General d’Hautpoul, Commander of Napoleon’s Cuirassiers (NAP0271)

General d’Hautpoul, the man who looked like his own arm of service

A head and shoulders, a cuirass, a high black collar, bullion epaulettes, and a gaze that is not looking for the viewer. Jean-Joseph Ange d’Hautpoul (1754-1807) commanded the cuirassiers of the cavalry reserve, and the portrait says most of it already: a very tall man, in an arm of service where height was a recruiting criterion.

A nobleman who stayed

Born in 1754 into a noble family of the Languedoc and in uniform at seventeen, he could have emigrated after 1789 as so many officers of his rank did. He stayed. He turns up in the armies of the North and of the Sambre-et-Meuse, was noticed at Fleurus in 1794, and made general of division under the Republic — a career that runs through the monarchy, the Revolution and the Empire without ever changing trade.

Hoff, 6 February 1807

Two days before Eylau, at Hoff, his cuirassiers broke the Russian rearguard and Napoleon congratulated him in front of the troops. The reply that has come down — that to be worthy of such an honour he would get himself killed for His Majesty — belongs to the family of remarks collected afterwards, like the one attributed to Cambronne at Waterloo: too well phrased to be verifiable. What is verifiable is what happened next.

Eylau, 8 February

Two days later, in the snowstorm, the day went badly and Murat launched eighty squadrons to save the centre. D’Hautpoul charged with his division and was hit by artillery. He died of his wounds on 14 February 1807, six days after the battle. The charge itself, seen whole, is the subject of plate NAP0021; this is its face.

What is left

His name is cut into the Arc de Triomphe with the others. He belongs to the category of general the Empire used up quickly — competent, known to his men, killed mid-campaign and replaced by officers who had learned less. The portrait is one of the few chances to put a face to a name that is usually met in a list.