User:Alexandru.demian/Nansouty

Napoleonic Wars

War of the Third Coalition

French cuirassiers preparing for a charge in 1805. Nansouty commanded cuirassiers in several actions throughout the campaigns of the War of the Third Coalition that year. Painting by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier.

With the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition, a cavalry reserve corps was organised in the Grande Armée, with command given to Marshal Joachim Murat. This cavalry reserve included Nansouty's 1st heavy cavalry division, a 2nd heavy cavalry division under Jean-Joseph d'Hautpoul, 3 dragoon divisions, a foot dragoon division and a light cavalry brigade. Nansouty's six-regiment division soon acquired the reputation of being the best serviced and most exact in its maneuvers. His men were at first attached to Marhsal Louis Nicolas Davout's III Corps, with which they crossed the Rhine and then the Danube, before rejoining Murat's cavalry reserve. Nansouty had a first opportunity to lead his men into combat at the battle of Wertingen, where his men were again noticed for their excellent maneuvering. Detaching his two Carabiniers-à-Cheval regiments, which he had to leave with Murat, Nansouty and his reduced division followed the Emperor at Augsburg, where he was attached to Marshal Jean Lannes's V Corps. In this capacity, they supported Walther's dragoons at the battle of Schöngrabern, then, at the battle of Raussnitz, the 9th cuirassiers alone took part to a major cavalry action, alongside d'Hautpoul's cuirassier division, Walther dragoons and Bessières's Grenadiers à Cheval and Chasseurs à Cheval of the Guard cavalry.

Charge at Austerlitz

On 2 December 1805, at the battle of Austerlitz, Nansouty led one of the most impressive cavalry actions of his career. With his entire division now reunited and again integrated in the Cavalry Reserve under Marshal Murat, Nansouty was positioned on the on the left wing. His command included his usual six regiments of three-squadrons each: Brigadier General Piston's 1st and 2nd carabiniers-à-cheval (205 and 181 men respectively), Brigadier General La Housaye's 2nd and 9th cuirassiers (304 and 280 men respectively) and Brigadier General Saint-Germain's 3rd and 12th cuirassiers (333 and 277 men respectively). Additionally, a horse battery from the 4th company of the 2nd horse artillery regiment (92 men) was also placed under his command. These men were at first positioned on two lines, behind Caffarelli's infantry division of Lannes's V Corps.

The Austrian Prince Johann Josef I von Liechtenstein was in command of the cavalry reserve of the Austro-Russian army at Austerlitz. During this battle, his men came off worst from a series of encounters with Nansouty's 1st heavy cavalry division.

At around 10 o'clock, after battle had been joined all along the front, the Russian General Pyotr Bagration pulled his forces back before the advancing enemy infantry from the V Corps. However, Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, commanding the 4,000-sabre Austro-Russian cavalry reserve, threw his cavalry into combat against Murat's 6,000 sabres. The Austro-Russians did not provide infantry or artillery support to the cavalry attack, while Murat's cavalrymen were able to cooperate with Lannes's infantry and artillery. Taking immense casualties after a first series of actions against Lannes's infantry, the Coalition cavalry withdrew and was reformed by their commanders. They were also joined by Bagration's own cavalry force and set off again, this time aiming directly at Murat's command centre. As the Austro-Russian cavalry were closing in on their target, there were steadily met by four of Nansouty's regiments (the two carabiniers regiments and the 2nd and 3rd cuirassiers regiments). The sound of the impact of the two masses of cavalrymen was heard some distance away. After a brief combat, the Austro-Russian horsemen broke and were driven off. However, Liechtenstein soon reformed his men and, seeing that all the French cavalry was positioned on the left of Caffarelli's infantry division, he launched his men against the right wing of this division, but was instantly met with steady musket volleys that disorganised his cavalrymen. Seeing this development, Nansouty wheeled right with his men and crossed the infantry intervals by platoons, and then formed his men on two battle lines in front of the infantry. Three charges ensued in brief succession, with Nansouty skillfully committing the 1st and 2nd carabiniers-à-cheval with the 2nd cuirassiers in his first line and the 9th cuirassiers and Saint-Germain's 3rd brigade in second line. The Austro-Russian cavalry was finally broken and repulsed for good. After another series of well-coordinated cavalry and infantry actions, Murat and Lannes were able to force Bagration to withdraw and leave behind 2,000 casualties and 16 guns.

Despite their repeated charges on this day, the 1st heavy cavalry division registered only relatively minor casualties: Piston's 1st brigade registered 2 killed and 41 wounded, La Houssaye's 2nd brigade registered 1 man killed and 25 wounded, while Saint-Germain's 3rd brigade registered 47 killed and 28 wounded. The regiment that suffered the highest casualty rate was by far the 3rd cuirassiers, with 44 killed and 27 wounded, for a casualty rate of 21%. Nansouty's charge was qualified as "superb and brilliant" in the report drawn up by General Augustin Daniel Belliard, Murat's chief of staff, with Nansouty subsequently quoted in the army bulletin for this action and named Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur on 25 December. Additionally, of the six colonels in his division, three were promoted to Brigadier General and three received the cross of Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur. Following the peace of Pressburg with the Austrian Empire in late December 1805, Nansouty's division was stationed in Bavaria, where they took winter quarters.

War of the Fourth Coalition

Campaign in Prussia

The triumphal parade of the Grande Armée in the Prussian capital of Berlin on 25 October 1806.

