Napoleon's Greatest Cavalry Commander...Had he lived

No not Joachim Murat, but the daredevil and famous hussar general Antoine-Charles-Louis Lasalle. Arguably the greatest cavalry commander of Napoleon usually taking the lead spot on many lists always one before Murat. But Lasalle was shot in the forehead at Wagram in 1809, and died befor ehis body hit the ground.

On one forum a discussion of Napoleon's greatest cavalry commander broke out. Here's what people had to say:


1. Take LaSalle, for example. LaSalle led from the front and was absolutely adored by those under his command. He possessed the ability to read battlefield situations and adapt instantly to tactical changes. He was the complete cavalry commander and especially adept at reading the contours of the ground over which he was expected to charge.
His only weakness, especially in his early years, was in fact his flamboyance, which time and again verged on the reckless.


2. LaSalle was also a brilliant commander of large formations of cavalry.

3. Just glad he wasn't at Waterloo, things might have gone a bit pear shaped if he'd been there!

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4. Had Lasalle been around in 1812 and 1813, Waterloo may not have happened!

So what if Lasalle had been around in 1812 and what if there was no Waterloo? Can someone please make an alternate history for one of the most colorful cavalry commanders of all time?


Here are some information links:

http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/commanders/c_lasalle.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Charles_Louis_Lasalle
http://www.napoleonguide.com/soldiers_lasalle.htm
http://www.napoleonic-officers.net/web/officers/L/lasalle.html

I have more if anyone needs them.

Btw, Hi, I'm Nick. I'm new here :) 13 years old too.
 
Depends perhaps on what he could have done after 1809 and whether that would have affected the overall picture

ie would he have served in the Peninsular War and altered things there ?

or the Russian campaign ?

or at Leipzig ?

Or did he never have a MACRO effect on a battle/campaign, just add to the sum total ?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

maverick

Banned
Napoleon had a collection of a dozen awesome generals, from Murat to Massena to Lannes and Ney...

One more is not gonna radically change everything...at least not very much at first...
 
Yes, but the thing is he was the best especially with mass cavalry. He could've changed the outcome of the Russian invasion, the Peninsular War or the Battle of Waterloo. All of those ill-fated cavalry charges could have been successful or he might of stopped them from happening.

Say he was promoted to Marshal of France had he survived Wagram. He takes the rest of 1809-1810 off to spend time with his family and recover from wounds. In 1811 he returns to Spain and fights there for a bit. Then he goes to Russia and helps France win. So what if the French won the Russian invasion. What wouldve happened?
 
Yes, but the thing is he was the best especially with mass cavalry. He could've changed the outcome of the Russian invasion, the Peninsular War or the Battle of Waterloo. All of those ill-fated cavalry charges could have been successful or he might of stopped them from happening.

Say he was promoted to Marshal of France had he survived Wagram. He takes the rest of 1809-1810 off to spend time with his family and recover from wounds. In 1811 he returns to Spain and fights there for a bit. Then he goes to Russia and helps France win. So what if the French won the Russian invasion. What wouldve happened?

From what I very vaguely recall Davout would have been in a for a crown...

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Redbeard

Banned
I think it will be difficult to find room for cavalry commanders changing history after 1809 - as cavalry commanders. Cavalry had lost its independent role, and had bene relegated to a support arm, either performing recon (very important, but not very glamourus) or by being the final touch on the work done by infantry and artillery. Or by pinning an enemy by repeated (suicidal) attack like at Wagram against the Austrian grande battery (but litterally wasting French heavy cavalry, never to fully return to its former splendour).

In the campaigns after 1809 I can't think of situations where a better French cavalry commander would have been significant. At Waterloo Lasalle probably wouldn't have wasted the cavalry against intact British squares, but that is of poor comfort if the squares remain intact - breaking them more being an artillery job -and launching cavalry against broken infantry could be done by anyone's grandmother.

The question IMHO is, if Lasalle would have been a good army commander on his own? Napoleon first of all needed good independent commanders on Davout level. Napoleon usually could count on winning the battles he took part in himself, but often only to learn that his commanders meanwhile had lost two other battles elsewhere.

Regards

Steffen Redbeard
 
Wow, those are very good points. But Lasalle would of 95% been field promoted to Marshal. So post-1809 he's no longer just a General of a light cavalry division.

So now my question sort of changes:

Whether it be Lasalle or Lannes or another General or Marshal on Davout's level that would have lived past 1809... could things of been different with just only ONE extra commander on Davout, Massena, Lannes level? How so?
 

Redbeard

Banned
Wow, those are very good points. But Lasalle would of 95% been field promoted to Marshal. So post-1809 he's no longer just a General of a light cavalry division.

So now my question sort of changes:

Whether it be Lasalle or Lannes or another General or Marshal on Davout's level that would have lived past 1809... could things of been different with just only ONE extra commander on Davout, Massena, Lannes level? How so?

In the 1813 Autumn campaign in Saxony Napoleons "independently" operating army commanders as a rule got trashed by various allied armies while Napoleon himself chased the allied (Austrian) main army. So let us have an alive Lasalle replace either Oudinot or Macdonald and have him decisively defeat Blücher at either Grossbehren or Katzbach. I'm not sure Leipzig will happen as OTL, but judging from the very important pinning role Blücher took up at OTL Leipzig the allies will have a much more difficult job defeating Napoleon when the big battle comes. OTOH if Bernadotte was a little more eager to throw his troops into battle with Napoleon (which he wasn't however), he could easily take up Blücher's role.

In Spain I have never been very impressed with the French commanders, mainly because they watched as other as much as the watched the British. A more clear leader, which could have been Lasalle, who was close to Napoleon, the British and Wellington could have been in serious trouble.

Regards

Steffen Redbeard
 
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