Louis Pierre Aimé Chastel (29 April 1774, in Veigy, near Carouge,
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
– 26 September 1826, in
Geneva) was a French officer in the
Napoleonic Wars, who rose to lieutenant general of cavalry.
Early career
Chastel first joined up in 1792, in the
légion des Allobroges
The Légion des Allobroges was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army that consisted mainly of volunteers from Switzerland, Piedmont and Savoy.
The Legion's name refers to the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe in Roman times. Reviving Roman names and co ...
, under
Jacques François Dugommier, was then transferred to the
armée des Pyrénées
One of the French Revolutionary armies, the Army of the Pyrenees (''Armée des Pyrénées'') was created by a decree of the National Convention dated 1 October 1792 and formed out of the right wing of the Armée du Midi. At the outbreak of the War ...
and saw service in Italy. He took part in
Bonaparte campaign in Egypt, where he discovered the
Dendera Zodiac.
Austerlitz
He was made major en second (Lieutenant Colonel) of the mounted grenadiers of the
Imperial Guard, in 1803, following
Austerlitz, where his bravery got him recognised by Napoleon.
Peninsular War
He then fought in Spain during the
Peninsular War, including
Burgos, becoming an officer of the
Légion d'honneur in November 1808.
Russian Campaign
In 1812 he was summoned to join the
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
where he led the 3rd Light Cavalry Division in the
III Cavalry Corps. His bravery at
Borodino gained him a mention in dispatches in the June 1815 bulletin during the
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
.
Hundred Days
During the return of Napoleon to power, Chastel served as commanding officer of 10th Cavalry Division together with Major General
Jean Baptiste Alexandre Strolz' 9th Cavalry Division in General Exelman's II Corps of the
armée du Nord.
Battle of Ligny
On 16 June, Exelman's II, Cavalry Corps held the right flank in Napoleon's last victory. Recognizing the position of 20,000 Prussians at Gembloux, Exelman's cavalry commanders Strolz and Chastel, heavily outnumbered were unable to interfere with the Prussian retreat on 17 June, having only 3,000 cavalry under their command.
Waterloo
During the
battle of Waterloo, Chastel's 10th Cavalry Division fought at Wavre holding the extreme right flank on the east bank of the Dyle River while Strolz watched the far left flank on the west bank.
Rocquencourt and Le Chesnay
On 1 July 1815, Napoleon's Grande Armée fought its last battle in Rocquencourt and Le Chesnay, when Strolz' 2nd Cavalry Division, their rear covered by Chastel, together with three battalions of the 44th Line Infantry Regiment, and a half battalion of the Sèvres National Guard hunted down Oberstleutnant
Eston von Sohr's Prussian cavalry brigade, wrecking the 3rd Brandenburg and 5th Pommeranian Hussar Regiments.
Distinctions
*Chevalier de la Légion d' Honneur. (1803)
*Officier de la Légion d' Honneur. (1808)
*Chastel's name is engraved on the
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...
.
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chastel, Louis Pierre Aime
French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
1774 births
1826 deaths
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe