Pierre Belon Lapisse

Pierre Belon Lapisse (born November 25, 1762 in Lyon , † July 30, 1809 in Santa Olalla , Spain ) was a French Général de division of the infantry .

Life

Lapisse came from a long-established family of craftsmen; his parents were tapestry weavers .

On April 5, 1779, Lapisse joined the royal army as a cadet and with the permission of King Louis XVI. he fought in 1780/83 under Marquis de La Fayette in the American War of Independence against the British. He then returned to France and became a supporter of Napoleon .

The rank he had already achieved was retained and he was able to continue to distinguish himself through bravery. At the beginning of the revolution he served with the rank of lieutenant in Italy. He later fought under General Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult in the Battle of Stockach (March 25, 1799) and on October 19 of the same year Napoleon promoted him to Général de brigade .

Lapisse was commanded to the Grande Armée and took part in the coalition wars. He was assigned to the staff of Marshal Charles Pierre François Augereau . Under his command he took part in the fighting near Ulm (October 16/19, 1805).

He later fought alongside Jacques Desjardin near Jena (October 14, 1806), near Czarnowo (December 23/24, 1806), Golymin (December 26, 1806) and Prussian Eylau (February 7/9, 1807).

From 1808 Lapisse fought in the Napoleonic Wars in Spain. He took u. a. participated in the fighting at Espinosa de los Monteros (10/11 November 1808) and Talavera (27/28 July 1809). He also distinguished himself on the battlefields near Bailén (July 18/22, 1808) and Oporto (May 12, 1809).

On July 27, 1809 , a bitter battle broke out on the Alberche between French troops under Lapisse and British troops under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley . Lapisse was badly wounded and died two days later in the hospital in Santa Olalla.

Honors

• December 9, 1803 Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
• June 13, 1804 Commander of the Legion of Honor
• Ordre de couronne de fer
• 1808 Baron de l'Émpire
• His name can be found on the western pillar (37th column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle ( Paris ).

literature

• David Chandler: The campaigns of Napoleon . Weidenfeld, London 1993, ISBN 0-297-81367-6 (reprint of the London 1966 edition).
• David Gates: The Spanish Ulcer. A history of the peninsular war . Pimlico, London 2002, ISBN 0-7126-9730-6 .
• Charles Mullié: Biography of the célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851 (2 vols.).
• Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book . Greenhill, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .
• Jean Tulard (Ed.): Dictionnaire Napoléon . Fayard, Paris 1995, ISBN 2-213-02286-0 .