Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle - Death

Death

On 5 July 1809 Lasalle fought at the massive clash of Wagram commanding a Light Cavalry Division in the IV Corps of Marshal Masséna. His regiments were the 8th Hussars and the 13th, 16th, and 24th Horse Chasseurs. On the morning of the battle, Lasalle had a presentiment about his death. He drew up a petition to the Emperor to take care of his children, and gave it to one of his friends to deliver to Napoleon if he was killed at Wagram. On the eve of the battle, opening his luggage he found his broken pipe, a bottle of liquor in his cellar and a broken glass that had been carried by his wife. 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). During the battle Lasalle sent one of his brigades, the 13th and 24th Chasseurs under his best friend Bruyère, to extricate Marulaz's chasseurs.

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 and with that 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!” as he rode to General Macdonald’s support but Lasalle was temporarily separated from his division. He 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 routed as Lasalle and the 1st Cuirassier Regiment pursued the fleeing Austrian infantry. It was near the end of the battle as he led the charge carrying the porcelain pipe he had received from the Governor of Stettin. As he charged Lasalle was shot between the eyes by an Austrian grenadier and was dead before his body hit the ground.

Marulaz tried to avenge Lasalle by leading a hussar regiment against a square of Austrian infantry. The colonel of the hussar regiment was hit and Marulaz was injured but they successfully avenged Lasalle by driving the infantry to retirement. The loss of Lasalle was very much regretted by the Emperor and many under his command were distraught at the news. 15 days later his wife received a lifetime pension of 6,000 francs. An imperial decree on 1 January 1810 ordered that a statue of Lasalle be placed on the Concorde Bridge along with that of other generals killed in battle, but this did not happen. Statues were made, but not used and later, the heads were removed to be replaced by those of Marshals of the Empire that were then placed on the wall of the Louvre. His remains were brought home from Austria to Les Invalides. A street in Metz took his name and his portrait was placed in one of the salons of the Hotel de Ville.

In 1893 an equestrian statue of him was erected in Lunéville. He has his bust in the Gallery of Battles of the Palace of Versailles and his name engraved on the pillar the Arc de Triomphe along with other heroes of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A street bears his name in the 19th Arrondissement of Paris, but it is that of another general Lasalle . Marbot once remarked that Lasalle was not the best model for emulation because every lieutenant or officer that tried to imitate Lasalle would just become a “reckless, swearing, drinking rowdy”, but without possessing the merits which permitted such conduct to be tolerated. Despite his boorish, empty-headed behavior as a hell raiser, Lasalle was an intelligent man who surprised many with his personal character and wit. With the possible exception of Curély, who was in 1809 still unknown, Napoleon never possessed a better leader of light horse. Wild and irregular in his private life, Lasalle was far more than a beau sabreur. To talent and experience he added that power of feeling to the pulse of the battle which is the true gift of a great leader. When he died, France lost its best light cavalry commander.