page_title: Louis Henri Loison
section_title: Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Louis Henri Loison / Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Abbaye Orval Ruins. Photo by Philip Leonard. September 2005. This is a photo of a monument in Wallonia, number: 85011-CLT-0009-01
context_page_description: Louis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for plundering. In late 1795 he helped Napoleon Bonaparte crush a revolt against the government. After a hiatus, he returned in 1799 to fight in Switzerland where he earned another promotion. In 1800 he commanded a division under Napoleon in the Marengo Campaign.
  In 1805, Loison led a division in Napoleon's Grande Armée during the Ulm Campaign and served in the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806 and 1807. He saw much action in the Peninsular War including all three invasions of Portugal, though not always with distinction. In Portugal he earned a bad name for his harshness and the inhabitants called him Maneta or One-Hand. For a brief period, he commanded Michel Ney's famous VI Corps. During the French invasion of Russia he assembled a reserve division, which was later destroyed by the extreme cold weather.
context_section_description: Born on 16 May 1771 in Damvillers, France in what later became the department of Meuse, Loison briefly enlisted in a colonial battalion on 29 June 1787. However, he left the unit in September and when he returned on 25 January 1788, he was immediately granted leave. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, his father served as a Deputy in the Constituent Assembly. He was appointed sous-lieutenant in the Meuse Volunteer Battalion on 15 September 1791 and became lieutenant in 1792. Several months later, he emerged as captain of hussars in the Légion du Nord. In May 1793, the Representative-on-mission of the Army of the North (France) promoted him to adjutant general (a rank equivalent to colonel) for bravery. This appointment was later confirmed. On 16 October 1793 at the Battle of Wattignies, he accompanied the 3,500-man column of Jacob Job Élie on the far right flank of the army. In the middle of the night, the outposts were attacked by the Austrians and the untried foot soldiers took to their heels. Élie managed to rally his men but Johann Andreas Benjowski's Austrians launched an assault in a heavy fog at dawn. The second line panicked and fired into the backs of the first line, whereupon the infantry bolted again, throwing away their muskets in order to run faster. They might have been butchered but for Loison who led the cavalry to the rescue and fought off the pursuit. French losses were 400 soldiers and 12 artillery pieces while the Austrians lost 138 men in the clash.
  French historian Charles Mullié noted that while Loison was a talented soldier who exhibited extreme bravery, he also had a dark side. Mullié suggested that Loison was an avid plunderer. Notorious for the sacking and destruction of the Orval Abbey in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg and other acts, Loison was arrested by agents of the government. However, he escaped trial when one of the commissioners allowed him to return to military service.
  On 26 August 1795 he was elevated in rank to general of brigade in the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle. When royalist sympathizers tried to overthrow the Directory on 13 Vendémiaire (5 October 1795) and Napoleon Bonaparte dispersed them with his cannon, Loison supported his colleague. After the revolt was put down, he served on the court convened to try the rebel leaders. He was unemployed for a few years then re-entered military service in January 1799. Serving under André Masséna and Claude Lecourbe, Loison commanded a brigade in numerous small actions in Switzerland.
  He led a brigade at Maienfeld on 6 March 1799, Chur on 7 March, La Punt on 12 March, Martinsbruck on 14 and 17 March, Nauders on 25 March, Ramosch on 30 April, and Susch on 2 May. In independent command of his brigade, he received a drubbing at the hands of Franz Xaver Saint-Julien's numerically superior Austrian division at the valley called Urseren on 29 May. The defeat was avenged by Lecourbe and Loison two days later at Wasen. After two months of inaction, Loison again led his command in actions at Schwyz on 14 August, Silenen (Amsteg) on 15–16 August, and the Saint Gotthard Pass on 23–27 September. His temporary appointment as general of division was confirmed in October 1799.
  In 1800, Loison was posted to the Army of the Reserve to command a 5,300-man division and crossed the Great St Bernard Pass with Napoleon. He was wounded leading a failed assault on Fort Bard on 25 May 1800. Quickly recovering, he led his division in Guillaume Philibert Duhesme's corps in driving back Josef Philipp Vukassovich's command. He missed the Battle of Marengo because his men were busy capturing Milan and Cremona, while pursuing the Austrians eastward.
caption: Ruins of Orval Abbey
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