As the War of the Fourth Coalition broke out in September 1806, Emperor Napoleon I took his Grande Armée into the heart of Germany in a memorable blitz campaign against Prussia. Comprising the same regiments as the year before (1st and 2nd Carabiniers-à-Cheval, 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 12th cuirassiers), Nansouty's 1st heavy cavalry division was again a part of Joachim Murat's Cavalry Reserve. At first, due to the extraordinary speed of Napoleon's operations, the 1st heavy cavalry division, as well as one of the two cuirassier brigades of d'Hautpoul's 2nd heavy cavalry division had difficulties arriving to the frontline, and thus missed the battle of Jena. Beginning with the evening of 14 October, Nansouty did take part to the pursuit of the routed Prussian army, following an enemy corps of 10,000 infantrymen and 3 cavalry regiments into the streets of Erfurt on 15 October. With the enemy blocked in the city, by nightfall, Colonel Préval, of the 3rd cuirassiers had negotiated the capitulation of Erfurt, which resulted in the capture of 11,000 prisoners of war (of which 6,000 wounded), as well as 120 cannon.

Resuming its pursuit of the Prussian army, Nansouty's division was at Potsdam beginning with 25 October and two days later they participated to the triumphant parade of the Grande Armée in Berlin, before being reviewed by the Emperor on 30 October. Beginning with 7 November, Nansouty and his division were with Murat, heading for the river Vistula, which they crossed on December 22, together with the rest of the Cavalry Reserve. After a brief successful cavalry action at the Lapazin bridge, they tried to get to the battle of Golymin in time, but were delayed by the thick mud and by the dragoon division that preceded them, arriving only after the end of the battle. The division then took winter quarters in Warsaw, but with Murat on sick leave, Nansouty was soon called to replace him, taking command of Lasalle's light cavalry division and the dragoon divisions of Klein and Milhaud. These divisions were placed in the first line of the army and Nansouty, although formally placed under the overall command of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, had orders to act independently and report directly to the Emperor in case any unforeseen and extraordinary events should occur. Nansouty handled this new mission with care, personally patrolling the frontline and deciding where to place the pickets of light cavalry that were to cover the infantry outposts.

Campaign in Poland: early maneuvers

Before 1810, the two heavy cavalry regiments of carabiniers-à-cheval wore no cuirass. They were a part of Nansouty's heavy cavalry division between 1804 and 1809.

With the news of the alarming Russian operations against the left wing of the army, Murat resumed command of the cavalry reserve, ordering Nansouty to follow the concentration of the army towards Preußisch Eylau. Joining his men in Warsaw, Nansouty diligently led them towards his assigned destination, but arrived only on 13 February 1807, five days after the battle of Eylau, too late to take part to any action. On 14 February, Nansouty learned of the death of his comrade and former commander during the Revolutionary Wars, General d'Hautpoul, who had been fatally wounded during his heroic charges at Eylau. As the Emperor decided that the army was to take winter quarters and in order to ensure the safety of his outposts, he sent Murat with a powerful column, including Nansouty's men, with the mission of pushing back any enemy they might find. A short skirmish involving the 1st heavy cavalry division occurred at Wolfsdorf on 10 March, before it was decided that all the heavy cavalry would be sent to the lower Vistula, where they were to rest and be reinforced.

With its ranks replenished after the winter actions, the six-regiment division under Nansouty numbered, on 1 June 1807, no less than 3,257 men and was by far the most powerful heavy cavalry division of the Cavalry Reserve, which then comprised two other such divisions, the 2nd under Saint-Sulpice and a newly-added 3rd, under Espagne. As military operation resumed later in 1807, Nasouty's division was hastily directed towards the town of Deppen, where Marshal Michel Ney had managed to retreat with his Corps, after energetically extricating himself from a dangerous situation, with surprisingly few losses. With Ney's Corps, the Cavalry Reserve and the Guard, Napoleon moved towards Guttstadt, where on 9 June he found a numerous combined-arms enemy force. Murat took with him Lasalle's light horse and Nansouty's heavy cavalry and, after a series of charges, at once drove back the enemy force, pushing them into the streets of Guttstadt, where he penetrated with the cavalry by nightfall. Having fought well with his men, Nansouty was rested the next day, leaving all the action at the battle of Heilsberg to Espagne's 3rd heavy cavalry division.

Assessing the strategic situation at the beginning of June 1807, the Emperor decided that he needed to move northeast, in order to prevent Benningsen's Russian army from using the bridge at Friedland to cross the Alle river. If the Russians managed to cross the Alle at Friedland, they could then move closer to their Prussian allies, who were based in Königsberg. Napoleon thus drew up his plan, giving Marshal Murat two army Corps and a powerful cavalry reserve, with orders to march on to Königsberg, while ordering the rest of the troops towards Friedland. Leading the thrust towards Friedland was Marshal Jean Lannes's Reserve Corps (two infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade), to which were temporarily attached Grouchy's dragoons and Nansouty's horse carabiniers and cuirassiers. In Murat's absence, Grouchy was the senior cavalry commander and was to take overall command of all the cavalry that remained with the Emperor.

Campaign in Poland: Friedland

Nansouty's cuirassiers charging at the battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807.

Arriving with his Corps at Friedland on 13 June after nightfall, Lannes found the position already occupied by Russian forces. Very early on 14 June, despite having an almost symbolic force (between 11,000 and 13,500 men) against the might of a massed enemy army of 85,000, Lannes intrepidly decided to attack, in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the Alle and to give Napoleon enough time to arrive with the remainder of his forces. Nansouty's division arrived on the field of battle at Friedland after the first engagements and was directed towards the strategic village of Heinrichsdorf, where laid Lannes's communications with the rest of Napoleon's army. Grouchy also directed his dragoon division towards the village and was shocked to find it in enemy hands and Nansouty's men retreating at a trot, without even attempting to contain the enemy or to cover the route that represented the Corps' communication line. In fact, Nansouty had arrived not long before and had been instructed to place himself at Heinrichsdorf, without further instructions and without being informed of what was happening on the right. As Russian infantry and cavalry were boldly pressing him, he became concerned with his own lines of communication and thus ordered his men back, to avoid being cut off.

Napoleon giving orders for an attack at the battle of Friedland. General Nansouty had an important role during this battle and is honoured by being depicted alongside the Emperor (on his left) in this painting by Horace Vernet.

