François Xavier de Schwarz François Xavier de Schwarz or François - Xavier - Nicolas Schwartz ( 8 January 1762 – 9 October 1826 ) was born in Baden but joined the French army in 1776 . He became a cavalry officer during the French Revolutionary Wars , fighting with the 2nd Hussar Regiment in numerous actions including Jemappes , Fleurus , and Neuwied . After being captured in an abortive invasion of Ireland , he was promoted to command the 5th Hussar Regiment . He led the unit in the War of the Second Coalition , most notably at Hohenlinden and in the subsequent pursuit of the Austrians . Under the First French Empire , he distinguished himself at Austerlitz in December 1805 . A year later he became brigadier general after fighting at Prenzlau , Stettin , and Golymin . After being posted to Spain to fight in the Peninsular War , he suffered defeats at the hands of the Spanish forces in Catalonia at Bruch Pass and Manresa . In September 1810 he was captured at La Bisbal and spent the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars in British custody . Historian Charles Oman called Schwarz unlucky . Revolution . Schwarz was born in Hernwiess , in the Margraviate of Baden on 8 January 1762 , the son of a baron of the Holy Roman Empire and entered French military service in 1776 . He served as an officer of the 2nd Hussar Regiment in the War of the First Coalition . Three squadrons of the 2nd Hussars participated in the Battle of Valmy on 20 September 1792 as part of the Flankers of the Left contingent . On 6 November 1792 , the regiment fought at the Battle of Jemappes in the Avantgarde of Pierre de Ruel , marquis de Beurnonville ' s Right Wing . The 2nd was present at the Battle of Hondschoote on 6 to 8 September 1793 and the Second Battle of Wissembourg at the end of the year . On 3 June 1794 , the 2nd Hussars formed part of the command of Jacques Desjardin . The unit counted 265 sabers . On 26 June 1794 , two squadrons of the 2nd Hussars fought at the Battle of Fleurus in a cavalry brigade led by Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul . The 2nd participated in the siege and capture of Venlo on 27 October and Maastricht on 4 November 1794 . The latter action was overseen by Jean Baptiste Kleber . The regiment helped seize the Dutch fleet at Texel in the subsequent winter . On 1 October 1795 , the 2nd Hussars were part of Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte ' s division in the Army of Sambre - et - Meuse . The 2nd Hussars also fought at the Battle of Neuwied on 18 April 1797 . As part of the French intervention in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 , Schwarz sailed there with a contingent of troops but was captured on 12 October 1798 at the Battle of Tory Island . Schwarz was promoted chef de brigade ( colonel ) of the 5th Hussar Regiment on 3 September 1799 . In the 1800 spring campaign in southern Germany , his regiment was assigned to General of Division Antoine Richepanse ' s division . The 5th Hussars fought at the Battle of Messkirch on 4 and 5 May , at the Battle of Biberach on 9 May , and at Kirchberg an der Iller . After the armistice lapsed , the 596 - strong 5th Hussars fought at the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800 as part of Richepanse ' s division . As the division made its flank march into the Austrian left - rear , a force of Austrian grenadiers attacked the center of the column , breaking it in two . General of Brigade Jean - Baptiste Drouet , leading the trailing half , sent the 5th Hussars supported by some infantry to push back the Austrians . While Drouet , General of Brigade Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc , and the 5th Hussars became embroiled in a struggle with the grenadiers , Richepanse directed his two leading regiments to swing left directly into the rear of Archduke John of Austria ' s army . This decisive blow demolished the Austro - Bavarian left - center column , winning the battle . Between 16 and 19 December , Richepanse led his division in several actions against the Austrian rear guards . The 5th Hussars fought at Neumarkt am Wallersee on the 16th where 7 , 000 French inflicted 500 casualties on Franz Löpper ' s 3 , 700 Austrians , at Frankenmarkt on the 17th where 6 , 000 French captured 2 , 650 out of 4 , 000 troops in Michael von Kienmayer ' s column , at Schwanenstadt on the 18th where 2 , 000 French cavalry attacked Johann Sigismund Riesch ' s Austrians and forced the surrender of 700 horsemen from the " Lothringen " Cuirassier Regiment Nr . 7 , and at Lambach on the 19th where 5 , 000 French overran Daniel Meczery ' s 3 , 000 - strong force and captured 1 , 450 men of the " Manfredini " Infantry Regiment Nr . 12 . Empire . Germany . Schwarz was appointed an officer of the Légion d ' Honneur on 15 June 1804 . At the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 , the 5th Hussars served with the 5th Chasseurs à Cheval , and the 2nd and 4th Hussar Regiments in General of Division François Étienne de Kellermann ' s light cavalry division . Joseph Denis Picard and Frédéric Christophe Marisy led the two brigades . Kellermann ' s division fought on the northern flank of the battle in the struggle with Pyotr Bagration ' s 13 , 700 Russians and Prince Johann of Liechtenstein ' s 5 , 400 Austrian and Russian cavalry . Sometime after 9 : 30 AM , Emperor Napoleon ordered Marshal Jean Lannes to attack with his 14 , 200 - man V Corps and Marshal Joachim Murat to support him with the 7 , 400 - strong Cavalry Corps . Lannes formed his infantry divisions with Marie - François Auguste de Caffarelli du Falga on the right and Louis Gabriel Suchet on the left . Kellermann ' s division advanced to the right front with Frédéric Henri Walther ' s 2nd Dragoon Division in support . When the ten - squadron " Prince Constantine " Uhlan Regiment attacked from the right , Kellermann ordered the division to change front . This maneuver failed and the French horsemen beat a rapid retreat behind Caffarelli ' s infantry . When the uhlans tried to pursue they were driven off by a volley that emptied many saddles and wounded the Russian brigadier . Kellerman pursued in echelon with his right - flank regiment leading . Anne - François - Charles Trelliard ' s cavalry brigade supported his left while Horace François Bastien Sébastiani ' s brigade of Walther ' s division followed behind . The Russians attacked Kellermann ' s lead regiment with three regiments , but they were overcome when Kellermann ' s other units came up on the left flank while Sébastiani ' s dragoons came up on the right . Charging forward , Kellermann ' s troopers overran some Russian cannons but they had to fall back when three more cavalry regiments appeared . Kellermann countercharged with Sébastiani ' s two regiments covering the flanks and Walther ' s division in support . The attack drove back the enemy cavalry but the French horsemen were in turn driven back by musketry from the Russian infantry who recaptured the cannons . At this time Kellermann broke his leg and was succeeded in command by Picard . The Allied cavalry tried to exploit their success but Walther ' s dragoons stopped them cold . Having reformed his troopers Picard sent the 2nd Hussars in pursuit while the 5th Chasseurs recaptured the cannons . The 4th and 5th Hussars broke through the Russian infantry line and secured the temporary surrender of an infantry battalion , but the " Tver " Dragoon Regiment rescued their compatriots , inflicting serious losses . Reforming the division again , Picard ordered the 2nd Hussars and 5th Chasseurs to charge . The French horsemen broke through again , but Liechtenstein ordered up a mass of Austrian cavalry and the French retired . At this point the French and Russian infantry closed with each other and casualties quickly mounted . Lannes repelled a counterattack and slowly pressed back Bagration ' s infantry . Liechtenstein hurled 40 squadrons against Caffarelli ' s division but three waves of cavalrymen were repulsed by French musketry . Murat sent in the two cuirassier divisions and the French prevailed , but only after terrible fighting . As Bagration abandoned the field he sent the remnants of his cavalry to cover the retreat . Kellermann ' s division was still closely involved , with the 4th Hussars helping to send off the Russian horsemen . For his role in the battle , Schwarz won the Commander ' s Cross of the Légion on 25 December 1805 . In the War of the Fourth Coalition , the 5th Hussars were assigned to Antoine Lasalle ' s light cavalry division and brigaded with the 7th Hussars . The hussar brigade helped rout a Prussian flank guard at Zehdenick on 26 October 1806 and fought at the Battle of Prenzlau on the 28th . On 30 October the Capitulation of Stettin occurred . With only 800 hussars , Lasalle bluffed Friedrich Romberg into surrendering the fortress and its garrison of 5 , 300 Prussians . The demand to surrender was carried by Schwarz , who addressed Romberg , " I ’ ve been sent by my superior , the Grand Duke of