbecke, a unit composed mainly of Germans, and only managed to upgrade to the cavalry after the Revolution. Accepted as a lieutenant in the 24e Régiment de Cavalerie on 25 May 1791, he soon had to resign over the controversy that he was a petit noble.
However, with the enemies of France pressing in from every direction, the young Lasalle was able to convince the Comité de Salut public to allow him a spot with the 23e Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval in February 1794, and the rest is history. The 19-year-old had a horse and knew how to use it. His first notable combat was capturing a British artillery battery at Landrecies that same July.
Fighting in the Italian campaign as an ADC for Gen. Kellermann, by 1796, he was a captain. He led an 18-man troop of the 1er Régiment de Cavalerie on a mission behind enemy lines that soon matched it against a 36-strong group of Austrian hussars, which he bested. Then came a squadron command in the 22e Chasseurs à Cheval, and a trip to Egypt with the 7e Régiment bis de Hussards. There, amid the pyramids, he led 150 sabers against several times that amount of Mamelukes in swirling battles, pistols in hand.
Returning to France in 1800, he was decorated by Napoleon himself. He made a colonel at the tender age of 25, famously remarking, “Tout hussard qui n’est pas mort à trente ans est un jean-foutre, (Any hussar who isn’t dead by the age of thirty is a jerk.).”
Commanding the 10th Hussars at Vilnadella, the young colonel was in the thick of it, reportedly having three horses killed under him and breaking seven sabers, earning the Legion of Honour.
By 1803, he was a brigadier general in command of a brigade of dragoons that he would lead at Austerlitz.
His legendary moment was in the Prussian and Polish campaigns. Leading his “brigade infernale” of the 5th and 7th Hussars, he captured the King of Prussia’s Guard and the Stettin fortress, then forced the Prince of Hohenlohe to surrender at Prenzlau. The Stettin fortress, with 5,000 Prussians inside, surrendered after a threatened “siege” by Lasalle and his 500 worn cavalrymen using wooden cannon as a ruse.
He bested Blücher at Lübeck, and the Russians at Golymin before solidifying his living legend at Jena and being made a major general of division on 30 December 1806 at 31.
“The Comte de Lasalle at the head of his brigade at the Battle of Jena – October 14th, 1806.” – Alphonse Lalauze, 1928
Murat & Hussar General Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle at the Battle of Heilsberg, June 10 1807 Breville
Fighting at Heilsberg and then serving brilliantly in the Spanish campaign, by 1809 he was with the Grande Armée again, once more fighting against the Austrians, but this time with the Germans on the side of the French.
Capping nearly 40 hours of epic fighting at Wagram, Lasalle’s last charge ended with his death, struck in the head by a bullet while facing Hungarian grenadiers.
Général Lasalle charging at Wagram on June 6th, in the afternoon, just before he was killed.” – Édouard Detaille, 1912
“The Charge of Général Lasalle at Wagram.” – Guido Sigriste, 1906
He bested his “dead by age 30” boast by four years.