David Hendrik Chassé David Hendrik , Baron Chassé ( Tiel , March 18 , 1765 – Breda , May 2 , 1849 ) was a Dutch soldier who fought both for and against Napoleon . He commanded the Third Netherlands Division that intervened at a crucial moment in the Battle of Waterloo . In 1830 he bombarded the city of Antwerp as commander of its citadel during the Belgian Revolution . Biography . Family Life . Chassé was the son of Carel Johan Chassé , a scion of an old Huguenot family , who was a major in the army of the Dutch Republic , and of Maria Johanna Helena Schull . He married Johanna Adriana van Nieuwenhoven on November 10 , 1786 and divorced her in 1795 . His second marriage was to the English widow Elisabeth Irish on April 12 , 1796 . They had one son . This marriage also ended in divorce in 1816 . Early career . Chassé entered the Dutch army as a ten - year - old cadet in his father ' s regiment in 1775 . He was promoted to second lieutenant in 1781 . He resigned his commission in 1786 because of his sympathy for the Patriot party in their opposition to the autocratic regime of stadtholder William V , Prince of Orange . Instead he became a captain in a Patriot Free Corps , defending Muiden and Weesp against the Prussian invaders that restored William to power in 1787 . Because of this role in the revolt he had to go into exile in France , as many other Patriots . Another reason for going abroad was that he had killed a man in a duel . In 1788 Chassé received a commission as a first lieutenant in the royal French army . After the revolution of 1789 he took part in the campaigns of the revolutionary French armies as a captain in the " Légion franche étrangère " ( Free foreign legion ) . He received a wound in the right upper arm in 1794 that would make writing difficult for the rest of his life . As a lieutenant - colonel he conquered the fortress of Zaltbommel shortly before the fall of the Dutch Republic in January , 1795 . Batavian Republic and Kingdom of Holland . Chassé now entered the service of the Batavian Republic as commander of a regiment of light infantry . He usually performed garrison duties , but was in 1799 part of the Franco - Dutch army that drove the Anglo - Russian expeditionary force from North Holland . In the early 19th century he commanded regiments that took part in the French campaigns in northern Germany that the Batavian army was compelled to join . He was mentioned in dispatches at the siege of Würzburg in 1810 . He was promoted to colonel in 1803 and to major - general in 1806 under the Kingdom of Holland . King Louis Bonaparte put him in command of the Dutch brigade ( part of the Division - Leval ) that his brother Napoleon obliged him to contribute to the French campaign in Spain in 1808 . For his exploits in that harsh guerilla war in the battles of Pancorbo ( better known by the French as Durango ; 1808 ) , Mesas de Ibor ( 1809 ) , Talavera ( 1809 ) , Almonacid ( 1809 ) and Ocana ( 1809 ; where he assumed command of the Division - Leval ) , King Louis created Chassé baron on July 1 , 1810 , just one week before Napoleon annexed the Kingdom of Holland to the French Empire . Like many Dutchmen , Chassé resented this annexation , so much so , that he refused to accept the " diplome " in which Napoleon elevated him to " baron de l ' Empire " on June 30 , 1811 . Nevertheless , he continued serving in the army that now became part of the imperial French army . French army service . He was now made a " général de brigade " in that French army ( a demotion ) , serving in the army corps of Jean - Baptiste Drouet , Comte d ' Erlon in Spain . As such he fought in the Battle of Vitoria and the Battle of Maya , where he saved the French army . For this feat he was made an officer in the Légion d ' honneur and nominated by d ' Erlon for promotion to lieutenant - general in the imperial army . Napoleon affectionately called him " général baionette " for his fierceness and his predilection for bayonet attacks . In 1814 Chassé was transferred to the Champagne theatre of war where he joined the Division Boyer as commander of its 2nd Brigade . He fought in the battles of Bar - sur - Aube and Arcis - sur - Aube , where he was wounded . He directed the defense of Sens on April 3 , 1814 . However , after the fall of Paris and Napoleon ' s first abdication he had had enough and asked to be released from French service . This was granted with the rank of lieutenant - general on October 6 , 1814 . He now returned to the Netherlands which had become independent again . The sovereign prince William I of the Netherlands was keen to engage the services of such an experienced general , and had no doubts about his loyalty . Chassé was commissioned as a major - general in the new Mobile Netherlands Army on October 22 , 1814 . He was made commander of the Third Netherlands Division on March 25 , 1815 and promoted to lieutenant - general on April 21 . Battle of Waterloo . At the battle of Waterloo Chassé ' s third division was part of the First Netherlands Corps under the Prince of Orange in the right - center of the Duke of Wellington ' s Anglo - Allied army . As Wellington , who had often fought opposite Chassé in Spain , apparently did not quite trust him ( there may have been some bad feelings on the part of the British ) the third division was placed in reserve behind the right wing . The third division was ordered forward , however , in the final part of the battle , when Napoleon staged his desperate Guards attack . The murderous fire of captain Carel Frederik Krahmer de Bichin ' s battery of horse - artillery , and the bayonet attack of the Detmers brigade ( part of the division ) on Chassé ' s initiative , against the Middle Guard broke the attack of that elite unit , and turned it into a rout . Though this was a turning point in the battle , Chassé was not mentioned in dispatches by Wellington , like so many others . He expressed his annoyance at this in a letter to Lord Hill , shortly after the battle , and received a conciliatory reply , recognizing his contribution . For his part in the battle Chassé was made a knight - commander in the Military William Order July 8 , 1815 . Belgian Revolution . After Waterloo Chassé was given several high commands . After the beginning of the Belgian Revolution he replaced Prince Frederick of the Netherlands as commander - in - chief of Dutch forces in Belgium on October 17 , 1830 . The next day he ordered the retreat to the fortified area around Antwerp . As commander of the citadel of Antwerp he ordered the bombardment of that city after an incident , the exact cause of which is still in dispute , on October 27 , 1830 . Whatever the provocation , the large loss of civilian life this bombardment caused seems hard to justify . The resentment it caused among Antwerp civilians helped lose Antwerp for the Dutch cause . Nevertheless , the citadel remained in Dutch hands , and Chassé its commander . In 1832 ( by now a full general ) he commanded a garrison of 5 , 000 Dutch troops that was besieged by a French army under Marshal Gérard ten times that number . Despite this superiority , and the fact that the citadel was bombarded day and night by the French , the garrison held out for twenty - four days , before Chassé was finally forced to surrender . This earned him a knight ' s - grand cross in the Military William Order by promotion , and the admiration of the French , who made his imprisonment in St Omer as pleasant as feasible . He was released as a prisoner of war in June , 1833 and appointed governor of the fortress of Breda that same month . After the peace with Belgium in 1839 Chassé finally retired . He was at first promised his full salary as a general for life , but this was reduced to the usual pension after government economies in 1841 . King William I had appointed him a member for life of the First Chamber of the States - General in 1839 ( which supplemented his income for a while ) , but after life memberships of that Senate were abolished by the constitutional reform of 1848 he lost that income also . He therefore had to sell his beloved horses . Chassé died a few months later , aged 84 . He was almost alone at his death , because his only son had predeceased him . His relatives declined a state funeral at his wish . He was laid to rest in Ginneken , now part of Breda , in a very simple burial