François Jean Baptiste Quesnel François Jean Baptiste Quesnel du Torpt ( 18 January 1765 – 8 April 1819 ) became a division commander under the First French Empire of Napoleon . By the time the French Revolutionary Wars began , he had been a non - commissioned officer in the French army for nearly a decade . Within less than two years he rose to the rank of general officer while fighting against Spain . His career then stagnated until the War of the Second Coalition when he led a brigade in Italy at Verona , Magnano , Cassano , Bassignana where he was wounded , and Novi . Promoted to division command in 1805 , he filled non - combat posts in the interior . He was captured in 1808 after participating in the 1807 Invasion of Portugal . After being released , he served in the 1809 Invasion of Portugal but was later detached to lead a column of dismounted cavalrymen back to France . He led a division at Figueras in 1811 . During the War of the Sixth Coalition he commanded a division under Eugène de Beauharnais in Italy , fighting at the battles of Feistritz , Bassano , Caldiero , and the Mincio . He retired from the army in 1815 and drowned in the Seine under mysterious circumstances in 1819 . Quesnel is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe on Column 37 . Revolution . Quesnel was born on 18 January 1765 in Saint - Germain - en - Laye which is now part of Yvelines department near Paris . He enlisted in the 25th Infantry Regiment in the French Royal Army on 18 July 1782 . He was promoted to corporal on 18 September 1783 , sergeant on 10 October 1784 , and farrier on 7 July 1786 . After the outbreak of the French Revolution he advanced in rank to sergeant major on 12 September 1789 and sous lieutenant on 15 September 1791 . After this , his promotions followed with dizzying swiftness . He became a lieutenant of grenadiers on 19 April 1792 and captain on 1 May of the same year . Promotion to adjutant general chef de bataillon came on 15 May 1793 and adjutant general chef de brigade on 30 September 1793 . He became a general of brigade on 26 December 1793 . During this period Quesnel served in the Army of the North and Army of the Eastern Pyrenees . At the Battle of Boulou on 30 April 1794 , French army commander Jacques François Dugommier launched a heavy attack on the Spanish right center , bending back the enemy lines . The following day , the French cracked the Spanish defenses and the cavalry commander , André de la Barre ordered Quesnel to take his brigade and harass the retreat of one enemy column . His troopers herded the Spanish into a deadly ambush in the Le Perthus Pass and their foes were cut to pieces , losing their artillery and wagon train . When the War of the Pyrenees ended in 1795 , Quesnel transferred to the Army of the Coasts of Cherbourg . Its commander assigned him to the department of Manche . After the Coup of 18 Fructidor on 4 September 1797 , Quesnel was denounced by the local Executive Commissioner for having connections with persons with counter - revolutionary leanings . The Minister of War asked the representatives for statements and confirmed that Quesnel ' s actions in the War in the Vendée were above reproach . However , Quesnel had come under suspicion because he married a noblewoman and socialized with persons believed to be loyal to the pre - coup government . Generals Pierre Augereau and Louis Lemoine both attested to his good conduct while fighting against the Spanish and the Vendée rebels . As a result of the inquiry , the authorities decided to transfer Quesnel to the 13th Military Division . Quesnel was placed on active duty with the Army of Italy on 6 February 1799 . At the start of the War of the Second Coalition , Quesnel led a brigade in Paul Grenier ' s division . The division was made up of three battalions each of the 17th , 24th , and 106th Demi - Brigades , one battalion each of the 2nd Helvetica Legion and the 1st Polish Legion , 450 cavalry , and one foot artillery battery . He led his brigade at the Battle of Verona on 26 March 1799 , the Battle of Magnano on 5 April , and the Battle of Cassano on 27 – 28 April . At the Battle of Bassignana on 12 May 1799 , he was shot in the left forearm . At the Battle of Novi ( 1799 ) Quesnel led a brigade in Pierre Garnier de Laboissière ' s division . The brigade consisted of the 17th Light and 63rd Line Infantry Regiments . The painful arm wound finally compelled him to take a leave of absence from the army . Starting on 1 June 1801 , Quesnel held a military post in the Cisalpine Republic . Two years later he took command of troops near Faenza . Early Empire . On 11 December 1803 Quesnel became a member of the Légion d ' Honneur and on 14 June 1804 Napoleon named him commandant