However, Nansouty's move compromised Lannes's entire plan, which counted on powerful reinforcements arriving through Heinrichsdorf. An alarmed Lannes immediately sent one of his aides de camp to Grouchy urging him to stop the enemy from cutting his communications with the Emperor, whatever the cost. Grouchy duly took command of Nansouty's leading squadrons, ordering them back to their initial position, then launched a desperate but successful charge with his own dragoons, arriving into the streets of the village and cutting off its Russian defenders. However Grouchy's dragoons had become disorganised following this sudden charge and, with the Russian cavalry countercharging them, they were in a very bad position, but Nansouty arrived to the rescue just at the right moment and the French repulsed the Russian cavalry, momentarily securing the position. A lively argument ensued between the two cavalry commanders, with Grouchy invoking his seniority and position as commander of the cavalry and criticising Nansouty's earlier decision to withdraw and Nansouty countering by expressing his belief that he had superior experience at handling cavalry. With combat resuming, the quarrel did not prevent Nansouty from performing brilliant further actions under Grouchy's command during the dramatic series of events that followed. In fact, having been repulsed earlier, the Russians decided to force the position at Heinrichsdorf and to that effect, they assembled a strong infantry force, preceded by no less than 60 cavalry squadrons, plus around 2,000 Cossacks. To counter this move, Grouchy opted for deception, luring some of the enemy cavalry away from the infantry. Then, Grouchy charged the enemy horse from the front, with Nansouty hitting them from the flank and repulsing them altogether. Numerous charges and countercharges ensued, with the French cavalry always maintaining the upper hand.

With the arrival of the Emperor, who brought significant reinforcements, Grouchy received orders to incessantly harass the enemy, in order to prevent Benningsen from reinforcing his left wing, and also to try and silence the enemy guns that had started to pound the French left. In this difficult task, Grouchy was perfectly seconded by Nansouty and together they managed to put an end to the Russian cannonade in this sector. Later, with the battle won in brilliant fashion by the Emperor's timely arrival, Grouchy expressed in his report his admiration for Nansouty's actions, adding that the latter had "gloriously repaired" his earlier error. Nansouty was also quoted in the 79th Bulletin of the Grande Armée. After the battle, the 1st heavy cavalry division joined in the pursuit of the Russian army to the Nieman river, but the Treaties of Tilsit in July soon ended hostilities.

With Napoleon in the Peninsula

The Grand Aigle de la Légion d'Honnerur decoration.

The numerous honours and endowments that General Nansouty received following the battle of Friedland seem to suggest the Emperor's appreciation and the fact that Napoleon did not regard the early incident during this battle as being Nansouty's fault. On 11 July 1807, General of Division Nansouty was named Grand Aigle de la Légion d'Honnerur, the fifth and top rank of this order, reserved to the very greatest general officers. This also brought an annual revenue of 20,000 Francs. His first endowment, amounting to 12,846 Francs was offered on 30 June 1807, and was paid by the Duchy of Warsaw. On 23 September, he received a second one of 5,882 Francs on the Empire's Grand Livre. A count of the Empire from 10 March 1808, Nansouty was offered two additional endowments, one of 25,000 Francs, paid by the Kingdom of Westphalia and the second of 10,000 Francs, paid by the Zeven domain in Hannover. Now a member of the Empire's upper class, Nansouty bought his own Parisian Hôtel particulier, the Hôtel du Président Duret, in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, a neighborhood that had become typical for the military élite of that period, with the likes of Viceroy of Italy Eugène, Marshals Davout or Lannes or Generals Rapp and Legrand also acquiring residences there.

Additionally, in 1808, he was offered the position of First Squire of the Emperor, in Napoleon's Military Household, a dignity that offered an annual revenue of 30,000 Francs and which became extremely important because the Grand Squire, General Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, was sent to Saint-Petersburg as ambassador. In his capacity as First Squire, Nansouty thus had to accompany the Emperor during the latter's short campaign in Spain (from November 1808 to early January 1809). There, he was in charge of several administrative tasks linked with managing the Emperor's stable services and suite and commanding his orderly officers. The Emperor's aides-de-camp had their own aides-de-camp, who were also placed under the command of the First Squire. In Spain, Nansouty acquired quite a reputation for excessive mockery, even regarding the daily aspects of his service. Although never very far away from the Emperor, in a campaign that included many battles, Nansouty himself never exercised a field command during this campaign. In January 1809, he accompanied the Emperor back to France, as the outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition was imminent.

War of the Fifth Coalition

In early 1809, the Austrian war preparations determined the Emperor to leave Spain and head back to Paris to reorganise his main army in Germany. In spring, Nansouty was therefore recalled to the command of 1st of the three heavy cavalry divisions of the Cavalry Reserve, placed this time under the command of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières. As the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out, Nansouty's division was soon detached from the Reserve and temporarily attached to Marhsal Louis Nicolas Davout's III Corps, the force that was assigned the most difficult tasks during the early military operations of this war. As Napoleon then ordered a concentration of the army at Ratisbon, Nansouty's division was once again put under the command of Bessières and sent to serve with the Bavarian army. After his initial victories at Abensberg and Landshut, Napoleon concentrated the bulk of his army, including Nansouty's men, at Eckmühl, where Davout was waiting.

Eckmühl and Ratisbon

A French cuirassier in 1809, fully equipped for shock action.

