Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle Antoine - Charles - Louis , Comte de Lasalle ( 10 May 1775 , Metz – 6 July 1809 , Wagram ) was a French cavalry general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , often called " The Hussar General " . He first gained fame for his role in the Capitulation of Stettin . Over the course of his short career , he became known as a daring adventurer and was credited with many exploits ; some true , others probably fanciful . Eventually , he fought on every front and was killed at the Battle of Wagram . Early career . Antoine Lasalle was born on 10 May 1775 in Metz , Lorraine province , into a family of minor nobility . His father was Pierre Nicolas de Lasalle d ’ Augny , an officer in the French Royal Army and a knight of the Order of Saint Louis , and his mother was Suzanne Dupuy de la Gaule . On his maternal side , Lasalle was a descendant of Abraham de Fabert , a Marshal of France . His military inclinations showed at an early age and , thanks to his family ’ s status , when he was eleven years old he was able to join Foreign Infantry Regiment of Alsace ( German ) as a second lieutenant replacement on 19 June 1786 , rising to the rank of second lieutenant by the age of fourteen . When the French Revolution broke out , Lasalle embraced it and was assigned as a second lieutenant to the 24th Cavalry Regiment on 25 May 1791 . Being an officer in the French Army had always been a privilege of the nobility , but this was reversed by a government decree in 1792 , to the point of forbidding people of aristocratic origins to have military command . As result , he lost his commission but he remained loyal to France . The incident did not deter his desire for a military career , so he enlisted as a private in 1792 and moved to Paris . He joined the Section des Piques , a group of radical Parisian revolutionaries in the National Guard . By 1793 , he had joined the Army of the North in Italy as a volunteer in the 23rd Horse Chasseur Regiment . He was soon elected sergeant and led his company to attack and capture an enemy artillery battery . The general in command witnessed the fearlessness that Lasalle had demonstrated , and proposed that he be made an officer . Lasalle rejected this because it would separate him from his men . The Army of Italy . Through family friendship with François Christophe Kellermann , he won back his pre - Revolutionary grade of lieutenant and became Kellermann ' s aide - de - camp on 10 March 1795 . Enjoying the challenges of staff work , he stayed with Kellermann when he transferred to the Army of Italy on 6 May 1795 . He was employed as assistant to Kellermann ’ s son , Adjutant - General François Étienne de Kellermann in May , 1796 . Lasalle was soon promoted to Captain on 7 November , the same year . A narrow escape . Captured early on in Italy , Lasalle was exchanged and took up a love affair with an Italian marquise in Vicenza . This led to an incident on 17 December 1796 in which he led a party of troopers to his lover ' s house – deep within Austrian lines . Lasalle was fluent in many languages , including German , so he deceived the various patrols that gave him and his men trouble . He left the marquise ' s house at dawn , inexplicably neglecting to hide his French uniform . Lasalle and his men were surrounded by 100 Austrian hussar s . He escaped by leaping his horse over the parapet of a bridge . With only 18 men left , he routed the Austrian hussars but in the heat of the pursuit found himself isolated . Refusing to surrender , he fought his way out , injuring four hussars , losing his horse , and having to swim across the Bacchiglione River . He arrived on the banks of the Bacchiglione , uninjured , and regrouped with his men , who gave him a captured Austrian horse to ride back to camp . The next morning , he rode the captured Austrian horse on parade . This brought Lasalle to Napoleon ' s attention . He questioned Lasalle , and was told the whole story . Napoleon shouted " Are you crazy ? " and was preparing a court martial , until Lasalle gave him the information that he obtained during the skirmish . Napoleon saw in Lasalle a daring and courageous man that could be a useful in missions of infiltration behind enemy lines , where one needs to make his own decisions with haste and good judgment . Napoleon pardoned Lasalle and even made him chef d ' escadron of the 7th Regiment of Hussars on 6 January 1797 by saying " Commandant Lasalle , remember that name " . Battle of Rivoli . He justified his rapid progress and reputation when , at the Battle of Rivoli , he spurred ahead with the entire cavalry – 26 horsemen of the 22nd Horse Chasseurs . As a result , an entire battalion of the Deutschmeister Regiment threw down its arms in panic and fled . A battery of 15 Austrian guns blasted the French dragoon s , while two columns of infantry were led forward supported by cavalry under Charles Leclerc and Lasalle . The packed Austrian soldiers in the gorge fled when their own dragoons began trampling on them in panic . Likewise , the dispersed infantry on the Heights were unable to hold once Lasalle and the French cavalry got in their midst . Lasalle and his men continued to support Generals Lebley and Vial until the battle was over . There were 5 , 000 French casualties and 14 , 000 Austrian casualties . Eleven flags were captured , six of which were captured by Lasalle . After the battle , all of the trophies were piled up before Napoleon and Lasalle lay exhausted a few feet away on top of his six flags . Napoleon said , " Go to sleep on your flags , Lasalle , for it was well - deserved ! ” With 16 men from the new Corps of Guides , Lasalle charged the enemy ' s Uhlan s , forcing them to evacuate the city and retreat to the Tagliamento . Lasalle was the first to cross the river in pursuit of them . Lasalle and his men successfully drove the enemy out of the Tagliamento , ending the campaign in Italy with an overwhelming French Victory . The invasion of Egypt . Napoleon Bonaparte personally asked Lasalle to participate in the Campaign in Egypt . Excited about participating in this exotic expedition , he joined the Army of the East . They invaded Alexandria and from there marched to Cairo . On 21 July 1798 , in the Battle of the Pyramids , the Turks , reassured by the easy refuge the village of Embabeh provided for them , resisted the efforts of the French Army . Lasalle , at the head of 60 men , charged the village and routed the garrison , chasing them wildly . He cut off the retreating army by taking a secret route through the Giza Pyramids , allowing Napoleon to crush his opponents . Because of this bold move , Napoleon promoted Lasalle to Lieutenant Colonel of the 22nd Horse Chasseur Brigade and 7th Hussars . He traveled back to the Nile with General Louis Desaix and fought at the Battle of Salahieh on 11 August . While battling and besting a group of Mamelukes , the cord that attached his sabre to his wrist snapped , leaving the sabre on the ground . He calmly dismounted and picked it up in the middle of the fray , quietly mounted his horse and continued fighting . This fearlessness made him a popular companion for risky missions . Major battles . Two weeks later at the Battle of Remedieh , he chopped both hands off a Mameluke who was fighting General Davout , saving his life . He then overthrew several Mamelukes , broke his sword over the head of Osman Bey , broke a pair of pistols while defending himself , took the sword of a wounded dragoon , returned to the mêlée , rallied his troops , restored the fight , and drove the enemy to the desert . On 22 January , at the Battle of Samanhout , he executed some brilliant cavalry charges that led considerable losses for the enemy . Finally on 1 March 1799 , at the Battle of Gehemi , he completely defeated a regiment of Arabs who had come from Yanbu ' al Bahr to help the Mamelukes , and killed over 300 men . Lasalle continued to follow his regiment and played a major role in General Desaix ' s subjugation of Upper Egypt against Murad Bey . The 22nd Horse Chasseurs returned to Cairo after the victory and were tasked to contain Egypt and to ensure communications between Salahieh and Cairo . Lasalle successfully completed this mission . After the signing of the Convention of El - Arish on 24 January 1800 , Lasalle returned home to France . To advertise his recent adventures , he adopted the Mamelukes ' baggy red trousers ( " saroual " ) as part of his uniform . On 5 August , after his return , he received pistols and a Sabre of Honour from Napoleon . On 25 August of the same year he received the command of the 10th Hussars as Colonel or chef de brigade . Interlude in France . He was one of the best commanders of light cavalry , as well as being intelligent , well - educated , and witty ; yet , according to Jean Antoine Marbot , he posed as a libertine and ruffian who " might always be seen drinking , swearing , and smashing