François Fournier - Sarlovèze François Louis Fournier - Sarlovèze ( 6 September 1773 Sarlat , France – 18 January 1827 ) was a French general of the Napoleonic Wars . He was known as " the worst subject of the Grande Armée . " Early life . Born in Sarlat on September 6 , 1773 , his father owned a cabaret . In his youth , he received solid instruction by the monks of his hometown and became a clerk of the prosecutor . Troubled military career . In 1791 , he went to Paris and entered the army , and the following year became second lieutenant of the Ninth Dragoons . Posted to the Army of the Alps , he distinguished himself through his extreme Jacobinist political opinions so that , after Robespierre ’ s death , he was deprived of his rank and imprisoned in Lyon . He succeeded in escaping prison and was reinstated in the Army of the North , and afterwards in the Army of Sambre - et - Meuse , the most famous army of the French Revolution . In The Encyclopedia of the Sword , Nick Evangelista wrote : " As a young officer in Napoleon ' s Army , Dupont was ordered to deliver a disagreeable message to a fellow officer , Fournier , a rabid duellist . Fournier , taking out his subsequent rage on the messenger , challenged Dupont to a duel . This sparked a succession of encounters , waged with sword and pistol , that spanned decades . The contest was eventually resolved when Dupont was able to overcome Fournier in a pistol duel , forcing him to promise never to bother him again . " They fought their first duel in 1794 from which Fournier demanded a rematch . This rematch resulted in at least another 30 duels over the next 19 years in which the two officers fought mounted , on foot , with swords , rapiers and sabres . Demoted and arrest . Again deprived of his rank because of financial dishonesty and illegal absences , he was reinstated once more and became the aide - de - camp of Augereau . Involved in the curious affair of Donnadieu and suspected of conspiracy against the First Consul , Fournier was arrested in May 1802 , and imprisoned in the Temple , and later in Périgueux under house arrest . In Spain . In April 1805 , he was reinstated again as commander of the 600 men of the expedition of Rear - Admiral Charles René Magon de Médine in Martinique , but never disembarked and returned to France . Protected by Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle who found Fournier a good alter ego ready for any and all escapades , he became the commander of his staff and distinguished himself in 1807 in cavalry charges at the battles of Eylau , Guttstadt and Friedland . Fournier - Sarlovèze was afterwards send to Spain and between 18 and 23 May 1809 , succeeded in defending the town of Lugo for five days with only 1 , 500 men against 20 , 000 attackers . He attracted attention once more by giving some slashes of his sabre to an aide - de - camp placed under his orders by State Secretary Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno , comte Daru , a fact that caused him once again to be placed on leave without pay . Since his services were needed , he set off again with the IX Corps of Jean - Baptiste Drouet , Comte d ' Erlon . He distinguished himself once again in anti - guerrilla operations and in his charge of May 5 , 1811 , at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro , where , with his brigade ( two squadrons of the Seventh , Thirteenth and Twentieth Chasseurs à Cheval ) , he penetrated and sabred three English infantry square s . In Russia and Germany . During the Russian Campaign , he commanded the 31st Brigade of Light Cavalry , composed of the Baden Hussar s , the Hessian and Westphalian Chevau - léger s . He led a cavalry charge in the Battle of Smolensk . Promoted to general of division on 11 November 1812 , Fournier served in 1813 at Gross - Beeren and at Leipzig where he led the 6th Light Cavalry Division in the III Cavalry Corps . He was appointed Count of the Empire , but deprived again of this rank on 26 October 1813 , following a verbal dispute with Napoleon . Restored by Louis XVIII . Louis XVIII re - established him in his grade in the First Restoration , and Fournier didn ’ t serve in the Hundred Days Campaign . In 1819 , Louis XVIII permitted him to add the family name of Sarvolèze onto his name and promoted him as inspector - general of the cavalry . He also took part in the preparation of the new military code . Death . He died on January 18 , 1827 , at the age of 54 . The character of Féraud in Ridley Scott ' s movie " The Duellists " is inspired by Fournier - Sarlovèze .