Louis Joseph Lahure

Louis Joseph Lahure
Born	29 December 1767 Mons, Hainaut, Austrian Netherlands
Died	24 October 1853 October 24, 1853(1853-10-24) (aged 86) Wavrechain-sous-Faulx, Nord, France
Allegiance	United States of Belgium French Republic French Empire Kingdom of France French Empire Kingdom of France French Republic French Empire
Service/branch	French Army
Years of service	1787–1853
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur Name inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe

Louis Joseph Lahure (29 November 1767 in Mons – 24 October 1853 in Wavrechain-sous-Faulx) was a general from the Southern Netherlands in the service of the First French Republic and First French Empire. He was the son of Nicolas Lahure and Marie-Thérèse du Buisson. His name is inscribed on the Arc de triomphe in Paris.

Historical Significance

Commandant Louis Joseph Lahure has a singular distinction in military history — he allegedly captured a navy on horseback.

Occupying Holland in January 1795, the French continental army learned that the Dutch navy had been frozen into the ice near Texel Island. Lahure and - by his own account - 128 men simply rode up to it and demanded surrender. No shots were fired.

The reality may be somewhat less remarkable, and the idea of a "defeat" inaccurate. Contact and an approach for surrender had already been made, and anti-French Dutch forces were by this time already under order not to engage or resist Napoleon's men.^[1]

References