Victor de Fay de La Tour - Maubourg Marie Victor Nicolas de Fay , marquis de Latour - Maubourg ( 22 May 1768 in Château de La Motte - de - Galaure , near Grenoble – 1850 in Dammarie - lès - Lys ) was a French cavalry commander starting under the Ancien Régime of France , and rising to prominence during the First French Empire . He was a diplomat after the Bourbon Restoration , where he served as Minister of War , from 1819 - 1821 . Early years . His father was Claude Florimond de Fay ( 1712 – 1790 ) , and his mother was Vacheron Bermont Marie Françoise ( b . 1712 ) . Marie - Victor was a sous lieutenant in the Gardes du Corps . He was appointed Colonel of the 3rd Régiment des Chasseurs - a - Cheval , 5 February 1792 , and served at Philippeville , Grisville , and Maubeuge . In August 1792 , he was captured at Rochefort , Belgium , and taken prisoner by the Austrians , with Gilbert du Motier , marquis de Lafayette . He was released soon , while his brother was only released after the treaty of Campo - Formio 18 October 1797 . He lived in Hamburg , and then Brussels as an " émigré " , where he was joined by his family . Egypt . At the end of 1799 he returned to France and was sent to Egypt by the First Consul . There he served as " aide - de - camp " to General Kléber , with whom he received a head wound , from an exploding shell , at Alexandria , 13 March 1801 , and after Kléber ' s assassination as " aide - de - camp " to General Menou . Campaigns of 1805 - 7 . He was present at the battle of Austerlitz , serving in Germany under General Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud , in command of the 22nd Chasseurs - a - Cheval , forming part of Joachim Murat ' s cavalry reserve , and was shortly promoted to Brigadier General , 24 December 1805 . He campaigned in Prussia and Poland , fought at Jena ; he found himself in the 3rd Division of Dragons under General - de - Division Louis - Chretien Carriere de Beaumont . He was made général de division , 14 May 1807 , fought at the Battle of Heilsberg , where he commanded , the 1er Division de Dragoons , and was wounded , again at Friedland , where his division supported Marshal Victor ' s I Corps on the right . Spain and Russia . In 1808 he commanded the cavalry of the Armée du Midi , under Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bessières , Marshal Claude Victor , and Marchal Soult in the Peninsular War , in Spain , participating in the fall of Madrid , then at the battles of Uclés , Cuenca , Medellín , Talavera , Ocana , Gebora , Albuquerque , Albuera , Usagre , Elvas , was wounded at the Villafranca , winning the title of Baron de l ' Empire . One of his dispatches was deciphered by the British . He was recalled to participate in the march on Moscow , given command of the IV Cavalry Corps . He was wounded at the Battle of Borodino , and gave distinguished service at Mojaisk , led a " sacred squadron " , surviving the retreat , later commanded the I Cavalry Corps at Bautzen , Reichenbach , Goldberg , Lutzen , and Dresden . At Wachau , his corps along with François Étienne de Kellermann ' s IV Cavalry Corps and the dragoons of the Guard charged the center of Duke of Württemberg . The reserve Russian Guard , counterattacked , stabilizing the line . He lost a leg above the knee : famously responding to his body - servant ' s weeping at the sight , he remarked to his man , " What are you crying about , man , you have one less boot to polish " . The amputation was practised by the famous surgeon of the imperial armies , Dominique Jean Larrey who notes in his memoirs : He received a ball of small caliber which crashed his right knee to pieces , a serious wound which required the amputation of the thigh , requested by the casualty himself : I immediately practised it under fire of the enemy . It was made in less than three minutes . Restoration . With the restoration of the Bourbons he pledged loyalty to Louis XVIII and remained with him during the Hundred Days , for which he was made a " Pair de France " , 1814 , made a marquis in 1817 . He served at several diplomatic posts , including Ambassador to London in 1819 . ( Castlereagh corresponded with him ) . He was briefly Minister of War ( November 1819 - December 1821 ) , and governor of Invalides ( December 1821 ) , and sat on the tribunal that condemned Marshal Michel Ney to death . In August 1831 , he negotiated with the Belgians about the frontier forts , but the British intervened . He was awarded the Grand Croix of the , and of the Legion of Honor by Napoleon , and Grand Croix of the Order of Saint Louis by Louis XVIII , and Chevalier de the Order of the Holy Spirit . He married Pétronille van Ryssel ( d . 17 July 1844 ) . His older brother , Charles César de Fay de La Tour - Maubourg also became a general . His younger brother , Juste - Charles de la Tour - Maubourg , married Anastasie de la Fayette ( 1777 – 1863 ) .