Napoleon faced Archduke Charles's Austrian army at the battle of Eckmühl, on 21-22 April 1809. On 22 April, the second day of the battle, Nansouty was at first sent to the Schierling plain, in support of Bavarian General Deroy, who, after several failed attempts, managed to take the town of Eckmühl from the enemy. Apart from the Schierling plain, the terrain at Eckmühl was very uneven and hilly, with dangerously steep slopes, which made cavalry action here improper. Yet, it was here that one of the most memorable cavalry actions of the entire Napoleonic Wars was to take place. It all began on the slopes next to Eckmühl, where a first brief cavalry engagement occurred, as Bavarian and Württemberger cavalry encountered and charged Austrian cavalry. Having been repulsed, the German horsemen withdrew and reformed in the vicinity of the two French heavy cavalry divisions present. These two divisions, the 1st under Nansouty (1st and 2nd carabiniers-à-cheval, 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 12th cuirassiers) and the 2nd under Saint-Sulpice (four regiments strong), were placed next to one another, forming five lines, with their regiments in column, one in front of the other. These men were ordered forward, up the slope and onto the plateau where the light cavalry had been repulsed moments earlier. Arriving on the plateau at a gallop, the cavalry overtook Marshal Lannes's infantry, who admiringly cheered and applauded as they passed by, crying "Vive les cuirassiers" ("Long live the cuirassiers"). With their two frontline regiments now deployed in line and with the German light cavalry protecting their flanks, the two heavy cavalry divisions clashed into whatever Austrian cavalry they could find on the plateau, repulsing them with ease. This was, however, only the prelude of a much larger cavalry combat.

In order to protect his retreat, Archduke Charles of Austria reunited his entire cavalry reserve, 44 squadrons in all, on either side of the Ratisbon road, next to the village of Eggolsheim. Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, Napoleon ordered his cavalry to disperse the enemy horse from this position. In preparation of the charge, Nansouty formed five of his regiments in two lines: three regiments in the first line and two in the second line, leaving his remaining regiment with Saint-Sulpice. Saint-Sulpice's division was on Nansouty's right and it remained formed in regiment column formations, while the light cavalry was protecting the flanks of the whole. In all, the French had 48 squadrons, and, as they advanced, they were met by intense artillery fire from the Austrian batteries and then vigorously charged by the Gottesheim cuirassier regiment. Seeing the enemy charging, Nansouty ordered his squadrons forward towards the enemy, but at a gentle trot. Then, as soon as the Austrians were at about one hundred paces, the frontline regiment of Carabiniers-à-Cheval halted, loaded their carbines and fired a salvo from thirty or forty paces, then drawing their swords and joining their fellow cuirassiers in an energetic charge. As Nansouty led, Saint-Sulpice followed and, despite the vigor and determination of the Austrian cavalry, they were repulsed after a brief hand-to-hand combat. Coming in support of the Gottesheim cuirassiers, the Kaiser cuirassier regiment shared the same fate, with Sitpsicz's hussards and Vincent's chevaulegers also repulsed. A generalised and bloody mêlée then occurred under the moonlight, with the sabre hits on the steel cuirasses producing sparkles in the night. Austrian General Scnheller was wounded during this action and General Suterheim, commanding the entire Austrian cavalry, only just escaped capture. The Austrian cavalry was repulsed and pushed into the marshes beyond, subsequently retreating towards Köfering, with the bulk of Archduke Charles's forces retreating towards Ratisbon.

The pursuit resumed the next day at dawn, and was followed by yet another action at the battle of Ratisbon, where the Austrians tried to delay the French pursuit. After fierce fighting, during which Nansouty's and Saint-Sulpice's men successfully charged the enemy cavalry three times, the French captured the citadel at Ratisbon, but with the Austrians skillfully retreating. Nansouty was left at Ratisbon with Davout, to observe the retreat of Archduke Charles.

Aspern-Essling

French cuirassiers from the 3rd regiment during a charge. At the battle of Aspern-Essling, the 3rd cuirassiers was a part of the brigade of General Antoine de Saint-Germain, under the overall command of General of Division Nansouty.

On 21 May 1809, Napoleon crossed the Danube not far from Vienna and attacked Archduke Charles's Austrian army, situated on the northern bank of the river, in what became known as the battle of Aspern-Essling. The French were nonetheless critically outnumbered and it soon became obvious that they would have a hard time just holding out. Nansouty could only get one of his brigades, Saint-Germain's 3rd and 12th cuirassiers, across the Danube for the action on 21 May. He found the heroic cuirassiers of General Jean-Louis-Brigitte Espagne charging, as they had done all day long, in a desperate attempt to stop Austrian attacks on the thin French battle line. Espagne had just been killed in action and his exhausted and depleted squadrons needed to be relieved. Nansouty at once brought forward Saint-Germain's squadrons and charged the enemy infantry, allowing the army to maintain itself on the position.

On the second day of the battle, 22 May, Nansouty received his second cuirassier brigade, Doumerc's 2nd and 9th regiments. During the morning, having received some reinforcements, Napoleon sent Marshal Lannes's Corps forward, in an attack against the enemy line. Nansouty's and Lasalle's cavalry protected the infantry columns, charging the enemy cavalry to clear their path. However, at around nine o'clock in the morning, news that the great bridge over the Danube had broken, making the arrival of further reinforcements virtually impossible, forced Napoleon to call off his attack and order a phased retreat. The situation of the French army was critical, with Marshal Lannes fatally wounded, and a great number of losses in men. It took all the skill of Nansouty and the other cavalry commanders to contain the formidable Austrian onslaught in order to allow the rest of the army to gradually disengage. After most of the army had safely crossed an arm of the Danube onto the island of Lobau, Nansouty's men were also withdrawn from the battlefield during the night, with the French cavalry subsequently celebrated for their role in preventing a catastrophic defeat that day.

Wagram

Nansouty's cuirassiers charging at the battle of Wagram. Painting by Guido Sigriste.

After the bloody debacle at Aspern-Essling, Napoleon took six weeks to carefully plan another crossing of the Danube. He launched this operation late on 4 July and, by the early hours of the next day, he had managed to get a substantial force across the river. Nansouty's division did not see any action that day and at night they camped behind the Imperial Guard. The next day, 6 July, Nansouty was at first directed to support Davout, on the French right, but when it became clear that the latter's sector was not threatened by the arrival of enemy reinforcements, they were ordered back into reserve in a central position on the battlefield, not far from the village of Aderklaa. Then, as the situation on the French left rapidly deteriorated, they were called into action, when Napoleon ordered Marshal Bessières, commander of the Cavalry Reserve, to launch his men in a charge against the Austrians menacing his left. With time at the essence, Bessières opted not to wait for the Guard cavalry and, with his other two heavy cavalry divisions assigned to other sectors of the battlefield, he decided to lead forward only Nansouty's men. This division was indeed very strong: 24 squadrons, more than 4,000 men, including Brigadier General Defrance's 1st and 2nd carabiniers-à-cheval, Brigadier General Doumerc's 2nd and 9th cuirassiers and Brigadier General Berckheim's 3rd and 12th cuirassiers.

