Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg
Command Ratings
Marie-Victor-Nicolas de Faÿ de La Tour-Maubourg (often cited in English as Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg, and commonly shortened to Latour-Maubourg) was a French cavalry officer of noble origin whose active military career spanned the last decade of the Bourbon monarchy, the Revolutionary wars, the Napoleonic Empire, and the early Restoration, reaching the rank of général de division and commanding large cavalry formations in the Major campaigns of 1812–1813.
He was born on 22 May 1768 at La Motte-de-Galaure in the Dauphiné (Drôme). He entered the French royal army as a boy officer in 1782 and moved into cavalry service soon afterward. He served in the military environment of the late Ancien Régime and, after the outbreak of the Revolution, held commissioned rank in cavalry by 1791, becoming lieutenant-colonel of the 3rd chasseurs à cheval. In February 1792 he became Colonel of that regiment, but the political rupture of 1792 drove him into emigration with other officers associated with Lafayette’s circle; he left France in August 1792.
After years outside France, he returned during the Consulate era and resumed military service in the Napoleonic army. By 1806 he was again in field command in the cavalry and was given a brigade of dragoons. He campaigned in Prussia in 1806, fighting at Jena (14 October 1806), and then in Poland during the winter operations of 1806–1807. In the fighting around the Narew and the approaches to East Prussia he was engaged at Czarnowo (23–24 December 1806). In early 1807 he fought in actions associated with the winter campaign, including Bergfried (3 February 1807), and was wounded at Deppen (5 February 1807). His advancement continued rapidly: in May 1807 he was promoted général de division and given command of the 1st Dragoon Division. Leading that division he fought at Heilsberg (10 June 1807) and Friedland (14 June 1807), where he was wounded again, this time to the hand.
In 1808 he received an imperial title as Baron of the Empire and, after a period of service based at Mainz, was assigned to the Peninsular War. There he served with the cavalry reserve and in the Major operations of 1808–1809 in central Spain. He was present at Madrid in December 1808 and then fought in 1809 in a sequence of hard-fought actions including Uclés (13 January 1809), Talavera (27–28 July 1809), and Ocaña (19 November 1809). His employment in Spain continued into 1811, when he took part in the operations around the Portuguese frontier, including the siege operations at Badajoz, and the fighting at La Gévora (19 February 1811). He was also involved in the capture of Albuquerque and the cavalry action at Campo Maior (25 March 1811), and he fought at Albuera (16 May 1811) during the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese struggle to hold the line in Extremadura. In this period he also held higher responsibilities in Andalusia, including command of cavalry reserves under Marshal Soult and senior cavalry command relationships within the Army of Andalusia as Napoleon’s forces attempted to stabilize southern Spain against Wellington’s pressure.
Recalled from Spain, Latour-Maubourg was given Major cavalry command for the 1812 invasion of Russia. He received command of IV Cavalry Corps and led it in the advance into Russia and through the climactic fighting around Moscow. He fought at Borodino (7 September 1812), where he was wounded, and then continued with the army through the subsequent operations, surviving the retreat from Moscow and the catastrophic winter withdrawal.
In 1813 he returned to field command in Germany with one of the large cavalry corps used by Napoleon to rebuild operational mobility after the losses in Russia. He commanded I Cavalry Corps during the spring and summer campaign and was engaged at Bautzen (20–21 May 1813) and Reichenbach (22 May 1813). He also took part in later operations during the renewed fighting after the armistice, including engagements tied to the Dresden campaign in August 1813. In the Battle of Leipzig (16–19 October 1813), he suffered his most severe wound: his leg was shattered by cannon fire and was amputated, ending his ability to take the field in active cavalry command.
Following the collapse of the Empire in 1814 he accepted the Bourbon Restoration and entered the political-military establishment of the restored monarchy. He was made a Peer of France in 1814. In the later Restoration period he was further honored and employed in senior state roles: he became Marquis de La Tour-Maubourg and held the War Ministry (Minister of War) from 1819 to 1821, and then served as Governor of Les Invalides from December 1821 until July 1830.
Latour-Maubourg died on 11 November 1850 at Dammarie-lès-Lys (Seine-et-Marne).
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