#heilsberg

[Illustration of Murat riding with one boot missing at Heilsberg, by Jacques Onfroy de Bréville.]

The following account of Murat at the battle of Heilsberg (10 June 1807) is attributed to a Brigadier General Henri (who served as aide to Murat that day), in the memoirs of Lieutenant Aubier of the 20th Chasseurs à Cheval.

***

On the murderous day of Heilsberg... I was detached from ordinance to be with Prince Murat. You know him: he is the general in chief of all our cavalry who is always dressed as a drum major and who takes the saber to the enemy like a true hussar.

Eh bien! For two hours of the day, Prince Murat was at the side of the Emperor, who was with the grenadier division, combined under the orders of General Oudinot. The Emperor and this general dismounted at a point elevated enough for His Majesty to look down on the enemy through his spyglass.

Prince Murat, arriving, dismounted, gave me his horse to hold, saluted the Emperor, took the hand of General Oudinot and began to talk with him. Suddenly a cloud of dust arose before us; the Emperor immediately directed his spyglass on this point, saying to Prince Murat:

--What is that, Monsieur?

--Nothing, Sire.

--Nothing, how is it nothing, Monsieur? Go take a closer look! And in pronouncing these words, the Emperor applied a vigorous blow of the whip to the buttocks of the horse of Prince Murat, who was already in the saddle.

(...)

The prince, his suite and I, we departed at the gallop.

--Follow me with your regiment, said the prince in passing by Colonel d'Ery, commanding the 5th Hussars, and we charged this mob.

In an instant we were engaged and were striking the first blows of the saber when a ball struck the prince's horse. I threw myself at once to the ground and, taking the bridle of the horse under my arms, aided the Prince in getting out from under his horse.

He left his left boot* there in the stirrup.

--It's nothing! It's nothing! A horse, said the prince.

I offered mine which was accepted, and the prince mounted, one foot booted and the other nude, like in the song. It was not in order to take himself out of danger that the prince had taken my horse; it was, on the contrary, to throw himself anew in the midst of the enemy, with the cries of: Forward! forward! Vive l'Empereur! and in a quarter of an hour, 3,000 to 4,000 Cossacks who had made themselves masters of the center of the plain were swept away like dust.

***

*Lieutenant Aubier goes on to describe this boot as "one of those superb boots in red morocco and all braided in gold that completed this magnificent costume 'of the drum major' of which the brigadier Henri speaks." He writes that this boot was actually rescued from being captured by the Cossacks by "a brigadier of the 8th Cuirassiers, Millot, who in effect threw himself into the midst of the Russians and, at the peril of his life, picked up and brought back this singular trophy."

Minutes after throwing himself back in the fray, Murat found himself in trouble once more:

He... was hardly in the saddle again when he was cut off and surrounded by a party of Russian dragoons. He was fighting for his life, when Lasalle in person arrived to the rescue, cutting down several of the enemy. A few minutes later, Murat saved Lasalle’s life in the mêlée. “We are quits now, my dear general,” he said, grasping his hand. It was because Murat, Prince of the Empire, Grand Duke of Berg, and Marshal of France, was thus ready to risk his life and fight like a man in the ranks, that all who followed him felt an admiring devotion for their daring leader. (Atteridge, 166-167)

[Lasalle and Murat at Heilsberg after saving each other’s lives, by Jacques Onfroy de Bréville]

Sources: 

-Lieutenant Aubier (20th Chasseurs), Un Régiment de Cavalerie Légère de 1793 à 1815, 2nd edition, 1891; pages 155-158.

-A. Hilliard Atteridge, Joachim Murat: Marshal of France and King of Naples, 1911.

La division de cavalerie légère du général Lasalle ayant été mise au même instant dans la déroute la plus complète, ce général n'eut que le temps, pour ne pas être pris, de se jeter dans un carré d'infanterie formé par un bataillon du 105 régiment; Murat et le maréchal Soult s'y trouvaient déjà, car la déroute de notre cavalerie avait été si prompte que chacun s'était jeté où il avait pu : ce carré était débordé par la cava lerie russe qui le cernait de tous côtés; il fit cependant sa retraite en bon ordre et sans être entamé, repoussant par un feu bien nourri toutes les charges de cavalerie qui se présen tèrent; si les Russes avaient su quels prisonniers ils pouvaient y faire, ils l'auraient sans doute enfoncé en sacrifiant quelque cavalerie (1).

(1) On m'a assuré que, quelques jours avant cette affaire, Murat et le maréchal Soult avaient eu une discussion assez vive sur la prééminence à accorder en campagne à la cavalerie sur l'infanterie, ou à cette dernière sur la cavalerie : Murat tenait pour la cavalerie, et le maréchal pour l'in fanterie ; quand ils furent enfermés dans le carré du 105e, d'où l'on voyait la plaine couverte de notre cavalerie en déroute, tandis que ces 500 hommes d'infanterie se retiraient en bon ordre au milieu de 10,000 cavaliers russes, le maréchal demanda à Murat, en lui rappelant leur discussion, ce qu'il en pensait. J'ignore ce que ce dernier répondit, mais ce que je sais fort bien, par un de mes camarades qui étaient près de lui, c'est qu'il criait à chaque instant aux soldats avec son accent gascon: « Tenez bon, mes amis, c'est le cas! » (Note de l'auteur.)

Le soir du combat d'Heilsberg, Murat, reconnaissant que l'infanterie avait triomphé de la cavalerie et se considérant ainsi comme vaincu, envoya au maréchal Soult le sabre qu'il avait porté durant la journée.

* * * * *

General Lasalle's light cavalry division having been put in the most complete rout at the same time, this general had only time, so as not to be caught, to throw himself into an infantry square formed by a battalion of the 105 regiment; Murat and Marshal Soult were already there, for the rout of our cavalry had been so prompt that everyone had thrown himself where he could: this square was overflowed by the Russian cavalry which surrounded it on all sides; he retired, however, in good order and without being pursued(?), repelling by a well-fed fire all the cavalry charges which presented themselves; if the Russians had known which prisoners they could take there, they would undoubtedly have driven it in by sacrificing some cavalry (1).

(1) I have been assured that, a few days before this affair, Murat and Marshal Soult had had a fairly lively discussion on the pre-eminence to be granted in the field to the cavalry over the infantry, or to the latter over the cavalry: Murat held for the cavalry, and the marshal for the infantry; when they were shut up in the 105th square, from where we could see the covered plain of our routed cavalry, while these 500 infantrymen withdrew in good order amid 10,000 Russian horsemen, the marshal asked Murat, reminding him of their discussion, what he thought about it. I do not know what the latter replied, but what I know very well, from one of my comrades who were near him, was that he was constantly shouting to the soldiers with his Gascon accent: "Hold on, my friends, I say!” (Author's note.)

Burgruine Heilsberg, Wiesent

Bavaria, Germany

This little old lady here, fit as a fiddle,  came smiling at us in the park when I pointed out the amazing yellow mulberry leaves. She stopped right away and started pouring her heart out.

Ermland-Thermen in Lizdbark Warmiński (Heilsberg) ist eröffnet

Die Termy Wramińskie in Lidzbark Warmińskie), Foto: CC00 W. Dąbek Zweifellos sind die am 7. Januar in Betrieb gegangene Ermland-Thermen (Termy Warmińskie) in Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński) eine Attraktion, besonders für Familien. Dennoch ist das Projekt auch ein Beispiel für die Auswüchse des EU-Geldsegens. Eigentlich nämlich ist es absurd, dass hier ein Projekt mit 70 Millionen Złoty an…