Bessières and Nansouty led these men forward, though a hail of cannonballs and cannister, with the carabiniers-à-cheval at the front. Finding a weaker spot in the Austrian line, they pierced it and stormed past the enemy infantry formed in squares, sabering the Georger battalion as they went along their way. However, many of the French cavalry did not manage to penetrate through the formidable masses of Austrian infantry, so Nansouty was now commanding a much diminished force. Showing great skill in handling his men, Nansouty then wheeled right and charged Liechtenstein's artillery line. However, the Austrian cavalry promptly intervened, spearheaded by the Rosenberg chevaulegers and the Kronprinz cuirassier regiments, which caught the carabiniers-à-cheval in flank and repulsed them, pursuing them back to their lines. The costly repulse of Nansouty's division did not dishearten Bessières, who was preparing another rapid charge, now with the support of elements of the Guard cavalry. This charge never came, as the Marshal's horse was hit by a cannonball, with Bessières also hit and carried unconscious behind the lines. With his commander presumed dead, Nansouty did not know what were the Emperor's orders and thus promptly decided to pull back his men, to avoid further damage to his already battered division.

During the battle, Marshal Bessières (pictured on the right) was wounded and thought dead when his horse was killed by a cannonball. Detail of a painting by Antoine-Jean Gros.

This however was not to be the end of General Nansouty's action at the great battle of Wagram. Although the great cavalry attack had done much to ease the pressure on Napoleon's left-centre, the latter's situation remained critical. The Emperor thus launched the Corps of General Jacques MacDonald in an attack against the Austrian right-centre. MacDonald's attack formation, formed by chance more than by any tactical forethought, was a huge attack column or square, comprising all his divisions in a deep formation that was highly unusual for Napoleonic warfare. Four squadrons of Nansouty's carabiniers-à-cheval were sent to support the flank of this attack, with the rest of his division further back. Realising that his advance hampered by intense Austrian artillery fire, MacDonald aimed to clear the enemy guns before him, asking for a cavalry charge from Walther's Guard cavalry on his right and Nansouty's 1st heavy cavalry division on his left. With no direct orders from the Emperor and his commander, Marshal Bessières, out of action, Walther opted not to move, while Nansouty did send his men forward but, having been positioned too far back, he arrived only after the enemy guns had moved away.

Nansouty's division suffered a very high casualty rate at the battle of Wagram, with more men and horses lost than the other two heavy cavalry divisions combined. Losses in horses were extremely high, with 1,141 animals killed or injured, while losses in men were also significant, despite the fact that only the carabiniers-à-cheval really came into contact with the enemy. Overall, Nansouty's division lost 164 men killed and 436 wounded. Foremost of all, the highly-battered two carabiniers-à-cheval regiments had no more than 300 horses standing between themselves by the end of the day, for an equine casualty rate of 77 percent, with the 9th and 12th cuirassiers also suffering high casualties. Bessières's charge, hastily organised with only the division Nansouty, through murderous artillery fire and against masses of infantry prepared to receive them, had less tactical effect than at Aspern-Essling, but it did win Napoleon valuable time, allowing him to retake the initiative in this battle.

Interlude between two campaigns

A carabinier's cuirass, holed by a cannonball. This model was adopted in 1810 for both Carabiniers-à-Cheval regiments, with Nansouty a supporter of the idea.

A few days after the battle of Wagram, Napoleon confronted Nansouty over the latter's alleged failure to cooperate with MacDonald. Nansouty responded to the Emperor's lively reproaches by offering categorical explanations, saying that he had not been consulted in the placement of his division, rendering maneuvers impossible during that action. As Napoleon insisted, Nansouty stood up to him, finally retorting: "After all, it is not Your Majesty at any rate who can teach me to lead cavalry..." Despite this remark, Nansouty would continue to be given significant commands in the coming years. I was shortly after this bloody battle that Nansouty insisted that the Carabiniers-à-Cheval be given the steel cuirass, in a bid to cancel out what he saw as being a state of inferiority of these troops vis-à-vis their fellow cuirassiers. Nansouty's initiative was approved and was enforced in 1810.

With the peace of Vienna signed between the French Empire and the Austrian Empire in October, Nansouty was ordered to leave the command of his division to General Bruyères and retake his position of First Squire alongside the Emperor (17 October 1809). However, with the return of the Grand Squire Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, the role of the First Squire was much diminished. As a result, in 1811 Nansouty was given an additional function, that of General Inspector of cavalry. Very active in exercising this function, he soon became reputed for his strictness and for his detailed knowledge and invaluable experience that he had of this arm. Nonetheless, war was, once more, not far away and on 19 October 1811, Nansouty was called to the command of the 2nd and 4th cuirassier divisions of the "Observation Corps of the Elba", under the command of Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout. Then, with the reorganisation of the Grande Armée in April 1812, Nansouty was named at the command of the Ist Corps of cavalry reserve.

Campaign in Russia

With the outbreak of the war with Russia in 1812, the Grande Armée included, alongside the usual combined-arms Army Corps, four large Cavalry Reserve Corps, commanded respectively by Generals Nansouty (Ist), Montbrun (IInd), Grouchy (IIIrd) and La Tour Maubourg (IVth Corps). This innovation has been much criticised after this campaign and, in the words of Marshal Marmont, it had the only merit of "presenting an extraordinary spectacle that astonished the eye."

During this campaign, Nansouty's Ist Corps was composed of:

• General Bruyères's 1st light cavalry division (7th, 8th hussards, 16th Chasseurs à cheval, 9th Chevau-légers lanciers, one Prussian and one Polish light horse regiments),
• General Saint-Germain's 1st cuirassier division (2nd, 3rd, 9th cuirassiers, 1st chevau-légers lanciers regiments),
• General Valence's 5th cuirassier division (6th, 11th and 12th cuirassiers, 5th chevau-légers lanciers regiments),
• an artillery of 36 pieces.

Nansouty's cuirassiers attack squares of Russian guardsmen to the left of Semyanovskaya (foreground) during the early stages of the battle of Borodino. Detail from the Borodino Panorama by Franz Roubaud, 1912.

Having crossed the Niemen river with his Corps, Nansouty would continuously march under the command of Joachim Murat during this campaign, preceding the advance of the army and taking Wilna as they advanced. Despite marching constantly alongside Murat and Emperor Napoleon, Nansouty's Ist Corps of cavalry reserve saw little action, combating brilliantly in a vanguard action at Ostrovno and then briefly at Vitebsk. An incident involving some of Nansouty's light cavalry occurred during the combat at Vitebsk, when the 8th hussards and 16th chasseurs à cheval turned and fled before the Russian light horse. This was evidence that the division of Bruyères, of which they were a part, had been much used by always being placed at the vanguard of the army, resulting in the loss many of the best and bravest troopers. Despite Nansouty's best efforts, the extremely long and exhausting marches, the torrential rains and the absence of proper fodder took their toll on the Ist Cavalry Corps, with numbers reduced to half by this time. Additionally, just like the other Cavalry Corps commanders, Nansouty rarely had all his troops under direct control, which led to cavalry being used improperly at times.

With his three divisions reunited on 7 September 1812, Nansouty's Ist Cavalry Corps saw action at the battle of Borodino. He was placed on the French right, in second line, behind the Corps of Marshal Davout and, after Murat managed to take the two redoubts on the Russian left, Nansouty placed his men on the right of this position and then supported the advance of the right wing of the army. With the Russians making an offensive comeback, Nansouty placed himself at the head of the heavy divisions of Saint-Germain and Valence and charged and while doing so a bullet pierced one of his knees. This was Nansouty's first battle wound and it was serious enough to end his active role during this campaign. He was transported to Moscow following the battle and there, although still convalescent, he was entrusted with the mission of commanding the convoy that was to take the wounded generals and colonels, as well as the main trophies captured, behind the lines. He was then allowed to return to France and recover from his injury.

War of the Sixth Coalition

With the continuation of hostilities in 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, Nansouty was given the prestigious position of colonel-general of dragoons (16 January), in replacement of General Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers, who had just died of war fatigue and sorrow. Having missed the first part of the campaign, General Nansouty was recalled to a field command once his knee wound was cured, towards mid-1813. He replaced General Frédéric Henri Walther at the helm of the Guard cavalry, with a complement of 5,000 sabres, and including Guyot's Grenadiers-à-cheval, Letort's Dragons, Lefebvre-Desnouettes Chasseurs-à-cheval and Édouard Colbert's Chevau-légers lanciers.

Campaign in Saxony

In 1813, most military operations took part in Saxony, with the Chasseurs-à-cheval and Colbert's Chevau-légers lanciers encountering the enemy in several isolated cavalry actions, but the first serious action came only at the battle of Dresden, where Nansouty's Guard cavalry supported Marshal Michel Ney's attack on the extreme left, in conjunction with Marshal Édouard Mortier's "Young Guard" infantry divisions.

However, the Guard cavalry was not needed as whole before the epic "Battle of Nations" at Leipzig. Placed in reserve at first, the Guard cavalry and artillery had to spring into action at once, after Napoleon received news of the Saxon defection. With the Saxons now in the Coalition camp and firing at the soldiers who moments before had been their allies, the situation of some of the French troops became desperate. The position of General Durutte's division, placed close to Saxon lines, was particularly tenuous and Napoleon soon came to its aid, with Nansouty in command of the Guard cavalry and horse artillery. Nansouty launched an impetuous charge with a some of his regiments, the Grenadiers-à-cheval, Dragons and Chevau-légers and the Saxons were unable to hold out in this sector. However, the situation changed on 19 October, with the untimely explosion of a bridge over the Elster, the main retreat line for the French rearguard, which was now blocked in the city of Leipzig. The Guard cavalry extricated itself from the field of battle and was very useful in covering the retreat of the remaining French forces.

Bavarian General Karl Philipp von Wrede tried to block Napoleon's retreat back to France, resulting in the battle of Hanau. The Austro-Bavarian cavalry was defeated by Nansouty's Imperial Guard cavalry.

With the Grande Armée in full retreat, another dangerous situation occurred on 29 October. With Bavaria now also in the camp of the Coalition, an Austro-Bavarian army of some 45,000 men, under General Karl Philipp von Wrede, who had fought under the command of the Emperor during the previous campaigns, tried to block the French retreat and delay the French force until the arrival of the rest of the Coalition forces. Wrede had the means necessary to achieve his goal, as he possessed a numerous artillery of about one hundred pieces and a powerful cavalry of 50 squadrons. In comparison, the French forces were much dispersed and only a few units remained cohesive and combat-capable. During the ensuing battle of Hanau, Wrede placed his troops in front of the forest of Lamboi, through which he expected that the French would retreat. He also positioned almost all of his cavalry on the left, placing it under the command of Field Marshal-Lieutenant Spleny. Despite his numeric inferiority, Napoleon sent forward a part of his men against Bavarians deployed in the forest before him, but the intervention of the Foot Guards was soon required. The Bavarians had fought alongside the French in the past and the sight of the fearsome Bearskins of French Guardsmen shook their morale and they abandoned their position in the forest after a brief fight. But, with the fire of a Bavarian grand battery upon them, the French infantry soon had to stop. Napoleon positioned General Le Noury's artillery in battery and brought in support General Drouot with the horse artillery of the Guard, as well as other pieces, constituting a grand battery of some 50 pieces that was soon able to respond adequately to the Austro-Bavarian cannonade. Nansouty, with the Guard Dragoons and Lancers, was instructed to protect this battery from the enemy and thus positioned his men behind the guns.

Charge of the Grenadiers-à-Cheval of Nansouty's Guard cavalry against Bavarian Chevau-légers at the battle of Hanau.

Seeing this inauspicious development, Wrede sent his cavalry, no less than 7,000 men, to charge Drouot's grand battery. The steady French canister fire was devastating and many Coalition squadrons turned back to safety. Some of them did manage to get to the French guns and crossed the battery, with the Guard cavalry immediately countercharging and driving them off. With the gun line now out of danger, Nansouty, with the aid of Sebastiani's cuirassiers launched a pursuit of the repulsed enemy horse, encountering and breaking an Austrian cuirassier regiment, Knesevich's dragoon regiment and two Bavarian chevaulegers regiments, all under the personal command of Field Marshal-Lieutenant Spleny. Then, with a maneuver resembling that of Kellermann at Marengo, Nansouty wheeled his men left and rushed onto the enemy infantry, breaking them. The Grenadiers-à-cheval were in the thick of the fighting and, with an offensive comeback of the Bavarian cavalry, they were momentarily in a dangerous situation, but were duly rescued by the Guard Gardes d'honneur regiment. Nansouty then took his entire cavalry and broke the remaining enemy squares and cavalry, pushing some of these men into the Kinzig river. Meanwhile, Nansouty's action left Sebastiani free to silence the Bavarian grand battery, skillfully using Saint-Germain's cuirassier division and Exelmans's light division of his Corps. Nansouty received a light wound during this battle, but his role at Hanau is compared by a Russian author to that of Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz at the battle of Zorndorf.

Campaign in France

Nansouty's final campaign took place in 1814 on French soil, under bleak circumstances for the French, who saw huge Coalition armies invade France at the beginning of that year. During this campaign, his command, 5,000 Horse Guards, included the 1st and 2nd chevau-légers lanciers regiments, under General Édouard Colbert, the 1st chasseurs à cheval, under General Laferrière, the grenadiers à cheval under General Guyot, the Dragons, under General Letort, as well as the entire Guard horse artillery.

These men soon saw action on 27 January, at the battle of Brienne. Here, two companies of horse artillery, under an officer called Marin, a veteran of the campaigns in Italy and Egypt and personal favorite of the Emperor, were almost completely destroyed, with their guns captured by the enemy. Napoleon was extremely irritated about the failure of the heavy cavalry of the Guard to protect these gunmen. A further loss of cannons of the Guard artillery occurred at the battle of La Rothière, a rare battlefield defeat for Napoleon. Here, a part of the Guard cavalry charge and was initially successful against enemy cavalry but, faced by steady ranks of the Russian and Prussian Guardsmen and with its flank threatened by enemy dragoons, it soon had to withdraw, leaving behind some of its cannons.

Napoleon in campaign during the 1814 military operations in France. Painting by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier.

After rejoining the Emperor at Champaubert, Nansouty took part to the battle of Montmirail, where he was at first instructed to protect the artillery. He then joined in the attack of the Guard infantry on the farm of Ėpine-au-Bois, where he suddenly turned left and fell upon unprepared enemy infantry, charging home and routing these troops, subsequently pursuing the fugitives. This combined attack of the Guard resulted in a great number of prisoners and captured enemy guns, with Nansouty receiving a light wound in the process. A part of his men then took part to the battle of Château-Thierry, where the Emperor ordered the Guard cavalry to make a turning move against the enemy left, and where General Letort and Colonel Curély brilliantly broke several enemy squares. Then, on 14 February, Nansouty personally led a brilliant charge at the battle of Vauchamps, where, in conjunction with Grouchy's Line cavalry, he managed to decide the battle with cavalry only. Charging Blücher's men from the front, Nansouty allowed Grouchy to magnificently fall behind the enemy columns, that they both then sabred and crushed, with the Guard cavalry subsequently launching a highly successful pursuit. Enemy losses reached a staggering 9,000-10,000 casualties, with 25 cannons lost. The Emperor was radiant following this battle, but, by nightfall, his mood changed when he found out of the loss of some Guard horse artillerymen. These men had been captured during their march and it was reported General Guyot (one of Nansouty's subordinates), failed to protect adequately. In Nansouty's presence, a fuming Napoleon summoned Guyot and then chastised him for the repeated losses in cannons during the previous battles, as well as for various other shortcomings, such as failing to properly escort the Emperor. After an angry tirade, Napoleon promptly axed Guyot and announced Nansouty that General Exelmans would replace Guyot at the helm of his Old Guard heavy cavalry. This episode apparently strained relations between Emperor Napoleon and General Nansouty.

Always in the thick of the action during this campaign, on 24 February, Nansouty was present near the city of Troyes. Negotiations for an armistice were ongoing in a village nearby and, despite formal orders to continue the fighting, the two armies had ceased the combat. Nansouty then took his men and attacked enemy troops, charging into the streets of the village where the negotiations were taking place. The French envoy to the armistice talks, Monsieur de Flahaut saw this development and found Nansouty, bitterly protesting against the latter's action. Nansouty responded that the Emperor was doubtlessly aware that negotiations were indeed taking place there, but that he had orders to capture the position, which he did without further delay. On 27 February, the Emperor again moved against Blücher's Prussians, leaving a part of his forces near Troyes to observe the movement of Prince of Schwarzenberg's Austrian army. Nansouty and the Guard cavalry accompanied the Emperor, ensuring his protection and clearing his way after a bloody cavalry skirmish at Château-Thierry on 3 March. Another cavalry skirmish occurred on 5 March, with Nansouty repulsing a numerous enemy cavalry, 3,000-4,000 troopers, then captured the bridge of Berry-au-Bac, over the Aisne, despite the enemy cannonade. Once across the Aisne with a few Polish lancer platoons, Nansouty launched a heroic pursuit, capturing enemy cannons and munitions, and taking a significant number of prisoners, among whom was the teenage Russian Prince Gagarine. On 7 March, at the battle of Craonne, another incident ocurred, seemingly indicating that there had been some sort of disagreement between the General and the Emperor. As the battle was raging, General Belliard from the Emperor's staff, came to Nansouty and told him that he had orders to relieve him of command, should his health prevent him to exercise his duties. Nansouty told him that he was indeed ill, but that he was able to retrain command. Although in unusually and noted bad humour, Nansouty subsequently led a most brilliant action at Craonne. He was ordered to cross bogged and broken terrain, climb a steep incline, with his cavalry an artillery and fall on the enemy's right flank. Managing to bring his cavalrymen on the ridge, Nansouty formed them in line formation and launched them against the enemy, pushing back in disorder two Russian battalions. Nansouty was again wounded during this action, but this injury was not very serious and he continued to energetically lead the pursuit of the Coalition forces. This was to be the last military engagement of his long career. On 8 March, Nansouty was at Chavignon, nine kilometers from Laon, where the Emperor was also present and, although the circumstances of Nansouty's departure are unclear, it is certain that he left this village, and his command, that very day. Napoleon wrote to his War Minister two days later to announce him that General Nansouty's health did not allow him to exercise his military activity and that he was authorised to take sick leave in Paris. General Belliard had taken interim command of the Guard cavalry during the battle of Laon, with General Sébastiani subsequently given permanent command.

Bourbon Restoration

General Nansouty portrayed as Colonel-General of Dragoons, a position he held between January 1813 and until the Bourbon Restoration.

Having left his command to General Belliard on 8 March, three days later, Nansouty was a part of a convoy of several officers, heading to Paris. On the road to the capital, they were attacked by a pulk of cossacks, which managed to disperse the convoy's escort. Nansouty and his officers fought their way out sabre in hand and made a run for it towards the river Aisne. Reaching the riverbanks, he was preparing to cross the river on horseback, when his horse was shot under him, throwing the General to the ground. Nevertheless, he stood up and swam to the other bank of the river and safety. This event, as well as his tireless activity during the campaign seem to suggest that his health was not the main reason of his departure from the army. It is also unlikely that the Emperor himself decided to replace him, given Belliard's tentative approach at the battle of Craonne and this General's subsequent provisional status as commander, after Nansouty's departure. It is thus more likely that Nansouty resigned, following his disputes with the Emperor.

General Nansouty arrived in Paris and there he remained during the Bourbon Restoration that followed Napoleon's abdication. He was one of the first general officers to swear allegiance to the new King of France, Louis XVIII, who would bestow a number of honours upon the General. On 12 April 1814, Nansouty was named extraordinary commissioner of the King in the 2nd military division, then, on 20 April, became a member of the commission that was in charge of the dissolution of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. He was given the distinction of Knight of the Order of Saint Louis on 1 June and on 6 July he was called to a command in the Military Household of the King of France, as captain-lieutenant of the 1st company of musketeers (grey musketeers). Despite these positions, Nansouty's financial situation declined severely under the Restoration. The General had had a highly honourable behaviour during the Napoleonic Wars and, unlike some of his fellow Napoleonic Generals, was never involved in pillaging. He had been also living a highly a very costly lifestyle, which he considered to be normal for a nobleman such as himself. Nansouty had been earning a high revenue from his various positions during the Empire and additionally Napoleon was constantly high paying endowments to his best generals. Napoleonic endowments aside, Nansouty's salaries during the first four months of 1814 had brought him no less than 104,000 Francs, but, under the Bourbons, his dignity as colonel-general of dragoons had been suppressed and transformed into a honorific title of Inspector of dragoons, leaving him with a 25,000 Francs salary as captain-lieutenant in the King's Military Household.

Death and resting place

By the second half of 1814, following his long and almost continuous campaigns throughout Europe during the last ten years, the health of General Nansouty badly deteriorated. He was suffering from his wounds, some of which were very recent, but, above all from war fatigue. General Count Étienne-Marie-Antoine-Champion de Nansouty died on 12 February 1815 in Paris, leaving behind his wife and their only son. His final resting place is at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, division 27. The engraving on his tombstone reads:

Tomb stone of General Count Nansouty at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

“ 'Here rests Étienne Marie Antoine Champion'
Comte de Nansouty
born in Bourgogne on 30 May 1768
Lieutenant-General of the King's Armies,
Inspector General of Dragoons,
Captain-Lieutenant
of the 1st Company
of the King's Guard Musketeers,
Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour,
Knight of the Military
and Royal Orders of S. Louis
and of Notre Dame du Mont Carmel,
Grand Cross of the Royal Order
of the Golden Eagle of Württemberg
Deceased in Paris on 12 February 1815
"In all my life, I have not done any harm to anyone." ”

The name NANSOUTY is inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Family

General Count de Nansouty was the first child of Jean-Baptiste-Pierre-Charles Champion de Nansouty (born 1718 in Dijon) and his wife Antoinette Hélène Harpailler (born ca. 1740), who also had Pierrette-Adélaïde Champion de Nansouty (1771-1849). On 27 September 1802, General Count de Nansouty married Jeanne-Francoise Adelaide Gravier de Vergennes, born in 1781, deceased in 1849 (Parents: Charles Xavier Gravier de Vergennes, 1751-1794, and Elisabeth Adélaïde Françoise de Bastard, 1763-1808) and the couple had only one child, Etienne Champion de Nansouty (1803-1865), who, having followed his father's and grandfather's footsteps in the military, rose to the rank of squadron commander, but then resigned from the army. General Count Nansouty also had a nephew, Charles-Etienne Champion de Nansouty, who saw a successful military career and who later rose to the rank of general of division.