Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty Count Étienne - Marie - Antoine Champion de Nansouty ( 30 May 1768 – 12 February 1815 ) was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars who rose to the rank of General of Division in 1803 and subsequently held important military commands during the Napoleonic Wars . Of noble Burgundian descent , he was a student at the Brienne military school , then was a graduate of the Paris military school . Nansouty began his military career in 1785 , as a sub - lieutenant in the regiment " Bourgogne - Infanterie " , where his father had served during the wars of Louis XV . A cavalry officer at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792 , Nansouty was commissioned as an " aide - de - camp " to Marshal Nicolas Luckner . During the First Coalition , he saw service as a lieutenant - colonel and squadron commander in the 9th ( heavy ) Cavalry Regiment , campaigning with the French armies on the Rhine and in Germany . Promoted to Colonel in 1793 and given the command of the 9th Cavalry , he was noted for several well - led cavalry actions . Finally made a Brigadier General in 1799 , after he had refused the promotion several times in the past , Nansouty fought the next year under General Jean Victor Moreau in southern Germany , in a decisive campaign of the Second Coalition . Promoted to the top military rank of General of Division in 1803 , Nansouty was called to the command of the 1st Heavy Cavalry Division in Emperor Napoleon I ' s newly created Grande Armée . Commanding this division from 1804 to 1809 , Nansouty was present at some of the most significant battles of the Third , Fourth and Fifth coalitions , leading cavalry actions at the battles of Austerlitz , Friedland , Eckmühl , Aspern - Essling and Wagram . In 1812 , during the campaign in Russia , Nansouty commanded the I Cavalry Corps , which he led with distinction at such battles as Ostrovno and Borodino , where he received a severe knee wound . The next year , he commanded the Imperial Guard cavalry , which he led at Dresden , Leipzig and Hanau , where he was again wounded . In 1814 he led his men in several engagements , including La Rothière , Montmirail , Vauchamps and Craonne until his incapacitation from wounds that year . A member of the military elite of the First French Empire and a recipient of the " Grand Aigle de la Légion d ' Honneur " , Comte de Nansouty was a member of the Military Household of the Emperor as First Squire of the Emperor , and also held the position of Colonel - General of Dragoon s . During the Bourbon Restoration , Louis XVIII awarded him additional honours and commands , including one in the Military Household of the King of France . Nansouty died in February 1815 and is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris . His name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe and a street in the 14th arrondissement of Paris is named after him . Early life . Étienne de Nansouty was born on 30 May 1768 in Bordeaux . His father had served France for fifty years in Louis XV ' s wars of the Polish Succession and Austrian Succession and the Seven Years ' War , and had subsequently been appointed " major " ( commander ) of the Château - Trompette fortress in Bordeaux . Typically for a member of the minor nobility of the Ancien Régime , young Étienne de Nansouty chose to follow his father ' s footsteps in the military . He was admitted at the military school of Brienne - le - Château in 1779 , aged ten , where he was noted for being a well - behaved and assiduous student . On 21 October 1782 , he transferred to the École Militaire in Paris , where he obtained excellent grades . Two years later , Nansouty became a " Chevalier " ( Knight ) of the Order " Notre - Dame - du - Mont - Carmel " and had the honour of being decorated by " Monsieur " , the future King Louis XVIII , in person . Upon his graduation on 30 May 1783 , he was appointed sub - lieutenant and , on 26 May 1785 , Nansouty was sent to the " Bourgogne - Infanterie " regiment , where his father had served with distinction . Throughout his childhood and youth , the Nansouty family led a tranquil yet modest life in Bordeaux , where his father held the position of commander of Château - Trompette , in which he lived with his family , additionally receiving a pension of 1000 " livres " . He was still holding the position as commander when he died suddenly in 1785 , after more than 60 years of active service . His widow had no revenue with which to raise their son and two daughters . However , influential people such as the Duchess of Brancas and the wife of Marshal Beauvau contacted the Minister of War , Marshal de Ségur , regarding the situation of the young Nansouty . As a result , in 1788 , Nansouty was named interim captain in the light cavalry " Franche - Comté Cavalerie " Regiment ( later rebaptised 4th " Chasseurs à Cheval " ) . He was soon transferred to the " Lauzun " Hussar Regiment ( which became the 6th Hussars in 1791 , then the 5th Hussars in 1793 ) . In 1791 , Nansouty then left the regiment to fill two consecutive military staff positions , first as deputy aid to Adjutant General Poncet de la Cour Maupas in the Army of the Centre on 20 December , then as aide - de - camp of Marshal Luckner at the beginning of 1792 . He was then promoted to lieutenant - colonel and took up the command of a squadron of the 2nd " Chasseurs à Cheval " ( on 5 March ) , before being transferred to the command of a squadron of the 9th Cavalry Regiment on 4 April , a regiment in which he would serve for the next seven and a half years . Revolutionary Wars . War of the First Coalition . An officer in the 9th Cavalry . As the French Revolutionary Wars broke out , Nansouty soon found himself in the position of having to take provisional command of the whole 9th Cavalry Regiment , as he was the most senior " chef d ' escadron " ( Lieutenant - Colonel ) of the regiment when the commander , Colonel Badda de Bodosalva , fell ill at the end of May 1792 . His regiment was a part of the " Army of the Rhine " and was integrated in General Custine ' s Corps , which was to march towards the Palatinate , where the first military manoeuvres took place . As Colonel Badda de Bodosalva died at the end of October that year , Nansouty naturally expected to be appointed commander of the regiment in his place . However , Custine appointed the more senior Lieutenant - Colonel Loubat de Bohan as commander of the 9th Cavalry and , despite Nansouty ' s protestations , maintained his decision . With Loubat in command , the 9th saw action against the Prussia ns in an engagement at Ober - Flörsheim on 30 March 1793 . After a first successful charge , Nansouty ' s 1st squadron was counter - charged by enemy hussars ; the remaining squadrons under Loubat quickly caught up with Nansouty ' s squadron and together they broke the enemy . Corps commander Custine was then called up to command the Army of the North but , before leaving his command , he attempted a last daunting move against the Habsburg army . This required a night march , not usually undertaken by cavalry , and poorly coordinated manoeuvres of cavalry , infantry and artillery . This led to total failure of the action of 17 May . During this action , though , the initial charge of the corps cavalry , which included the 9th , successfully took a number of enemy guns . However , a Habsburg counter - charge forced them back in disorder , which spread panic among the ranks of oncoming infantry . Despite this setback , a few days later , Lobat de Bohan was promoted to the rank of General and Nansouty again took provisional command of the regiment . When General Alexandre de Beauharnais took command of the Army of the Rhine , he directed his troops towards Mainz . Some fighting took place near Landau and the 9th Cavalry charged several times . Just after this event , the commander of the 2nd Squadron of the regiment invoked the provision of an equivocal new law , demanding that he be given command of the regiment instead of Nansouty . His request was rejected and Nansouty ' s provisional command was confirmed . Commander of the 9th Cavalry . Now holding the rank of " chef de brigade " ( colonel ) in command of the 9th Cavalry Regiment , Nansouty took part in several successful cavalry skirmishes around Strasbourg in November and December of 1793 . He then participated to the Battle of Geisberg , at the end of December . Following this battle , General of Division Donnadieu , who had commanded the cavalry division of which Nansouty ' s regiment was a part , was tried and executed for alleged cowardice in front of the enemy . Nansouty was not involved in the incident . Furthermore , despite being a member of the Ancien Régime nobility , he was not harassed at any time during the radical phase of the French Revolution . During the campaigns of 1794 , war continued in the Rhineland , with General Louis Desaix pushing back the Coalition forces . Nansouty ' s 9th Cavalry was brigaded together with the 17th Dragoon Regiment , with General Delmas de La Coste as commander . The brigade performed well against Austrian cavalry in two distinct actions at the end of May of that year . General of Division Michaud , the commander - in - chief of France ' s Army of the Rhine , noted in his report that Delmas ' s two regiments showed bravery and intrepidity every time they faced the enemy . In July , the 9th Cavalry was involved in several well - led cavalry actions and Nansouty acquired an excellent reputation , recognised as a disciplinarian and a commander who knew how to drill his men effectively . Beginning in December 1794 , the French forces on the Rhine experienced a difficult period , marked by General Charles Pichegru ' s inability to take Mainz . General Jean Victor Marie Moreau replaced him as commander - in - chief . Moreau reorganised the army into three corps , plus a reserve , of which the 9th Cavalry was a part . The Reserve Cavalry , under Bourcier , intervened at the Battle of Ettlingen , with two squadrons of the 9th being committed and behaving most honourably . The next significant moment of this campaign was the incident that occurred at dawn on 11 August 1796 , while Nansouty and his men were temporarily attached to the " Corps of the Centre " , under General Laurent de Gouvion Saint - Cyr . Gouvion Saint - Cyr ' s cavalry exhausted after several days of continuous marching , it was decided that a squadron of the fresher " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " would be posted as sentry , an unusual duty for such an elite heavy cavalry unit . At daybreak , as the Battle of Neresheim opened , Austrian cavalry charged the " carabiniers " , stunning the unprepared cavalrymen , who fled in panic . Their precipitate flight spread alarm among the ranks of the other cavalry regiments , who were used to seeing the " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " triumph against the enemy on every occasion . Nansouty did his best to stop the rout of the cavalrymen and to reorganise the other panic - stricken regiments , but the morale of the cavalrymen remained very low throughout the day and Nansouty was forced to give ground in front of the enemy rather than attempt a risky charge with his demoralised troops . This elicited criticism from the Corps commander , General Gouvion Saint - Cyr , who sent his " aide - de - camp " to Nansouty with orders to charge , which the latter did after taking the necessary time to deploy his men . Under his direction , the four cavalry regiments ( 2nd and 20th " Chasseurs à Cheval " and 2nd and 9th Cavalry Regiments ) , executed a superb charge , which halted the advance of the Austrian first infantry line . The next day , Archduke Charles of Austria retreated from the field . Nansouty ' s 9th Cavalry had numerous other opportunities to shine during the campaign of 1796 and rose to the occasion every time . He became very fond of his regiment and refused the promotion to brigadier general several times , preferring to remain colonel of the 9th cavalry . War of the Second Coalition . The signature of the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797 marked the end of the War of the First Coalition but the fleeting period of peace ended in 1798 , with the formation of the Second Coalition against the French Republic . Nansouty ' s 9th Cavalry Regiment was successively attached to the Armies " of Germany " , " of Mainz " and then to the " Army of the Danube " , under the command of Jean - Baptiste Jourdan . In 1799 , the regiment , with Nansouty commanding it , was integrated into General of Division Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul ' s Cavalry Reserve of the " Army of the Danube " . This army was sharply defeated at the Battle of Stockach and most of its units merged with General André Masséna ' s " Army of Switzerland " ; the cavalry was sent to the newly formed " Army of the Rhine " . In 1799 , France ' s political and military situation seemed perilous , especially after the losses in southwestern Germany culminating in the Battle at Stockach . By then a colonel , Nansouty accepted the promotion to brigadier general on 29 August and was given the command of a heavy cavalry brigade formed by the 8th and 9th Cavalry Regiments . Later , Nansouty ' s brigade was provisionally augmented to four regiments , which , alongside Brigadier General Jean - Louis - Brigitte Espagne ' s four regiments , was included in a 3 , 000 - man - strong Cavalry Reserve ( the 1st and 2nd " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " and the 6th , 8th , 9th , 10th , 19th and 23rd Cavalry Regiments , with 14 cannons ) , under command of the 45 - year - old General d ' Hautpoul . Overall command of the " Army of the Rhine " was given to the promising General Claude Lecourbe . Lecourbe believed his forces to be insufficient for offensive action , so he decided to fall back . During the retreat , a cavalry combat took place during the Battle of Wiesloch , where d ' Hautpoul ' s men , and Nansouty ' s brigade in particular , were heavily engaged . With operations on the Rhine coming to an end , Lecourbe was replaced at the head of the army by Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers , who reorganised d ' Hautpoul ' s Cavalry Reserve , reducing Nansouty ' s brigade to its initial strength of two regiments ( the 8th and 9th Cavalry ) . Campaign in Germany . Despite the improvement of the military situation on its borders , France remained in political turmoil . Upon his return from ill - fated Egypt , General Napoleon Bonaparte received a hero ' s welcome , and regarded by many as the saviour of France . Enjoying wide popular support and political backing , Bonaparte and his followers staged a coup and installed the French Consulate . Then , First Consul Bonaparte immediately drew up campaign plans against France ' s only remaining continental enemy , Austria . Nansouty was first called to serve in the First Consul ' s " Army of the Reserve " that was to operate in Italy , but General Jean Victor Marie Moreau insisted on retaining him in his own " Army of the Rhine " , which was to operate in central Germany . Consequently , Nansouty received command of the cavalry ( 15th Cavalry , 11th Dragoons and 12th " Chasseurs à Cheval " ) of Lecourbe ' s " Right Wing Corps " of the " Army of the Rhine " . Nansouty ' s cavalry took part in several actions , beginning with the Battle of Engen , where the commander was noted for his able and daring manoeuvres , subsequently leading a successful charge against enemy infantry , whom he chased through the streets of the nearby city of Stockach , the locale of the French Army of the Danube ' s defeat a year earlier . He patrolled the Tyrol and there repulsed Prince Reuss - Plauen ' s forces in an action fought on 14 June 1800 , the day when First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte was winning at Marengo further to the south . Nansouty served as a commander of an autonomous unit in the Tyrol until the end of the War of the Second Coalition , then under the successive command of Generals Molitor and Gudin . Nansouty ' s command included as many as five regiments , after the 6th and 8th Hussars were attached to his force . During this time , he enhanced his solid reputation as an able and adept cavalry commander ; General Lecourbe stated that he wanted nobody else at the helm of his cavalry . Years of peace . The signing of the Treaty of Lunéville initiated a period of peace on the European continent . Meanwhile , however , with the Kingdom of Portugal allied to the Kingdom of Great Britain , First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte decided to make a military demonstration against the Lusitanian nation . He ordered the creation of the " Observation Corps of the Gironde " . Chosen from a short list of nine men , Nansouty was named commander of the Corps cavalry . With orders to invade Portugal the " Observation Corps of the Gironde " entered Spanish territory , but it soon returned to France , after a treaty of peace was agreed with the Portuguese government . Nansouty then held various commands , before being named general of division on 24 March 1803 . He was 35 years old . A military commander in the department of Seine - et - Oise , he was then sent to command the cavalry ( 5th " Chasseurs à Cheval " , 2nd , 4th and 5th Hussar Regiments ) of General Édouard Mortier ' s " Army of Hanover " , a position that he held until the Hanoverian army was disarmed and the French occupied the city . On 1 February 1804 , Nansouty was called to a command in the cavalry reserve of the " Army of the Ocean coast " . The reform of the French cavalry arm had already begun in September 1803 , reorganising the first twelve regiments of heavy cavalry of the French Revolutionary army into regiments of cuirassier s . The reforms also established a powerful 6 - regiment heavy cavalry division , comprising the 1st and 2nd Carabiniers - à - Cheval , 2nd , 3rd , 9th and 12th Cuirassiers , with command given to Nansouty . On 29 August 1805 this division was renamed the 1st heavy cavalry division of the newly created Grande Armée . Nansouty was also named Commander of the Legion of Honour on 14 June 1804 . In 1805 , Napoleon appointed him as First Chamberlain of the Empress , but Nansouty disliked Court life and resigned from the position as soon as he was able to find an acceptable excuse . Napoleonic Wars . War of the Third Coalition . At the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition , a cavalry reserve corps was organised in the Grande Armée , with command given to Marshal Joachim Murat . This cavalry reserve included Nansouty ' s heavy cavalry division , another heavy cavalry division under Jean - Joseph d ' Hautpoul , three dragoon divisions , a foot dragoon division and a light cavalry brigade . Nansouty ' s six - regiment division soon acquired the reputation of being the best administered and most exact in its manoeuvres . During the initial phase of the campaign , Nansouty ' s division was at first attached to Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout ' s III Corps , with which it crossed the Rhine and then the Danube , before rejoining Murat ' s cavalry reserve . Nansouty had a first opportunity to lead his men into combat at the Battle of Wertingen , where his men were noted for their excellent manoeuvring . Detaching his two " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " regiments , which he had to leave with Murat , Nansouty and his reduced division followed the Emperor at Augsburg , where he was attached to Marshal Jean Lannes ' s V Corps . In this capacity , they supported Walther ' s division at the Battle of Schöngrabern . Then , at the Battle of Wischau on 25 November 1805 , the 9th Cuirassier s participated in a major cavalry action , alongside d ' Hautpoul ' s cuirassier division , Walther ' s dragoons and Bessières ' s " Grenadiers à Cheval " and " Chasseurs à Cheval " of the Guard cavalry . Charge at Austerlitz . Having advanced the bulk of his army deep into Austrian territory , Napoleon faced a massed enemy army of some 85 , 000 men in the vicinity of the town of Austerlitz . Combat began before dawn on 2 December 1805 , and Nansouty had his entire division reunited under his command and again placed in the Cavalry Reserve , under Murat . Nansouty was positioned on the left wing of the army and his command included his usual six regiments of three - squadrons each : Brigadier General Piston ' s 1st and 2nd " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " ( 205 and 181 men respectively ) , Brigadier General La Housaye ' s 2nd and 9th Cuirassiers ( 304 and 280 men respectively ) and Brigadier General Saint - Germain ' s 3rd and 12th Cuirassiers ( 333 and 277 men respectively ) . Additionally , a horse battery from the 4th company of the 2nd horse artillery regiment was also a part of his division . These men were at first positioned on two lines , behind Caffarelli ' s infantry division of Lannes ' s V Corps . At around 10 : 00 , after battle had been joined all along the front , Russian General Pyotr Bagration , who had won the cavalry action a few days earlier at Wissau , pulled his forces back from the advancing enemy infantry from the V Corps . Meanwhile , the Austrian Prince Johann I Joseph , Prince of Liechtenstein threw his 4 , 000 - sabre Austro - Russian cavalry reserve into combat against Murat ' s 6 , 000 sabres . The Austro - Russians did not provide infantry or artillery support to the cavalry attack , while Murat ' s cavalrymen were able to cooperate with Lannes ' s infantry and artillery . Taking immense casualties after a first series of actions against Lannes ' s infantry , elements of the Coalition cavalry withdrew and were reformed by their commanders . Joined by Bagration ' s own cavalry , they set off again , this time aiming directly at Murat ' s command centre . As the Austro - Russian cavalry was closing in on its target , they were steadily met by four of Nansouty ' s regiments ( the two " Carabiniers " regiments and the 2nd and 3rd Cuirassiers ) . The sounds of the two massed cavalries colliding could be heard some distance away . After a brief combat , the Austro - Russian horsemen broke and were driven off . However , Liechtenstein soon reformed his men and , seeing that all the French cavalry was positioned on the left of Caffarelli ' s infantry division , he launched his men against the right wing of this division , but was instantly met with sustained musket volleys that disorganised his cavalrymen . Seeing this development , Nansouty wheeled right with his men and crossed the infantry intervals by platoon s , and then formed his men on two battle lines in front of the infantry . Three charges ensued in brief succession , with Nansouty skilfully committing the 1st and 2nd " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " and the 2nd Cuirassiers from his first line , then the 9th Cuirassiers and Saint - Germain ' s brigade from his second line . The Austro - Russian cavalry was finally broken and repulsed for good . After another series of well - coordinated cavalry and infantry actions , Murat and Lannes were able to force Bagration ' s entire force to withdraw , with a loss 2 , 000 men ( approximately half of the force ) and 16 guns . On the French side , despite their repeated charges on this day , the 1st heavy cavalry division registered only relatively minor casualties , a testament to the skill of its commanders . Piston ' s 1st Brigade registered 2 killed and 41 wounded , La Houssaye ' s 2nd Brigade registered 1 man killed and 25 wounded , while Saint - Germain ' s 3rd Brigade registered 47 killed and 28 wounded . The regiment that suffered the highest casualty rate was by far the 3rd cuirassiers , with 44 killed and 27 wounded , for a casualty rate of 21 per cent . Nansouty ' s charge was rated " superb and brilliant " in the report drawn up by General Augustin Daniel Belliard , Murat ' s chief of staff , and Nansouty was subsequently mentioned in the army bulletin for this action and named " Grand Officier de la Légion d ' honneur " on 25 December . Additionally , of the six colonels in his division , three were promoted to Brigadier General and three received the cross of " Commandeur de la Légion d ' honneur " . Following the peace of Pressburg with the Austrian Empire in late December 1805 , Nansouty ' s division was stationed in Bavaria , where they took winter quarters . War of the Fourth Coalition . Campaign in Prussia . As the War of the Fourth Coalition broke out in September 1806 , Emperor Napoleon I took his Grande Armée into the heart of Germany in a memorable campaign against Prussia . Comprising the same regiments as the year before ( 1st and 2nd " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " , 2nd , 3rd , 9th and 12th cuirassiers ) , Nansouty ' s 1st heavy cavalry division was again a part of Joachim Murat ' s cavalry reserve . At first , due to the extraordinary speed of Napoleon ' s operations , the 1st heavy cavalry division and one of the two cuirassier brigades of d ' Hautpoul ' s 2nd heavy cavalry division did not arrive at the front line in time to participate in the Battle of Jena . Beginning with the evening of 14 October , Nansouty ' s cavalry pursued the routed Prussia n army , following an enemy corps of 10 , 000 infantrymen and 3 cavalry regiments into the streets of Erfurt on 15 October . With the enemy trapped in the city , Colonel Préval of the 3rd cuirassiers negotiated the capitulation of Erfurt by nightfall , which resulted in the capture of 12 , 000 prisoners of war ( including 6 , 000 wounded ) and 65 cannons . Resuming its pursuit of the Prussian army , Nansouty ' s division was at Potsdam beginning on 25 October , and two days later they participated to the triumphant parade of the Grande Armée in Berlin , before being reviewed by the Emperor on 30 October . Beginning on 7 November , Nansouty and his division were with Murat , heading for the river Vistula , which they crossed on 22 December with the rest of the cavalry reserve . After a brief and successful cavalry action at the Lapazin bridge , they tried to get to the Battle of Golymin in time for the action , but were delayed by the thick mud and by the slower dragoon division that preceded them ; they arrived after the battle . The division then took winter quarters in Warsaw , but with Murat on sick leave , Nansouty was soon called to replace him , taking command of Lasalle ' s light cavalry division and the dragoon divisions of Klein and Milhaud . These divisions were placed in the first line of the army , and Nansouty , although formally placed under the overall command of Marshal Jean - de - Dieu Soult , had orders to act independently and report directly to the Emperor if any unforeseen and extraordinary events should occur . Nansouty handled this new mission with care , personally patrolling the front line and deciding where to place the picket s of light cavalry that were to cover the infantry outposts . Campaign in Poland : early manoeuvres . With the news of the alarming Russian operations against the left wing of the army , Murat reassumed command of the cavalry reserve , ordering Nansouty to retake command of the 1st heavy cavalry division and follow the concentration of the army towards Eylau . Joining his men in Warsaw , Nansouty diligently led them towards his assigned destination , but did not arrive until 13 February 1807 , five days after the Battle of Eylau and too late to take part in any action . On 14 February , Nansouty learned of the death of his comrade and former commander during the Revolutionary Wars , General d ' Hautpoul , who had been fatally wounded during the heroic cavalry charges at Eylau . After the battle , the Emperor decided that the army was to take winter quarters . To ensure the safety of his outposts , he sent Murat with a powerful column , including Nansouty ' s men , with the mission of pushing back any enemy they might find . A short skirmish involving the 1st heavy cavalry division occurred at Wolfsdorf on 10 March , before it was decided that all the heavy cavalry would be sent to the lower Vistula , where they were to rest and be reinforced . With its ranks replenished after the winter actions , the six - regiment division under Nansouty numbered , on 1 June 1807 , no less than 3 , 257 men . It was by far the most powerful heavy cavalry division of the Cavalry Reserve , which then included two other such divisions , the 2nd under Saint - Sulpice and a newly added 3rd , under Espagne . As military operation resumed later in 1807 , Nasouty ' s division was hastily directed towards the town of Deppen , where Marshal Michel Ney had managed to retreat with his Corps , after energetically extricating himself from a dangerous situation , with surprisingly few losses . With Ney ' s Corps , the Cavalry Reserve and the Guard , Napoleon moved towards Guttstadt , where on 9 June he found a large combined - arms enemy force . Murat took Lasalle ' s light horse and Nansouty ' s heavy cavalry and launched a series of charges that drove back the enemy force . Murat continued to press on and pushed the enemy into the streets of Guttstadt , where he penetrated with the cavalry at nightfall . Having fought well with his men , Nansouty was rested the next day , leaving all the action at the Battle of Heilsberg to Espagne ' s 3rd Heavy Cavalry division . At the beginning of June 1807 , the Emperor reassessed his strategic situation and decided that he needed to move northeast , in order to prevent Bennigsen ' s Russian army from using the bridge at Friedland to cross the Alle river . If the Russians managed to cross the Alle river at Friedland , they could then move closer to their Prussian allies , who were based in Königsberg . Napoleon drew up a plan , giving Marshal Murat two army corps and a powerful cavalry reserve , with orders to march on Königsberg , while sending the rest of the troops towards Friedland . Leading the thrust towards Friedland was Marshal Jean Lannes ' s Reserve Corps ( two infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade ) , with Grouchy ' s dragoons and Nansouty ' s horse " carabiniers " and cuirassiers temporarily attached . In Murat ' s absence , Grouchy was the senior cavalry commander and was to take overall command of all the cavalry that remained with the Emperor . Campaign in Poland : Friedland . Arriving with his corps at Friedland on 13 June after nightfall , Lannes found the position already occupied by Russian forces . Very early on 14 June , Lannes intrepidly attacked with an almost symbolic force ( between 11 , 000 and 13 , 500 men ) against the might of a massed enemy army of 85 , 000 . His goal was to prevent the enemy from crossing the Alle and to give Napoleon enough time to arrive with the remainder of his forces . Nansouty ' s division arrived on the field of battle at Friedland after the first engagements and was directed towards the strategic village of Heinrichsdorf . This village needed to be held , as it protected Lannes ' s communications with the rest of Napoleon ' s army . Grouchy also directed his dragoon division towards the village and was shocked to find it in enemy hands and Nansouty ' s men retreating at a trot , without even attempting to contain the enemy or to cover the route that represented the corps ' communication line . In fact , Nansouty had arrived not long before and had been instructed to place himself at Heinrichsdorf , without further instructions and without being informed of what was happening on the right . As Russian infantry and cavalry were boldly pressing him , he became concerned with his own lines of communication and thus ordered his men back , to avoid being cut off . However , Nansouty ' s move compromised Lannes ' s entire plan , which counted on powerful reinforcements arriving through Heinrichsdorf . An alarmed Lannes immediately sent one of his " aides de camp " to Grouchy urging him to stop the enemy from cutting his communications with the Emperor , whatever the cost . Grouchy duly took command of Nansouty ' s leading squadrons , ordering them back to their initial position , then launched a desperate but successful charge with his own dragoons , arriving in the streets of the village and cutting off its Russian defenders . Grouchy ' s dragoons became disorganised and were badly positioned following this sudden charge , and the Russian cavalry countercharged them , but Nansouty arrived just in time and the French repulsed the Russian cavalry , momentarily securing the position . A lively argument ensued between the two cavalry commanders . Grouchy invoked his seniority and position as commander of the cavalry and criticised Nansouty ' s earlier decision to withdraw . Nansouty countered by saying that he had superior experience at handling cavalry . When combat resumed , the quarrel did not prevent Nansouty from performing brilliantly under Grouchy ' s command during the dramatic series of events that followed . Having been repulsed earlier , the Russians decided to force the position at Heinrichsdorf , and they assembled a strong infantry force preceded by no less than 60 cavalry squadrons , plus around 2 , 000 Cossacks . To counter this move , Grouchy opted for deception , luring some of the enemy cavalry away from the infantry . Then , Grouchy charged the enemy horse from the front ; simultaneously Nansouty hit them from the flank and together Grouchy and Nansouty repulsed them . Despite numerous charges and countercharges , the French cavalry maintained the upper hand . After the arrival of the Emperor with significant reinforcements , the time was right for a general counterattack . The Emperor planned his main attack against the Russian left and he wanted to prevent the enemy from transferring reinforcements from their right wing to their battered left . To that effect , Grouchy received orders to incessantly harass the enemy before him , in order to prevent Bennigsen from redeploying them on the left wing . Orders also required Grouchy to silence the enemy guns pounding the French left . In this difficult task , Grouchy was perfectly seconded by Nansouty , and together they ended to the Russian cannonade in this sector . Later , Grouchy ' s report expressed admiration for Nansouty ' s actions , adding that the latter had " gloriously repaired " his earlier error . Nansouty was also mentioned in the 79th Bulletin of the Grande Armée . After the battle , the 1st heavy cavalry division joined in the pursuit of the Russian army to the Nieman river , but the Treaties of Tilsit in July soon ended hostilities . Count of the Empire , First Squire and the Peninsula . The numerous honours and endowments that General Nansouty received following the Battle of Friedland seem to suggest the Emperor ' s appreciation and the fact that Napoleon did not regard the early incident during this battle as Nansouty ' s fault . On 11 July 1807 , General of Division Nansouty was named " Grand Aigle de la Légion d ' Honneur " , the fifth and top rank of this order , reserved for the greatest general officer s . This also brought an annual revenue of 20 , 000 Francs . His first endowment of 12 , 846 Francs was offered on 30 June 1807 , and was paid by the Duchy of Warsaw . On 23 September , he received another 5 , 882 Francs on the Empire ' s " Grand Livre " . A count of the Empire from 10 March 1808 , Nansouty was offered two additional endowments , one of 25 , 000 Francs , paid by the Kingdom of Westphalia , and the second of 10 , 000 Francs , paid by the Zeven domain in Hannover . He also received an endowment of 100 , 000 Francs for the acquisition of a Parisian " Hôtel particulier " ; Nansouty bought the " Hôtel du Président Duret " in the Faubourg Saint - Germain , a neighbourhood inhabited by the new elite of Imperial France . Indeed , first - rate military figures such as the Viceroy of Italy Eugène , Marshals Davout and Lannes and Generals Rapp and Legrand also acquired residences in Faubourg Saint - Germain . Additionally , in 1808 , he was offered the position of First Squire of the Emperor in Napoleon ' s Military Household , a dignity that offered an annual revenue of 30 , 000 Francs and which gained importance when the Grand Squire , General Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt , was sent to Saint - Petersburg as ambassador . Napoleon allegedly chose Nansouty for his elegant manners and education , aristocratic posture and talent for administration . In his capacity as First Squire , Nansouty thus had to accompany the Emperor during the latter ' s short campaign in Spain ( from November 1808 to early January 1809 ) . There , he was in charge of several administrative tasks linked with managing the Emperor ' s stable services and suite and commanding his orderly officers . The Emperor ' s " aides - de - camp " had their own " aides - de - camp " , who were also placed under the command of the First Squire . Although never very far away from the Emperor in a campaign that included many battles , Nansouty himself never exercised a field command during this campaign , and in January 1809 , he accompanied his master back to France , as the outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition was imminent . War of the Fifth Coalition . With a large part of the French Empire ' s forces now entangled in the bloody Peninsular War , the Austrian Empire believed that its best opportunity to avenge the humiliating defeat of 1805 had finally come . The Austrians were looking to defeat France and regain their former influence in Italy and Germany . In early 1809 , the Austrian war preparations were so intense that Napoleon was forced to leave Spain and head back to Paris to reorganise his main army in Germany . In spring , Nansouty was therefore recalled to the command of 1st of the three heavy cavalry divisions of the Cavalry Reserve , placed this time under the command of Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bessières . As the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out , Nansouty ' s division was soon detached from the Reserve and temporarily attached to Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout ' s III Corps , the force that was assigned the most difficult tasks during the early military operations of this war . As Napoleon then ordered a concentration of the army at Ratisbon , Nansouty ' s division was once again put under the command of Bessières and sent to serve with the Bavarian army . After his initial victories at Abensberg and Landshut , Napoleon concentrated the bulk of his army , including Nansouty ' s men , at Eckmühl , where Davout was waiting . Eckmühl and Ratisbon . Napoleon faced Archduke Charles ' s Austrian army at the Battle of Eckmühl , on 21 – 22 April 1809 . On 22 April , the second day of the battle , Nansouty was at first sent to the Schierling plain , in support of Bavarian General Deroy , who , after several failed attempts , managed to take the town of Eckmühl from the enemy . Apart from the Schierling plain , the terrain at Eckmühl was very uneven and hilly , with dangerously steep slopes , which made cavalry action here improper . Yet , it was here that one of the most memorable cavalry actions of the entire Napoleonic Wars was to take place . It all began on the slopes next to Eckmühl , where a first brief cavalry engagement occurred , as Bavarian and Württemberger cavalry encountered and charged Austrian cavalry . The Austrians won out and the Bavarians and Württembergers retreated and reformed in the vicinity of the two French heavy cavalry divisions present . These two divisions , the 1st under Nansouty ( " 1st and 2nd Carabiniers - à - cheval " , 2nd , 3rd , 9th and 12th Cuirassiers ) and the 2nd under Saint - Sulpice ( four regiments strong ) , were placed next to one another , forming five lines , with their regiments in column , one in front of the other . These men were ordered forward , up the slope and onto the plateau where the light cavalry had been repulsed moments earlier . Arriving on the plateau at a gallop , the cavalry overtook Marshal Lannes ' s infantry , who admiringly cheered " " Vive les cuirassiers " " ( " Long live the cuirassiers " ) and applauded as the cavalry galloped past them . With their two frontline regiments now deployed in line and with the German light cavalry protecting their flanks , the two heavy cavalry divisions clashed into whatever Austrian cavalry they could find on the plateau , repulsing them with ease . This was , however , only the prelude of a much larger cavalry combat . In order