Desaixde Veygoux

Desaix de Veygoux. Louis Charles Antoine (1768-1800), a French general, born of a noble family, near the village of Ayat in Auvergne. He entered the regiment of Brittany as a sub-lieutenant, and did good service under Pichegru in 1792. Two years later he distinguished himself in the army of the Rhine under Moreau, and held out bravely for some time in the fortress of Kehl. In 1797 he was with Bonaparte in Egypt, and did much towards the subjugation of Upper Egypt, penetrating as far as the first Cataract. He was much respected by the natives, who called him the Just Sultan. In Italy he commanded the Corps of Reserve, and decided the battle of Marengo by his opportune appearance and brilliant charge. But he lost his life, being mortally wounded by a cannon shot. His integrity and freedom from self-seeking caused him to be universally beloved and Napoleon described him as being "un caractere tout-a-fait antique."