everything " , carefully maintaining the hussar image and reputation . He also founded the " Society of Alcoholics " , which shocked the high society of Paris ( except for Napoleon ) . One evening Lasalle made Paul Thiébault count all the empty wine bottles . Thiébault asked " Do you want to kill yourself ? ” which prompted the famous reply from Lasalle : " My friend , any hussar who does not die by thirty is a blackguard . . . " Affair and marriage . Lasalle had been intimately connected with Joséphine Berthier , the wife of General Victor Leopold Berthier ( Minister of War and Chief of Staff ) and sister - in - law to Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier . Joséphine and Berthier divorced and Lasalle immediately proposed to her . Napoleon gave Lasalle 200 , 000 francs towards the nuptials . When they met at the Tuileries Palace , Napoleon asked , " When is the wedding ? ” Lasalle replied , " Sire , when I have enough money to buy the wedding presents and furniture " . Napoleon said , " But I gave you 200 , 000 francs last week , what did you do with them ? " . Lasalle replied , " I used half to pay my debts and have lost the rest gambling " . Such a confession would have broken the career of any other soldier but , coming from Lasalle , it made the Emperor smile . Napoleon merely ordered Marshal Géraud Duroc to give Lasalle another 200 , 000 francs . When a prefect asked why Napoleon didn ' t discipline Lasalle for his conduct , Napoleon responded that " It only takes a stroke of a pen to create a prefect , but it takes twenty years to make a Lasalle " . Despite this extravagance , Lasalle apparently possessed a sense of duty and responsibility towards his new family and cared for Berthier ' s three boys , Alméric - Alexandre ( b . 1797 ) , Oscar ( b . 1799 ) , and Alexandre - Joseph ( b . 1802 ) as if they were his own . ( In fact , Alméric - Alexandre and Oscar probably were his illegitimate sons . He and Joséphine had their own little girl , Charlotte - Joséphine , who was born in May , 1806 . ) On 14 June 1804 he was made a member of law in the 5th Cohort of the Legion of Honor as a Commander . He took up his post in Salamanca , Spain later that year . Duelling and boredom in Spain . Shortly after his arrival in Spain , Lasalle found himself involved in a duel by sabre . He had been attempting to seduce the wife of the Captain of Engineering when the captain caught them " in flagrante delicto " . Lasalle was generous ( or cautious ) enough not to attack and contented himself with parrying , but he did so with such vigor that it broke the engineer ’ s wrist . As the engineer was doubled over with fatigue and pain , Lasalle let down a hard blow with the flat edge of his sabre on the man ’ s back . When it was obvious the engineer could take it no more , Lasalle opted to end the battle by saying , " If you had known me better you would have attached less importance to the fact you have been injured , and if I had known better , I would have refrained from continuing to fight after you had been injured . Let us finish this fight for it is far too unequal , but because of your actions I now know you are a man of honor . " This ( and other ) indiscretions didn ' t tarnish his reputation for handling light cavalry and , by 1 February 1805 , he was promoted to Brigadier General . A month and a day later , he took command of the 2nd Brigade of Dragoons stationed in Amiens . He soon became sick of drilling and parades , but things changed when Napoleon set his sights on the new Austrian and Russian threats along the Rhine , sending Lasalle and his men into action . On the Prussian Front . Lasalle went into immediate action at the Battle of Austerlitz , with the 1st Dragoon Division , under the command of Divisional General Louis Klein , in the Cavalry Reserve of Marshal Joachim Murat . Because of his successes on the field , he was given command of a Light Cavalry Brigade consisting of the 5th and 7th Hussar Regiments , also under the command of Marshal Murat . Lasalle ’ s star was high during the 1806 campaign for Prussia , where his hussars became known as the " Brigade Infernale " ( " Hellish Brigade " ) , with Colonels François Xavier de Schwarz and Ferdinand - Daniel Marx as his regimental commanders . He then fought at Schleiz and Jena - Auerstedt , where he captured the King of Prussia ' s bodyguard and forced the Prince of Hohenlohe to retreat . On 26 October 1806 , Lasalle was in pursuit of Hohenlohe when he observed Prussian infantry northwest of his position , at the edge of the forest , near Zehdenick . Unconcerned about the enemy ’ s huge numerical superiority , he charged . After fierce fighting , the Prussians managed to beat back Lasalle ' s hussars until cavalry reinforcements arrived . General Grouchy arrived at about the same time and the combined attacks destroyed the Prussian cavalry . The Prussian infantry moved into the woods and then withdrew . On 28 October , as they approached Prenzlau , they realized the Prussian Army had been inside the city for some time . Marshal Murat arrived at 10 a . m . and ordered Lasalle to cut the road from Gustow and to storm the northern gates of the city . Lasalle took his troopers right up to the city gates and burst them open . He continued on through the city and out the east gates where he could see Hohenlohe ’ s army forming in a plain north east of the city . Capitulation of Stettin . The next day Lasalle and his hussars marched to the fortress of Stettin , arriving well ahead of the main French force . He prepared to attack but decided to try a bluff instead . Pretending that the entire army had arrived , he demanded that Stettin surrender . General Romberg ' s reply was predictable : . " Tell your master that the town of Stettin was entrusted to my safeguard and that I shall defend it to my last man " . Lasalle then resorted to threats : " If , by 8 a . m . you have not surrendered , the town will be bombarded by our artillery , stormed by 50 , 000 men , the garrison will be put to the sword and the town will be plundered during twenty - four hours " . Convinced that he was faced with 50 , 000 French soldiers , Romberg entered into negotiations and capitulated on the evening of 29 – 30 October . Over 5 , 000 men and 281 guns were surrendered , and Lasalle became a national hero . Napoleon wrote to Murat , " If your Light Cavalry captures fortified towns , I ’ ll have to discharge my Engineer Corps and have my heavy artillery melted down " . In spite of their victory , Lasalle ' s troops were exhausted . He later wrote : " Who could recognize the brilliant hussars from Kronach fourteen months ago , those of the 5th Regiment with their white pelisses with lemon - yellow braids and their sky - blue breeches , those of the 7th Regiment with their green pelisses with daffodil - yellow braids and their scarlet breeches ? Today the whole brigade , men and horses adorned alike in mud , have neither form nor color . Their uniform is misery " . Battles of Lübeck and Golymin . The capitulation of Stettin had prevented Prussian General Blücher from passing the frontier into Eastern Pomerania . Now Blücher was determined to escape from the French at any cost . Murat , together with Lasalle , Bernadotte and Soult were in hot pursuit , forcing Blücher farther and farther to the north . Having run out of Prussian territory , On 5 November , he marched into the neutral city - state of Lübeck , where he demanded money and food from the city authorities . The next day , Bernadotte ' s men arrived and attacked the walls . Lasalle was among these men and fought bravely . During the Battle of Golymin , General Lasalle led his legendary " Hellish Brigade " against a Russian battery of 12 - 15 guns . The hussars charged with vigor but were abruptly seized with panic , turned about and , in disorder , stampeded back to the rear . Of the whole brigade only the elite company of the 7th Hussars , placed immediately behind Lasalle himself , remained firmly at their posts . Lasalle was furious . He rode after them , screamed " Halt ! " , and brought them back . Lasalle kept them within a short range from the Russian guns as punishment for their behavior , standing 20 paces in front of his men , remaining motionless and calm , although under enemy fire . He then finally rallied his troops and commanded " Break the ranks ! " , and with the support of Klein ’ s dragoon division charged the enemy from the flank . The Russians were routed and fled under the cover of artillery as Lasalle pursued until the battle was won . Promotion and cavalry trainer . On 30 December 1806 , Lasalle was promoted to Divisional General and given command of the Light Cavalry Division in Murat ’ s Cavalry Reserve . Shortly thereafter , Napoleon authorized raising a guard regiment of Polish Light Horse . Under General Lasalle they were given an intensive course in horsemanship and discipline , becoming one of the finest regiments