of the Légion . He was promoted to general of division in February 1805 . He commanded the Army of the North from 23 November 1805 until it was dissolved on 1 February 1806 . In June he took charge of the 9th Military Division . Quesnel joined Jean - Andoche Junot ' s army for the 1807 Invasion of Portugal . He was named governor of Porto ( Oporto ) and Entre - Douro - e - Minho Province , with authority over the Spanish troops occupying the region . On 6 June 1808 news of the Dos de Mayo Uprising reached Porto and Spanish General Belesta seized Quesnel , his staff , and his 30 - man dragoon escort as prisoners . After urging the Portuguese to revolt against the French , Belesta immediately marched back to Spain with his 6 , 000 soldiers and his prisoners . Quesnel was handed over to the British at Corunna , but was freed when French soldiers captured the city on 16 January 1809 . Quesnel accompanied Marshal Nicolas Soult and the II Corps in the 1809 invasion of Portugal . During the Second Battle of Porto on 12 May 1809 , the British army crossed the Douro right under the noses of the French . Though Soult must bear most of the blame for the lapse in security , as governor of Porto ( again ) , Quesnel was partly responsible . After the retreat from Portugal into northwest Spain in May 1809 , the marshal reorganized the II Corps . So many horses had died that Soult made the 3rd and 4th squadrons of each cavalry regiment hand over their horses to the 1st and 2nd squadrons . The 1 , 100 dismounted cavalrymen were given muskets and formed into a column with Quesnel in command . A few of the weakest 3rd and 4th infantry battalions transferred their rank and file into their regiment ' s 1st and 2nd battalions . The superfluous officers and NCOs were formed into cadres and ordered to return to France to reform their units . These infantrymen were also attached to Quesnel ' s column . The force set out for Astorga and fought its way through a concentration of Spanish guerillas at Doncos . Though constantly sniped at during its march , the column made it through successfully . On 11 July 1809 , Quesnel was ordered to Nijmegen and on 7 February 1810 was named to lead brigades of light cavalry . On 3 May 1810 he assumed command of the 11th Military Division . On 10 April 1811 , Spanish guerillas under Francesc Rovira i Sala seized Sant Ferran Castle , throwing the French position in Catalonia into chaos . As commander in charge of the Pyrenees frontier district , Quesnel quickly assembled three line infantry battalions and the Gers and Haute - Garonne National Guard battalions and marched into Spain . He joined Luigi Gaspare Peyri ' s 1 , 500 men and 2 , 000 more under Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers to give d ' Hilliers a force of 7 , 000 men . With this force , plus large reinforcements under Louis Auguste Marchand Plauzonne , the French began the Siege of Figueras . The besiegers repelled a Spanish relief attempt on 3 May but the operation tied up the VII Corps for the entire summer . By the time the starving Spanish garrison capitulated on 19 August 1811 , 4 , 000 French troops had died , many from disease . During the siege , Quesnel ' s division included three battalions of the 79th Line Infantry Regiment , two battalions of the 23rd Light , one battalion of the 93rd Line , and three squadrons of the 29th Chasseurs à Cheval . Later Empire . In 1813 , Napoleon appointed his stepson Eugene de Beauharnais to command the Army of Italy . By mid - May the 46th , 47th , and 48th French and 49th Italian Infantry Divisions were being organized . Actually , most of the so - called French troops were from areas of Italy annexed to the First French Empire . Only 13 , 000 men of Eugene ' s army came from France . In August 1813 , Quesnel commanded the two - brigade 46th Division in what soon became Jean - Antoine Verdier ' s corps . The first brigade included four battalions of the 9th Line Infantry Regiment , two battalions of the 3rd Provisional Croatian Regiment , and one battalion of the 112th Line . The second brigade consisted of four battalions each of the 35th and 53rd Line Infantry Regiments . Two artillery batteries armed with 6 - pound cannons were attached to the 46th Division . In August 1813 , the Austrian army of Johann von Hiller probed at Villach but was driven back . Foiled at Villach , the Austrian general threw a bridgehead across the Drava River at Feistritz an der Drau . Unwilling to allow this incursion , Eugene ordered Grenier to take two divisions and attack . On 6 September , Grenier drubbed Hiller ' s troops in the Battle of Feistritz and forced them back to the east bank . In the action , Quesnel led 7 , 700 men , including four battalions each of the 84th and 92nd Line Infantry Regiments and 30th Provisional Demi - Brigade , and two battalions of Chasseurs of the Italian Guard . Grenier admitted a loss of 60 killed and 300 wounded , but the 84th Line alone lost 12 officer casualties . Austrian losses were 67 killed , 384 wounded , 390 captured , and a bridgehead . By 5 October , however , the Austrians compelled Eugene to retreat to the Isonzo River . As the Army of Italy fell back farther to the Brenta River , Eugene and Grenier found an Austrian column under Christoph Ludwig von Eckhardt in occupation of Bassano , blocking the retreat . In the Battle of Bassano on 31 October 1813 , Grenier attacked Eckhart in three columns and forced the Austrians to scatter into the hills . The 9 , 000 French troops included Quesnel ' s division plus one infantry regiment from a second division . The victory permitted Eugene ' s army to withdraw in good order to the Adige River . As Hiller ' s army closed up to the Adige , Eugene launched a spoiling attack on 15 November . While , Pierre - Louis Binet de Marcognet ' s division attacked in front , Quesnel ' s turned the Austrian right flank and Marie François Rouyer ' s division attacked the Austrian left . The successful operation drove back the Austrians and inflicted losses of 1 , 500 killed and wounded plus 900 men and two cannons captured . The French counted 500 casualties . In December 1813 , Quesnel commanded the 1st Division which had two brigades under Toussaint Campi and Gaspard François Forestier . Campi ' s brigade included the 92nd Line Infantry Regiment and the 30th Provisional Demi - Brigade , while Forestier ' s brigade consisted of the 35th Light and 84th Line Infantry Regiments . As before , two 6 - pound artillery batteries were attached . Unhappy with Hiller ' s performance , the Austrian high command replaced him with Count Heinrich von Bellegarde . On 8 February 1814 , Bellegarde and Eugene clashed in the Battle of the Mincio River . After Eugene threw the bulk of his army across the Mincio River , he bumped into the Austrian left wing . The French array was drawn up with Quesnel ' s division on the left , Rouyer ' s division on the right , Marcognet and the Italian Guard in reserve , and cavalry on the flanks . After brisk fighting , Quesnel ' s soldiers cleared the Austrians out of the village of Pozzolo . As the Franco - Italians pressed their enemies north toward Valeggio sul Mincio and Borghetto , Eugene sent Quesnel and Rouyer to the left and brought Marcognet into the front line . Meanwhile , Bellegarde and the Austrian right wing crossed the Mincio near Borghetto and were overpowering Verdier ' s weak left wing . When they found Eugene ' s main body coming up behind them , Bellegarde ' s Austrians fell back in confusion . The Franco - Italians counted 3 , 000 killed and wounded and 500 captured out of 34 , 000 men engaged . Austrian casualties numbered 2 , 800 killed and wounded plus 1 , 200 captured out of 32 , 000 . At Pozzolo the Austrian grenadier brigade was mauled , suffering 790 casualties . In Quesnel ' s division , Campi ' s brigade included one battalion each of the 1st Light , 14th Light , and 10th Line , as well as three battalions of the 92nd Line . Forestier ' s brigade had three battalions of the 84th Line and one battalion of the 35th Line . After Napoleon ' s abdication , Quesnel became reconciled to the Bourbons and King Louis XVIII of France awarded him the Order of Saint - Louis . However , Quesnel rallied to Napoleon during the Hundred Days and was assigned to Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet ' s Army of the Alps . He took command of a cavalry division consisting of a single brigade . General of Brigade Bernard Meyer de Schauensee ' s brigade consisted of the 10th Chasseurs à Cheval and 18th Dragoon Regiments . The army ' s artillery contingent included one battery from the 4th Horse Artillery Regiment . The only action in the campaign where cavalry is mentioned was at Albertville ( Conflans ) on 28 June 1815 . In the minor French triumph , the 10th Chasseurs lost one officer killed . Rank and file losses were not reported . On 4 September 1815 Quesnel was retired from the army . In April 1819 , he suddenly disappeared and his corpse was found floating in the Seine in Paris . His watch and a valuable piece of jewelry were found on his body . One source asserted that his death could not have been a suicide because he was held in high regard in military circles and gave no hint that morning that something was wrong . It was suggested that certain individuals threw him off the Pont des Arts ( bridge ) for political reasons . QUESNEL is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe on the west panel .