Napoleonic Anecdotes 1

How Lannes Fell

from First Empire Readers

While the two armies were mutually watching each other, but not moving, and the commanders in groups in the rear of the battalions were discussing the events of the day, Marshal Lannes, weary with riding, had dismounted and was walking about with Major-General Pouzet. Just then a spent ball struck the general on the head, laying him dead at the marshal's feet . . . . Attributing his first promotion to Pouzet's instruction, Lannes was much attached to him, and in proportion as he got on himself he used his interest to advance his friend. His grief, then, at seeing him fall dead was very great. " At that moment we were a little in advance of the tileworks, to the left, near Essling. In his emotion, wishing to get away from the corpse, the marshal went a hundred paces in the direction of Enzersdorf, and seated himself, deep in thought, on the further side of a ditch, from which he could watch the troops. A quarter of an hour later, four soldiers laboriously carrying in a cloak a dead officer, whose face could not be seen, stopped to rest in front of the marshal. The cloak fell open, and Lannes recognised Pouzet. 'Oh ! ' he cried, 'is this terrible sight going to follow me everywhere!' Getting up, he went and sat down at the edge of another ditch, his hand over his eyes and his legs crossed. As he sat there, plunged in gloomy meditation, a small three-pound shot, fired from a gun at Enzerdorf, ricocheted, and struck him just where his legs crossed. The knee-pan of one was smashed, and the back sinews of the other torn. Instantly I rushed towards the marshal, who said, 'I am wounded; it's nothing much; give me your hand to help me up.' He tried to rise, but could not. The infantry regiments in front of us sent some men at once to carry the marshal to an ambulance, but, having neither stretcher nor cloak, we had to take him in our arms, an attitude which caused him horrible pain. Then a sergeant, seeing in the distance the soldiers who were carrying General Pouzet's body, ran and asked them for the cloak in which he was wrapped. We were about to lay the marshal on it, so as to carry him with less pain; but he recognised the cloak, and said to me, 'This is my poor friend's; it is covered with his blood; I will not use it. Drag me along how you can.' " Napoleonic Anecdotes 2: Berthier Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #44 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com