to protect his retreat , Archduke Charles of Austria reunited his entire cavalry reserve , 44 squadrons in all , on either side of the Ratisbon road , next to the village of Eggolsheim . Between 19 : 00 20 : 00 in the evening , Napoleon ordered his cavalry to disperse the enemy horse from this position . In preparation of the charge , Nansouty formed five of his regiments in two lines : three regiments in the first line and two in the second line , leaving his remaining regiment with Saint - Sulpice . Saint - Sulpice ' s division was on Nansouty ' s right and it remained formed in regiment column formations , while the light cavalry was protecting the flanks of the whole . In all , the French had 48 squadrons , and , as they advanced , they were met by intense artillery fire from the Austrian batteries and then vigorously charged by the Gottesheim cuirassier regiment . Seeing the enemy charging , Nansouty ordered his squadrons forward towards the enemy , but at a gentle trot . Then , as soon as the Austrians were at about one hundred paces , the frontline regiment of " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " halted , loaded their carbine s and fired a salvo from thirty or forty paces , then drew their swords and joined their fellow cuirassier s in an energetic charge . As Nansouty led , Saint - Sulpice followed and , despite the vigour and determination of the Austrian cavalry , they were repulsed after a brief hand - to - hand combat . Coming in support of the Gottesheim cuirassiers , the " Kaiser " cuirassier regiment shared the same fate , with Sitpsicz ' s hussar s and Vincent ' s " chevaulegers " also repulsed . A generalised and bloody " mêlée " then occurred under the moonlight , with the sabre hits on the steel cuirass es producing sparkles in the night . Austrian General Scnheller was wounded during this action and General Suterheim , commanding the entire Austrian cavalry , only just escaped capture . The Austrian cavalry was repulsed and pushed into the marshes beyond , subsequently retreating towards Köfering , with the bulk of Archduke Charles ' s forces retreating towards Ratisbon . The pursuit resumed the next day at dawn , and was followed by yet another action at the Battle of Ratisbon , where the Austrians tried to delay the French pursuit . After fierce fighting , during which Nansouty ' s and Saint - Sulpice ' s men successfully charged the enemy cavalry three times , the French captured the citadel at Ratisbon , but saw the Austrians skilfully retreating . Nansouty was left at Ratisbon with Davout , to observe the retreat of Archduke Charles . Aspern - Essling . On 21 May 1809 , Napoleon crossed the Danube not far from Vienna and attacked Archduke Charles ' s Austrian army , situated on the northern bank of the river , in what became known as the Battle of Aspern - Essling . The French were nonetheless critically outnumbered and it soon became obvious that they would have a hard time just holding out . Nansouty could only get one of his brigades , Saint - Germain ' s 3rd and 12th cuirassiers , across the Danube for the action on 21 May . He found the heroic cuirassiers of General Jean - Louis - Brigitte Espagne charging , as they had done all day long , in a desperate attempt to stop Austrian attacks on the thin French battle line . Espagne had just been killed in action and his exhausted and depleted squadrons needed to be relieved . Nansouty at once brought forward Saint - Germain ' s squadrons and charged the enemy infantry , allowing the army to maintain itself on the position . On the second day of the battle , 22 May , Nansouty received his second cuirassier brigade , Doumerc ' s 2nd and 9th regiments . During the morning , having received some reinforcements , Napoleon sent Marshal Lannes ' s Corps forward , in an attack against the enemy line . Nansouty ' s and Lasalle ' s cavalry protected the infantry columns , charging the enemy cavalry to clear their path . However , at around 21 : 00 in the morning , news that the great bridge over the Danube had broken , making the arrival of further reinforcements virtually impossible , forced Napoleon to call off his attack and order a phased retreat . The situation of the French army was critical , with Marshal Lannes fatally wounded , and a great number of losses in men . It took all the skill of Nansouty and the other cavalry commanders to contain the formidable Austrian onslaught in order to allow the rest of the army to gradually disengage . After most of the army had safely crossed an arm of the Danube onto the island of Lobau , Nansouty ' s men were also withdrawn from the battlefield during the night , with the French cavalry subsequently celebrated for their role in preventing a catastrophic defeat that day . Wagram . After the bloody setback at Aspern - Essling , Napoleon took six weeks to carefully plan another crossing of the Danube . He launched this operation late on 4 July and , by the early hours of the next day , he had managed to get a substantial force across the river . Nansouty ' s division did not see any action during the first day of the Battle at Wagram and at night they camped behind the Imperial Guard . The next day , 6 July , Nansouty was at first directed to support Davout , on the French right , but when it became clear that the latter ' s sector was not threatened by the arrival of enemy reinforcements , they were ordered back into reserve in a central position on the battlefield , not far from the village of Aderklaa . Then , as the situation on the French left rapidly deteriorated , they were called into action , when Napoleon ordered Marshal Bessières , commander of the Cavalry Reserve , to launch his men in a charge against the Austrians menacing his left . With time at the essence , Bessières opted not to wait for the Guard cavalry and , with his other two heavy cavalry divisions assigned to other sectors of the battlefield , he decided to lead forward only Nansouty ' s men . This division was indeed very strong : 24 squadrons , more than 4 , 000 men , including Brigadier General Defrance ' s 1st and 2nd " carabiniers - à - cheval " , Brigadier General Doumerc ' s 2nd and 9th cuirassiers and Brigadier General Berckheim ' s 3rd and 12th cuirassiers . Bessières and Nansouty led these men forward , through a hail of cannonball s and case - shot , with the " carabiniers - à - cheval " at the front . Finding a weaker spot in the Austrian line , they pierced it and stormed past the enemy infantry formed in squares , sabering the " Georger " Grenzer battalion as they went along their way . However , many of the French cavalry did not manage to penetrate through the formidable masses of Austrian infantry , so Nansouty was now commanding a much diminished force . Showing great skill in handling his men , Nansouty then wheeled right and charged Liechtenstein ' s artillery line . However , the Austrian cavalry promptly intervened , spearheaded by the Rosenberg " chevaulegers " and the " Kronprinz " cuirassier regiments , which caught the " carabiniers - à - cheval " in flank and repulsed them , pursuing them back to their lines . The costly repulse of Nansouty ' s division did not dishearten Bessières , who was preparing another rapid charge , now with the support of elements of the Guard cavalry . This charge never came , as the Marshal ' s horse was killed by a cannonball , with Bessières also hit and carried unconscious behind the lines . With his commander presumed dead , Nansouty did not know what the Emperor ' s orders were and thus promptly decided to pull back his men , to avoid further damage to his already battered division . This however was not to be the end of General Nansouty ' s action at the great Battle of Wagram . Although the great cavalry attack had done much to ease the pressure on Napoleon ' s left - centre , the latter ' s situation remained critical . The Emperor thus launched the Corps of General Jacques MacDonald in an attack against the Austrian right - centre . MacDonald ' s attack formation , formed by chance more than by any tactical forethought , was a huge infantry attack column or square , comprising all his divisions in a deep formation that was highly unusual for Napoleonic warfare . Four squadrons of Nansouty ' s " carabiniers - à - cheval " were sent to support the flank of this attack , with the rest of his division further back . Realising that his advance is hampered by intense Austrian artillery fire , MacDonald aimed to clear the enemy guns before him , asking for a cavalry charge from Walther ' s Guard cavalry on his right and Nansouty ' s 1st heavy cavalry division on his left . With no direct orders from the Emperor and his commander , Marshal Bessières , out of action , Walther opted not to move , while Nansouty did send his men forward but , having been positioned too far back , he arrived only after the enemy guns had moved away . Nansouty ' s division suffered a very high casualty rate at the Battle of Wagram , with more men and horses lost than the other two heavy cavalry divisions combined . Losses in horses were extremely high , with 1 , 141 animals killed or injured , while losses in men were also significant , despite the fact that only the " carabiniers - à - cheval " really came into contact with the enemy . Overall , Nansouty ' s division lost 164 men killed and 436 wounded . Foremost of all , the highly - battered two " carabiniers - à - cheval " regiments had no more than 300 horses standing between themselves by the end of the day , for an equine casualty rate of 77 percent , with the 9th and 12th cuirassiers also suffering high casualties . Bessières ' s charge , hastily organised with only the division of Nansouty , through murderous artillery fire and against masses of infantry prepared to receive them , had less tactical effect than at Aspern - Essling , but it did win Napoleon valuable time , allowing him to retake the initiative in this battle . Interlude between two campaigns . General MacDonald was very critical of both Walther and Nansouty , for their alleged failure to provide proper cavalry support during his attack . MacDonald went on to write in his memoirs that he was " taken aback by the slowness of General Nansouty [ . . . ] Nansouty did charge in the end , but too late to take advantage of the gaping hole that I had pierced in the centre of the Austrian army . " A few days after the Battle of Wagram , Napoleon confronted Nansouty over what he saw as being a failure to cooperate with MacDonald . Nansouty responded to the Emperor ' s lively reproaches by offering categorical explanations , saying that he had not been consulted in the placement of his division , rendering manoeuvres impossible during that action . As Napoleon insisted , Nansouty stood up to him , finally retorting : " After all , it is not Your Majesty at any rate who can teach me to lead cavalry . . . " Despite this remark , Nansouty would continue to be given significant commands in the coming years . It was shortly after this bloody battle that Nansouty insisted that the " Carabiniers - à - Cheval " be given the steel cuirass , in a bid to cancel out what he saw as being a state of inferiority of these troops " vis - à - vis " their fellow cuirassiers . Nansouty ' s initiative was approved and was enforced in 1810 . With the peace of Vienna signed between the French Empire and the Austrian Empire in October , Nansouty was ordered to leave the command of his division to General Bruyères and retake his position of First Squire alongside the Emperor ( 17 October 1809 ) . However , with the return of the Grand Squire Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt , the role of the First Squire was much diminished . As a result , in 1811 Nansouty was given an additional function , that of General Inspector of cavalry . Very active in exercising this function , he soon became reputed for his strictness and for his detailed knowledge and invaluable experience that he had of this arm . Nonetheless , war was , once more , not far away and , on 19 October 1811 , Nansouty was called to the command of the 2nd and 4th cuirassier divisions of the " Observation Corps of the Elba " , under the command of Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout . Then , with the reorganisation of the Grande Armée in April 1812 , Nansouty was named at the command of the I Cavalry Corps . Campaign in Russia . With the outbreak of the war with Russia in 1812 , the Grande Armée included , alongside the usual combined - arms Army Corps , four large Cavalry Reserve Corps , commanded respectively by Generals Nansouty ( Ist ) , Montbrun ( IInd ) , Grouchy ( IIIrd ) and La Tour Maubourg ( IVth Corps ) . This innovation has been much criticised after this campaign and , in the words of Marshal Marmont , it had the only merit of " presenting an extraordinary spectacle that astonished the eye . " During this campaign , Nansouty ' s I Cavalry Corps was composed of : Having crossed the Niemen river with his Corps , Nansouty would continuously march under the command of Joachim Murat during this campaign , preceding the advance of the army and taking Wilna as they advanced . Despite marching constantly alongside Murat and Emperor Napoleon , Nansouty ' s Ist Corps of cavalry reserve saw little action , combating brilliantly in a vanguard action at Ostrovno and then briefly at Vitebsk . An incident involving some of Nansouty ' s light cavalry occurred during the combat at Vitebsk , when the 8th Hussars and 16th " Chasseurs à cheval " turned and fled before the Russian light horse . This was evidence that the division of Bruyères , of which they were a part , had been much used by always being placed at the vanguard of the army , resulting in the loss many of the best and bravest troopers . Despite Nansouty ' s best efforts , the extremely long and exhausting marches , the torrential rains and the absence of proper fodder took their toll on the Ist Cavalry Corps , with numbers reduced to half by this time . Additionally , just like the other Cavalry Corps commanders , Nansouty rarely had all his troops under direct control , which led to cavalry being used improperly at times . With his three divisions reunited on 7 September 1812 , Nansouty ' s Ist Cavalry Corps saw action at the Battle of Borodino . He was placed on the French right , in second line , behind the Corps of Marshal Davout and , after Murat managed to take two of the redoubt s on the Russian left , Nansouty placed his men on the right of this position and then supported the advance of the right wing of the army . With the Russians making an offensive comeback , Nansouty placed himself at the head of the heavy divisions of Saint - Germain and Valence and charged and while doing so a bullet pierced one of his knees . This was Nansouty ' s first battle wound and it was serious enough to end his active role during this campaign . He was transported to Moscow following the battle and although still wounded , on 10 October , he was entrusted with the mission of commanding the convoy that was to take the wounded generals and colonels , as well as the main trophies captured , behind the lines . During this mission , he was exposed to great danger , to famine and extreme cold , which impacted his already frail health . He was then allowed to return to France and recover from his injury . War of the Sixth Coalition . The remains of the French army had completely evacuated Russian territory by December 1812 but their defeat sparked anti - French sentiments in Germany and Prussia joined the Russians , forming a Sixth Coalition . Hostilities thus continued in early 1813 but Nansouty ' s wound did not yet allow him to return to action , so he was offered the prestigious position of Colonel - General of dragoon s ( 16 January ) , in replacement of General Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers , who had just died of exhaustion . Nansouty ' s wound was very serious but he had been very lucky : the bullet that pierced his knee only tore through flesh , leaving his kneecap intact . Having missed the first part of the campaign , General Nansouty was recalled to a field command once his knee wound was cured , towards mid - 1813 . He accepted to take the helm of the Guard cavalry , with a complement of 5 , 000 sabres , and including Guyot ' s " Grenadiers - à - cheval " , Letort ' s " Dragons " , Lefebvre - Desnouettes " Chasseurs - à - cheval " and Édouard Colbert ' s " Chevau - légers lanciers " . Campaign in Saxony . In 1813 , most military operations took part in Saxony , with the " Chasseurs - à - cheval " and Colbert ' s " Chevau - légers lanciers " encountering the enemy in several isolated cavalry actions , but the first serious action came only at the Battle of Dresden , where Nansouty ' s Guard cavalry supported Marshal Michel Ney ' s attack on the extreme left , in conjunction with Marshal Édouard Mortier ' s " Young Guard " infantry divisions . However , the Guard cavalry was not needed as a whole before the epic " Battle of Nations " at Leipzig . Placed in reserve at first , the Guard cavalry and artillery had to spring into action at once , after Napoleon received news of the Saxon defection . With the Saxons now in the Coalition camp and firing at the soldiers who moments before had been their allies , the situation of some of the French troops became desperate . The position of General Durutte ' s division , placed close to Saxon lines , was particularly tenuous and Napoleon soon came to its aid , with Nansouty in command of the Guard cavalry and horse artillery . Nansouty launched an impetuous charge with some of his regiments , the " Grenadiers - à - cheval " , " Dragons " and " Chevau - légers " and the Saxons were unable to hold out in this sector . However , the situation changed on 19 October , with the untimely explosion of a bridge over the Elster , the main retreat line for the French rearguard , which was now blocked in the city of Leipzig . The Guard cavalry extricated itself from the field of battle and was very useful in covering the retreat of the remaining French forces . With the Grande Armée in full retreat , another dangerous situation occurred on 29 October . With Bavaria now also in the camp of the Coalition , an Austro - Bavarian army of some 45 , 000 men , under General Karl Philipp von Wrede , who had fought under the command of the Emperor during the previous campaigns , tried to block the French retreat and delay the French force until the arrival of the rest of the Coalition forces . Wrede had the means necessary to achieve his goal , as he possessed a numerous artillery of about one hundred pieces and a powerful cavalry of 50 squadrons . In comparison , the French forces were much dispersed and only a few units remained cohesive and combat - capable . During the ensuing Battle of Hanau , Wrede placed his troops in front of the forest of Lamboi , through which he expected that the French would retreat . He also positioned almost all of his cavalry on the left , placing it under the command of Field Marshal - Lieutenant Spleny . Despite his numeric inferiority , Napoleon sent forward a part of his men against Bavarians deployed in the forest before him , but the intervention of the Foot Guards was soon required . The Bavarians had fought alongside the French in the past and the sight of the fearsome Bearskin s of French Guardsmen shook their morale and they abandoned their position in the forest after a brief fight . But , with the fire of a Bavarian grand battery upon them , the French infantry soon had to stop . Napoleon positioned General Le Noury ' s artillery in battery and brought in support General Drouot with the horse artillery of the Guard , as well as other pieces , constituting a grand battery of some 50 pieces that was soon able to respond adequately to the Austro - Bavarian cannonade . Nansouty , with the Guard Dragoons and Lancers , was instructed to protect this battery from the enemy and thus positioned his men behind the guns . Seeing this inauspicious development , Wrede sent his cavalry , no less than 7 , 000 men , to charge Drouot ' s grand battery . The steady French canister fire was devastating and many Coalition squadrons turned back to safety . Some of them did manage to get to the French guns and crossed the battery , with the Guard cavalry immediately