page_title: Samuel-François Lhéritier
section_title: Bourbon Restoration and beyond
hierarchical_section_title: Samuel-François Lhéritier / Bourbon Restoration and beyond
caption_attribution_description: English: Depicting French Cuirassiers charging onto the British squares during the Battle of Waterloo.
context_page_description: Baron Samuel-François Lhéritier de Chézelles was a French soldier who rose through the ranks during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, eventually gaining promotion to the military rank of Général de Division.
  While his initial career in the infantry branch and then General Staff during the French Revolutionary Wars was unremarkable, Lhéritier made a name for himself as a cavalry commander during the Napoleonic Wars. A gallant officer, he led from the front and, as a result, collected a number of serious battle wounds. He was created a Baron of the Empire and a Commander of the Legion of Honour and his name is inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
  Having begun his military career in 1792, he joined the cavalry branch on a permanent basis in 1803 and subsequently saw steady promotion and was given various commands of heavy cavalry units. A part of the Grande Armée in 1805, he took part to the War of the Third Coalition. In 1806, at the outbreak of the War of the Fourth Coalition, Lhéritier was promoted to Colonel and given the command of the 10th Cuirassiers. In this capacity, he was noted for his brave charge at the Battle of Eylau in 1807.
context_section_description: Following Napoleon's abdication, Lhéritier swore his allegiance to the Bourbon Restoration but from 1 June 1814 he was placed on half pay. Towards the end of the year, he was appointed Inspector General for cavalry in the 16th military division and took charge of this new function at the beginning of 1815. When Napoleon returned from exile and reclaimed power in France, Lhéritier rallied to his cause and was given a first field command on 23 April, namely the cavalry reserve of IV Army Corps. Then, on 3 June 1815, he was named commander of the 11th cavalry division, a mixed force composed of dragoons and cuirassiers. His direct subordinates were Brigadier General Cyrille Simon Picquet, in command of the 1st Brigade (2nd and 7th Dragoons) and none other than his former commander from 1806–1807 and 1809, Brigadier General Guiton, in command of the 2nd Brigade (8th and 11th Cuirassiers). The entire division was a part of François Etienne de Kellermann's III Cavalry Corps of the "Army of the North".
  When the "Army of the North" attacked the forces of the Seventh Coalition in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kellermann, with Lhéritier's division, was placed under the command of Marshal Michel Ney. On 16 June, Ney faced a massed Allied force at the Battle of Quatre Bras. Of Lhéritier's 11th cavalry division, only Guiton's cuirassier brigade was present and available for action. As Ney's situation became increasingly desperate, the Marshal ordered Kellermann to take his cuirassiers in a frontal charge against the enemy. The charge was very well handled and, despite the difficult terrain and the large numbers of the enemy, it did much to relieve the pressure on the French forces. At first, it broke Hugh Halkett's forces, then Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel's German infantry, eventually reaching the crucial Quatre Bras crossroads. However, this breakthrough could not be exploited, as no other units had been sent in immediate support of the heavy cavalry. The cuirassiers endured some close-range musketry before finally turning and retreating at a trot, a manoeuvre during which Kellermann had his horse shot under him and barely escaped capture. Two days later, the entire III Corps was reunited under Kellermann's command and was available for action at the Battle of Waterloo. Lhéritier's division was committed towards 17:30, during the afternoon attacks, as Ney sent in his cavalry in mass against the Allied centre. A series of charges ensued, but such a cavalry attack, without proper infantry or artillery support was always set to fail on an uneven battlefield such as the one at Waterloo and against an infantry that had plenty of time to form protective squares. Despite the effortsof the French cavalry – Lhéritier's division alone lost six officers dead, three mortally wounded and forty wounded – the battle was lost. During this action, Lhéritier received a bullet wound to the right shoulder.
  Napoleon abdicated a second time following his defeat at Waterloo and, as the Bourbons returned to power in France, Lhéritier was placed on the non-active list on 20 September 1815. Although he was not called upon again for field service, the Bourbons did offer him the position of Inspector General for cavalry and subsequently for gendarmerie. He died on 23 August 1829 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris.
caption: Lhéritier's cuirassiers were committed to battle at Waterloo and bravely charged the Allied infantry squares. Painting by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux.
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