Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc
Encyclopedia
Louis-Michel-Antoine Sahuc, born 7 January 1755 – died 24 October 1813, joined the French Royal Army and spent 20 years there before fighting in the French Revolutionary Wars
. He rose to command a French cavalry regiment and later became a general officer. During the Napoleonic Wars
he held important cavalry commands in three of Emperor Napoleon I of France
's wars.
In the early years of the French Revolution
Sahuc was appointed to lead a Chasseurs à Cheval regiment and later commanded a brigade. Under Napoleon, he commanded a cavalry brigade in the 1805 campaign. During the 1806-7 campaign he led a dragoon division. In 1809, he directed a light cavalry division in Italy and at the Battle of Wagram
. For a few years afterward he served as a lawmaker but was called back to military duty. He died in the 1813 typhus
epidemic in Germany. Sahuc is one of the Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
.
in France
and joined the army of the Old Regime in 1772. At the beginning of the French Revolution
he became an officer in the Army of the North. Later he transferred to the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
and was appointed Chef de brigade
(colonel) of the 1st Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment on 10 July 1794. He became a general of brigade on 21 April 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition
. He fought at the Battle of Stockach on 3 May 1800.
At the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December, Sahuc was a brigadier in Antoine Richepanse
's division. The mounted regiments in the division were the 10th Cavalry, 1st Chasseurs à Cheval, 20th Chasseurs à Cheval, and the 5th Hussars. The division also included one battalion of the 14th Light Infantry and the 8th, 27th, and 48th Line Infantry Demi-Brigades. The 1st Chasseurs led Richepanse's flank attack and engaged in some of the first fighting. Later, Sahuc and his fellow brigadier Jean-Baptiste Drouet
were involved in the fighting against Johann Sigismund Riesch
's corps. The French scored a decisive victory in the battle.
During the pursuit after Hohenlinden, Richepanse scored successes in a series of actions against the retreating Austrians. At Neumarkt am Wallersee
on 16 December, while leading the 48th Line Infantry and the 1st Chasseurs, Sahuc inflicted 500 casualties on the Austrians. At Frankenmarkt
on the 17th, the Austrians suffered 2,650 casualties, mostly prisoners. At Schwanenstadt
on the 18th, 700 enemy cuirassiers were trapped against a river and taken. That same day at Vöcklabruck
, with Sahuc commanding the 48th Line and 14th Light Infantry plus the 1st and 20th Chasseurs, the French captured Austrian general Franz Löpper, two cannons, and many foot soldiers. On the 19th at Lambach
, 1,450 troops of the Manfreddini Infantry Regiment No. 12 surrendered and 500 wagons were seized. At Lambach, Sahuc and Jacques Sarrut led the 14th Light and 27th Line Infantry, the 5th Hussars, and the 1st and 20th Chasseurs.
in 1801 and was an eager supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte, voting to establish the First French Empire
. In 1803 he became a knight, then in 1804, a commander of the Légion d'Honneur
. In the War of the Third Coalition, he served in a division that included the 15th and 17th Dragoon Regiments, which lost their eagles and many troopers at the Battle of Haslach-Jungingen
on 11 October 1805. The 18th and 19th Dragoons of the division also fought on 14 October 1805 in the Battle of Elchingen
. On 2 December 1805, Sahuc fought at the Battle of Austerlitz
in François Antoine Louis Bourcier
's 4th Dragoon Division. The 2,500-strong division included the 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 27th Dragoon Regiments and three cannon. The brigadiers were Sahuc and Jean Baptiste Antoine Laplanche.
Napoleon promoted Sahuc to general of division on 4 January 1806. He went on to serve as commander of the 2,600-strong 4th Dragoon Division during the War of the Fourth Coalition
. The division included the 17th and 27th Dragoons in the 1st Brigade, the 18th and 19th Dragoons in the 2nd Brigade, and the 15th and 25th Dragoons in the 3rd Brigade. Laplanche led the 2nd Brigade, while the other two brigadiers are not given in the sources. His troopers missed the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt because he marched with Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's I Corps. After the battle his division joined Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps for the pursuit. On 1 November his division was at Rathenow
moving north to attack Gebhard von Blücher. His division's strength at this time was estimated at 2,550. On 6 November, Sahuc was present with Soult and Marshal Joachim Murat
in the Battle of Lübeck
where he was at the southeast gate. Once the French seized the gate, the cavalry burst into the streets and helped capture the Owstein Infantry Regiment No. 7. On 25 January, he was present at the Battle of Mohrungen
with the 1st and 2nd Brigades. Napoleon appointed him a Count of the Empire in 1808.
In the War of the Fifth Coalition
, Sahuc found himself leading the Light Cavalry Division of the Army of Italy
under Eugène de Beauharnais
. The division included the 6th Hussars, 6th Chasseurs à Cheval, 8th Chasseurs à Cheval, 25th Chasseurs à Cheval, and a 4-pounder horse artillery battery.
In the action at Pordenone
, Sahuc was badly beaten. He commanded the 4,800-man army advance guard of two cavalry regiments and the 35th Line Infantry Regiment. At 6:00 AM on 15 April 1809, Johann Maria Philipp Frimont
led 5,900 Austrians against the town. Sahuc maneuvered his cavalry north of the town but Frimont attacked his horsemen from the flank, routing them. The 35th, trapped in the town, was nearly destroyed with 500 killed and wounded. In addition, 2,000 men, an eagle, and four cannons were captured. The Austrians only reported 253 casualties. In the Battle of Sacile
on 16 April, Eugène refused to fully commit Sahuc's division because of the Austrian cavalry superiority. After Eugène ordered a retreat, Sahuc demonstrated in front of the Austrians, assisting the withdrawal of the divisions of Paul Grenier
and Jean-Baptiste Broussier
.
At the Battle of Piave River
on 8 May, the cavalry divisions of Sahuc and Charles Randon de Pully crossed the Piave to the right while Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix
's converged voltiguer (light infantry) division crossed in the center. The two cavalry divisions drove back Johann Kalnássy's brigade into two villages, then rode to Dessaix's rescue. The light infantry formed square and successfully repelled an Austrian cavalry division, but they were being pounded by a massed battery of 24 cannons. The bombardment caused Dessaix's men serious loss and 20 French guns arrived just in time to reply to the Austrian artillery. In the meantime, Sahuc unwisely posted his division in such a way that some of the cannonballs missing the infantry squares hit his troopers. The second time the Austrian cavalry attacked, Sahuc's light horse and Pully's dragoons countercharged and routed them. Following up the Austrian cavalry, the French horsemen overran the battery and captured 14 guns. The Austrian cavalry commander, Christian Wolfskeel von Reichenberg died at the hands of one of Pully's dragoons. After this brilliant success, Sahuc failed to rally his division and a Hungarian countercharge routed the 8th Chasseurs. His other three colonels rose to the occasion and drove off the Hungarians. With his cavalry rendered impotent, Archduke John of Austria could only mount a passive defense, which resulted in his eventual defeat.
When Sahuc participated in the Battle of Raab
on 14 June, only the 8th and 25th Chasseurs were present. While Emmanuel Grouchy and Louis-Pierre Montbrun's cavalry on the right flank defeated the Austrians opposed to them, his division guarded the left. As the Austrian army withdrew at the end of the battle, Sahuc's cavalry launched a pursuit which soon came upon some Hungarian insurrection (militia
) infantry formed in squares. Though the raw Hungarians fired a scattered volley, they managed to fend off the first charge because the French horsemen attacked in a disorderly fashion. The second charge was better organized. One Chasseur regiment concentrated on one side of a square and broke through. Furious at their earlier repulse, they butchered the helpless Hungarians without mercy, even cutting down those who tried to surrender.
At the Battle of Wagram
, Sahuc led a division consisting of the 6th Chasseurs, 8th Chasseurs, and 9th Chasseurs. Before crossing the Danube, he gave a bombastic speech to his horsemen. His cavalry supported the evening attack on 5 July. At first the attack looked promising and Sahuc's chasseurs broke an Austrian battalion. Then the Vincent
Chevau-léger Regiment No. 4 caught his horsemen in flank and drove them off. Without cavalry support, the infantry faltered in the face of an Austrian infantry counterattack. The assault ended in failure with the French fleeing back to their starting positions after suffering heavy losses. As dusk came on, Sahuc's troopers countercharged the Austrian cavalry, first firing a volley with their pistols and carbines before wading into them. In the gloom, the white-coated chevau-légers presented obvious targets. Even so, Sahuc lost two of his colonels before the entire French force fell back. On 6 July, his cavalry guarded the flanks of Jacques MacDonald's famous hollow square as it attacked the Austrian center.
From 1809 to 1812 he served in the Corps législatif
as a deputy from Oise
. Back in uniform, he became the Inspector General
of depots and hospitals between the Rhine and the Oder
Rivers. At Frankfurt-on-the-Main he became ill from typhus
and died on 24 October 1813. SAHUC is engraved on Column 7 of the Arc de Triomphe
.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. He rose to command a French cavalry regiment and later became a general officer. During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
he held important cavalry commands in three of Emperor Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
's wars.
In the early years of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
Sahuc was appointed to lead a Chasseurs à Cheval regiment and later commanded a brigade. Under Napoleon, he commanded a cavalry brigade in the 1805 campaign. During the 1806-7 campaign he led a dragoon division. In 1809, he directed a light cavalry division in Italy and at the Battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
. For a few years afterward he served as a lawmaker but was called back to military duty. He died in the 1813 typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
epidemic in Germany. Sahuc is one of the Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
The following is the list of the names of the 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them are generals who served during the First French Empire with additional figures from the French Revolution ....
.
Early career
Sahuc was born on 7 January 1755 at Mello, OiseMello, Oise
Mello is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and joined the army of the Old Regime in 1772. At the beginning of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
he became an officer in the Army of the North. Later he transferred to the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
The Army of Sambre-et-Meuse is the best known of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining three forces: the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of Moselle, and the right wing of the Army of the North. It had a brief but celebrated existence...
and was appointed Chef de brigade
Chef de brigade
Chef de brigade was a military rank, equivalent to colonel, in the French Revolutionary army, in command of a demi-brigade. Both that unit and that rank were created at the same time, in 1793. The two designations disappeared just before the institution of the French Empire, in 1803, with the...
(colonel) of the 1st Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment on 10 July 1794. He became a general of brigade on 21 April 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition
War of the Second Coalition
The "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by European monarchs, led by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Russian Empire, to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. They formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back France's previous military conquests...
. He fought at the Battle of Stockach on 3 May 1800.
At the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December, Sahuc was a brigadier in Antoine Richepanse
Antoine Richepanse
Antoine Richepanse was a French revolutionary general and colonial administrator.-Military career:Richepanse was born in Metz as the son of an officer of the Regiment of Conti...
's division. The mounted regiments in the division were the 10th Cavalry, 1st Chasseurs à Cheval, 20th Chasseurs à Cheval, and the 5th Hussars. The division also included one battalion of the 14th Light Infantry and the 8th, 27th, and 48th Line Infantry Demi-Brigades. The 1st Chasseurs led Richepanse's flank attack and engaged in some of the first fighting. Later, Sahuc and his fellow brigadier Jean-Baptiste Drouet
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, comte d'Erlon was a marshal of France and a soldier in Napoleon's Army. D'Erlon notably commanded the I Corps of the Armée du Nord at the battle of Waterloo....
were involved in the fighting against Johann Sigismund Riesch
Johann Sigismund Riesch
Johann Sigismund Graf von Riesch joined the army of Habsburg Austria as a cavalry officer and, during his career, fought against the Kingdom of Prussia, Ottoman Turkey, Revolutionary France, and Napoleon's French Empire...
's corps. The French scored a decisive victory in the battle.
During the pursuit after Hohenlinden, Richepanse scored successes in a series of actions against the retreating Austrians. At Neumarkt am Wallersee
Neumarkt am Wallersee
Neumarkt am Wallersee is a town in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria.- Origins :The origins of the city are in 1240, with the Archbishop Erberhard II of Salzburg.- Politics :The city council has 25 city councilors:...
on 16 December, while leading the 48th Line Infantry and the 1st Chasseurs, Sahuc inflicted 500 casualties on the Austrians. At Frankenmarkt
Frankenmarkt
Frankenmarkt is a municipality in the district of Vöcklabruck in Upper Austria, Austria....
on the 17th, the Austrians suffered 2,650 casualties, mostly prisoners. At Schwanenstadt
Schwanenstadt
Schwanenstadt is a town in the district of Vöcklabruck in Upper Austria, Austria....
on the 18th, 700 enemy cuirassiers were trapped against a river and taken. That same day at Vöcklabruck
Vöcklabruck
Vöcklabruck is the administrative center of the Vöcklabruck district, Austria. It is located in the western part of Upper Austria, close to the A1 Autobahn as well as the B1 highway, and has been ranked in the top 10 most-visited cities in Austria....
, with Sahuc commanding the 48th Line and 14th Light Infantry plus the 1st and 20th Chasseurs, the French captured Austrian general Franz Löpper, two cannons, and many foot soldiers. On the 19th at Lambach
Lambach
Lambach is a market town in the Wels-Land district of Upper Austria, Austria, on the Ager and Traun Rivers. It has a population of 3,242 as of 2001. A major stop on the salt trade, it is the site of the Lambach Abbey, built around 1056.-Notable inhabitants:...
, 1,450 troops of the Manfreddini Infantry Regiment No. 12 surrendered and 500 wagons were seized. At Lambach, Sahuc and Jacques Sarrut led the 14th Light and 27th Line Infantry, the 5th Hussars, and the 1st and 20th Chasseurs.
Empire
Sahuc became a member of the TribunatTribunat
The Tribunat was one of the four assemblies set up in France by the Constitution of Year VIII . It was set up officially on 1 January 1800 at the same time as the...
in 1801 and was an eager supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte, voting to establish the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
. In 1803 he became a knight, then in 1804, a commander of the Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. In the War of the Third Coalition, he served in a division that included the 15th and 17th Dragoon Regiments, which lost their eagles and many troopers at the Battle of Haslach-Jungingen
Battle of Haslach-Jungingen
The Battle of Haslach-Jungingen, also known as the Battle of Albeck, fought on 11 October 1805 at Ulm-Jungingen north of Ulm at the Danube, was part of the War of the Third Coalition, which was a part of the greater Napoleonic Wars.-Background:...
on 11 October 1805. The 18th and 19th Dragoons of the division also fought on 14 October 1805 in the Battle of Elchingen
Battle of Elchingen
The Battle of Elchingen, fought on October 14, 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a large part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the army of Emperor Napoleon I of France while other...
. On 2 December 1805, Sahuc fought at the Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
in François Antoine Louis Bourcier
François Antoine Louis Bourcier
François Antoine Louis Bourcier was a French cavalry officer and divisional general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
's 4th Dragoon Division. The 2,500-strong division included the 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 27th Dragoon Regiments and three cannon. The brigadiers were Sahuc and Jean Baptiste Antoine Laplanche.
Napoleon promoted Sahuc to general of division on 4 January 1806. He went on to serve as commander of the 2,600-strong 4th Dragoon Division during the War of the Fourth Coalition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
. The division included the 17th and 27th Dragoons in the 1st Brigade, the 18th and 19th Dragoons in the 2nd Brigade, and the 15th and 25th Dragoons in the 3rd Brigade. Laplanche led the 2nd Brigade, while the other two brigadiers are not given in the sources. His troopers missed the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt because he marched with Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's I Corps. After the battle his division joined Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps for the pursuit. On 1 November his division was at Rathenow
Rathenow
Rathenow is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 26,433 .-Overview:The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the Roman Catholic Church of St...
moving north to attack Gebhard von Blücher. His division's strength at this time was estimated at 2,550. On 6 November, Sahuc was present with Soult and Marshal Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
in the Battle of Lübeck
Battle of Lübeck
The Battle of Lübeck took place on 6 November 1806 in Lübeck, Germany between soldiers of the Kingdom of Prussia led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and troops of the First French Empire under Marshals Joachim Murat, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and Nicolas Soult...
where he was at the southeast gate. Once the French seized the gate, the cavalry burst into the streets and helped capture the Owstein Infantry Regiment No. 7. On 25 January, he was present at the Battle of Mohrungen
Battle of Mohrungen
In the Battle of Mohrungen on 25 January 1807, most of a First French Empire corps under the leadership of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte fought a strong Russian Empire advance guard led by Major General Evgeni Ivanovich Markov. The French pushed back the main Russian force, but a cavalry raid on...
with the 1st and 2nd Brigades. Napoleon appointed him a Count of the Empire in 1808.
In the War of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
, Sahuc found himself leading the Light Cavalry Division of the Army of Italy
Army of Italy (France)
The Army of Italy was a Field army of the French Army stationed on the Italian border and used for operations in Italy itself. Though it existed in some form in the 16th century through to the present, it is best known for its role during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic...
under Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
. The division included the 6th Hussars, 6th Chasseurs à Cheval, 8th Chasseurs à Cheval, 25th Chasseurs à Cheval, and a 4-pounder horse artillery battery.
In the action at Pordenone
Pordenone
Pordenone is a comune of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.The name comes from the Latin "Portus Naonis" meaning the port on the river Noncello - History :...
, Sahuc was badly beaten. He commanded the 4,800-man army advance guard of two cavalry regiments and the 35th Line Infantry Regiment. At 6:00 AM on 15 April 1809, Johann Maria Philipp Frimont
Johann Maria Philipp Frimont
Johann Maria Philipp Frimont, Count of Palota, Prince of Antrodoco was an Austrian general.Frimont was born at Fénétrange, in what is now French Lorraine...
led 5,900 Austrians against the town. Sahuc maneuvered his cavalry north of the town but Frimont attacked his horsemen from the flank, routing them. The 35th, trapped in the town, was nearly destroyed with 500 killed and wounded. In addition, 2,000 men, an eagle, and four cannons were captured. The Austrians only reported 253 casualties. In the Battle of Sacile
Battle of Sacile
The Battle of Sacile on 16 April 1809 and its companion Clash at Pordenone on 15 April saw an Austrian army commanded by Archduke John of Austria defeat a Franco-Italian army led by Eugène de Beauharnais and force it to retreat. Sacile proved to be the most notable victory of John's career...
on 16 April, Eugène refused to fully commit Sahuc's division because of the Austrian cavalry superiority. After Eugène ordered a retreat, Sahuc demonstrated in front of the Austrians, assisting the withdrawal of the divisions of Paul Grenier
Paul Grenier
Paul Grenier joined the French royal army and rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a division in the 1796-1797 campaign in southern Germany. During the 1800 campaign in the Electorate of Bavaria he was a wing commander...
and Jean-Baptiste Broussier
Jean-Baptiste Broussier
Jean-Baptiste Broussier was a French Divisional General of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars.-Life:Broussier was born in Ville-sur-Saulx....
.
At the Battle of Piave River
Battle of Piave River (1809)
The Battle of Piave River was fought on 8 May 1809 between the Franco-Italian army under the command of Eugène de Beauharnais and an Austrian army led by Archduke John of Austria. The Austrian commander made a stand behind the Piave River but he suffered a defeat at the hands of his numerically...
on 8 May, the cavalry divisions of Sahuc and Charles Randon de Pully crossed the Piave to the right while Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix
Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix
Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix was a French general.He was born at Thonon in Savoy...
's converged voltiguer (light infantry) division crossed in the center. The two cavalry divisions drove back Johann Kalnássy's brigade into two villages, then rode to Dessaix's rescue. The light infantry formed square and successfully repelled an Austrian cavalry division, but they were being pounded by a massed battery of 24 cannons. The bombardment caused Dessaix's men serious loss and 20 French guns arrived just in time to reply to the Austrian artillery. In the meantime, Sahuc unwisely posted his division in such a way that some of the cannonballs missing the infantry squares hit his troopers. The second time the Austrian cavalry attacked, Sahuc's light horse and Pully's dragoons countercharged and routed them. Following up the Austrian cavalry, the French horsemen overran the battery and captured 14 guns. The Austrian cavalry commander, Christian Wolfskeel von Reichenberg died at the hands of one of Pully's dragoons. After this brilliant success, Sahuc failed to rally his division and a Hungarian countercharge routed the 8th Chasseurs. His other three colonels rose to the occasion and drove off the Hungarians. With his cavalry rendered impotent, Archduke John of Austria could only mount a passive defense, which resulted in his eventual defeat.
When Sahuc participated in the Battle of Raab
Battle of Raab
The Battle of Raab was fought on 14 June 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, between Franco-Italian forces and Austrian-Hungarian forces. The battle was fought near Győr in Hungary and ended in a Franco-Italian victory...
on 14 June, only the 8th and 25th Chasseurs were present. While Emmanuel Grouchy and Louis-Pierre Montbrun's cavalry on the right flank defeated the Austrians opposed to them, his division guarded the left. As the Austrian army withdrew at the end of the battle, Sahuc's cavalry launched a pursuit which soon came upon some Hungarian insurrection (militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
) infantry formed in squares. Though the raw Hungarians fired a scattered volley, they managed to fend off the first charge because the French horsemen attacked in a disorderly fashion. The second charge was better organized. One Chasseur regiment concentrated on one side of a square and broke through. Furious at their earlier repulse, they butchered the helpless Hungarians without mercy, even cutting down those who tried to surrender.
At the Battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
, Sahuc led a division consisting of the 6th Chasseurs, 8th Chasseurs, and 9th Chasseurs. Before crossing the Danube, he gave a bombastic speech to his horsemen. His cavalry supported the evening attack on 5 July. At first the attack looked promising and Sahuc's chasseurs broke an Austrian battalion. Then the Vincent
Karl von Vincent
Karl Freiherr von Vincent, born 11 August 1757 – died 7 October 1834, fought in the army of Habsburg Austria during the French Revolutionary Wars. He first served as a staff officer then later as a combat commander. During the Napoleonic Wars, he was given important commands in two campaigns...
Chevau-léger Regiment No. 4 caught his horsemen in flank and drove them off. Without cavalry support, the infantry faltered in the face of an Austrian infantry counterattack. The assault ended in failure with the French fleeing back to their starting positions after suffering heavy losses. As dusk came on, Sahuc's troopers countercharged the Austrian cavalry, first firing a volley with their pistols and carbines before wading into them. In the gloom, the white-coated chevau-légers presented obvious targets. Even so, Sahuc lost two of his colonels before the entire French force fell back. On 6 July, his cavalry guarded the flanks of Jacques MacDonald's famous hollow square as it attacked the Austrian center.
From 1809 to 1812 he served in the Corps législatif
Corps législatif
The Corps législatif was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body.-History:The Constitution of the Year I foresaw the need for a corps législatif...
as a deputy from Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. Back in uniform, he became the Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
of depots and hospitals between the Rhine and the Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
Rivers. At Frankfurt-on-the-Main he became ill from typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
and died on 24 October 1813. SAHUC is engraved on Column 7 of the Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
.