countercharging and driving them off . With the gun line now out of danger , Nansouty , with the aid of Sebastiani ' s cuirassiers launched a pursuit of the repulsed enemy horse , encountering and breaking an Austrian cuirassier regiment , Knesevich ' s Dragoon regiment and two Bavarian " chevaulegers " regiments , all under the personal command of Field Marshal - Lieutenant Spleny . Then , with a manoeuvre resembling that of Kellermann at Marengo , Nansouty wheeled his men left and rushed onto the enemy infantry , breaking them . The " Grenadiers - à - Cheval " were in the thick of the fighting and , with an offensive comeback of the Bavarian cavalry , they were momentarily in a dangerous situation , but were duly rescued by the " Gardes d ' Honneur " regiment . Nansouty then took his entire cavalry and broke the remaining enemy squares and cavalry , pushing some of these men into the Kinzig river . Meanwhile , Nansouty ' s action left Sebastiani free to silence the Bavarian grand battery , skilfully using Saint - Germain ' s cuirassier division and Exelmans ' s light division of his Corps . Nansouty received a light wound during this battle , but his role at Hanau is compared by a Russian author to that of Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz at the Battle of Zorndorf . Campaign in France . Nansouty ' s final campaign took place in 1814 on French soil , under bleak circumstances for the French , who saw huge Coalition armies invade France at the beginning of that year . During this campaign , his command , 5 , 000 Horse Guards , included the 1st and " 2nd Chevau - légers Lanciers " regiments , under General Édouard Colbert , the " Chasseurs à Cheval " , under General Laferrière , the " Grenadiers à Cheval " under General Guyot , the " Dragons " , under General Letort , as well as the entire Guard horse artillery . These men soon saw action on 27 January , at the Battle of Brienne . Here , two companies of horse artillery , under an officer called Marin , a veteran of the campaigns in Italy and Egypt and personal favourite of the Emperor , were almost completely destroyed , with their guns and commander captured by the enemy . Napoleon was extremely irritated about the failure of the heavy cavalry of the Guard to protect these gunners . A further loss of cannon of the Guard artillery occurred at the Battle of La Rothière , a rare battlefield defeat for Napoleon . Here , a part of the Guard cavalry charged and was initially successful against enemy cavalry but , faced by steady ranks of the Russian and Prussian Guardsmen and with its flank threatened by enemy dragoon s , it soon had to withdraw , leaving behind some of its cannon . After rejoining the Emperor at Champaubert , Nansouty took part to the Battle of Montmirail , where he was at first instructed to protect the artillery . He then joined in the attack of the Guard infantry on the farm of Ėpine - au - Bois , where he suddenly wheeled left with his men and fell upon unprepared enemy infantry , charging home , routing these troops and subsequently pursuing the fugitives . This combined attack of the Guard resulted in a great number of prisoners and captured enemy guns , with Nansouty receiving a light wound in the process . A part of his men then took part to the Battle of Château - Thierry , where the Emperor ordered the Guard cavalry to make a turning move against the enemy left , and where Nansouty ' s subordinates General Letort and Colonel Curély brilliantly broke several enemy squares . Then , on 14 February , Nansouty personally led a brilliant charge at the Battle of Vauchamps , where he supported Grouchy in a cavalry action that decided the battle . Charging Blücher ' s men from the front , Nansouty allowed Grouchy to magnificently fall behind the enemy columns , which they both then sabred and crushed , with the Guard cavalry subsequently participating to a highly successful pursuit . Enemy losses reached a staggering 9 , 000 - 10 , 000 casualties , with 25 cannons lost . The Emperor was radiant following this battle , but , by nightfall , his mood changed when he found out of the loss of some Guard horse artillerymen . These men had been captured during their march and it was reported that their capture resulted from General Guyot ( one of Nansouty ' s subordinates ) failing to provide an escort and a guide for them . In Nansouty ' s presence , a fuming Napoleon summoned Guyot and then chastised him for the repeated losses in cannon during the previous battles , as well as for various other shortcomings , such as failing to properly escort the Emperor . After an angry tirade , Napoleon promptly axed Guyot and announced Nansouty that General Exelmans would replace Guyot at the helm of his Old Guard heavy cavalry . This episode apparently strained relations between Emperor Napoleon and General Nansouty . Always in the thick of the action during this campaign , on 24 February , Nansouty was present near the city of Troyes . Negotiations for an armistice were ongoing in a village nearby and , despite formal orders to continue the fighting , the two armies had ceased the combat . Nansouty then took his men and attacked enemy troops , charging into the streets of the village where the negotiations were taking place . The French envoy to the armistice talks , Monsieur de Flahaut saw this development and found Nansouty , bitterly protesting against the latter ' s action . Nansouty responded that the Emperor was doubtlessly aware that negotiations were indeed taking place there , but that he had orders to capture the position without further delay . On 27 February , the Emperor again moved against Blücher ' s Prussians , leaving a part of his forces near Troyes to observe the movement of Prince of Schwarzenberg ' s Austrian army . Nansouty , with the Guard cavalry , accompanied the Emperor , ensuring his protection and clearing his way after a bloody cavalry skirmish at Château - Thierry on 3 March . Another cavalry skirmish occurred on 5 March , with Nansouty repulsing a numerous enemy cavalry , 3 , 000 - 4 , 000 troopers , and capturing the bridge of Berry - au - Bac , over the Aisne , despite the enemy cannonade . Once across the Aisne with a few Polish lancer platoons , Nansouty launched a heroic pursuit , capturing enemy cannons and munitions , and taking a significant number of prisoners , among whom was the teenage Russian Prince Gagarin . On 7 March , at the Battle of Craonne , another incident occurred , seemingly indicating that there had been some sort of disagreement between the General and the Emperor . As the battle was raging , General Belliard from the Emperor ' s staff , came to Nansouty and told him that he had orders to relieve him of command , should his health prevent him from exercising his duties . Nansouty responded that he was indeed ill , but that he was able to retrain command . Although in unusually and noted bad humour after this incident , Nansouty subsequently led a most brilliant action at Craonne . He was ordered to cross bogged and broken terrain , climb a steep incline , with his cavalry and artillery , in order to fall on the enemy ' s right flank . Managing to bring his cavalrymen on the ridge , Nansouty formed them in line and launched them against the enemy , pushing back in disorder two Russian battalions . Nansouty was again wounded during this action , but this injury was not very serious and he continued to energetically lead his men . Napoleon then allegedly ordered Nansouty to assault a redoubt , under the most murderous fire . Nonetheless , Nansouty ordered his men to halt and advanced alone towards the position . Asked to explain his behaviour , he replied that he would not send his men to die in vain and that he would be attacking alone . Napoleon at once revoked his order . This was to be the last military engagement of Nansouty ' s long career . On 8 March , on the eve of the Battle of Laon , Nansouty was at Chavignon , nine kilometres from Laon , where the Emperor was also present and , although the circumstances of Nansouty ' s departure are unclear , it is certain that he left this village , and his command , that very day . Two days later , Napoleon wrote to his War Minister to inform him that General Nansouty ' s health did not allow him to exercise his military duties and that he was authorised to take sick leave in Paris . General Belliard had taken interim command of the Guard cavalry during the battle of Laon , with General Sébastiani subsequently given permanent command . Bourbon Restoration . Having left his command to General Belliard on 8 March , three days later , Nansouty was a part of a convoy of several officers , heading to Paris . On the road to the capital , they were attacked by a " pulk " of Cossacks , which managed to disperse the convoy ' s escort . Nansouty and his officers fought their way out sabre in hand and made a run for it towards the river Aisne . Reaching the riverbanks , the General got isolated and , as he was preparing to cross the river on horseback , his horse was shot under him , throwing the General to the ground . Nevertheless , he stood up and swam to the other bank of the river and safety . This event , as well as his tireless activity during the campaign , seem to suggest that his health was not the main reason of his departure from the army . It is also unlikely that the Emperor himself decided to replace him , given Belliard ' s tentative approach at the Battle of Craonne and this General ' s subsequent provisional status as commander , after Nansouty ' s departure . It is thus more likely that Nansouty resigned , following his disputes with the Emperor . General Nansouty arrived in Paris and there he remained during the Bourbon Restoration that followed Napoleon ' s abdication . He was one of the first general officers to swear allegiance to the new King of France , Louis XVIII , who would bestow a number of honours upon the General . His gesture encouraged many other generals to also swear allegiance to the new regime . On 12 April 1814 , Nansouty was named extraordinary commissioner of the King in the 2nd military division , then , on 20 April , became a member of the commission