Guillaume Joseph Nicolas de Lafon-Blaniac

Guillaume Joseph Nicolas de Lafon-Blaniac (1773–1833) was a French military commander.

Guillaume Joseph Nicolas de Lafon-Blaniac
Born25 July 1773
Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne
Died28 September 1833(1833-09-28) (aged 60)
Vico, Corsica
Service/branchCavalry
RankGeneral
Battles/wars

Biography

Early career

Lafon-Blaniac enlisted as a second lieutenant in the 5th Regiment of chasseurs à cheval (French light cavalry), in 1792.[1]

After seeing action in Italy, he saw further action in Napoleon's Egypt, and was equerry to Joseph Bonaparte in Austria, Prusia and Naples.[2]

He was promoted to brigadier general in 1806.[3]

Peninsular War
Main article: Peninsular War

Lafon-Blaniac entered Spain as aide-de-camp to Joseph Bonaparte[2] and was promoted to général de division and appointed governor of Madrid in 1808[2] or 1810.[1]

1812

In March, Lafon-Blaniac was named governor of La Mancha and given command of the vanguard for the Army of the Centre.[1]

Appointed Captain-General of New Castille, he was left in command of the garrison when King Joseph marched from the capital on 21 July, too late to help Marmont's Army of Portugal at Salamanca (22 July).[4]

At the beginning of August, with Wellington's vanguard rapidly approaching, Lafon-Blaniac was given the order to defend the citadel —contrary to Jourdan's advice[4]— rather than withdrawing from the capital.[note 1] His garrison consisted of some 2,000 men, mainly drafts belonging to the Army of Andalusia. Although they belonged to several different regiments, they were all French troops of the line; there were no juramentados among them.[4]

Although the double enceinte and the star fort in the interior would have been effective against guerrilleros or insurgents, the place could not hold out against siege-guns,[4] and following the Battle of Majadahonda (11 August), fought on the outskirts of the city, on 14 August 1812 Lafon-Blaniac surrendered.[4] Wellington himself had entered the city two days previously;[5] an initial attack on the citadel had forced its defenders into the inner enceinte which, although formidably palisaded, with a ditch twelve feet deep and twenty-four wide, had only one well left. An additional danger was that the huge arsenal was vulnerable to shell-fire.[4]

1813

In June he was wounded at Vitoria.[2]

He was promoted to major general in 1813.[3]

Post-war career

In January 1814 he was given the command of the Cavalry of the Reserve of the Army of Italy, and fought in all the battles until the Emperor Napoleon abdicated.[2]

Notes
  1. The garrison was also responsible for the 500 non-transportable sick of the Army of the Centre, who were not in the Retiro citadel, but at the military hospital in the Prado, outside the fortifications. (Oman, 1914: p. 508.)

References
  1. (in French). Liévyns, A. (1844). Fastes de la Légion-d'honneur, p. 302. Google Books. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  2. (in French). Hoefer, Ferdinand (1855). Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours: Koch-Lal, p. 556. Firmin-Didot et Cie. Google Books. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  3. Napoleon; Bruno Colson, ed. (2015). Napoleon on War, p. 455. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199685561, Google Books. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  4. Oman, Charles (1914). A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. V, pp. 484–488, 507–508, 516–517. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  5. Lipscombe, Nick (2013). Wellington's Guns, p. 246. Bloomsbury Publishing. Google Books. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
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