Berg , who summons you to surrender to him tomorrow morning . You will be granted the honors of war . " Romberg refused , but Schwarz returned an hour later with an ultimatum announcing that a bombardment would precede an attack by 50 , 000 troops if Stettin was not surrendered by 8 : 00 AM . Furthermore , the garrison would not be granted quarter and the town would be sacked . At this , Romberg caved in . The 5th Hussars fought at the Battle of Golymin on 26 December 1806 . Schwarz became a general of brigade on 30 December 1806 and a Baron of the Empire on 9 March 1808 . Spain . In 1808 Schwarz was appointed to lead a cavalry brigade in the 12 , 714 - man Corps of Observation of the Eastern Pyrenees under the overall command of Guillaume Philibert Duhesme . The brigade consisted of the Italian " Prince Royal " Chasseurs a Cheval , 504 sabers and the 2nd Neapolitan Chasseurs a Cheval , 388 sabers . On 29 February 1808 , on the pretext of having a military review of his division , Giuseppe Lechi rushed his troops into the fortress of Barcelona and hustled the bewildered Spanish garrison out . By such treachery , Emperor Napoleon seized Barcelona and other Spanish cities and precipitated war with his former ally . After the Dos de Mayo Uprising , Emperor Napoleon ordered Duhesme to send 4 , 000 troops to seize Lerida and another 4 , 000 to march to Valencia to cooperate with Marshal Bon - Adrien Jeannot de Moncey ' s corps . These instructions grossly underestimated the strength of the Spanish revolt but Duhesme dutifully tried to carry them out . He assigned Schwarz a task force of 3 , 247 men to capture Lerida . This " ad hoc " brigade included the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Swiss Regiment , 580 men , the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Neapolitan Regiment , 1 , 944 men , the 1st Battalion of the 1st Italian " Velite " Regiment , 519 men , one squadron of the 3rd Provisional Cuirassier Regiment , 204 sabers , and four artillery pieces . Duhesme sent Joseph Chabran with 3 , 195 men to Valencia . While Chabran ' s force included three French battalions and two French cavalry regiments , Schwarz had to march with a force of " doubtful value " . On 4 June 1808 Schwarz set out on his mission but was delayed for one day by a violent rainstorm . By the 6th he reached the Bruch Pass and found 300 to 400 miquelets of Manresa waiting for him in a pine forest . The Battle of the Bruch began when Schwarz sent forward a battalion and rather easily drove the Catalan militia out of the woods . The Manresans retreated until joined by more miquelets from nearby towns and villages . Schwarz sent out a line of skirmishers but did not press the attack , fearing that a larger force including Spanish regulars was nearby . In all probability , a full - scale attack would have routed the Catalans . However , as a cavalry officer , Schwarz was completely out of his element commanding infantry in rough terrain . He was also aware that Neapolitans were reputed to be the worst troops in Europe . Meanwhile , more miquelets arrived as reinforcements and threatened Schwarz ' s left flank . At this , he formed his soldiers into a large square with the guns and horsemen in the middle and began to retreat . The square was shielded by skirmishers , but as soon as they saw their enemies fall back , the Catalans eagerly pressed forward and began sniping at them . Coming upon the village of Esparraguera which its residents barricaded , Schwarz ' s square simply dissolved and flowed around the village . At this time one of his cannons fell off a bridge into a stream and was abandoned to the miquelets . On the other side of Esparraguera the officers were unable to reform the square and the Swiss , Italians , and Neapolitans poured into the town of Martorell that evening in a disorderly mob . In February 1810 , the VII Corps was reinforced by Marie François Rouyer ' s German Division . The troops arrived from France as an escort for a large supply convoy destined for Barcelona . Marshal Pierre Augereau , who taken command of VII Corps , ordered the divisions of Philippe Eustache Louis Severoli and his brother Jean Augereau to march on Tarragona . Meanwhile , one and a half battalions were dropped off at Vilafranca del Penedes while a brigade of Rouyer ' s division under Schwarz occupied Manresa as a flank guard . On 27 March 1810 , the French demanded that Tarragona surrender , but Henry O ' Donnell who commanded its 6 , 000 - man garrison refused . Meanwhile , O ' Donnell sent Juan Caro to attack the French lines of communication . The first blow fell at daybreak on 30 March when Caro seized Vilafranca and captured the 800 Imperial troops posted there . The Spanish force immediately moved against Manresa and began skirmishing with its defenders . These were two battalions each of the 3rd Confederation of the Rhine ( 1st Nassau ) and the 4th Confederation of the Rhine ( Ducal Saxon ) Regiments . On 2 April , Caro was wounded and replaced by Luis González Torres de Navarra , Marquess of Campoverde . On 5 April in the Battle of Manresa , Campoverde mounted a full - scale attack and flushed Schwarz ' s troops out of the town with losses of 30 officers and 800 rank and file . However , a witness admitted 20 officers and 620 men were lost . As the defeated troops fled to Barcelona , they were set upon by the miquelets and suffered even more losses . Altogether , Schwarz may have lost two - thirds of his brigade . Historian Charles Oman called him the " ever - unlucky Schwartz " . Digby Smith listed the 1st Nassau casualties as 42 killed , 203 wounded , 75 captured , and 164 missing for a total of 484 . The Ducal Saxons lost 6 officers and 162 men killed , wounded , and missing . An additional 200 wounded soldiers were captured by the Spanish in the town . Caro and Campoverde had 3 , 000 miquelets under Colonel Roviera , 2 , 300 local militia , and 2 , 000 Spanish regulars including the " Kayser " Swiss Regiment and the " Numancia " Dragoon Regiment . The last of Schwarz ' s misadventures came at the Battle of La Bisbal on 14 September 1810 when his brigade was snared by a well - executed Anglo - Spanish operation . After Augereau was superseded in command of VII Corps by Marshal Jacques MacDonald , the new commander moved 16 , 000 troops to the south to support Suchet ' s operations . MacDonald left Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers with almost 10 , 000 soldiers to hold Barcelona and 18 , 000 more to garrison other places and to hold open the road to France . O ' Donnell realized that MacDonald was too strong to overcome so he decided to operate against the unsuspecting Imperial forces in the north . O ' Donnell planned to take Campoverde ' s division north to attack Rouyer ' s division which was defending the area between Girona and the Mediterranean coast . Meanwhile , Charles William Doyle sailed north aboard the British frigate " HMS Cambrian " , the Spanish frigate " Diana " , and other vessels . Captain Francis William Fane of the " Cambrian " commanded the Allied naval squadron . O ' Donnell managed to slip past the garrisons of Barcelona , Hostalric , and Girona . The British naval expedition struck first on 10 September when they rowed ashore and captured 50 men and a coastal artillery emplacement at Begur . In response , Schwarz alerted his coastal units to harden their defenses . His understrength brigade included two battalions each of the 5th Confederation of the Rhine ( Anhalt - Lippe ) and 6th Confederation of the Rhine ( Schwartzburg - Waldeck - Reuss ) Regiments . The brigade counted 1 , 700 men and 18 artillery pieces . Schwarz deployed 800 men to hold La Bisbal d ' Empordà and the rest of the brigade to defend Begur , Palamós , Calonge , and Sant Feliu de Guíxols . Still undetected , O ' Donnell reached the village of Vidreres with 6 , 000 foot soldiers and 400 cavalrymen on 13 September 1810 . The Spanish force included the " Kayser " Swiss Regiment , " Numancia " Dragoons , and miquelets . The next morning , O ' Donnell fell upon La Bisbal in overwhelming force . Schwarz had only time to send a courier with orders to his detachments to concentrate before being engulfed . The troops in La Bisbal withdrew to an old castle which was overlooked by a hill and a church tower . Schwarz held out until evening when he surrendered , after having lost five killed and 19 wounded . While the action in La Bispal was going on , the other outposts were being gobbled up . Fane and Doyle seized Palamós , Colonel Aldea captured Calonge , and Colonel Fleires overran Sant Feliu . Altogether , Schwarz , two colonels , 56 officers , 1 , 183 men , and 17 guns were captured . The Germans lost approximately 400 killed and wounded . Spanish losses were not reported but were probably light . However , they included O ' Donnell who was badly wounded in the foot . He and the prisoners were taken off by Fane ' s squadron . Schwarz was held in captivity until the end of the war . He died on 9 October 1826 .