Louis Le Blond St. Hilaire

Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire was a French general of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Born at Ribemont (Aisne), he entered the army as a cadet in the régiment de Conti-cavalerie in 1777. After early service overseas, he transferred into the régiment d’Aquitaine (later the 35th line), returning to France in the mid-1780s. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1788 and captain in 1792.

During the Revolutionary wars he served with the Armée des Alpes and took part in the siege of Toulon in 1793. He then joined the Armée d’Italie, rising through field and staff appointments amid the rapid expansion of the revolutionary armies. He was promoted chef de brigade in 1794 and advanced to général de brigade in 1795. In the Italian theatre he was engaged in actions including Loano (where he lost two fingers to canister shot) and fought in the 1796 campaign, including Castiglione, Rovereto, and Bassano; he was wounded in 1796 at San Giorgio near Mantua. Thereafter he held a series of territorial and administrative commands, including posts at Lodi and Toulon, where he managed the depot associated with the Armée d’Orient, and later a senior district command at Marseille.

He was promoted général de division in 1799. In 1800 he commanded troops mobilised in southern France during the renewed Austro-French fighting and subsequently held the command of the 15th Military District at Rouen. With the reorganisation of the army under the Consulate and Empire, he returned to field command and, from 1803, led a division in the camp at Saint-Omer under Marshal Soult. He was named a grand officer of the Légion d’honneur in 1804. In the 1805 campaign he served with Soult’s IV Corps, taking part in the Ulm operations and the battle of Austerlitz, where his division was committed in the attack toward the Pratzen Heights; he was wounded and later received the grand cross of the Légion d’honneur. He continued to command in the 1806–1807 campaigns against Prussia and Russia, fighting at Jena and in the East Prussian operations, including Eylau and Heilsberg.

Created comte de l’Empire in 1808, Saint-Hilaire remained in the central European theatre rather than being sent to Spain. In 1809, during the War of the Fifth Coalition, he commanded a division in the opening engagements in Bavaria, including Teugen-Hausen and Eckmühl, before serving under Marshal Lannes. At Aspern-Essling (21–22 May 1809) he was struck in the foot by a cannonball and evacuated to Vienna, where he died on 5 June 1809. His name was later inscribed among the generals on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and his remains were transferred to the Panthéon.

Sources

• Fondation Napoléon: SAINT-HILAIRE, Louis-Charles-Vincent Le Blond de (1766–1809)
• Archives nationales: Base Léonore notice for LEBLOND SAINT HILAIRE Louis Vincent Joseph
• British Museum: Louis Vincent Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire (biography)
• History of War: General Louis-Vincent-Joseph le Blond, comte de Saint-Hilaire (1766–1809)
• Wikipedia (English): Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire