Jacques Lauriston

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Jacques Alexandre Bernard Law de Lauriston
Order of Saint-Louis
Other workDiplomat

Jacques Alexandre Bernard Law, marquis de Lauriston (1 February 1768 – 12 June 1828) was a French soldier and

Pondicherry in French India, where his father, Jean Law de Lauriston, was Governor-General. Jean Law de Lauriston was a nephew of the financier John Law
. Jacques’ mother was a member of the Carvallho family of Portuguese traders.

Lauriston Castle, in Scotland, was inherited by John Law in 1729. Lauriston is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.

Early career

Lauriston obtained his first commission about 1786, served with the artillery and on the

Peace of Amiens in 1802.[1]

In 1805, having risen to the rank of

Battle of Raab in the Italian campaign and the subsequent advance to Vienna.[1]

Fame and high command

At the Battle of Wagram on 6 July 1809, Napoleon ordered Lauriston to form a grand battery to stop the surprise Austrian attack against his left flank. To provide time, the emperor directed General Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty's heavy cavalry to charge. While Nansouty's cuirassiers and carabiniers sacrificed themselves in futile attacks on the Austrians, Lauriston assembled 112 artillery pieces for his huge battery. He gathered all 60 guns from the Imperial Guard, 24 guns from General Karl Philipp von Wrede's Bavarian division, and 38 pieces from Eugène's Army of Italy. He advanced the batteries into grapeshot range, unlimbered the guns, and opened fire. In the face of this terrific blizzard of lead, the Austrian III Armeekorps of General Johann Kollowrat halted and edged back out of the firing range. The barrage allowed time for Napoleon to organize a successful counterattack.[2]

Napoleon and Lauriston in Moscow — an unflattering painting by Vasily Vereshchagin, representing a Russian point of view

In 1811, Lauriston was made

German campaign, but was captured during the disastrous retreat after the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813.[1]

Lauriston was held as a prisoner of war until the fall of the empire. He then joined King

marquis, and became commandant supérieur of the Département du Finistère et de la place de Brest. In 1823, Lauriston was made a Marshal of France and he commanded a corps during the Spanish expedition. He died of a stroke in Paris on 11 June 1828. The name LAURISTON is inscribed on Column 13 of the Arc de Triomphe
.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lauriston, Jacques Alexandre Bernard Law, Marquis de". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 287.
  2. ^ Bowden, Scotty & Tarbox,Charlie. Armies on the Danube 1809. Arlington, Tex.: Empire Games Press, 1980. 132-133
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