that was in charge of the dissolution of Napoleon ' s Imperial Guard . He was given the distinction of Knight of the Order of Saint Louis on 1 June and on 6 July he was called to a command in the Military Household of the King of France , as captain - lieutenant of the 1st company of musketeers ( grey musketeers ) . Despite these positions , Nansouty ' s financial situation declined severely under the Restoration . The General had had a highly honourable behaviour during the Napoleonic Wars and , unlike some of his fellow Napoleonic Generals , had drawn no revenues from pillaging . He had also been living a lofty and very costly lifestyle , which he considered normal for a nobleman such as himself . Nansouty had been earning a high revenue from his various positions during the Empire and additionally Napoleon was constantly paying high endowments to his best generals . Napoleonic endowments aside , Nansouty ' s salaries during the first four months of 1814 had brought him no less than 104 , 000 Francs , but , under the Bourbons , his dignity as Colonel - General of dragoons had been suppressed and transformed into an honorific title of Inspector of dragoons , leaving him with only a 25 , 000 Francs salary as captain - lieutenant in the King ' s Military Household . Death and resting place . By the second half of 1814 , following his long and almost continuous campaigns throughout Europe during the last ten years , the health of General Nansouty badly deteriorated . He was suffering from his wounds , some of which were very recent , but , above all from war fatigue . On his death bed , he is recorded to have said : " I have carefully reflected upon all my action ever since I was born and in all my life , I have not done anyone wrong . " He is also said to have reasserted his Christian faith and to have asked that his son be recommended for the King ' s protection , as a favour for his services . Just before passing away , he told his son that his heritage would be to follow his example and live an honourable and blameless life . General Count Étienne - Marie - Antoine - Champion de Nansouty died on 12 February 1815 in Paris , leaving behind his wife and their only son . A pension of 6 , 000 Francs per year was granted to the General ' s widow by the King of France . His final resting place is at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris , division 27 . The engraving on his tombstone reads : The name NANSOUTY is inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris . Family . The Nansouty family was ancient Burgundy nobility and it was intimately linked to the history of this region , to which it gave several esteemed magistrates and soldiers throughout the centuries . One of its illustrious members , Seigneur de Nansouty was instrumental in ensuring the allegiance of Burgundy to King Henri IV and was rewarded by the monarch for his fidelity by being named state counselor . General Count de Nansouty was the first child of Jean - Baptiste - Pierre - Charles Champion de Nansouty ( born 1718 in Dijon , died 1785 in Bordeaux ) and his wife Antoinette Hélène Harpailler ( born ca . 1740 ) , who also had Pierrette - Adélaïde Champion de Nansouty ( 1771 – 1849 ) . On 27 September 1802 , General Nansouty married Jeanne - Françoise Adélaïde Gravier de Vergennes ( 1781 – 1849 ) , the niece of a former minister of Louis XVI , Charles Gravier , comte de Vergennes . Her parents were : Charles Xavier Gravier de Vergennes , 1751 – 1794 , and Elisabeth Adélaïde Françoise de Bastard , 1763 – 1808 . General Count de Nansouty and his wife had only one child , Étienne Champion de Nansouty ( 1803 – 1865 ) , who , having followed his father ' s and grandfather ' s footsteps in the military , rose to the rank of squadron commander , but then resigned from the army . General Count Nansouty also had a nephew , Charles - Étienne Champion de Nansouty , who saw a successful military career and who later rose to the rank of general of division . Considerations . As a commander , General Nansouty is reported to have been a man of spirit but also to have had an excessive inclination towards sarcasm , which was damaging to his reputation and made him a number of enemies . His few months spent in Spain in 1808 , where he commanded the orderly officers of the Emperor and the " aides - de - camp " of the senior generals of the General Staff , seem to have acquired him an unwanted reputation for mockery on the service , to such a point that one of his subordinates reported that " no one ever knew when he was joking and when he was serious . " When it came to military matters though , Nansouty ' s posture became extremely imposing , concise and tough . A perfectionist , with a keen eye and impeccable knowledge of his arm , he was shocked whenever he saw his cavalry manoeuvres mishandled and then he became sarcastic , at times even insulting his subordinates . However , whenever he went too far with his reprimands , he was noticeably displeased with himself and remorseful , trying to offer reparation to the person he had insulted . This behaviour seems to have been recurrent . His mood seems to have been particularly bad during his last days of service , in 1814 , after he had received a number of light wounds in a short period of time , and foremost , after he had fallen out with the Emperor . During this period , he severely mistreated one of his squadron commanders for not executing his order fast enough , and even sacked his chief of staff , Colonel de la Loyère , for a minor fault . Nansouty ' s character as a proud and independent commander was apparent throughout his career and his conceitedly assertive nature , quite typical of the great cavalry commanders of the time , led to several clashes with his peers . At least one such incident almost led to a duel with another senior cavalry commander , in front of their men . It occurred on 11 July 1809 , a few days after the Battle of Wagram , and opposed him to General Arrighi de Casanova , the commander of the 3rd heavy cavalry division . Both Nansouty and Arrighi adamantly claimed for their respective troops exclusive rights to use a small farm pond that they had found . Both men refused to give way and engaged in a heated argument , to such a point that they almost came to a duel in order to settle the matter . In the end , the more senior Nansouty won out and just after the incident , one of Arrighi ' s cuirassier s erected a sign sarcastically saying " Nansouty ' s pond " . Indeed , at times , his sarcasm was directed even at his superiors , with Nansouty clashing with the more senior Grouchy at the Battle of Friedland . Nevertheless , Grouchy later recognised that the actions of Nansouty ' s division throughout the battle were " glorious " . In 1809 , Nansouty famously responded to Napoleon ' s criticism after the Battle of Wagram by saying : " It is not Your Majesty at any rate who can teach me how to handle cavalry . " Three years later , during the campaign in Russia , when Murat , King of Naples complained to him about the lack of resistance of the horses , Nansouty retorted : " Oh yes , Sire , this is because they lack patriotism . " At the Battle of Craonne , in 1814 , one day before resigning , he was recorded to have refused to execute Napoleon ' s order to assault a redoubt , a move which he saw as a death sentence to his men . Instead , Nansouty told the Emperor : " I am going alone . There is nothing but death there and I will not lead these brave soldiers to it . " His behaviour on campaign can only be described as perfectly honourable and at times humane , a trait which was illustrated during the French Revolutionary Wars , when he spared no effort to protect captured " émigrés " from the wrath of the Revolutionary radicals in the army . He also showed respect for occupied populations and never tolerated pillaging nor violence from his men . As a sign a gratitude , he was offered gifts several times but he was often seen refusing and sending them back . While on campaign in Tyrol , he was recorded to have accepted a large sum of money but he immediately distributed it to the local hospitals . Further evidence of his humanity was the care that he displayed for the lives and well - being of his men , whom he was always reluctant to sacrifice for the sake of glory . Overall as a heavy cavalry commander , Nansouty was one of the best men available during the Napoleonic Wars . Precise , methodical , with perfect knowledge of cavalry tactics , he was better than any other in preparing his attack dispositions . He was however less daring than the likes of Lasalle , Montbrun or Kellermann , which did not prevent him from leading some of the most memorable cavalry charges of the Napoleonic Wars . It has also been said that he reacted with " calculated slowness " when placed under the command of Murat . His talents for up - keeping and training his troops seemed to surpass that of his peers . This was illustrated right from the start of the Napoleonic Wars , with the organisation of the cavalry reserve in the Grande Armée , under Marshal Murat . The command of the various units of this reserve was given to some of the best cavalry commanders available , including Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul , Louis Klein , Marc Antoine de Beaumont , Frédéric Henri Walther , Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers and Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud . Despite the fame and quality of these commanders , it was Nansouty ' s six - regiment division that acquired the reputation of being the best serviced and most exact in its manoeuvres . He was also a commander who had his men continually manoeuvre during a battle , believing that this would distract them from the danger that they were facing . Nansouty ' s battlefield talents were demonstrated through superb charges at Austerlitz , Friedland , Eckmühl , Essling , Borodino , Hanau , Montmirail , Vauchamps or Craonne , thus contributing to some of the most glorious victories of the French Empire and eliciting comparisons with the superb Prussia n cavalry commander Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz .