text: 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 . born 23 february 1760 in la petite - pierre , alsace , bourcier was a cavalry lieutenant when the french revolution began . he fought with the army of the rhine in the war of the first coalition . by the war of the second coalition , he had been promoted to brigadier general , and served in the army of the danube as inspector general of cavalry . in the napoleonic wars , he fought at major campaigns on the danube against austria and russia , including the battles of elchingen , austerlitz and the battle of wagram . he also participated in the campaign against prussia , which culminated in the battle of jena - auerstadt and the battles of heilsberg and friedland . following the campaign in prussia , he served briefly in the peninsular war after he which he was transferred back to northern europe and participated in the french invasion of russia in 1812 . following the defeat of napoleon in 1815 , he retained his titles and honors . after serving in the chamber of deputies , bourcier died 8 may 1828 at his chateau in ville - au - val in meurthe - et - moselle . career antoine louis francois bourcier was born on 23 february 1760 near phalsbourg , in la petite pierre , a small town , in the bas - rhin district , 24 kilometers ( 15 mi ) north of saverne and 56 kilometers ( 35 mi ) northwest of strasbourg . the son of a former sergeant of the guard of king stanislas , he proved himself a bright student in school , and was placed in a cavalry regiment . at the beginning of the french revolution in 1789 , he was lieutenant in the 1st regiment of cavalry . from this time , his prospects rose quickly . appointed aide - de - to the duke of aiguillon ( 9 june 1792 ) , he later he transferred to the staff of general adam philippe , comte de custine . a general of brigade in 1793 , he became chief of staff of the army of the rhine , and was raised the following year to the rank of major general . bourcier commanded a division of cavalry under general jean victor marie moreau , who had taken an interest in his career , and he was appointed inspector of cavalry on 3 august 1797 . when jean baptiste jourdan formed the army of the danube , he appointed bourcier as inspector of cavalry for both his force and the army of switzerland , under command of andré masséna . with command of a brigade , and as inspector of cavalry , bourcier participated in the campaigns of the war of the second coalition in southwestern germany , switzerland , and northern italy . in italy , he also commanded a column of cavalry that routed a group of rebels near andrea . in the 1805 war of the third coalition , as commander of a division of dragoons , he participated in the battle of elchingen and later the battle of ulm . six weeks later , at the battle of austerlitz , he made several brilliant and timely charges , including one observed by several parishioners of the town of , who had climbed the church tower to watch the action . the french infantry had been surrounded by austrian cavalry , which pursued them down the road . bourcier approached from the other direction with three regiments of dragoons , having left the rest of his division behind to preserve his communication lines in . seeing the infantry beleaguered by cavalry , he led his men in a charge , giving the infantry time to escape . his own dragoons were fired upon with cannon and grapeshot , killing or wounding several men and horses , but , as he wrote later , " [ the russian cannon fire ] would have done more harm had they been directed better , being within half range . " after the french victory at the battle of jena - auerstadt , bourcier was placed in charge of the several thousands of horses confiscated from the prussians . this influx of horses improved the capacity of the french cavalry , as joachim murat 's 11 , 000 - strong cavalry reserve demonstrated later at the battle of eylau in february 1807 . after the defeat of prussia in 1807 , bourcier was sent to spain to support the french efforts there , but he returned to the northern european theater in time for the battle of wagram in july 1809 . he was also part of napoleon 's russian campaign , but escaped the rigors of the retreat from moscow , having been previously sent back to berlin to reorganize the french cavalry . the first restoration awarded him the cross of st. louis . he retired in 1816 , but the following year he was recalled to the state council and served as commissioner for the management of military supply depots . family and post - military life in 1809 , he acquired the chateau de ville - au - val at meurthe - et - moselle . in 1816 , he was elected to the chamber of deputies by the department of the meurthe . he married marie isabelle van ( died in nancy , 13 june 1855 ) . they had a daughter , adelaide ernestine josephine , born 11 october 1805 , who married to louis henry gau , the son of charles louis joseph gau of . he died 8 may 1828 in ville - au - val and was buried , as were his descendants after him , in the family vault near the chateau chapel . his name is engraved on the arc d .