in the Imperial Guard . An officer of the Poles wrote : " It was in Lasalle ' s school that we learned outpost duty . We have kept a precious memory of this general in whom all the lovable and imposing qualities of a born marshal were combined . . . He should have replaced Murat to whom he was vastly superior . . . " Battle of Heilsberg . During the Battle of Heilsberg , on 12 June 1807 , Murat was surrounded at the height of a mêlée by 12 Russian dragoons . Lasalle was in command of three brigades of light cavalry which contained the " Hellish Brigade " , two lancer regiments , and five horse chasseur regiments . Lasalle saw Murat in trouble and charged at the enemy , killing the officer who commanded the detachment and putting 11 dragoons on the run , saving Murat ’ s life . Shortly after , Murat and other members of the " Hellish Brigade " saved Lasalle from certain death . Afterwards , while shaking hands , Murat told Lasalle , " General , we are even " . The following July , Napoleon made Lasalle a Grand Cross Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown . He was then sent to Spain under the orders of Jean - Baptiste Bessières . The Peninsular War . Lasalle was given command of the 1st Light Cavalry Division , consisting of the 8th Hussars , 13th , 16th and 24th Chasseurs . Lasalle ’ s cousin , Pierre - Louis - Adolphe - Georges du Prel , became his aide - de - camp . He arrived in Spain on 15 February 1808 . One of Lasalle ' s major faults was his willingness to repay resistance with brutality , and it was said of him that he " made Spain tremble " . In June , Lasalle was responsible for the torching of Torquemada , a village that resisted his troops . As his men approached Palencia , the insurgents abandoned their positions and fled to Valladolid , supported by a column of infantry . Battling across Spain . On 12 June 1808 , while Lasalle was on his way to Valladolid , in the village of Cabezón , he met a resistance of about 7 , 000 men under General Cuesta , deployed along the Cabezón bridge to bar the road to Burgos against oncoming French divisions . Cuesta rushed his troops across the bridge against almost double his number , with predictable results : Lasalle ' s veteran cavalry trampled Cuesta ' s raw recruits with ease and marched on to Valladolid , " restoring order " to that city . On 14 July at Medina de Rioseco , with 14 , 000 men under the command of Bessierès , he fought against over 20 , 000 Spaniards . Lasalle marched towards Vitoria , commanding the rearguard , and protecting the French from another breach made by the enemy . As a result of these actions , he was named Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor and made a Count of the Empire . On 7 November he fought at the Battle of Burgos . The untrained Spanish militias were unable to form infantry squares and scattered in the face of massed French cavalry , while the stubborn Spanish and Walloon Guard s stood their ground in vain . A few days later , at the Battle of Villa Viejo , he captured seven cannons and four flags . On 15 March , Leval ’ s division and Lasalle ’ s cavalry crossed the Tagus River at Talavera . On the next day they were joined by Victor - Perrin , heading Villatte ’ s and Ruffin ’ s divisions , at Arzobispo . The rest of the cavalry , along with the artillery and the baggage , was sent to Almaraz . Two days later , Lasalle reached Meza de Ibor and fought the Spanish troops , forcing them out of their defensive position on the Tagus . Battle of Medellín . Lasalle then joined the Battle of Medellín . The Spanish had an army almost twice the size of the French . Lasalle ' s position was a bit dangerous , since the Guadiana River was only a mile behind his back and Lasalle recognized how dangerous a retreat would be in the close confinements of the narrow bridge . Lasalle had been reinforced with seven infantry battalions from Villatte , and once he saw the Spanish routing to the west he ordered a powerful counter - attack . Lasalle ' s fresh battalions also attacked frontally , and French dragoons were now rolling over the center of the Spanish army , which attempted to flee in any way it could . Cuesta ' s army effectively ceased to exist . That was his last battle on the Spanish Peninsula , where he was nicknamed " Picaro " which means " rogue " or " adventurer " in Spanish . Napoleon called 33 - year - old Lasalle from Spain to Germany . Lasalle ’ s excitement at being ordered to join Masséna ’ s corps in Germany was made clear by a chance meeting with Roederer and Thiébault in Burgos . To Roederer ’ s question if he were traveling via Paris , Lasalle replied , " Yes , it ’ s the shortest way . I shall arrive at 5 a . m . ; I shall order a pair of boots ; I shall make my wife pregnant , and I shall depart " . He left immediately to take command of the Light Cavalry Division in the IV Army Corps commanded by Masséna . Final battles in Austria . Battle of Aspern - Essling . Lasalle joined the French Army for its 1809 Campaign along the Danube . He arrived just prior to Napoleon ' s push across the Danube at Aspern - Essling and was sent to scout the location of the Austrian army . The first stage of the operation began on 13 May 1809 , laying a bridge of boats over the first arm of the Danube to Lobau . Then , the advance guard and Lasalle ’ s light cavalry would pass into Lobau , together with the material needed to bridge the second arm to the left bank . As soon as this was finished , Molitor ’ s division and Lasalle ’ s four light cavalry regiments passed over and Lasalle ’ s horsemen fanned out into the plain . There were no travelers or couriers to be intercepted there , as there had always been in Prussia and Spain ; consequently , Lasalle ’ s officers had nothing to go on but the evidence of their own eyes and ears . On the morning of the 21st , great masses of men , guns and wagons had assembled on the island . In the next four hours both Aspern and Essling were taken and retaken several times . Napoleon ordered Lasalle ' s cavalry regiments to aid Marulaz ' s distressed troops , but General Liechtenstein anticipated this maneuver sending nine regiments to drive off Lasalle , engaging him frontally with four regiments and using the remaining five to charge his flank . Lasalle fought them off , buying time for the hard - pressed French infantry in Aspern . At 7 p . m . Lasalle mustered his troops for another charge . Lasalle managed to defeat the first Habsburg line , but Austrian hussars captured quite a few men of the 24th Chasseurs . Outnumbered on the second day of battle , Napoleon ordered Lasalle and Espagne to defend a sector the IV Corps had been thrust into . Taking advantage of the fog , Lasalle ' s men fought along the defensive ground running between the two villages , charging the Austrians in a series of short , sharp charges intended to prevent them from launching a coordinated attack . These tactics worked , allowing General Boudet to gain complete control of Essling . Later , during Marshal Lannes ' advance , Lasalle and Marulaz ’ s cavalry charged at least three times in an effort to support the infantry . Although the French were forced to withdraw , Lasalle ’ s determination and courage prevented the withdrawal from becoming a rout . Death at the Battle of Wagram . On 5 July 1809 , Lasalle fought at the Battle of Wagram commanding a Light Cavalry Division in the IV Corps of Marshal Masséna . On the morning of the battle , Lasalle had a presentiment about his death . He drew up a petition to the Emperor , asking him to take care of his children , and gave it to one of his friends to deliver to Napoleon , if necessary . On the eve of the battle , opening his luggage he found his broken pipe , a bottle of liquor and a broken glass that had been used by his wife . As a result of these omens , he told his aide - de - camp , " I will not survive this day " . He wrote a letter to his wife that read : " Mon coeur est à toi , mon sang à l ' Empereur , ma vie à l ' honneur " ( My heart belongs to you , my blood to the Emperor , my life to honor ) . On the night of the second day , Lasalle ’ s men had still not been ordered to fight so Lasalle went to Marshal Masséna to ask permission to pursue the enemy . Masséna ordered him to go aid General MacDonald . Lasalle exclaimed , " The battle is almost finished and we are the only ones who have not contributed to the victory ! Let ’ s go , follow me ! " Lasalle was temporarily separated from his division and accidentally alerted a battalion of enemy infantry , so he charged them with the 1st Cuirassier Regiment . Lasalle was shot in the chest but continued to charge . The enemy infantry broke and was routed as Lasalle and regiment pursued them . As he charged , Lasalle was shot between the eyes by an Austrian grenadier and was killed instantly . Marulaz tried to avenge Lasalle by leading a hussar regiment against a square of Austrian infantry , driving them to retreat .